Dynasties of ancient Egypt explained

In ancient Egyptian history, dynasties are series of rulers sharing a common origin. They are usually, but not always, traditionally divided into 33 pharaonic dynasties; these dynasties are commonly grouped by modern scholars into "kingdoms" and "intermediate periods".

The first 30 divisions come from the 3rd century BC Egyptian priest Manetho, whose Aegyptaiaca, was probably written for a Greek-speaking Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt but survives only in fragments and summaries. The names of the last two, the short-lived Persian-ruled 31st Dynasty and the longer-lasting Ptolemaic Dynasty, are later coinings.

While widely used and useful, the system does have its shortcomings. Some dynasties only ruled part of Egypt and existed concurrently with other dynasties based in other cities. The 7th might not have existed at all, the 10th seems to be a continuation of the 9th, and there might have been one or several Upper Egyptian Dynasties before what is termed the 1st Dynasty.

List of dynasties in ancient Egyptian history

Dynasty	Seat	Period of rule			Rulers
		Start	End	Term	First to rule	Last to rule	List / Family tree
Early Dynastic Period
Dynasty I	Thinis	3150 BC	2900 BC	250 years	Narmer	Qa'a	(list) (tree)
Dynasty II	Thinis	2880 BC	2686 BC	204 years	Hotepsekhemwy	Khasekhemwy	(list)
Old Kingdom
Dynasty III	Memphis	2687 BC	2613 BC	73 years	Djoser	Huni	(list)
Dynasty IV	Memphis	2613 BC	2494 BC	112 years	Sneferu	Shepseskaf or Thamphthis	(list) (tree)
Dynasty V	Memphis	2494 BC	2345 BC	149 years	Userkaf	Unas	(list)
Dynasty VI	Memphis	2345 BC	2181 BC	164 years	Teti	Merenre Nemtyemsaf II or Netjerkare Siptah or Nitocris	(list)
First Intermediate Period
Dynasty VII	Memphis^[1]	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	(list)
Dynasty VIII	Memphis	2181 BC	2160 BC	21 years	Netjerkare Siptah or Menkare	Neferirkare II	(list)
Dynasty IX	Heracleopolis Magna	2160 BC	2130 BC	30 years	Meryibre Khety	Unknown	(list)
Dynasty X	Heracleopolis Magna	2130 BC	2040 BC	90 years	Meryhathor	Unknown	(list)
Middle Kingdom
Dynasty XI	Thebes	2130 BC	1991 BC	139 years	Intef	Mentuhotep IV	(list) (tree)
Dynasty XII	Itjtawy	1991 BC	1802 BC	189 years	Amenemhat I	Sobekneferu	(list) (tree)
Dynasty XIII	Itjtawy	1803 BC	1649 BC	154 years	Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep	Unknown	(list)
Second Intermediate Period
Dynasty XIV	Avaris	1725 BC	1650 BC	75 years	Yakbim Sekhaenre	Unknown	(list)
Dynasty XV	Avaris	1650 BC	1550 BC	100 years	Salitis	Khamudi	(list)
Abydos dynasty	Abydos	1650 BC	1600 BC	50 years	Unknown	Unknown	(list)
Dynasty XVI	Thebes or Avaris	1649 BC	1582 BC	67 years	Anat-her	Unknown	(list)
Dynasty XVII	Thebes	1580 BC	1550 BC	30 years	Rahotep	Kamose	(list)
New Kingdom
Dynasty XVIII	Thebes and Amarna	1550 BC	1292 BC	258 years	Ahmose I	Horemheb	(list) (tree)
Dynasty XIX	Thebes and Memphis and Pi-Ramesses	1292 BC	1189 BC	103 years	Ramesses I	Twosret	(list) (tree)
Dynasty XX	Pi-Ramesses	1189 BC	1077 BC	112 years	Setnakhte	Ramesses XI	(list) (tree)
Third Intermediate Period
Dynasty XXI	Tanis	1069 BC	943 BC	126 years	Smendes	Psusennes II	(list) (tree)
Dynasty XXII	Tanis and Bubastis	943 BC	720 BC	223 years	Shoshenq I	Osorkon IV	(list) (tree)
Dynasty XXIII	Heracleopolis Magna or Hermopolis or Thebes	837 BC	728 BC	109 years	Harsiese A	Rudamun	(list) (tree)
Dynasty XXIV	Sais	732 BC	720 BC	12 years	Tefnakht	Bakenranef	(list) (tree)
Dynasty XXV	Memphis and Napata	744 BC	656 BC	88 years	Piye	Tantamani	(list) (tree)
Late Period
Dynasty XXVI	Sais	664 BC	525 BC	139 years	Psamtik I	Psamtik III	(list) (tree)
Dynasty XXVII	Babylon	525 BC	404 BC	121 years	Cambyses II	Darius II	(list) (tree)
Dynasty XXVIII	Sais	404 BC	398 BC	6 years	Amyrtaeus	Amyrtaeus	(list)
Dynasty XXIX	Mendes	398 BC	380 BC	18 years	Nepherites I	Nepherites II	(list)
Dynasty XXX	Sebennytos	380 BC	343 BC	37 years	Nectanebo I	Nectanebo II	(list)
Dynasty XXXI	Babylon	343 BC	332 BC	11 years	Artaxerxes III	Darius III	(list) (tree)
Greco–Roman Period
Argead dynasty	Pella	332 BC	309 BC	23 years	Alexander III of Macedon	Alexander IV of Macedon	(list) (tree)
Ptolemaic dynasty	Alexandria	305 BC	30 BC	275 years	Ptolemy I Soter	Caesarion	(list) (tree)
Egypt was incorporated into the Roman Republic in 30 BCE.

See also

• List of pharaohs
• Egyptian chronology

References

Works cited

• Book: Ryholt, Kim . Kim Ryholt . The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period c.1800-1550 B.C. . 1997 . Museum Tuscalanum Press . 9788772894218.

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia: [{{Google books|vP3dCgAAQBAJ|page=395|plainurl=yes}} The State of Egypt in the 100th Dynasty]. Hratch Papazian. Towards a New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom: Perspectives on the Pyramid Age. Harvard Egyptological Studies. Peter Der Manuelian. Thomas Schneider. BRILL. 2015.