It is this annual inundation, & depositing of fertile silt, along with the excellent growing conditions, which made Egypt an almost perfect environment for early agriculture.
The earliest people to settle in the Nile valley, arrived from the west. They had been nomads living on herds in the arid plains of northern Africa. After the passing of the Ice Age (after about 9,000 BCE), the Sahara went from being open grassland — excellent for the grazing herds that the nomads kept — to being ever more arid. These nomads were forced to find refuge in oases and in the few scattered lakes in the eastern Sahara. Over time this became harder to do, as the oases and lakes dried up. Archaeologists have found remains of this nomadic culture around long-dry lake beds in the eastern Sahara. Some of these nomads worked their way eastward, up into the hills to the west of the Nile, and appear to have spent a good deal of time there. It's possible that they began the transition from a nomadic lifestyle to a more sedentary one, in these hills.
At any rate, even this partly-sedentary culture moved their settlements on occasion — probably once each generation or so — and finally arrived in the Nile valley itself. Here — as I've already noted — they found an ideal place for a fully sedentary lifestyle. At first they probably lived on the vegetation that grew wild along the Nile banks, & only later learned to cultivate crops & use irrigation to keep those crops watered during the hot summer growing season.
This culture appears to have settled in the "upper," or southern, part of the Nile valley.
By this time another culture had arrived in the "lower" or northern end of the Nile valley, where the river opens up into a wide & lush delta region, where it emptied into the Mediterranean. The archaeological record does not indicate where these people came from. They may have also come in from the west, but simply along a track further to the north of the upper-Nile culture; or they may have arrived from the east or northeast. For a number of reasons, which I'll get to later, it's more probable that these northerners arrived from the northeast.
While the Nile river made agriculture easy, there was still the matter of irrigation. Egypt's blistering-hot summers could burn crops. This meant that canals had to be set up. Also, the timing of the Nile inundations needed to be tracked, so that planting could take place at optimum times. This forced the people of the primitive neolithic settlements to begin working together, constructing canals & exchanging observations about the Nile flood timing.
Such cooperation requires organization, & and as in Sumer, it was the holy men who took on this obligation. At the same time that they directed Nile agriculture, this young priesthood placated the many deities — some of which, as in Sumer, became associated with particular locations. The priesthood itself became organized, with something of a hierarchy. At the apex was the high priest.
Thus, each of the Nile cultures — the Upper and the Lower — came to be governed by a priest-king. It was up to the priest-king to ensure that the gods were placated, so that the Nile would flood on time, each year, & the crops would grow. These priest-kings also directed public works projects, as did their counterparts in Sumer. They also had the job of defending the communities from outside marauders. (Other nomads from the west and the northeast began raiding the settlements, and they had to be stopped.)
We do not know exactly how or when it happened, but these two kingdoms came to blows. Prior to warfare between them, there had been extensive contact among them — the Nile is easily navigable by boat, facilitating trade & communication. It appears that the cultures began to blend, and in fact, they were — by that time — speaking more or less the same language, & shared the same mythology & set of religious observations.
At any rate, there was a period of war, which lasted perhaps two or three centuries. At the end of it, Upper Egypt prevailed, & the priest-king of Upper Egypt assumed control of the entire Nile valley. The reasons for the war are not directly recorded or indicated by the archaeological record, however, it probably came down to territory — the growing populations needed ever more arable land, & somewhere in between them, the clash over territory eventually became a war.
Thanks to a classical-era Egyptian priest named Manetho, we have a list of the kings of Egypt, beginning with the reputed first ruler of unified Egypt. His name was Menes, & he was also known as Aha. (The reason for two names isn't clear. He may have had one name in Upper Egypt & another in Lower Egypt, or possibly one was his "given" name, while the other was a "throne" name, which he bestowed on himself, once in power. Many of Egypt's pharaohs are known by throne names which differed from their given names; this may have been a long-standing tradition even by Menes's time.) 2,920 BCE is the year traditionally assigned to the beginning of his reign, so it's at this point that Egypt was considered unified.
At any rate, it may not have been Menes, but a predecessor, who actually led Upper Egypt to victory. Menes is remembered for establishing his capital in a new settlement, Memphis, which lay in between the two kingdoms. So, it's likely that someone before him had actually conquered Lower Egypt, but he followed this up by moving the capital.
The crown of Lower Egypt had been an open crown with a high back, & a papyrus reed standing up in the front. The crown of Upper Egypt had been a conic affair with a cobra head in front. Menes put the two crowns together, inserting the cone of Upper Egypt into the open crown of Lower Egypt, & placing the reed & cobra side-by-side in the front. Thus, symbolically, the Two Kingdoms were now one, with a single crown.
