The Three Kingdoms  The Old Kingdom was a time period that lasted from about 2700 BCE - 2200 BCE.  In the Old Kingdom the Egyptians built the Great Pyramids and Sphinx.  The sphinx was a man’s head on the body of a lion. Because of the Great Pyramids, the Old Kingdom was also known as the pyramid age.

 The first capital of Ancient Egypt in the Old Kingdom was Memphis, which was chosen by King Narmer.  King Narmer was the first Egyptian pharaoh to unite the upper and lower kingdoms (lands) of Ancient Egypt.  Today you could never tell Memphis was even there. It disappeared along with the temple to honor the god of craftsmen, Ptah. The capital moved later to Heliopolis.

 Heliopolis, like Memphis was one of the many cities that stood close to the Nile River. For an idea of where Heliopolis is at, it stood by what is now Cairo.  A temple was built in Heliopolis to honor the sun god, Ra

 During the Old Kingdom, Ancient Egypt was ruled by a strong government for 500 years until priests and other government officials demanded more power

 The Middle Kingdom was a period that lasted from around 2100 BCE- 1800 BCE.

 In the Middle Kingdom the Ancient Egyptians developed a new government where the pharaoh did not have total power over Egypt. The officials got their way.  However, this did not mean that their civilization was weak or that the pharaohs did not have any power.

 In fact, strong pharaohs of the 12th dynasty had complete authority. Their civilization was quite successful.

 The Egyptians had engineering projects, irrigation, and were building ditches during this period.

 The New Kingdom was a time period that lasted from around 1570 BCE-1080 BCE.

 The New Kingdom started out as a great time for Ancient Egypt, but it ended very differently.  In the New Kingdom, Ancient Egypt was one of the world’s greatest powers.

 Egypt conquered many countries around Nubia, supplying Egypt with many treasures.

 Soon Egypt developed a great empire that reached its highest point in 1400 BC. The New Kingdom capital was moved to Thebes.

 Later the pharaoh Amenhotep devoted himself to the god Aton, who replaced all the gods in the New Kingdom except for Ra, the sun god.  At the end of the New Kingdom, Ancient Egyptians moved their capital to Akenton. Soon there was another power struggle among the government officials.

 This caused Ancient Egypt to break into smaller states, making it weak. Invaders gladly took advantage of their weakness.