The river Nile, snaking its way across the desert and into the sea, first attracted people to its banks many thousands of years ago. At first, they moved around and survived by hunting animals and gathering what they could to eat. Then, by around 5500BC, people started to settle along the riverbank and grow crops.

Until around 3500BC, things changed slowly. This time is called the Predynastic Period. People farmed the land along the Nile, and began to dig irrigation canals to make more use of its water. They kept animals, too – many sheep, goats and pigs.

There were two main groups of villages – one in the south (Upper Egypt), and one in the north (Lower Egypt). These areas gradually became two kingdoms (which means they were ruled by kings). In Upper Egypt, early mud-brick tombs or “mastabas” have been found that contain beautiful pots and objects. These suggest that a sophisticated culture and religion were already developing, and a belief in life after death.

The kings of Upper and Lower Egypt had their own separate gods and crowns. The southern king was guarded by the vulture goddess Nekhmet, and wore a tall white crown. In Lower Egypt, the king wore a red crown and was protected by the cobra goddess Wadjet.

Around 3100BC, it seems that Upper Egypt defeated Lower Egypt in a battle, and the two areas were united for the first time. The man who then became king is a slightly mysterious figure, because three different names appear in records: Menes, Narmer and Hor-Aha. This could be because kings always had more than one name. It’s also possible that Hor-Aha was Narmer’s son. Whatever the truth is, the Narmer palette is one of the earliest records of a king who ruled both Upper and Lower Egypt.

Once Egypt was united, the land was ruled by kings for more than 3,000 years. The 1st and 2nd dynasties form the Archaic period, which lasted about 400 years. Menes (or Narmer) created a capital city for the whole country between Upper and Lower Egypt, at the bottom of the Nile Delta. This was called Memphis, which became a great city with it own special god called Ptah.

Source: The Usbourne Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt

The king was considered so important that people didn’t refer to him directly. They spoke of the “Palace” or “per-aa” instead. This is the origin of the title “pharaoh”. Kings had two different names: their “Son of Re” name, received at birth, and their nsw-bity name, received when they were crowned. Nsw-bity means “King of Upper and Lower Egypt”. We usually refer to kings by their Son of Re name.

Source: The Usbourne Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptian history is divided into three large parts, known as the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms. Smaller parts are known as periods. The pharaohs are ordered into 31 dynasties, or groups. This simplified table lists the dynasties, their approximate dates and the dates that some pharaohs reigned.

All dates are BCE (before the Common Era). BCE dates are counted back from the year 1, which is taken to be the beginning of the Common Era. There was no year 0. These dates work in the same way as BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, “the year of Our Lord”). Some dates have a “c” in front of them. This stands for “circa“, which means “about”. These dates are mainly guesses, because no one knows what the real date is.

The word pharaoh comes from the Egyptian per-aa, which meant great house of palace. It later came to mean the man who lived in the palace, the ruler. Pictures and statues show pharaohs with special badges of royalty, such as crowns, headcloths, false beards, screptres and a crook and flail held in each hand (see left).

The pharaoh was the most important person in Egypt. As a god-ruler, he was the link between the people and their gods. He therefore had to be protected and cared for. The pharaoh led a busy life. He was the high priest, the chief law-maker, the commander of the army and in charge of the country’s wealth. He had to be a clever politician too. The ancient Egyptians believed that on his death, the pharaoh became a god in his own right.

Pharaohs were generally men, but queens sometimes ruled Egypt if the pharaoh was too young. A pharaoh could take several wives. Within royal families it was common for fathers to marry daughters and for brothers to marry sisters. Sometimes pharaohs married foreign princesses in order to make an alliance with another country.

The story of ancient Egypt began about 8,000 years ago when farmers started to plant crops and raise animals in the Nile Valley. By about 3400BC the Egyptians were building walled towns. Soon after that the northern part of the country (Lower Egypt) was united with the lands upstream (Upper Egypt) to form one country under a single king. The capital of this new kingdom was established at Memphis.

During the Middle Kingdom (2050 – 1786BC), the capital was moved to the southern city of Thebes. The Egyptians gained control of Nubia and extended the area of land being farmed. Despite this period of success, the rule of the royal families of ancient Egypt was sometimes interrupted by disorder. In 1663BC, control of the country fell into foreign hands. The Hyksos, a group of Asian settlers, ruled Egypt for almost 100 years.

In 1567BC the Hyksos were overthrown by the princes of Thebes. The Thebans established the New Kingdom. This was the highest point of Egyptian civilization. Traders and soldiers travelled into Africa, Asia and the lands of the Mediterranean. However, by 525BC, the might of the Egyptians was coming to an end and Egypt became part of the Persian Empire. In 332BC rule passed to the Greeks. Finally, in 30BC, conquest was complete as Egypt fell under the control of the Roman Empire.

