CHRONOLOGY

c. 4500–3000 BC	Predynastic era
c. 3000–2600 BC	Early Dynastic Period, Dynasties 1–3 Step Pyramid of Saqqara
c. 2600–2180 BC	Old Kingdom, Dynasties 4–6 Pyramids of Giza; Tomb of Ti
c. 2180–2050 BC	First Intermediate Period
c. 2050–1650 BC	Middle Kingdom, Dynasties 11–13
c. 1650–1550 BC	Second Intermediate Period
c. 1550–1070 BC	New Kingdom, Dynasties 18–20 A list of kings in the temple of Seti I at Abydos stretches back to the earliest days of Egyptian history; craftsmen working on tombs in the Valley of the Kings live – and die – in the village of Deir el-Medina
c. 1070–712 BC	Third Intermediate Period, Dynasties 21–24 The Greenfield Papyrus of Nestanebtasheru
712–332 BC	Late Period, Dynasties 25–30 and Persian occupation
332–30 BC	Ptolemaic Period, ending with reign of Cleopatra VII – contemporary with the Republican era in Roman Italy, when the Palestrina mosaic was created
30 BC–AD 395	Roman Period, when Egypt was part of the Roman Empire; Sigmund Freud’s baboon, Herculaneum wall painting
395–640s	Byzantine Period, when Egypt was part of the Byzantine Empire, governed from Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul); Horapollo writes his guide to hieroglyphs
640s–969	Umayyad, Abassid and Tulunid Caliphates include Egypt
969–1171	Fatimid dynasty rules Egypt
1171–1250	Ayyubid dynasty, founded by Salah ad-Din (Saladin) rules Egypt
c. 1300	A Mappa Mundi made in England represents Egypt with the Old Testament granaries of Joseph
1250–1517	Mamluk rulers govern Egypt
1517	Conquest of Egypt by Ottoman sultan, Selim I
15th century	Renaissance Italy sees a rediscovery of ancient Greek and Latin texts, including several that discuss Egypt or originated there; Pavement of Siena Cathedral
16th century	Egyptian obelisk imported during Roman times is re-erected as part of Bernini’s Four Rivers fountain in Rome
18th century	Freemasonry becomes popular among well-educated or aristocratic men in Europe and the new nation of America, which puts the Freemasonic symbol of an eye and a pyramid on the reverse of its Great Seal
1798–1801	Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt, ending in defeat – and turning over to the British the Rosetta Stone and other antiquities; Vivant Denon leads a groups of French scientists, engineers and artists seeking to map and record both modern and ancient Egypt
1805	Muhamed Ali becomes wali (governor) of Egypt, under Ottoman rule, and encourages European-style industrialization to help cement his own power
1809	Publication of the first volume of the Description de l’Égypte; during a vogue for Egyptian-style design in Europe
1822	Jean-François Champollion announces his decipherment of hieroglyphs, based in part on the Rosetta Stone
1849	Death of Muhamed Ali, who is succeeded by his son and grandsons
1849–51	Maxime du Camp undertakes a photographic mission to Egypt on behalf of the French ministry of education
1851	The Crystal Palace (Great) Exhibition in Hyde Park, London, includes an Egyptian Court designed by Owen Jones, based on the colourful temples and statues he had seen in Egypt
1858	Said pasha, son of Mohamed Ali, appoints the French scholar Auguste Mariette to oversee the conservation of antiquities and monuments in Egypt
1860s onwards	Increasing European and American investment in the Egyptian cotton and sugar cane industries – and corresponding increase in travel and tourism. From the 1870s, steamboats in use for the first ‘package tours’ to Egypt; Victorian scientists develop schemes of racial classification which are exploited by some to justify colonization and slavery; novels, paintings and popular culture depict a fantasy of ‘ancient Egypt’, with moonlit Nile views and barely clad Cleopatras
1867	The Ottoman sultan recognizes the title khedive (viceroy) for the rulers of Egypt, beginning with Said’s successor Ismail
1869	Opening of the Suez Canal, funded by French shareholders, and celebrated with the premiere of Verdi’s opera Aida
1875	British government purchases khedive Ismail pasha’s shares in the Suez Canal, after a financial crisis
1882	British military occupation of Egypt, to suppress a revolt led by Egyptian general Urabi pasha; establishment of the Egypt Exploration Society, a charity for British-sponsored excavations in Egypt. For the next forty years, the British government controls Egypt, and archaeological excavations extend throughout the country, with thousands of antiquities shipped to museums and collectors around the world
1902	The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities moves from Giza Palace to its current, Italian-designed building in central Cairo
1914	Britain proclaims Egypt a Sultanate, to oppose the Ottoman Empire during the First World War
1919	Egyptian Revolution, led by Sa’ad Zaghloul, presses Britain for Egyptian self-rule
1920s–30s	The Harlem Renaissance looks to ancient Egypt to represent African accomplishments in art and culture
1922	Britain declares Egypt independent but maintains control of foreign affairs; sultan Ahmed Fuad becomes King Fuad I. Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun leads to a stand-off between excavator Howard Carter and the Egyptian antiquities service over the ownership of the finds – all of which remain in Egypt
1928	Mahmoud Mukhtar’s statue Nahdat Misr is finished and erected in Ramses Square, Cairo; it later moved to Cairo University
1952	Free Officers Movement overthrows King Farouk. Egyptian Revolution (also known as the 23 July Revolution) establishes an Egyptian republic and ends the British occupation
1956	General Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes second president of the republic and nationalizes the Suez Canal; after a military confrontation, Britai and France withdraw their forces from Egyptian territory.
1970–81	Presidency of Anwar Sadat; treasures of Tutankhamun tour cities in Europe and the U.S.
1981–2011	Presidency of Hosni Mubarak, ends as a result of the 25 January 2011 revolution

Painted wooden panel with prayers for Tabakenkhonsu, the woman shown wearing a white dress on the right. From Deir el-Bahri, Egypt, c. 675 BC. The sky-goddess Nut bends her body over the scene, with her children Isis and Osiris at the left, greeting ibis-headed Thoth.