Memphis – Ancient Society https://www.ancientsociety.com News on Life in Ancient Times Wed, 08 Jan 2025 08:28:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.ancientsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/cropped-favicon-32x32.png Memphis – Ancient Society https://www.ancientsociety.com 32 32 167794014 How old is ancient Egypt? https://www.ancientsociety.com/egypt/how-old-is-ancient-egypt/ Thu, 14 Oct 2021 01:22:38 +0000 https://www.ancientsociety.com/?p=1479
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When people talk about the ancient Egyptian civilization, that usually begins with the unification of upper and lower Egypt. Yes there were people who lived in the area for years prior to the unification. But “egypt” as we know it today truly began with that first pharaoh and that’s therefore when we start the clock – 3150 BC.

  • Predynastic Period (Prehistoric Egypt) 6000-3150 BC
  • Early Dynastic Period 3150–2686 BC
  • Old Kingdom 2686–2181 BC
  • 1st Intermediate Period 2181–2055 BC
  • Middle Kingdom 2055–1650 BC
  • 2nd Intermediate Period 1650–1550 BC
  • New Kingdom 1550–1069 BC
  • 3rd Intermediate Period 1069–664 BC
  • Late Period 664–332 BC
  • Greco-Roman Egypt 332 BC – 629 AD
  • Medieval Egypt 641 AD – 1517 AD
  • Early Modern Egypt 1517 – 1914
  • Late Morden Egypt 1882 – Present

Predynastic Period

Anything prior to that is known as the predynastic period. This is the time before recorded history. The term predynastic simply means the period of an emerging culture that preceded the establishment of the 1st dynasty. Although some physical evidence suggests it’s much older, typically, the predynastic period is from 6,000 BC to 3150 BC.

Early Dynastic Period

This is when we have the unification of all the little villages up and down the Nile, and for the first time, you have a single ruler of both upper and lower Egypt. Before the unification of Egypt, you had a bunch of villages that really ruled themselves. The first ruler of a united Egypt was probably a man by the name of Narmer.

In a 2013 study based on radiocarbon dates, the beginning of the First Dynasty—the accession of Narmer (commonly known as Menes), was placed at 3100 BCE, give or take a century (3218–3035, with 95% confidence).

The Narmer Palette

While there are no detailed records for the first two ancient Egyptian dynasties that have survived, information about this dynasty is derived from a few monuments and other objects bearing royal names, the most important being the Narmer Palette and Narmer Macehead, as well as Den and Qa’a king lists.

The first capital of ancient Egypt was Memphis, which is located south of the Nile River delta, on the west bank of the river about 15 miles south of modern-day Cairo. Narmer founded the capital in Memphis because it was where the two lands met.

Late Period 664–332 BC

Ancient Egyptian history didn’t officially end until the late period, this was the time prior to being conquered by Alexander the Great. And that’s really when everything changed.

We then go into the Ptolemaic period which was founded by Ptolemy I Soter, a commander in Alexander The Great’s army. Some say that the end of ancient Egypt was the late period, while others say it wasn’t until the death of Cleopatra in 30 BC.

So to answer the question, how old is ancient Egypt? It began in 3150 BC, so it’s 5,175 years old (as of the year 2025).

]]> 1479 2500 Year Old Sealed Sarcophagus Opened in Egypt https://www.ancientsociety.com/egypt/2500-year-old-sealed-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt/ Tue, 06 Oct 2020 04:42:07 +0000 https://ancientsociety.com/?p=1118
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]]> It’s 2020, the world is facing a coronavirus pandemic and Egypt is cracking open a few millennia-old mummy coffins in front of a live audience.

What could go wrong?

Dozens of people crowded around on Saturday as archeologists unsealed the first of 59 sealed sarcophagi, which contain the bodies of ancient Egyptian priests who were buried some 2,500 years ago. Some onlookers wore masks but a few did not as they waited to get a look at — and a whiff of — the long-buried priest’s remains.

The first wooden sarcophagus contained a mummy wrapped in an ornate burial cloth, which had been decorated to resemble the deceased priest’s face. It and dozens of others were entombed long ago during the late period of ancient Egypt, officials say.

The wooden sarcophagi were found earlier this year in the necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo near Memphis, the former seat of Ancient Egypt’s power. The region is home to several pyramids, including the famous Giza Pyramids. The area was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 1970s.

“We are very happy about this discovery,” said Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. He says the sarcophagi are “in perfect condition,” and the discovery is “the gift of the century” for researchers in Egypt.

The coffins will eventually go on display at the new Grand Egyptian Museum that is currently under construction on the Giza plateau.

Khaled El-Anaby, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, right, and Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, left, react after opening the sarcophagus is around 2,500 years old at the Saqqara archaeological site, south of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020.

Khaled El-Anaby, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, right, and Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, left, react after opening the sarcophagus is around 2,500 years old at the Saqqara archaeological site, south of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020.My

Archeologists announced last month that they had found 13 coffins, but many more have been discovered through further exploration of the necropolis. The mummies were entombed in shafts up to 12 meters deep.

Waziri says it’s unclear how many more are inside the necropolis.

Archeologists also recovered 28 statuettes of the god of the dead, as well as a bejeweled bronze statue of the goddess Nefertum.

The coffins are the first major discovery in Egypt since the COVID-19 outbreak hit.

An archeology worker opens a sarcophagus at the Saqqara archaeological site, 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Cairo, Egypt, on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, in the presence of journalists and officials.

An archeology worker opens a sarcophagus at the Saqqara archaeological site, 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Cairo, Egypt, on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, in the presence of journalists and officials.

Egyptian authorities hope the new mummies will help reinvigorate a tourism industry that’s been devastated by the virus and local strife in recent years.

“I consider this is the beginning of a big discovery,” said Khalid el-Anany, Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities. “Today is not the end.”

 

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