They also built massive tombs for themselves, to reinforce their memories, & to impress upon later people their power & might. This was because of Egyptian religious beliefs — which held that having a healthy afterlife required the preservation of the body (in the form of mummies), which had to be stocked with things it would need (food, tools, & various accoutrements). The massive tombs contained the mummies of these pharaohs as well as hoards of possessions, to supply them in the afterlife.
A secondary benefit of these massive tombs was that the deceased pharaohs would be remembered. They would be known as impressive individuals who directed the construction of massive monuments, and thus reinforce the power of the kingship, into the future.
At first, the tombs were built in a sturdy & functional form, a standing trapezoid shape, known as mastabas (from the Arabic word for "table"). Very quickly, however, later pharaohs desired that their own tombs be more impressive than their predecessors'. So, they began by building larger & taller mastabas, then went to multi-layered mastabas (a large mastaba with a smaller one one top of it). Then they went to ever more layers — resulting in the "step pyramid" of Djoser. Djoser's successors were inspired to part from the stepped-trapezoidal shape, to a more mountainlike shape — the first "true" pyramids. There were some problems with early pyramids — they tended to collapse. The tenacious Egyptian architects invented some means to prevent this. In one case a pyramid was built which did not have straight sides, but rather edges "bent" at an obtuse angle — the so-called "bent pyramid" of King Sneferu.
Finally the architects discovered the optimum angle for a straight-sided pyramid, which allowed King Khufu to build his incredible Great Pyramid, the largest building in the world (aside from the Great Wall of China).
Khufu's successors appeared unable to build anything more impressive, so they turned away from building pyramids, and returned to mortuary-complexes based on multiple mastabas. They still directed the construction of various other projects, such as the Suez Canal, but these were all far more utilitarian than tombs.
At this point, Egypt appears to have had a single language, as there are very few regional differences in the hieroglyphs. However, the hieroglyphics may have been a representation of a special "sacred" language, and may not have actually reflected the Egyptian spoken by the the general population. Still, the hieroglyphic Egyptian reflects linguistic changes that took place over the millennia that it was used, so it must have been influenced by general changes in language.
Egyptian is a sub-branch of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language group. As such it has several points in common with other Semitic languages, such as Babylonian, Assyrian, & Hebrew. Even so, there are many differences, and Egyptian has several features that separate it from them. This may tell us something about pre-historic Egypt; it may be that the languages of the two kingdoms may have been unrelated, prior to the arrival of the two cultures in the Nile valley. The Lower Egyptians may have been a Semitic-speaking group, possibly related to Amorites and other Semitic groups in the Near East. Since it's believed that Lower Egypt had a larger population than Upper Egypt, this would explain why their unified language would be basically Semitic — but with some alterations brought into it by the non-Semitic Upper Egyptians. This is merely my own conjecture, though.
In any event, writing further helped to unify the many settlements along the Nile valley & helped empower the priestly class. In fact, the priesthood became a complex hierarchy, with great influence & authority. Technically the pharaoh was the "High Priest" of Egypt; however, many pharaohs were generals by training & left the spiritual aspects of their jobs to the actual priesthood.
One great accomplishment during the Old Kingdom period, was the division of Egypt into 42 administrative districts, or nomes (pronounced noh-mees). The 42 nomes would persist as such, throughout Egypt's history, at least well into the Islamic era. Thus the number 42 had some significance to the ancient Egyptians, and the 42 nomes are referred to many times in monumental inscriptions.
A leader named Montuhotep II managed to rebuild central authority, working from a new capital at Thebes. He instituted changes in the nation's administration, likely with the assistance of the priesthood, which was the only unifying force in Egypt after the collapse of the Old Kingdom.
The "Middle Kingdom" period which he ushered in, lasted for a couple of centuries. During this time, Egypt conducted military campaigns meant to expand her borders and drive off potential invaders. The Libyans to the west, and the Amorites and Amalekites to the northeast, were subdued. Egypt began trading with foreign lands, both overland & by sea.
This renaissance came to an end, when a people known as the Hyksos (this is the Greek version of the Egyptians' name for them) invaded from the north. The Hyksos were also called the "Sea People" and likely were a naval power. In order to subdue the Middle Kingdom, they must have had quite a formidable navy, as well as a great deal of military prowess. The Hyksos were rather clannish & appeared to have divided up Egypt after the conquered it, with portions under the control of one Hyksos clan or another. They demanded payment from the people under their control, but made no effort to centralize control of conquered Egypt. Pharaohs continued to be named, but they likely had no real authority — they were figureheads, more or less, who simply performed religious ceremonies but had no actual power of their own. In some cases, these pharaohs were Hyksos by birth, but generally, the Hyksos seemed content to allow the kingship — such as it was — to remain in Egyptian hands. Furthermore, the Hyksos did not appear to have much in the way of dealings with the Egyptian priesthood, which retained its traditions.
