dynasties of ancient Egypt
{{Short description|none}}
{{Egyptian Dynasty list}}
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".
The first 30 divisions come from the 3rd century BC Egyptian priest Manetho, whose history 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 (or may have been a continuation of the 8th), 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
{{Ancient Egypt graphical timeline}}
| class="wikitable" style="width:1100" |
| rowspan="2"|Dynasty
!rowspan="2"|Seat !colspan="3"|Period of rule !colspan="3"|Rulers |
|---|
| Start
!End !Term !First to rule !Last to rule !List / Family tree |
| colspan="8"|Early Dynastic Period |
| Dynasty I
|3150 BC |2900 BC |250 years |Qa'a |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty II
|2880 BC |2686 BC |204 years |(list) |
| colspan="8"|Old Kingdom |
| Dynasty III
|2687 BC |2613 BC |73 years |Huni |(list) |
| Dynasty IV
|2613 BC |2494 BC |112 years |Shepseskaf |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty V
|2494 BC |2345 BC |149 years |Unas |(list) |
| Dynasty VI
|2345 BC |2181 BC |164 years |Teti |Merenre Nemtyemsaf II |(list) |
| colspan="8"|First Intermediate Period |
| Dynasty VII{{efn|name="DynastyVII"|The only historical account of Dynasty VII was found in Aegyptiaca by Manetho. Some historians consider Dynasty VII to be fictitious.{{rp|393}}{{cite book |last1= Wilkinson|first1= Toby|authorlink1=Toby Wilkinson|publisher=Random House|title=The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt|year=2010|location= New York|isbn=9781408810026|page=xiii|chapter=Timeline|quote=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...}}{{rp|xiii}}}}
|Memphis{{cite encyclopedia|title=The State of Egypt in the 100th Dynasty|author1=Hratch Papazian|encyclopedia=Towards a New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom: Perspectives on the Pyramid Age|series=Harvard Egyptological Studies|editor1=Peter Der Manuelian|editor2=Thomas Schneider|publisher=BRILL|year=2015|url={{Google books|vP3dCgAAQBAJ|page=395|plainurl=yes}}}}{{rp|396}} |Unknown |Unknown |Unknown |Unknown |Unknown |(list) |
| Dynasty VIII
|Memphis{{rp|396}} |2181 BC |2160 BC |21 years |Netjerkare Siptah{{efn|name="NetjerkareSiptah"}} |(list) |
| Dynasty IX
|2160 BC |2130 BC |30 years |Meryibre Khety{{efn|name="MeryibreKhety"|Some historians consider Meryibre Khety to be the founder of Dynasty IX,{{Cite book| publisher = C. Scribner's Sons| last = Petrie| first = William M.F.| title = A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the XVIth Dynasty| date = 1897 | page=114-115 | url=https://archive.org/details/ahistoryegyptfr00petrgoog }}Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs. An introduction, Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 112.William C. Hayes, in The Cambridge Ancient History, vol 1, part 2, 1971 (2008), Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0-521-07791-5}}, p. 464.{{Cite book | publisher = Blackwell| isbn = 978-0-631-19396-8 | last1 = Grimal| first1 = Nicolas| last2 = Shaw| first2 = Ian| last3 = Grimal| first3 = Nicolas| title = A history of ancient Egypt| location = Oxford| date = 2001 | page = 140 }} while others believe that Meryibre Khety reigned during Dynasty X.{{Cite book| edition = 2., verb. u. erw. Aufl| publisher = P. von Zabern| isbn = 978-3-8053-2591-2| last = Beckerath| first = Jürgen von| title = Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen| location = Mainz| series = Münchner ägyptologische Studien| date = 1999 | page = 74 }}}} |Unknown |(list) |
| Dynasty X
|2130 BC |2040 BC |90 years |Unknown{{efn|name="Heracleopolis"|An ephemeral ("x months") successor of Merikare.}} |(list) |
| colspan="8"|Middle Kingdom |
| Dynasty XI{{efn|name="DynastyXI"|Dynasty XI before the reign of Mentuhotep II is typically classified as part of the First Intermediate Period of Egypt.}}
|2130 BC |1991 BC |139 years |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty XII
|1991 BC |1802 BC |189 years |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty XIII{{efn|name="DynastyXIII"|Some historians classify Dynasty XIII as part of the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt.}}
