Editing Egypt (section)

==Egyptian History==
Being one of the first known human civilizations, it's a given that Egypt would have a fuckton of history under it's belt. It can be roughly divided into periods of stability with "intermediate" periods between them. It roughly spans from 5300 B.C to 30 B.C, though the periods most focused on in media are the ones on the either extreme of the timeline - the Old Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Egypt.

*'''Predynastic Period''' (~5300-3000 B.C) - Your typical "cave-men" period. The various tribes that settled the Nile valley initially forage for bountiful food growing on the banks before moving gradually to agriculture. There exist a number of "cultures" but no true polity as of yet.

*'''Early Dynastic Period''' (3000-2600 B.C) - After a struggle against the king of Naqada, the Scorpion King (alternatively known as Menes/Narmer) became the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypts. of note is that the aristocracy and nobility began to entomb themselves into mastabas which would later evolve into the pyramids we all know and love. Spans the 1.-2. dynasty.

*'''The Old Kingdom''' (2600-2100 B.C) - The formerly independent egyptian states become "Nomes" - administrative units under the authority of the Pharaoh. The period was marked by increase in administrative and overall civilizational sophistication which was necessary to construct the first pyramids which were essentially generational mega-projects (built by contract workers, not slaves). The famous Giza Pyramid Complex was erected during the old kingdom. This period was so awesome that the Egyptians from the New Kingdom (about a thousand years later) regarded it as a time of wonder and mystery. The worship of the Sun really took of and Ra was the most popular/powerful god in this era. A general decline began when the Nomarchs (nome governors) began getting uppity and this combined with an anomalous low level of Nile in 2200 B.C led to the dissolution of the kingdom and ushered the next period of fractured fiefdoms. Spans the 3.-6. Dynasty.

*'''The First Intermediate Period''' (2181-2055 B.C) - A period of obscure history and pharaohs spanning some 200 years when the Pharaoh was but  a local ruler. It is telling how most documents found in these era are called "lamentations" and describe the dissolution of the Old Kingdom and the invasion of foreigners into egypt. Many of the tombs of the Old Kingdom were looted during this period. Basically the Age of Strife for ancient Egypt. Spans 6.-10./11. Dynasties.

*'''The Middle Kingdom''' (2055-1650 B.C) - Though Egypt stabilised under the rule of pharaohs tracing their ancestry form the nome of Thebes, warfare between the two rival dynasties of Thebes and Heracleopolis continued for some time. The two major dynasties: twelfth and thirteenth returned much splendor to Egypt, but were also embroiled in frequent conflict and conquest of the surrounding lands. During the twelfth dynasty the pharaoh Amenemhat III invited some settlers from Mesopotamia which would eventually conquer Egypt and take power as the Hyksos. Here too, the low levels of Nile contributed to the decline of the Middle Kingdom into the Second Intermediate period. Spans the 11.-13. Dynasty.

*'''The Second Intermediate Period''' (1650-1550 B.C) - A relatively brief period, lasting "only" 100 years when Egypt was ruled by the foreign Hyksos. The weak thirteenth dynasty was unable to maintain it's holdings and prevent the Hyksos incursion. They established the fifteenth dynasty, led by Salitis who established his capital at Memphis. Sometime later, a native Egyptian house established the rival sixteenth dynasty at Thebes which, after a brief conquest and vassal rose up as the seventeenth dynasty and drove the Hyksos out of Egypt, establishing the New Kingdom. Spans the 14.-17. Dynasty.

*'''The New Kingdom''' (1550-1069 B.C) - Egypt one again achieved great splendor and power during the reign of the eighteenth dynasty. The pharaoh Hatshepsut (a rare female pharaoh) expanded Egyptian trade northward and southward and ruled for two decades thanks to her political skill and widespread state propaganda. Her successor Thutmose III expanded and improved the Egyptian army. Of special note is also the nineteenth dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep IV, better known as Akhenaten who founded perhaps the first monotheistic religion. This didn't catch on for long and after his death and a couple of less notable pharaohs came Ramesses II during whose reign Egypt's New Kingdom reached it's zenith. The Abu Simbel complex was constructed during his reign and he won a decisive victory against the Hittites thus securing the hold Judea/Palestine all up to Levant. After that, the last "great pharaoh" was Ramesses III who successfully fought off the "[[Pirate|Sea Peoples]]" who were ravaging the eastern Mediterranean and are now thought to have greatly contributed to the so called 'Late Bronze Age Collapse' of major civilizations such as Mycenaeans, Hittites and Babylonians. Sadly the same wars also drained Egypt's treasury and strained its resources to such a degree that it's power began to wane and this coupled with Ramesses's squabbling heirs pushed Egypt into the Third Intermediate Period. Spans 18.-21. dynasties.

*'''The Third Intermediate Period''' (1069-664 B.C) - The period is, as previous intermediate periods, characterized by decline and political instability of Egypt, only this time within the context of the larger Late Bronze Age collapse of civilizations in the Near East and Eastern Mediterranean. It was marked by division of the state for much of the period and conquest and rule by foreigners. If you want to draw a line as to when ancient Egypt truly started to decline, this is a good place as many pharaohs were either non-Egyptian or were murdered and eventually the country was conquered outright by the Persians. Spans 22.-25. dynasty.

*'''The Late Period''' (664-332. B.C) - Egypt was coming under ever increasing attacks form the nation on it's eastern borders. At first however, the Assyrians barged into Egypt and expelled the then ruling Nubians, establishing an Egyptian Psamtik I as a client-ruler under them. His twenty-sixth dynasty established a brief period of stability, lasting some 54 years, only for it to abruptly end with the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar II invading Egypt in 567. B.C and the Persians finally conquering Egypt wholly in 525. B.C. Spans 26.-31. dynasty.

*'''The Ptolemaic Period''' (332.-30. B.C) - After being under the heel of Persia for some 120 years, Egypt was conquered again by Alexander the Great, who incorporated it into his huge empire. After his death however, his empire fell into a succession crisis and Egypt was awarded to Ptolemy, a general of Alexander who was to rule it as one of the four regent-kings until Alexander's son was of age. He quickly said ''screw that'' and established himself as an independent ruler. He founded the Ptolemaic Dynasty which ruled Egypt for the next 300 years. The Ptolemaic pharaohs embraced many of the Egyptian customs while promoting many Hellenistic ones as well, making this late Egypt a curious blend of both. Eventually, it was conquered by Rome, with it's last ruler - Cleopatra killing herself rather than being captured and sent to Rome in chains. Spans Argead-Ptolemaic dynasty.

While Egyptian culture wasn't completely subsumed by the combined greco-roman one and continued to exist as the province of Aegyptus, it would never again recapture it's glory or status as an autonomous culture. After the decline of the [[Roman Empire]], Egypt would find itself under a number of different Islamic polities and today, only the Kopts hold some deeper connection to ancient Egyptians. Medieval Egypt still retained some level of power and influence, especially under the Mamluk Sultanate, as it was one of the few powers that successfully repelled the invading Mongols and remained autonomous for centuries until it was subsumed by the Ottoman Empire. Egypt remained an Ottoman dependency until Napoleon's invasion, where it remained a European vassal state until the British fully withdrew after WWII.