The Fourth Dynasty ruled from 2613 to 2498 BC. It included the pharaohs who had the Great Pyramids built, Khufu (Cheops), Khafra (Chephren) and Menkaura (Mycerinus).
The Fifth Dynasty ruled from 2498 to 2345 BC.
The Sixth Dynasty ruled from 2345 to 2181 BC.
The First Intermediate Period (2181–2060 BC) is between the end of the Old Kingdom and the start of the Middle Kingdom.
The Old Kingdom rapidly collapsed after the death of Pepi II. He had reigned for 94 years, longer than any monarch in history, and died aged 100. The latter years of his reign were marked by inefficiency because of his advanced age.
The Union of the Two Kingdoms fell apart and regional leaders had to cope with the resulting famine.
Around 2160 BC, a new line of pharaohs tried to reunite Lower Egypt from their capital in Herakleopolis Magna. Another line of pharaohs at Thebes was reuniting Upper Egypt and a clash between the two rival dynasties was inevitable.
Around 2055 BC, Mentuhotep II, the son and successor of pharaoh Intef III defeated the Herakleopolitan pharaohs and reunited the Two Lands. This was the start of the Middle Kingdom.
The Seventh and Eighth Dynasties ruled from c. 2181 to c. 2160 BC. Many of the kings only ruled for a short time from Memphis, with Egypt divided into competing regions.
This table is based on the Abydos King List dating to the reign of Seti I, and the Turin canon.
The Ninth Dynasty ruled from 2160 to 2130 BC. The Turin King List has 18 kings in the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties. Of these, twelve names are missing and four are not complete.
The Tenth Dynasty was a local group that ruled over Lower Egypt from 2130 to 2040 BC.
The Eleventh Dynasty was a local group from Upper Egypt that ruled from 2134 to 1991 BC. The 11th dynasty came from a group of Theban nomarchs who served the kings of the 8th, 9th or 10th dynasty.
The successors of Intef the Elder, starting with Mentuhotep I, eventually conquered Egypt under Mentuhotep II.
The Middle Kingdom (2060–1802 BC) started at the end of the First Intermediate Period to the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period. Some scholars include the Eleventh, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties in the Middle Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom began to trade outside of the kingdom. This opening of trade led to the downfall of the Middle Kingdom, caused by an invasion from the Hyksos.
The second part of the Eleventh Dynasty is considered to be part of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.
The Twelfth Dynasty ruled from 1991 to 1802 BC. It is considered by later Egyptians to have been their greatest dynasty.
The Second Intermediate Period (1802–1550 BC) was a time of chaos between the end of the Middle Kingdom, and the start of the New Kingdom. During this time, the Hyksos, who later became the Fifteenth Dynasty, arrived in Egypt.
The Thirteenth Dynasty was much weaker than the Twelfth Dynasty, and was unable to hold onto the two lands of Egypt. Either at the start of the dynasty, c. 1805 BC or toward the middle of it in c. 1710 BC, the ruling family in Xois, located in the marshes of the eastern Delta, broke away from the central authority to form the Canaanite Fourteenth Dynasty.
The Hyksos made their first appearance during the reign of Sobekhotep IV. About 1720 BC they took control of the town of Avaris (the modern Tell el-Dab'a/Khata'na), conquering the kingdom of the 14th dynasty. About 1650 BC the Hyksos, perhaps led by Salitis the founder of the Fifteenth Dynasty, conquered Memphis, which ended the 13th dynasty. When the 13th dynasty collapsed, the 16th dynasty to declared its independence in Thebes. It was soon taken over by the Hyksos kings..
When the Hyksos left Upper Egypt, the Egyptian ruling house in Thebes set itself up as the Seventeenth Dynasty. This dynasty under Seqenenre Tao, Kamose and Ahmose, first pharaoh of the New Kingdom, forced the Hyksos out of Egypt and back into Asia
The Thirteenth Dynasty (following the Turin King List) ruled from 1802 to around 1649 BC. Manetho said it lasted for about 154 years.
