Page 52 - Key to Social Studies 4
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The Ancient Egyptian Kingdoms
The southern ruler, King Scorpion, invaded
the northern kingdom around 3200 B.C.E. The Middle Kingdom (2055–1786
Later, King Menes succeeded in unifying the B.C.E.)
two kingdoms and became the ruler of the After the assassination of King
rst dynasty with a line of rulers from father Mentuhotep IV, the last ruler of the
to son. eleventh dynasty, the position of ruler
Early dynastic period (3100–2686 B.C.E.) moved to his vizier Amenemhet I, the
King Menes founded Memphis, the ancient founder of the twelfth dynasty.
Egyptian capital, near the Nile Delta, which The new king built a new capital in
dominated the Egyptian society then. southern Memphis, while the main
The Old Kingdom (2686–2181 B.C.E.) religious center remained at the city of
The Old Kingdom started with the third Thebes.
dynasty when King Djoser asked Imhotep, an The New Kingdom (1567–1085 B.C.E.)
architect and priest, to build the Step Ahmose I, the rst king of the eighteenth
Pyramid of Saqqara near Memphis as a tomb dynasty, uni ed Egypt, restored control
for him. This was the world's rst major over Nubia, and began to expand Egypt's
monument. borders. He built the world’s rst great
Pyramid-building achieved its peak with the empire from Nubia to the Euphrates
development of the Great Pyramid at Giza on River. The New Kingdom had great rulers:
the edges of Cairo. This work for Khufu, who • Amenhotep I
ruled from 2589 to 2566 B.C.E., has been • Thutmose I
classi ed as one of the Seven Wonders of the • Amenhotep III
Ancient World and was followed by the • Hatshepsut
building of two other pyramids at Giza for Hatshepsut was the rst female ruler to
Khufu’s successors. Khafra ruled between rule as queen. She reigned for almost
2558–2532 B.C.E. and Menkaura ruled twenty years and is one of the most
between 2532–2503 B.C.E. famous rulers of ancient Egyptian history.
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