EGYPT

From about 6000 BC various communities of hunter-gatherers make the Nile the centre of their territory, The unusual habit of this great river - flooding every year and depositing a layer of rich moist soil on the surrounding region - is ideally suited to the development of settled agriculture.

By about 3100 BC these communities have become sufficiently prosperous and stable to be united in a single political entity - the first Egyptian dynasty – the moment of unifying of Upper(south) and Lower(north) Egypt into asingle kingdom. According to Egyptian tradition it was aking called Menes (/ˈminiz/ a word meaning ´founder´ faraón Meni).

The capital is at Memphis /ˈmɛm fɪs/, near modern-day Cairo, except from 2000 to1200BC when the capital was the city of Thebes /θibz/ (Téby, Véset)(several hundred kilometres up the Nile).

The ruler was the pharaoh /ˈfɛər oʊ, ˈfær oʊ, ˈfeɪ roʊ/ who had all the political, religious and judicial power and considered himself the son of god.

Society: pharaoh, viziers /vɪˈzɪər / (vezír), scribes (hieroglyph/ˌhaɪ ər əˈglɪf/, hieroglyfy), peasants /ˈpɛz ənt/, craftsman, some slaves

The Old Kingdom: c.2635-c.2135 BC (Stará ríša)

The three great pyramids at Giza are built between about 2550 and 2470 BC for Khufu /ˈku fu/Cheops, his son Khafre /ˈkæf reɪ/ Chefren (probably also responsible for the sphinx) and his grandson Menkure /mɛnˈkurɛ/Mykerinos. This is also the period when the Egyptian practice of mummification begins, aiming to preserve the body for life in the next world (canopic jars /kəˈnoʊ pɪk dʒɑr/ kanopy).

But the pharaohs of the 6th dynasty have lost the glory of their predecessors. Their rule is followed by a century of anarchy, covering the 7th to 10th dynasties and known as the First Intermediate Period (c.2130-c.2000 BC).

The Middle Kingdom: c.2061-c.1785 BC (Stredná ríša)

- colonization of Nubia – luxurious trade, mines (gold), ivory /ˈaɪ və ri, ˈaɪ vri/(slonovina), ebony /ˈɛbəni/ (ebenové drevo), the skins of leopards, the feathers of ostrich

- due to Hyksos who derive from Asia, starts the second Intermediate Period

The New Kingdom: c.1552-c.1070 BC (Nová ríša)

Pharaohs of the New Kingdom create at Thebes the great temples of Karnak and Luxor and are buried, on the other side of the Nile, in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings.

The most important god is ´Amen´. The controversial Amenhotep IV (c. 1379-1362), of the late 18th dynasty, undertook a religious revolution forcing the exclusive worship of another sun-god (monotheism), Aton. Renaming himself Akhenaton (“servant of the Aton”), he built a new capital in Middle Egypt called Akhetaton. Upon Akhenaton’s death, the capital returned to Thebes and Egyptians returned to worshiping a multitude of gods. His son´s tomb (Tutankhamen) and was discovered largely intact in A.D. 1922.

The 19th and 20th dynasties, known as the Ramesside period (for the line of kings named Ramses) saw the restoration of the weakened Egyptian empire and an impressive amount of building, including great temples and cities. Ramesses /ˈræm əˌsiz/ II the Great - his reign is marked by a peaceful resolution of Egypt's struggle against the Hittites/ˈhɪt aɪt/(Chetiti) in Syria (1285 BC Kadesh - Ramesses was caught in history's first recorded peaceful resolution. The outcome of the battle was undecided with both sides claiming victory at their home front, ultimately resulting in a peace treaty between the two nations.), and by major building projects (Abu Simbel, Karnak).

- attacks of Sea Peoples (morské národy)

In 525 BC the land became the part of the Persian Empire /ˈpɜr ʒən ˈɛm paɪər; / (Perszká ríša).

In 332 BC, Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and late Ptolemaic Kingdom was established. The death of Cleopatra (30 BC) ended the independence of Egypt resulting in Egypt becoming one of the provinces of the Roman Empire.

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