Egypt

The ancient ruling kings of Egypt spanned many centuries that can be broken into a timeline of distinct eras: the Early Dynastic, Old, Middle, and Late Kingdoms. Manetho was proclaimed the first ruler of the ancient society in 3100BC and many more rulers presided after him. This tradition of rule despite major changes with modernization was nontheless upheld until the death in 1953 of King Farouk.

Although the preHistoric era, going as far back as 30,000BC dated well before the ancient period, civilization nonetheless is thought to have emerged from the governing dynasties of Upper and Lower Egypt around third millenia BC. The succession of the many kings amounted to about 31 dynasties which to varying degrees, the builders of the pyramids and tombs that remain today. King Djoser of the third dynasty in 2600BC is credited with the concept of the Step Pyramid and ruled during a time when many of the structures are believed have begun construction. The Kings were idolized as divine and the pyramids provided them their final resting place. Some of the more famous are the Pyramid Sphinx and Great Pyramids at Giza.

A long standing grip on power for nearly 600 years in lower Egypt near Memphis occurred with the Herocleopolitan Kings, an invador group from Libya. They conquered and ruled beginning in 2600BC while simultaneously the upper region was controlled by the Thebans who later reunified the area around 2000BC. The Middle Kingdom that followed experienced great prosperity with large land control and territory that reached down below lower Egypt to the land known as Nubia, where northern Sudan is now located and included people who came to be instrumental in labor. A fifty one year reign by Mentuhotep II was important to this era of unified power by promoting shipbuilding that could adequately navigate the Nile River and transport soldiers. In the following centuries particularly under Senusret I, the advantage of ships were extended to traverssing the Red Sea and developing commercial contacts with Ugarit, present day Syrio-Palestine.

Utilization of the land's resources for farming along the Sinai banks in the east, irrigation, and building southern fortifications to protect against invaders ocurred during the Middle Kingdom era. But after nearly a decade of drought and the replacement of King Amenemhet II who had ruled for 45 years, the high ancient period began a temporary decline. Such long reigns as enjoyed by Amenemhet II and others posed succession problems, disrupting the transition to a new king. The first known female ruler, Queen Sobekneferu, is believed to have taken power not long after this period around 1800BC.

The area of Phonecia was growing that encomapassed the mass of land including Egypt, Syrio-Palestine, Greece and areas neear the Arabian Sea that required a focus of international relations by the pharoahs of the time who included Ahomses, Tutankhamun and others. The rise of the Ramsesses Kings marked a distinctive high point as agressive wars were waged against threatening invaders of Libya to the west and construction of some of the largest catacombs, The Valley of the Kings, ocurred for entombing these rulers. Power though yet again began to wane and despite Egypt's wealth and reckognitionan, an emerging force from the Assyrians. The shifting importance in searching for tradable metals like bronze and steel began to take precedence around 7th Centurty BC which were derived from areas outside of Egypt. Regular conflict had begun to ensue and a final defeat of the major populated areas of Memphis and Thebes by the Assyrians culminated an escalating decline during an era when the Persian force also was exerting influence farther to the east.

Once the Achaemenid Dynasty of Persia arrived, they easily relinquished the power from Psamtik, the son of Ahomses II's in 500BC, and maintained a commanding influence for several centuries until the forces of Phillip the Great and his son Alexander arrived from Rome. Alexander's succesful intrusion into the area was meaningful not only as a terriotorial grab but also for claims to a lucrative stake of resources that helped finance the ongoing occupations of his campaing in areas farther to the east. Reclaiming much of the Persian land occupation by Alexander's armies for Greece and Rome actually had a helpful effect for Egypt as much of it was spared from harm and intermediary control was assumed by the local nobility.

The ruling kings, mostly under the Ptolemiec and Cleomenes era, ceded more power to the Romans as the empire was leaving an impressionable mark on the areas which it inhabited. Alexandria, the designated Egyptian capital along the Sinai area of the Mediterranean, had become the cultural spectacle representing elaborate libraries of Hellenestic Greek and Roman art and continued to command a sentemental respect by the Romans forit's monumental gradeur. During the rule of Julius Cesar, he made several visits to Alexandria during one of which, he received the 22 year old queen Cleopatra and the two embarked to live in Rome where she bore child and lived for three years until Caesar's assasination in 44BC.

Important parts of the history of the Roman Empire involve the proceding events after Caesar's death and the unfolding circumstance of his widowed wife. Roman power was passed on to Mark Antony and Octavian of whom the former had an alliance with Cleopatra. So upon gaining large control of the empire, Antony accepted flattery and interest from Queen Cleopatra and after a brief period of time, he gave away large parcels of land to her including Israel, Cyprus, Crete and Alexandria. The Roman people were furious and Octavian would not let such action stand. So Octavian patiently devised his attack and succesfully captured Antony a year later, quickly preempting the suicides of both Antony and Cleopatra that rexerted formal control by the Romans over Egypt.

Power was able to continue largely uninterupted for several hundred years under the protection of Rome with Alexandria as it's capital. Expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem in year 70 resulted in a large Semite migration into the area particularly Sinai, most of whom settled in the capital. The time is regarded as properous for it's developments in infrastructure, farming, and commerce. Progress was immense in the several centuries after the birth of Christ as government systems took form, organized religious doctrine existed and trade as far as India commenced. The progress that transpired was extraordinary and which soon would witness a signficant change in perspective for all of the Middle East, parts of Asia and Europe with the introduction of Islam in the 7th century.