The history of ancient Egypt spans approximately 3000 years and encompasses 33 Dynasties. The chronology of ancient Egypt remains in dispute mainly because historians and archeologists cannot determine the exact starting date of the civilization “there is a margin of doubt of some 150 years as to when the first dynasty began. Exact dates are only available after the year 664 BCE, which was the date of the beginning of the 26th Dynasty” (Robertson 105). Most historians date the chronology of ancient Egypt from approximately 3100 BCE to 30 BCE, Egypt having been unified by the conquest of the north by the great king Menes. Despite the length of Egyptian civilization, most agree that its most glorious days were at an end by 1000 BCE. Until that time there were five main divisions in Egyptian civilization, three rich and productive and two fairly insignificant transitional periods. These are known as the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms which were divided by two other divisions known as the First and Second Intermediate Periods.
During the Old Kingdom, the works of Egypt were attributable to the centralized, monarchical state. The state form was Egypt, where Menes ruled during his lifetime from the capital of the Old Kingdom, Memphis. During the Old Kingdom the center of the state would become Thebes, but during the Old Kingdom Egypt never achieved true urbanism even though Memphis and Thebes were great centers of religious and palace activity. Unlike other early civilizations, the kings of Egypt were not the ruler of a city-state community. However, when Egyptian kingship would finally emerge, the pharaohs would be more than rulers of state who were servants of gods, they would be gods. A highly agrarian civilization, the pharaohs of Egypt were thought to have the power over nature and the ability to cause the Nile to rise or lower. As such, they were considered as having the power over life itself to the masses. Pharaoh...