The position of the following kings is uncertain:
The Fourteenth Dynasty was a local group from the eastern Delta, based at Avaris. They ruled from either from 1805 BC or c. 1710 BC until around 1650 BC. The dynasty had many rulers with West Semitic names and is believed to have been Canaanite in origin.
The position and identity of the following pharaohs is uncertain:
The Turin King List has extra names, but no other evidence has been found.
The Fifteenth Dynasty was started by the Hyksos people who emerged from the Fertile Crescent. They ruled over much of the Nile region, from 1674 to 1535 BC.
The Second Intermediate Period may include an independent dynasty reigning over Abydos from c. 1650 BC until 1600 BC. There are four known kings in the Abydos Dynasty, the order in which they ruled is unknown:
The Sixteenth Dynasty was a native Theban dynasty. It began during the collapse of the Memphis-based 13th dynasty c. 1650 BC and finally conquered by the Hyksos 15th dynasty c. 1580 BC. The 16th dynasty only ruled over Upper-Egypt.
The 16th Dynasty may have included the pharaohs Sneferankhre Pepi III and Nebmaatre. Their chronological position is uncertain.
The Seventeenth Dynasty was based in Upper Egypt and ruled from 1650 to 1550 BC:
The early 17th Dynasty may also have included Nebmaatre, whose dates are uncertain.
The New Kingdom (1550–1077 BC) includes the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasty of Egypt, from the 16th to the 11th century BC. It is between the Second Intermediate Period and the Third Intermediate Period.
During the New Kingdom, Egypt's armies were able to capture nearby countries. Egypt controlled Nubia in the south, and held territories in the Near East. Egyptian armies fought with Hittite armies for control of modern-day Syria. During the New Kingdom, Egypt controlled more territory than at any other time in its history.
Two of the best known pharaohs of the New Kingdom are Akhenaten and Ramesses II. Akhenaten, also known as Amenhotep IV, worshipped the god Aten. This is seen as the first monotheistic religion. Ramesses II was a powerful military ruler. He tried to recapture the territories in what is now modern Israel/Palestine, Lebanon and Syria that had been held in the Eighteenth Dynasty. At the Battle of Qadesh he led the Egyptian armies in battle against the Hittite king Muwatalli II.
The Eighteenth Dynasty ruled from c. 1550 to 1292 BC:
The Nineteenth Dynasty ruled from 1292 to 1186 BC and includes one of the greatest pharaohs, Rameses II the Great:
The Twentieth Dynasty ruled from 1190 to 1077 BC:
The Third Intermediate Period (1077–732 BC) marked the end of the New Kingdom. After the collapse of the Egyptian empire, some dynasties of Libyan origin ruled Egypt. This is also known as the Libyan Period.
The Twenty-First Dynasty was based at Tanis and was a relatively weak group. They were rulers of all Egypt, but in practice their influence was limited to Lower Egypt. They ruled from 1069 to 943 BC
The pharaohs of the Twenty-Second Dynasty were Libyans, ruling from around 943 to 728 BC:
The Twenty-Third Dynasty was another Libyan group, based at Herakleopolis and Thebes. They ruled from 837 to c. 735 BC:
Rudamun was succeeded in Thebes by a local ruler:
Not really a dynasty, the Libu were another group of western nomads from Libya who controlled the western Delta from 805 to 732 BC.
The Twenty-fourth Dynasty was a short-lived rival dynasty in the western Delta (Sais). There were only two Pharaohs, ruling from 732 to 720 BC.
The Late Period runs from 732 BC to Egypt becoming a province of Rome in 30 BC, and includes periods of rule by Nubians, Persians, and Macedonians.
Nubians invaded Lower Egypt and took the throne of Egypt under Piye although they already controlled Thebes and Upper Egypt in the early years of Piye's reign. Piye's conquest of Lower Egypt established the Twenty-fifth Dynasty which ruled until 656 BC.