Egyptology Ladder · High school · Grade 9–12

History of Ancient Egypt

A survey from the first farmers to the Arab conquest of AD 641: how the dates are built, the kingdoms and intermediate periods, the great rulers, and how Egyptians lived and governed.

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60 topics in 11 units. Builds on Ancient Egypt for Young Explorers. Leads to Religion, Art and Architecture and Archaeology and Later Scripts. Not sure this is the right course? Find your rung.

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Unit 1 The Land and Its Sources

4 topics

The Nile valley and Delta, the flood, the Two Lands, and the kinds of evidence historians use.

  1. The Nile Valley and the Delta
  2. The Inundation
  3. The Two Lands and the Nomes
  4. Sources for Egyptian History

Unit 2 Building a Chronology

7 topics

King lists, Manetho's dynasties, regnal years, astronomy and radiocarbon: how the dates are built, and how sure they are.

  1. Kingdoms and Intermediate Periods
  2. King Lists
  3. Manetho's Dynasties
  4. Dating by Regnal Years
  5. Astronomical Dates
  6. Radiocarbon and Egyptian Dates
  7. How Sure Are the Dates?

Unit 3 Before the Pharaohs

3 topics

Farming villages, the Naqada culture, the first writing and the joining of the Two Lands.

  1. Before the Kings: Badari and Naqada
  2. The First Writing
  3. The Joining of the Two Lands

Unit 4 The Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom

7 topics

The first dynasties, the pyramid age, the sun kings and the end of the Old Kingdom (c. 3000–2160 BC).

  1. The First Dynasties
  2. Djoser and the Step Pyramid
  3. Sneferu, Khufu and the True Pyramid
  4. The State That Built the Pyramids
  5. The Sun Kings and the Pyramid Texts
  6. The 6th Dynasty and the Provinces
  7. Why Did the Old Kingdom End?

Unit 5 The First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom

5 topics

Rival kings, reunification under Mentuhotep II, and the classic age of the 12th Dynasty (c. 2160–1650 BC).

  1. The First Intermediate Period
  2. Mentuhotep II Reunites Egypt
  3. The 12th Dynasty
  4. Senusret III and Nubia
  5. The Classic Age

Unit 6 The Second Intermediate Period

3 topics

The Hyksos in the Delta, the kingdom of Kush at Kerma, and the Theban war of liberation (c. 1650–1550 BC).

  1. The Hyksos
  2. The Kingdom of Kush at Kerma
  3. The Theban War

Unit 7 The New Kingdom

10 topics

Egypt's age of empire, from Ahmose to the last Ramesses (c. 1550–1069 BC).

  1. Ahmose and the New Kingdom
  2. Hatshepsut
  3. Thutmose III and Megiddo
  4. Amenhotep III and the Amarna Letters
  5. Akhenaten and Amarna
  6. Tutankhamun and the Restoration
  7. Ramesses II
  8. Kadesh and the Peace Treaty
  9. Ramesses III and the Sea Peoples
  10. The End of the New Kingdom

Unit 8 The Third Intermediate and Late Periods

5 topics

A divided Egypt, the Kushite kings, the Saite revival, Persian rule and the last native kings (1069–332 BC).

  1. A Divided Egypt
  2. The Kushite Kings
  3. The Saite Revival
  4. Persian Rule
  5. The Last Native Kings

Unit 9 Ptolemaic, Roman and Byzantine Egypt

6 topics

Alexander and the Ptolemies, Cleopatra, Roman and Christian Egypt, to the Arab conquest of AD 641.

  1. Alexander in Egypt
  2. The Ptolemies and Alexandria
  3. Cleopatra VII
  4. Roman Egypt
  5. Christian and Byzantine Egypt
  6. The Arab Conquest

Unit 10 Government, Society and Economy

7 topics

Kingship, officials, taxes and trade without coins, the people of Egypt, women's rights and the army.

  1. Divine Kingship and the Titulary
  2. The Vizier and the Officials
  3. An Economy Without Coins
  4. The People of Egypt
  5. Deir el-Medina, the Workmen's Village
  6. Women in Ancient Egypt
  7. The Army

Unit 11 Egypt and Its Neighbors

3 topics

Nubia, the Levant and the great powers, and how historians weigh the biblical connections.

  1. Egypt and Nubia
  2. Egypt and the Near East
  3. Egypt and the Bible: What Scholars Debate
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