Terms:
Pharaoh:
ruler of Egypt. From per-o, literally "the Big House."Upper Egypt: the south, the Nile Valley.
Lower Egypt: the north, the Nile Delta.
Languages and scripts of Egypt:
Hieroglyphic: earliest pictographic script, retained in later times for religious purposes (the name means "sacred writing") and for monumental inscriptions, as late as 5th century AD.
Hieratic ("priestly"): Hieroglyphs simplified for easier writing. Used from third millennium BC for bookkeeping and other less formal purposes.
Demotic ("popular"): Further simplification of script, from 7th century BC.
Coptic: Egyptian language written in Greek alphabet. Used primarily for early Christian texts in first millennium AD. Still used today in liturgy of Coptic Church.
Chronology:
(Note: all dates are approximate, particularly for the earlier periods. For the third millennium BC, dates may be off by as much as 100 years; for the second millennium BC, by as much as 50.)
c.3100 BC: First written records, towns, complex social organization. Menes/Narmer unifies Upper and Lower Egypt.
c.2700-2200: The Old Kingdom. Pharaohs rule from Memphis (near modern Cairo).
c.2670: Architect Imhotep builds first pyramid (the "step-pyramid" at Saqqara) for Pharaoh Djoser.
c.2600: Great Pyramids built at Giza.
c.2180-2040: First Intermediate Period. Central government collapses.
c.2040-1780: The Middle Kingdom. Pharaohs rule from Thebes (modern Luxor).
c.1750-1550: Second Intermediate Period. Egypt invaded by Hyksos tribes from Asia, who introduce horses and chariot-warfare.
c.1550-1100: The New Kingdom (also called The Empire). Pharaohs rule from Thebes. Egypt becomes an international power, occupies Syria and Palestine.
c.1500-1480: Queen Hatshepsut rules as Pharaoh.
c.1370-1347: Akhenaten, "heretic Pharaoh." Introduces monotheistic sun-worship.
c.1347-1338: Tutankhamen, "King Tut." Return to worship of traditional gods.
c.1300-1230: Ramses II "the Great." Egypt at height of its power.
c.1200-1100: Egypt attacked by Sea Peoples.
c.1100-670: Third Intermediate Period. Collapse of political unity. Different parts of Egypt are ruled by Pharaohs of Libyan or Nubian origin.
671-663: Egypt invaded and occupied by Assyrians.
663-525: Egypt recovers under Saïte Pharaohs, the last independent native dynasty.
525-332: Egypt occupied by Persian Empire.
c.450: Greek historian Herodotus visits Egypt and writes about it.
332: Alexander the Great conquers Egypt, founds Alexandria. His general Ptolemy begins a Macedonian Greek dynasty that ends with Cleopatra in 30BC.
30 BC-641 AD: Egypt a province of the Roman Empire.
c.300-550 AD: Christianity spreads; traditional Egyptian religion (and knowledge of hieroglyphs) dies out.
641 AD: Egypt conquered by Arab Muslims. By c.1000, the majority of Egyptians have converted to Islam. Egyptian language ("Coptic") gradually replaced by Arabic.
Some useful internet links:
Online Encyclopedia of Pharaohs (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism). Brief historical biographies, some pictures.
Egyptian Government website with directory of monuments, historical information, neat pictures.