|1803 BC |1649 BC |154 years |Unknown |(list) |
| colspan="8"|Second Intermediate Period |
| Dynasty XIV
|1725 BC |1650 BC |75 years |Yakbim Sekhaenre{{efn|name="YakbimSekhaenre"|Some historians consider Yakbim Sekhaenre to be the founder of Dynasty XIV,{{harvp|Ryholt|1997|p=409}} while others believe Yakbim Sekhaenre reigned during Dynasty XVI.[http://www.eglyphica.de/egpharaonen/inhalt/kings/jakebmu/geburt.html Sekhaenre Yakbim on Egyphica.net]}} |Unknown |(list) |
| Dynasty XV {{small|(Hyksos)}} |1650 BC |1550 BC |100 years |(list) |
| Abydos dynasty{{efn|name="Abydos"|The existence of the Abydos dynasty is debated.}}
|1650 BC |1600 BC |50 years |Unknown |Unknown |(list) |
| Dynasty XVI
|1649 BC |1582 BC |67 years |Unknown |(list) |
| Dynasty XVII
|1580 BC |1550 BC |30 years |(list) |
| colspan="8"|New Kingdom |
| Dynasty XVIII
|1550 BC |1292 BC |258 years |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty XIX
|Thebes |1292 BC |1189 BC |103 years |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty XX
|1189 BC |1077 BC |112 years |(list) (tree) |
| colspan="8"|Third Intermediate Period |
| Dynasty XXI
|1069 BC |943 BC |126 years |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty XXII {{small|(Meshwesh)}} |943 BC |720 BC |223 years |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty XXIII {{small|(Meshwesh)}} |Heracleopolis Magna |837 BC |728 BC |109 years |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty XXIV
|Sais |732 BC |720 BC |12 years |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty XXV {{small|(Nubian)}} |744 BC |656 BC |88 years |Piye |(list) (tree) |
| colspan="8"|Late Period |
| Dynasty XXVI
|Sais |664 BC |525 BC |139 years |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty XXVII{{efn|name="DynastyXXVII"|Dynasty XXVII is a historiographical nomenclature that denotes the first line of Achaemenid monarchs that ruled over Egypt.}} {{small|(Persian)}} |525 BC |404 BC |121 years |Cambyses II{{efn|name="CambysesII"|Cambyses II was the second monarch of the Achaemenid Empire and the first Achaemenid ruler to establish control over Egypt.}} |Darius II{{efn|name="DariusII"|Darius II was the ninth monarch of the Achaemenid Empire and the eighth Achaemenid ruler to rule over Egypt.}} |(list) (tree) |
| Dynasty XXVIII
|Sais |404 BC |398 BC |6 years |(list) |
| Dynasty XXIX
|398 BC |380 BC |18 years |(list) |
| Dynasty XXX
|380 BC |343 BC |37 years |(list) |
| Dynasty XXXI{{efn|name="DynastyXXXI"|Dynasty XXXI is a historiographical nomenclature that denotes the second line of Achaemenid monarchs that ruled over Egypt.}} {{small|(Persian)}} |343 BC |332 BC |11 years |Artaxerxes III{{efn|name="ArtaxerxesIII"|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.}} |Darius III{{efn|name="DariusIII"|Darius III was the thirteenth monarch of the Achaemenid Empire and the last Achaemenid ruler to rule over Egypt.}} |(list) (tree) |
| colspan="8"|Greco–Roman Period |
| Argead dynasty {{small|(Greek)}} |Pella{{efn|name="Pella"|The capital of Macedonia during its rule over Egypt was Pella. The Egyptian administrative center during this period was Alexandria.}} |332 BC |309 BC |23 years |(list) (tree) |
| Ptolemaic dynasty {{small|(Greek)}} |305 BC |30 BC |275 years |(list) (tree) |
| colspan="8"style="text-align: center;"|Egypt was incorporated into the Roman Republic in 30 BCE. {{small|(see Roman Egypt, Roman pharaoh and List of Roman dynasties)}} |
{{Wide image|Reigning times of the 31 Egyptian Dynasties.png|600px|The 31 pre-Ptolemaic dynasties by the length of their rule (in 25-year bins),{{efn|name="Example"|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.}} 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
{{Portal|Ancient Egypt}}
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
=Works cited=
- {{cite book |last=Ryholt|first=Kim |author-link=Kim Ryholt |title=The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period c.1800-1550 B.C. |year=1997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ANRi7cM5ZwsC |publisher=Museum Tuscalanum Press |isbn=9788772894218}}
{{Ancient Egypt topics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Ancient Egyptian Dynasties}}