Cleopatra came to power in Egypt at the age of 17. She reigned from 51-30 B.C. As a Ptolemy, Cleopatra was Macedonian, but even though her ancestry was Macedonian, she was still an Egyptian queen and worshiped as a god.
Alexander the Great conquers Egypt. Alexander the Great occupies Egypt and his general, Ptolemy, becomes king and founds a dynasty. Greek culture was spread throughout Egypt during this dynasty. The city of Alexandria was founded and became famous for the Great Library and the great Lighthouse of Alexandria which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Amenemhet I's long reign of 30 years did much to give stability to Egypt which was still feeling the after-effects of the 1st Intermediate which ended almost 70 years earlier. He moved the capital from Thebes to a site on the edge of the Fayoum - Lisht (meaning 'Seizer of the Two Lands' ), although the pyramid of Amenemhet I was built at Lisht, the actual site of the city is still to discovered. Next was to res-establish the nome boundaries which had been lost during the 1st Intermediate Period (perhaps a concession to guarantee the support of the nomarchs, obviously he did have a good relantionship with these nomarhs and could call upon them to provide military aid - the nomarch Khnumhotep I provided such aid when he accompanied Amenemhet I south to Elephantine with a force of 20 ships to quell any opposition to the King's rule.
The Old Kingdom (the 4th-8th Dynasties) - The Great Pyramids of Egypt were built at Dahshur and Giza and revered as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. King Unas (the last ruler of the 5th Dynasty) had the burial chamber in his pyramid inscribed with spells for the afterlife. These are referred to as the Pyramid Texts.
King Zoser lived in the Third Dynasty which lasted from 2686 BC to 2613 BC. This was the beginning of the Old Kingdom. He was born in 2667 BC and died in 2648 BC.
King Zoser's Step Pyramid of Saqqara is thought to be the first pyramid ever built in Egypt and the oldest stone building still standing in Egypt. His pyramid was built and designed by the architect Imhotep whose image is depicted on the background of this page. Before this most tombs were made of sun- dried bricks.
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