Egypt grew up along the Nile River, where the first settlements began. People had settled along it and begun organized farming by about 6000 BCE. Around 3100 B.C., a king named Narmer united the lands of Upper and Lower Egypt into one country. Early Egyptians called their ruler a king. The title "pharaoh" for the ruler of Egypt comes from the New Kingdom period. A king named Sneferu needed three attempts to build the first smooth-sided pyramid.

Hatshepsut ruled Egypt as a pharaoh for more than twenty years. Her reign was a time of peace and prosperity. She first served as regent for her young stepson Thutmose III. Then she ruled in her own right. She had herself shown in statues and paintings as a male pharaoh with a false beard. Hatshepsut sent a trading trip to the land of Punt. It came back with gold, ivory, live myrrh trees and exotic animals. She also built a great temple into the cliffs at Deir el-Bahri, which is still among the most impressive in Egypt.

Tutankhamun became king when he was a child, and he ruled for less than ten years. In the New Kingdom, pharaohs were buried in tombs cut into rock. These tombs are in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor. The entrances were well hidden. Even so, nearly all of the known royal tombs were likely robbed. Howard Carter found Tutankhamun's tomb there in November 1922. As of November 2026, it is described as the most intact pharaoh's tomb ever found.

Ramesses II ruled for 66 years. By the time he died, all his subjects had been born knowing Ramesses as pharaoh. At Abu Simbel, four giant seated statues of him, each about 65 feet tall, guard the temple entrance. He also had a second, smaller temple built there for his queen, Nefertari. To save the two Abu Simbel temples from the water behind the Aswan High Dam, they were taken apart and rebuilt on higher ground.

Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of Egypt before Rome took it over as a province. She came from the Greek Ptolemaic family. That family ruled Egypt from the city of Alexandria. She learned Egyptian. By one account, she was fluent in it as well as in Greek. The rest of her family line did not learn it. After Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of Rome. It stayed under Roman rule for hundreds of years. Ancient Egypt was one of the oldest and longest-lasting civilizations in the world.

Words to know

• regent: stand-in ruler
• temple: holy house
• myrrh: sweet resin
• province: ruled territory