HISTORY
Egypt has endured as a unified state for more than 5,000 years,and archeological evidence indicates that a developed Egyptian society has existed much longer. Modern leaders urge Egyptians to take pride in their "pharaonic heritage" and in their descent from mankind's earliest civilized society. The Arabic word for Egypt is Misr, which originally connoted civilization or metropolis.
Archeological findings show that primitive man lived along the Nile long before the dynastic history of the pharaohs began. By BC 6000, organized agriculture had appeared.
In about BC 3100, Egypt was united under a ruler known as Mena, or Menes, who inaugurated the 30 pharaonic dynasties into which Egypt's ancient history is divided-the Old and Middle Kingdoms and the New Empire. For the first time, the use and management of vital resources of the Nile River came under one authority.
The pyramids at Giza (near Cairo) were built in the 4th dynasty, showing the power of the pharaonic religion and state. The Great Pyramid, the tomb of Pharoah Khufu (also known as Cheops), is the only surviving example of what the ancients called the Seven Wonders of the World. Ancient Egypt reached the peak of its power, wealth, and territorial extent in the period called the New Empire (BC 1567-1085). Authority again was centralized, and a number of military campaigns brought Palestine, Syria, and northern Iraq under Egyptian control. The language of ancient Egypt was related to the Berber and Semitic languages, with a lesser Galla and Somali influence.