History of the Kingdoms

1. The Old Kingdom (3000-2200 BC) Upper Egypt united Egypt when conquered Lower Egypt and created a powerful country from the first fall to the delta . The capital city of this kingdom was Menphis. The most famous pharaohs of this period belonged to the 4º dynasty and they were Cheops, Chepren and Mykerinos who built the pyramids of Giza.
2. The Middle Kingdom ( 2050-1800 BC) Egypt extended to the South and conquered Nubia a region in the South of the first fall. The capital city of the period was Thebes, the capital of the Upper Egypt and new cities were built
3. The New Kingdom (1550-1100 BC ) During this period Egypt lived his maximal expansion. Egypt conquered Libya and Syria . The most important pharaohs governed in this period: Tutmose III, Amenhotep IV called too Akhenaten ( he tried a monotheist religious reform )

The most powerful person of Egypt was the pharaoh. He passed laws, ruled the country and owned most of the land.
The first pharaoh was King Menes when united Lower and Upper Egypt in an only kingdom about 3000 BC.
Pharaohs were considered as gods. Nobody could look at them in the eyes or touch their bodies . People believed that pharaohs had great magical powers ( they could make the waters of the Nile rise)
There were several famous pharaohs because of different reasons.

• Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinos ( 4th dynasty ) because they built the pyramids of Giza
• Amenhotep IV ( XVIII dynasty ) promoted a religious reform with a single god : Aton and eliminated the other gods . He changed his name to Akhenaten and built a new capital city called Akhenaten . His wife, called Nefertiti, was also very famous because of a beautiful bust.

• Tutankhamen. He was a young pharaoh from the XIX dynasty and is famous because of his tomb discovered by archeologist in 1922
• Rameses II the Great . He was a pharaoh of the XIX dynasty, he was the most powerful of all of them . He extended Egypt over Asia ( Syria and Palestine). He ordered to build a huge temple: Abu Simbel.