In 1550BC, the capital of Egypt moved south to Thebes. This marked the beginning of the New Kingdom. The ancient Egyptians no longer built pyramids as they were obvious targets for tomb robbers. The people still raised great temples to honour their dead rulers, but now the pharaohs were buried in secret underground tombs. These were hidden away in the cliffs bordering the desert on the west bank of the Nile, where the Sun set each night. It was from here that the pharaoh would journey to meet the Sun god on his death.

The burial sites near Thebes included the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and the Valley of the Nobles. The tombs were packed with glittering treasure. Practical items that the pharaoh would need in the next life were buried there too, such as food, royal clothing, gilded furniture, jewellery, weapons and chariots.

The tombs were guarded by a secret police force and were designed with traps to foil any intruders. Even so, many sites were robbed in ancient times. Luckily, some remained unspoiled and have given archaeologishts an amazing look into the world of ancient Egypt.

The Ancient Egyptian infuence on the occult is reinforced by many tales of the “mummy’s curse” which continue to capture public imagination. The earliest record of a ghost story involving a mummy was written in France in 1699. The mummy, together with Dracula and Frankenstein, prove the the theme has remained ever-popular for horror movies.

Ancient egypt’s connection with the occult was publicised when the so-called “Curse of Tutankhamun” was claimed by the press to be responsible for the death of Lord Carnarvon. Carnarvon, the expedition’s sponsor who had a history of ill-helath, died from an infected mosquito bite shortly after the tomb’s discovery. However, those wishing to support the superstition about his death never pointed out that the man mainly responsible for the famous find, Howard Carter, lived until well into his sixties.

The Teenage Queen

From an early age, Cleopatra’s family were at war – not only with the people it ruled but with each other. The people suffered under the cruelty of Cleopatra’s father, Ptolemy XII, due to his alliance with Rome, the citizens rioted and chased Ptolemy out of Egypt. Berenice, Cleopatra’s older sister became queen at this time but after only three years, Ptolemy returned from Rome taking back his throne and ordered Berenice’s execution. It is rumoured that during her three years as queen, Berenice had her sister, Cleopatra Tryphaena murdered.

If you take a good look at the 18th dynasty and follow it through carefully, you will see how often families intermarried. In a lot of instances, the Pharoah would initially marry a cousin or sister but would then go on to marry his own daughter or grand daughter. It is also rumoured that one Pharoah married his own mother. Keep reading to find out for yourself:

In 1327 BC, Tutankhamun was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

On 25 November 1922 AD his tomb was discovered by a team of archaeologists lead by Howard Carter.

Modern archaeologists began excavating the valley seriously in 1898, but they never found a tomb with its treasures still intact due to tomb robbers. It wasn’t until the summer of 1922 that the hidden staircase to Tutankhamun’s tomb was uncovered. Large amounts of debris were cleared away and finally the top of a blocked doorway covered with ancient seals was discovered.

Carter and his team dug out the rough stones that blocked the doorway and found a corridor filled from floor to ceiling with limestone chippings. After digging for about 9 metres they came across a second sealed doorway and broke it open.

This doorway lead to the antechamber and Carter and his men were bewildered by what they found. The chamber was filled with inlaid caskets, alabaster vases, egg-shaped boxes, huge chariot parts and three guilded couches in the shapes of strange animals. Two black statues were guarding another sealed doorway.

On 17 February 1923, after seven weeks spent clearing the antechamber, the formal opening of the door to the burial chamber took place. Stepping into the chamber they came up against one side of a gilded shrine, so huge that it almost filled the chamber. This was the first of four shrines, fitted one inside the other, with a great carved sarcophagus (stone coffin) at the centre. Inside this were three coffins, again one inside the other.

In the last coffin, wearing a mask of beaten gold, lay the mummy of Tutankhamun.

Beyond the burial chamber was yet another chamber. In this chamber Carter found a dramatic statue of Anubis (the jackal-headed god of mummification) and a huge gilded shrine, protected by the figures of four goddesses. All around the chamber lay caskets, shrines, and chests containing jewellery, amulets, magical objects and gold statuettes. There were also model boats with their sails and rigging still intact and a plain wooden box containing two tiny coffins. Each held a mummified foetus. After examination, these are believed to be the bodies of two stillborn baby girls and are thought to be the children of Tutankhamun and his wife, Ankhesenamum.

The last chamber to be opened was another chamber off the antechamber. It was only very small yet contained over 2,000 objects meant for Tutankhamun’s use in the next life. This chamber was filled with oils, ointments, food, wine, clothing, sandals, beds, stools, bows, arrows, board games, cosmetics and the list goes on.

Carter and his men thought it would take a few months to remove all the objects from the tomb. It took them 10 years!