3.3 Ancient Egypt

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Discuss the unification of Ancient Egypt and the development of a distinct culture there
• Analyze the accomplishments of the pharaohs under the Old Kingdom
• Describe the changes in government and society in Egypt during the Middle Kingdom

The rich agricultural valleys historians refer to as the “Fertile Crescent,” due to the shape of this region on the map, witnessed the development of an early civilization as long ago as the fourth millennium BCE. Adjacent to this region was another fertile river valley formed by the Nile in northeast Africa. Here arose another civilization that was quite unique. Unlike the city-states of Sumer, which were not organized into an empire until the time of Sargon of Akkad, the peoples of the Nile River valley were brought together under a single ruler around 3150 BCE. Although brief intervals of disunity occurred, Egypt remained a united and powerful kingdom, the great superpower of the ancient Near East, until the end of the Bronze Age in about 1100 BCE.