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FIND OUT MORE. Ancient Religions 282 • First Scripts 369 • North and West Africa 240–241

History^371

5500– Pre-Dynastic

3100 BCE Period: before

the time of

the Pharaohs

3100– Early Dynastic

2686 BCE Period: Upper

and Lower

Egypt are

united – Menes

becomes first

pharaoh

2686– Old Kingdom:

2181 BCE age of the

pyramids

2181– First

2055 BCE Intermediate

Period:

breakdown of

centralized

government

2055– Middle

1650 BCE Kingdom:

Egypt reunited

1650– Second

1550 BCE Intermediate

Period: invasion

of Hyksos

people, who are

then defeated

1550– New Kingdom:

1069 BCE Egypt at its

greatest

1069– Third

747 BCE Intermediate

Period: breaks

into small

states

747– Later Period:

332 BCE invaded by

Assyrians, then

Persians

332– Ptolemaic

30 BCE Period:

conquered by

Alexander the

Great and ruled

by his general’s

family

30 BCE– Roman Period:

395 CE Egypt part of

Roman Empire

PYRAMIDS

Massive stone tombs protected the bodies of dead pharaohs.

These pyramids represented stairways leading to the sky.

They took great skill to plan and build, and were designed

to keep out robbers – but no pharaoh’s. MUMMY

has ever been found inside one.

1 PYRAMIDS AT GIZA

These pyramids were built in around 2500 BCE for the pharaohs Khufu,

Khephren, and Menkaure. They were originally covered in limestone and

topped with gold. The tallest, the Great Pyramid, was 147 m (482 ft) high.

WHO BUILT THE PYRAMIDS?

The pyramids were constructed by teams of skilled

professional builders, such as stone masons, who were

paid very well for their work. During the flood season,

when the River Nile washed over the farmlands, royal

officials commanded peasant farmers to assist the

professional workers in building the pyramids.

MUMMIFICATION

A mummy is a dead body that has been

carefully preserved, or mummified. Workers

removed organs that might rot, then dried

the body with natron (salty crystals) and

wrapped it in resin-soaked bandages.

WHY WERE PEOPLE MUMMIFIED AFTER DEATH?

Ancient Egyptians thought that people were made

up of five elements. These elements were the body,

its ka (spirit), ba (personality), name, and shadow.

By preserving the body, the Egyptians believed that

they could keep the other four elements alive. If the

body decayed, to them the person would stay dead

for ever.

MUMMY COFFIN 3

This wood-and-plaster

coffin protected the

mummified body of a

man who died around

700 BCE. It is decorated

with images of gods.

Collar made up of gold

and semi-precious stones

Magic spells written

in hieroglyphs

EGYPT’S HISTORY