Old Kingdom

Old Kingdom is most commonly regarded as spanning the period of time when Egypt was ruled by the 3rd Dynasty complete to the Sixth Dynasty (2686 BC – 2134 BC). The royal capital of Egypt in the Old Kingdom was placed at Memphis, where Djoser established his court. The Old Kingdom is perhaps best knew, however, for the large number of pyramids, which were built at this time as pharaonic burial places. For this reason, the Old Kingdom is oftentimes referred to as (the Age of the Pyramids Builders). The first known pharaoh of the Old Kingdom was Djoser (2630–2611 BC) of the Third Dynasty, who placed the construction of a pyramid (the Step Pyramid) in Memphis' necropolis, Sakkara. It was in this era that formerly independent ancient Egyptian states got known as nomes, ruled alone by the pharaoh. Later the former swayer were forced to accept the role of regulators or different work in tax collecting. Egyptians in this era worshiped their pharaoh as a god, believing that he ensured the annual flooding of the Nile that was essential for their crops.

Old Kingdom and its royal power made their zenith below the Fourth Dynasty. Sneferu, the dynasty's yield, is believed to have approved at least 3 pyramids; piece his son and successor Khufu erected the Great Pyramid of Giza, Sneferu had more stone and brick went than any other pharaoh. King Khufu (Greek Cheops), his son Khafra (Greek Chephren), and his grandson Menkaura (Greek Mycerinus), all reached long fame in the building of their pyramids. To direct and feed the manpower needed to create these pyramids required a concentrated government with big powers, and Egyptologists believe the Old Kingdom at this time established this level of sophistication. Recent digs near the pyramids led by Mark Lehner have exposed a large city which appears to have put up, fed and provided the pyramid workers. Although it was once believed that slaves constructed these monuments, a theory based on the biblical Exodus account, study of the tombs of the workmen, who oversaw structure on the pyramids, has showed they were built by a corvée of peasants got from across Egypt. They apparently worked while the yearly Nile flood reported their fields, also as a very big crowd of specialists, including stone cutters, painters, mathematicians and priests. The Fifth Dynasty started with Userkhaf (2465–2458 BC), who initiated reforms that vulnerable the central governing. After his rule civil wars arose as the powerful nomarchs (regional governors) no more belonged to the royal family. The worsening civil conflict sabotaged unity and physical government and also caused famines. The final blow came when a severe drought in the region that resulted in a drastic drop in hurry between 2200 and 2150 BC, which in turn prevented the rule flooding of the Nile. The result was the give of the Old Kingdom observed by decades of famine and strife.

Early Dynastic Period

The historical shows of ancient Egypt begin with Egypt as a unified state, which occurred sometime about 3150 BC. According to Egyptian tradition Menes, thought to have merged Upper and Lower Egypt, was the first pharaoh. This Egyptian culture, traditions, art construction, architecture, and social structure was closely tied to religion, remarkably stable, and changed little over a period of nearly 3000 years. Egyptian chronology, which involves regnal years, started around this time. The conventional Egyptian chronology is the chronology accepted during the twentieth century, but it does not include any of the leading revision proposals that also have been made in that time. Even within a single work, archaeologists often will offer several possible dates or even different whole chronologies as possibilities. Consequently, there may be discrepancies between dates showed here and in articles on particular swayer or topics related to ancient Egypt. There likewise are several manageable spellings of the names. Typically, Egyptologists separate the history of pharaonic civilization using a schedule laid out first by Manetho's Aegyptiaca [History of Egypt] that was written during the Ptolemaic era, during the 3rd century BC.

Prior to the union of Egypt, the land was settled with individual villages. With the early dynasties, and for some of Egypt's history thereafter, the country came to be known as the Two Lands. The rulers made a national governing and appointed royal governors.

Matching to Manetho, the 1st pharaoh was Menes, but archaeological findings support the view that the first pharaoh to claim to have united the two lands was Narmer (the last pharaoh of the Protodynastic Period). His name is known mainly from the famous Narmer Palette, whose pictures have been read as the act of uniting Upper and Lower Egypt. Funeral applies for the elite resulted in the construction of mastaba tombs, which later got models for accompanying Old Kingdom buildings such as the Step pyramid.

Predynastic Period

This period predates the unification of the north and south parts of Egypt. Settlements were established beside the Nile River. By 3500 BC, Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt was the biggest Egyptian settlement with the busy town spread out on the Nile for over three km. Hieroglyphs made their first appearing toward the end of this period, about 3250 BC by the latest ideas.

Toward the end of this time, around 3250 to 3100 BC, a period sometimes denoted to by Egyptologists as Dynasty 0, there were pharaohs in Upper (Southern) Egypt with Narmer being of unique prominence. The unification of Upper and Lower Egypt is often attributed to a king called Menes or Narmer, who may be the same person.

The Narmer Palette points Narmer in battle and wear the crown of Upper Egypt on one side and the crown of Lower Egypt on the opposite side.