Egypt's
ancient history covers a huge block of time. Looking at all this history,
archaeologists noticed something very interesting. They realized that much
Egypt's ancient history could be divided into three blocks of time. In
each block, all of the pharaohs behaved in a certain way.
Scientists
have named these blocks "The Old Kingdom", "The Middle
Kingdom", and "The New Kingdom".
The
Old Kingdom (2700 BCE-2200 BCE): Pharaohs had absolute power and
were considered gods on earth. But that's not why this kingdom is nicknamed
"The Pyramid Age". Pharaohs were buried in pyramids only
during this time period in history. After building a few pyramids,
at great expense to the state, it occurred to pharaohs that pyramids were
rather easy to spot, and thus, much easier to rob than a hidden
tomb. Things changed during the middle kingdom.
The
Middle Kingdom (2100 BCE-1800 BCE): The middle kingdom was
Egypt's Golden Age. Trade flourished, arts and literature flourished.
Egypt built strong armies to defend herself against her neighbors. During
the time period of the middle kingdom, pharaohs were expected to be good
kings and wise rulers. And pharaohs were buried in hidden tombs, all
over the place. Most probably, there are tombs yet to be discovered
because they were hidden so well.
The
New Kingdom (1500 BCE-1000 BCE):
The new kingdom was Egypt's
expansion period. Egypt expanded her borders through military conquest and
became a world power. During the time period of the
new kingdom, pharaohs were all powerful, and pharaohs were all buried in
the same geographic area called the Valley of the Kings.
