Egypt Description Essay

Egypt is the world's 30th largest country. In land it is about the size as all of Central America. Egypt was said to be the gift of the Nile. The Nile is the great river, the largest in the world, winds northward from Africa and flows through Egypt in a straight line to the Mediterranean. There it forms a broad delta before empting into the sea.

Egypt was divided into eight periods and 30 dynasties. The first period was the pre-dynastic period which lasted one to two dynasties. In the pre-dynastic period the people living along the Nile River polarized into two distinct kingdoms, the upper and lower Egypt. The unifications of upper and lower Egypt took place. After this unification upper and lower Egypt was ruled under one ruler called Pharaoh Menes. This period saw the building of many brick temples and palaces. The Egyptians buried there pharaoh in small brick structures call the mastabas with the advent of this dynasty Europeans started to build pyramids and Hieroglyphic writing was fully formulated.

After the pre-dynastic period the old kingdom started and last three to six dynasties. In the old kingdom Egypt moved from a few city states into a great kingdom. The old kingdom was seen as a golden age for Egypt. The pharaohs, ruling from Memphis divided the country into provinces and appointed governors of royal blood to oversee them. In the third dynasty the pharaoh was considered to be a god. He was worshiped throughout the temples of Egypt. In the fifth dynasty the decline of the old kingdom started. One reason for this decline was religion. The king had been a god, equal to all of the other gods of Egypt. Now the priest declared that the king was only the son of god and because of this a powerful struggle between the king and the priest ensured. Economically Egypt had paid a great price to build the pyramids and now found them very expensive to maintain.

The first intermediate period then started and lasted seven to eleven dynasties during this period with the death of Pepe II; Egypt rapidly broke up into several small feudal kingdoms. These kingdoms were constantly at war with each other, each trying to conquer his neighbor. This period of anarchy as the ruling classes lost their wealth and power. Thebes succeed in overcoming the other kingdoms and united Egypt under one government.

After the unification of Egypt the middle kingdom started and lasted during the twelve dynasties. The Egyptian kingdom was strengthened and form stability. The pharaohs curbed the power of the individual governors by installing their own loyal nobles from Thebes, the building of royal pyramids had ceased. The resources of the country were put to other uses. The pharaohs rebuilt canals, dikes and easy catch basins which was very important to the Egypt's agriculture economy. They expanded the military and organized regular trade with the Minoans and Phoenicians.

Next was the second intermediate period which lasted thirteen to seventy dynasties. Egypt's political strength did not last. Egypt had split back into upper and lower Egypt and was at war with each other again. Foreigners arose to take over the delta region, they were known as