Egypt History and Culture

Around 3100 BC Upper and Lower Egypt were united under a single king, beginning three millennia of pharaonic civilization. The Old Kingdom built the pyramids of Saqqara, Dahshur and Giza; the Middle Kingdom refined literature and jewelry; and the New Kingdom, the age of Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun and Ramses II, filled Luxor with temples and the Valley of the Kings with painted tombs.

Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 331 BC, and the Ptolemies, ending with Cleopatra, made it the intellectual capital of the ancient world, with its Library and Lighthouse. Roman and Byzantine Egypt saw the rise of Coptic Christianity and the first monasteries, including Saint Catherine's in Sinai.

From the 7th century Egypt became a center of the Islamic world. The Fatimids founded Cairo and Al-Azhar in the 10th century; the Ayyubids built the Citadel; and the Mamluks covered the city with domes and minarets. Later came the dynasty of Muhammad Ali, Cairo's belle-epoque boulevards, and the modern republic. Today Egypt is building a new administrative capital and a revived Red Sea coast. Place it all in the history of the Middle East timeline.

The Great Pyramid was the tallest human-made structure on earth for nearly four thousand years. Cleopatra lived closer in time to the moon landing than to the building of the Great Pyramid. Al-Azhar is among the oldest universities in the world. Begin with our Egypt luxury travel guide, then stay near the pyramids in Cairo and explore Luxor and the Valley of the Kings.