Old, Middle, and New: Egypt's Three Great Kingdoms

Ancient Egypt lasted for about 3,000 years — longer than the time between the Roman Empire and today. To keep track of such a huge stretch of history, historians divide it into three main chapters: the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom, each separated by tricky in-between periods. Each kingdom left behind different clues: giant pyramids, beautiful jewelry, and golden tombs like the one that held a boy king named Tutankhamun.

Name the three kingdoms of ancient Egypt in the order they happened. Explain what made the Old Kingdom famous, including one specific pyramid. Describe one way Egypt changed during the Middle Kingdom. Name at least one famous pharaoh from the New Kingdom and one thing they are known for.

The Old Kingdom lasted from about 2686 to 2181 BCE and is often called the 'Age of the Pyramids.' It was during this time that Pharaoh Khufu ordered the Great Pyramid of Giza to be built — around 2560 BCE, using an estimated 2.3 million stone blocks, some weighing as much as a small car. Old Kingdom Egyptians believed their pharaoh was a living god, so they poured enormous effort into building tombs that would help him live forever in the afterlife.

After the Old Kingdom fell apart, Egypt rebuilt itself into the Middle Kingdom, roughly 2055 to 1650 BCE. Pharaohs during this time focused less on giant pyramids and more on irrigation projects that turned desert land near the Faiyum region into farmland, plus beautiful jewelry and detailed statues. The Middle Kingdom is sometimes called Egypt's 'classical age' because so much of its art and literature became the model that later Egyptians looked back on and copied.

The New Kingdom, from about 1550 to 1070 BCE, was Egypt's most powerful era. Pharaoh Ramses II ruled for 66 years, built massive temples at Abu Simbel, and fought one of history's earliest recorded battles, the Battle of Kadesh, around 1274 BCE. This era also gave us Tutankhamun, a pharaoh who became king around age nine and died young — but whose nearly untouched tomb, discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, is packed with over 5,000 gold and jeweled objects that taught historians more about Egypt than almost any other single discovery.