Dynasties

Egyptian kingships were divided into dynasties, chronological divisions from the first in the Old Kingdom, ca. 2920 b.c., until the end of the New Kingdom in 1070 b.c. The dynasties began with the unification of the two major regions the country, Upper and Lower Egypt. This dynastic chronology was devised by the priest Manetho very late in Egyptian history (third century b.c.) and is based in part on king lists carved on temple walls. Each dynasty represents a series of kings linked generally by a familial relationship and the location of the capital, but the distinctions between dynasties are not always logical, even to scholars. How these dynasties are dated is also suspect since not all were sequential, as they have been characterized, but sometimes actually took place simultaneously in different regions of the country in times of political disruption.