Dynasties of ancient Egypt

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In ancient Egyptian history, dynasties are series of rulers sharing a common origin. They are usually, but not always, traditionally divided into 33 pharaonic dynasties; these dynasties are commonly grouped by modern scholars into "kingdoms" and "intermediate periods".

Contents

The first 30 divisions come from the 3rd century BC Egyptian priest Manetho, whose Aegyptaiaca, was probably written for a Greek-speaking Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt but survives only in fragments and summaries. The names of the last two, the short-lived Persian-ruled 31st Dynasty and the longer-lasting Ptolemaic Dynasty, are later coinings.

While widely used and useful, the system does have its shortcomings. Some dynasties only ruled part of Egypt and existed concurrently with other dynasties based in other cities. The 7th might not have existed at all, the 10th seems to be a continuation of the 9th, and there might have been one or several Upper Egyptian Dynasties before what is termed the 1st Dynasty.

List of dynasties in ancient Egyptian history

Late Period of ancient EgyptThird Intermediate Period of EgyptNew Kingdom of EgyptSecond Intermediate Period of EgyptMiddle Kingdom of EgyptFirst Intermediate Period of EgyptOld Kingdom of EgyptEarly Dynastic Period (Egypt)Dynasties of ancient Egypt
DynastySeatPeriod of ruleRulers
StartEndTermFirst to ruleLast to rule List / Family tree
Early Dynastic Period
Dynasty I Thinis 3150 BC2900 BC250 years Narmer Qa'a (list)
(tree)
Dynasty II Thinis 2880 BC2686 BC204 years Hotepsekhemwy Khasekhemwy (list)
Old Kingdom
Dynasty III Memphis 2687 BC2613 BC73 years Djoser Huni (list)
Dynasty IV Memphis 2613 BC2494 BC112 years Sneferu Shepseskaf
or
Thamphthis [lower-alpha 1]
(list)
(tree)
Dynasty V Memphis 2494 BC2345 BC149 years Userkaf Unas (list)
Dynasty VI Memphis 2345 BC2181 BC164 years Teti Merenre Nemtyemsaf II
or
Netjerkare Siptah [lower-alpha 2]
or
Nitocris [lower-alpha 3]
(list)
First Intermediate Period
Dynasty VII [lower-alpha 4] Memphis [1] :396UnknownUnknownUnknownUnknownUnknown(list)
Dynasty VIII Memphis [1] :3962181 BC2160 BC21 years Netjerkare Siptah [lower-alpha 2]
or
Menkare
Neferirkare II (list)
Dynasty IX Heracleopolis Magna 2160 BC2130 BC30 years Meryibre Khety [lower-alpha 5] Unknown(list)
Dynasty X Heracleopolis Magna 2130 BC2040 BC90 years Meryhathor Unknown(list)
Middle Kingdom
Dynasty XI [lower-alpha 6] Thebes 2130 BC1991 BC139 years Intef Mentuhotep IV (list)
(tree)
Dynasty XII Itjtawy 1991 BC1802 BC189 years Amenemhat I Sobekneferu (list)
(tree)
Dynasty XIII [lower-alpha 7] Itjtawy 1803 BC1649 BC154 years Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep Unknown(list)
Second Intermediate Period
Dynasty XIV Avaris 1725 BC1650 BC75 years Yakbim Sekhaenre [lower-alpha 8] Unknown(list)
Dynasty XV
(Hyksos)
Avaris 1650 BC1550 BC100 years Salitis Khamudi (list)
Abydos dynasty [lower-alpha 9] Abydos 1650 BC1600 BC50 yearsUnknownUnknown(list)
Dynasty XVI Thebes
or
Avaris
1649 BC1582 BC67 years Anat-her Unknown(list)
Dynasty XVII Thebes 1580 BC1550 BC30 years Rahotep Kamose (list)
New Kingdom
Dynasty XVIII Thebes
and
Amarna
1550 BC1292 BC258 years Ahmose I Horemheb (list)
(tree)
Dynasty XIX Thebes
and
Memphis
and
Pi-Ramesses
1292 BC1189 BC103 years Ramesses I Twosret (list)
(tree)
Dynasty XX Pi-Ramesses 1189 BC1077 BC112 years Setnakhte Ramesses XI (list)
(tree)
Third Intermediate Period
Dynasty XXI Tanis 1069 BC943 BC126 years Smendes Psusennes II (list)
(tree)
Dynasty XXII
(Meshwesh)
Tanis
and
Bubastis
943 BC720 BC223 years Shoshenq I Osorkon IV (list)
(tree)
Dynasty XXIII
(Meshwesh)
Heracleopolis Magna
or
Hermopolis
or
Thebes
837 BC728 BC109 years Harsiese A Rudamun (list)
(tree)
Dynasty XXIV Sais 732 BC720 BC12 years Tefnakht Bakenranef (list)
(tree)
Dynasty XXV
(Nubian)
Memphis
and
Napata
744 BC656 BC88 years Piye Tantamani (list)
(tree)
Late Period
Dynasty XXVI Sais 664 BC525 BC139 years Psamtik I Psamtik III (list)
(tree)
Dynasty XXVII [lower-alpha 10]
(Persian)
Babylon 525 BC404 BC121 years Cambyses II [lower-alpha 11] Darius II [lower-alpha 12] (list)
(tree)
Dynasty XXVIII Sais 404 BC398 BC6 years Amyrtaeus Amyrtaeus (list)
Dynasty XXIX Mendes 398 BC380 BC18 years Nepherites I Nepherites II (list)
Dynasty XXX Sebennytos 380 BC343 BC37 years Nectanebo I Nectanebo II (list)
Dynasty XXXI [lower-alpha 13]
(Persian)
Babylon 343 BC332 BC11 years Artaxerxes III [lower-alpha 14] Darius III [lower-alpha 15] (list)
(tree)
Greco–Roman Period
Argead dynasty
(Greek)
Pella [lower-alpha 16] 332 BC309 BC23 years Alexander III of Macedon Alexander IV of Macedon (list)
(tree)
Ptolemaic dynasty
(Greek)
Alexandria 305 BC30 BC275 years Ptolemy I Soter Caesarion (list)
(tree)
Egypt was incorporated into the Roman Republic in 30 BCE.
(see Roman Egypt, Roman pharaoh and List of Roman dynasties)


