Ancient Egypt and the pharaohs

In short: Ancient Egypt was an advanced civilisation on the Nile lasting over 3,000 years. Pharaohs ruled as kings and were considered gods on earth. Pyramids, hieroglyphs and mummies are famous.

In more detail: The Nile made the land fertile. Annual floods brought silt that made farming in the desert possible.

In detail

• Pyramids: Tombs of the pharaohs; the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza (around 2560 BC) was the tallest structure in the world for millennia.
• Hieroglyphs: Picture writing, deciphered in 1822 by Champollion with the help of the Rosetta Stone.
• Religion: Gods such as Ra, Osiris, Isis, Anubis. Belief in an afterlife.
• Mummification: Embalming the dead so the body lives on in the afterlife.
• Tutankhamun: His tomb was discovered almost untouched in 1922.
• End: In 30 BC Egypt became a Roman province (roemisches-reich-aufstieg-und-niedergang).