The Hyksos' decentralized control of the country, & their "hands-off" approach to the priesthood, was their undoing. In various places, resistance was organized. The priesthood arranged for able leaders to be named pharaoh, people who commanded the respect of many, who could inspire the Egyptian population to rise up against the Hyksos. This process probably took decades, but by the time Kamose was pharaoh, the Hyksos had been driven out.
Having thrown off the yoke of their invaders, Egypt entered a second renaissance. With an even stronger military than the Middle Kingdom had had, the pharaohs conducted campaigns in distant lands, building Egypt into a formidable empire to rival those of Assyria or the Hittites, their chief competition. For a time, their empire stretched from modern Tunisia, all the way across northern Africa, well up into Syria.
Egypt traded far and wide — reaching even further than the Middle Kingdom had — and indeed, able New Kingdom pharaohs such as Rameses II ("the Great") were quite possibly the most powerful men on earth.
Once again, outside invaders proved troublesome. This time, Nubians from the south proved quite defiant. Several pharaohs marched armies southward to subdue them, but mostly these campaigns ended disastrously. Pharaonic power was weakened. Furthermore, the pharaohs came to be at odds with the priesthood, & the priesthood made efforts to undermine the pharaohs' authority. A series of weak pharaohs, supported & controlled by the priesthood, came and went. Some of Upper Egypt was lost to the Nubians, & as territory was lost, the capital was moved several times. Finally, Egypt became a subject-state of Nubia, & the New Kingdom came to an end.
The Egyptians began to rebuild, although they would never again reach their height at the apex of the New Kingdom. Even so, this period — the Late Kingdom — was a time of peace and prosperity for Egypt. The Persians overran the Assyrians before the latter could strike at Egypt. Then, the Greeks engaged the Persians, allowing Egypt some breathing-room. The Libyans to the west, & the remnants of the Nubians to the south, occasionally violated the borders of Egypt, however, there were no serious military campaigns, & the pharaohs conducted no campaigns abroad.
Even so, the Persians eventually came knocking. They overwhelmed Egypt easily, as they had overwhelmed everyone else — except the Greeks. Once in control, Persian military governors were placed in control of Egypt, and these assumed the office & title of pharaoh. The last Egyptian-born pharaoh was Nectanebo II, who was defeated and fled to Ethiopia in 343 BCE.
When Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeated the forces of Persia, which is another of my "Great Moments in History," he assumed control of Egypt. In fact, the Egyptians welcomed him, as their liberator, & he briefly held the title of pharaoh. They saw him as divine — as divine as their own great pharaohs of the past — and looked up to him. Alexander ordered the construction of a new capital, at the edge of the Nile delta (a convenient place from which he could govern), Alexandria.
One of Alexander's generals, Ptolemy (also known as Soter I) became military governor — and pharaoh — after Alexander's death. He thus founded the "Ptolemaic Dynasty" of Egypt. Rather than being part of a larger Alexandrian empire (which had been Alexander's dream, but it never materialized), the Ptolemaic pharaohs governed Egypt competently as a sovereign state. By the end of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, Rome had grown immensely powerful & had absorbed most of Alexander's conquests. The last Ptolemaic pharaoh, the famous Cleopatra VII, embroiled herself in Roman politics, in an effort to make the best of what her predecessors had known was coming — Roman control over Egypt. She cast her lot with Marc Antony, & with his defeat at the hands of Octavian, she killed herself rather than submit to conquest by Octavian.
The Egyptians were Christianized in relatively short order, after Constantine's grant of tolerance to that religion in 313 AD. Alexandria became a "metropolitan" city, with a patriarch as its chief spiritual leader (much as Constantinople, Rome, Antioch & Jerusalem had patriarchs). The hermitic movement — which led directly to the monastic movement begun by St. Benedict — had its origins in the mystics of Alexandria, who retreated to the wilderness in order to better understand God. To this day there remains a solely Egyptian Christian Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church ("Coptic" comes from the Greek name for the Egyptians).
After the rise of Islam, however, Egypt found itself under attack once more. Arabians swarmed into the Nile valley in massive numbers, and converted many of the Egyptians to Islam at swordpoint. By the end of the 8th century, with the exception of some small Coptic Christian enclaves, Egypt was a bastion of Islam, and has remained so, to this day.
For long periods, Egypt had a caliph (or Islamic religious leader, this word means "follower" in Arabic, meaning follower of Mohammed, who founded Islam) of its own — even when there were competing caliphs in other Islamic centers, such as Baghdad or Granada.
After most of Egypt converted to Islam, her lot was cast, and she became the prize in several contests within Islam. At times, she tried to keep her independence, but most Moslem rulers eyed Egypt as ripe for conquest. In the 12th century, Egypt was conquered by Saladin, leader of the Seljuk Turks (even though he was a Kurd by birth!); it would remain in Turkish hands, until after World War I, when the Ottoman Turkish Empire was dismantled.
Western civilization as a whole owes a great debt to Egypt, and in turn, all of this would never likely have happened, had there been two Egypts instead of one.
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