Reigning times of the 31 Egyptian Dynasties.png
The 31 pre-Ptolemaic dynasties by the length of their rule (in 25-year bins), [lower-alpha 17] each dynasty being a coloured box. The early dynasties and the three Kingdoms are blue, with darker colours meaning older. Intermediate periods are red, orange, and yellow. Note that multiple dynasties could reign from different cities simultaneously in intermediate periods and at the end of the Middle Kingdom. Dynastic reigning times are often very approximate; the above uses the dates of the Egyptian dynasty list template.

See also

Notes

  1. The existence of Thamphthis is not archaeologically attested.
  2. 1 2 Netjerkare Siptah could either be the last monarch of Dynasty VI or the founder of Dynasty VIII depending on the historian's characterization.
  3. The existence of Nitocris is not archaeologically attested.
  4. The only historical account of Dynasty VII was found in Aegyptiaca by Manetho. Some historians consider Dynasty VII to be fictitious. [1] :393 [2] :xiii
  5. Some historians consider Meryibre Khety to be the founder of Dynasty IX, [3] [4] [5] [6] while others believe that Meryibre Khety reigned during Dynasty X. [7]
  6. Dynasty XI before the reign of Mentuhotep II is typically classified as part of the First Intermediate Period of Egypt.
  7. Some historians classify Dynasty XIII as part of the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt.
  8. Some historians consider Yakbim Sekhaenre to be the founder of Dynasty XIV, [8] while others believe Yakbim Sekhaenre reigned during Dynasty XVI. [9]
  9. The existence of the Abydos dynasty is debated.
  10. Dynasty XXVII is a historiographical nomenclature that denotes the first line of Achaemenid monarchs that ruled over Egypt.
  11. Cambyses II was the second monarch of the Achaemenid Empire and the first Achaemenid ruler to establish control over Egypt.
  12. Darius II was the ninth monarch of the Achaemenid Empire and the eighth Achaemenid ruler to rule over Egypt.
  13. Dynasty XXXI is a historiographical nomenclature that denotes the second line of Achaemenid monarchs that ruled over Egypt.
  14. Artaxerxes III was the eleventh monarch of the Achaemenid Empire and the first Achaemenid ruler to restore control over Egypt following a 61-year hiatus.
  15. Darius III was the thirteenth monarch of the Achaemenid Empire and the last Achaemenid ruler to rule over Egypt.
  16. The capital of Macedonia during its rule over Egypt was Pella. The Egyptian administrative center during this period was Alexandria.
  17. Starting on the far right of this chart, only one dynasty lasted over 250 years (18th dynasty). Two dynasties lasted between 200 and 225 years (two boxes). One dynasty lasted between 175 and 200 years (one box), etc.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Hratch Papazian (2015). "The State of Egypt in the 100th Dynasty". In Peter Der Manuelian; Thomas Schneider (eds.). Towards a New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom: Perspectives on the Pyramid Age. Harvard Egyptological Studies. BRILL.
  2. Wilkinson, Toby (2010). "Timeline". The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt. New York: Random House. p. xiii. ISBN   9781408810026. The system of dynasties devised in the third century B.C. is not without its problems—for example, the Sixth Dynasty is now recognized as being wholly spurious, while several dynasties are known to have ruled concurrently in different parts of Egypt...
  3. Petrie, William M.F. (1897). A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the XVIth Dynasty. C. Scribner's Sons. p. 114-115.
  4. Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs. An introduction, Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 112.
  5. William C. Hayes, in The Cambridge Ancient History , vol 1, part 2, 1971 (2008), Cambridge University Press, ISBN   0-521-07791-5, p. 464.
  6. Grimal, Nicolas; Shaw, Ian; Grimal, Nicolas (2001). A history of ancient Egypt. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 140. ISBN   978-0-631-19396-8.
  7. Beckerath, Jürgen von (1999). Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen. Münchner ägyptologische Studien (2., verb. u. erw. Aufl ed.). Mainz: P. von Zabern. p. 74. ISBN   978-3-8053-2591-2.
  8. Ryholt (1997), p. 409
  9. Sekhaenre Yakbim on Egyphica.net

Works cited