Marc Van De Mieroop is Professor of History at Columbia University and Director of Columbia's Center for the Ancient Mediterranean. He has also taught at Oxford University and Yale University. He is the author of King Hammurabi of Babylon, The Eastern Mediterranean in the Age of Ramessess II, and A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 B.C.

List of Illustrations xii
Maps xxviii
Preface to the Second Edition xxix 1 Introductory Concerns 11.1 What is Ancient Egypt? 1
1.2 Egypt's Geography 6
1.3 The Makeup of Egyptian Historical Sources 12
1.4 The Egyptians and Their Past 15
1.5 The Chronology of Egyptian History 20
1.6 Prehistoric Developments 21 2 The Formation of the Egyptian State (ca. 3400-2686) 272.1 Sources 29
2.2 Royal Cemeteries and Cities 31
2.3 The First Kings 33
2.4 Ideological Foundations of the New State 35
2.5 The Invention of Writing 42
2.6 Foreign Relations 47 3 The Great Pyramid Builders (ca. 2686-2345) 523.1 Sources 53
3.2 The Evolution of the Mortuary Complex 55
3.3 Administrating the Old Kingdom State 62
3.4 Ideological Debates? 67
3.5 Foreign Relations 70
3.6 Later Traditions about the Old Kingdom 73 4 The End of the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period (ca. 2345-2055) 774.1 Sources 78
4.2 The Rise of the Regions and Political Fragmentation 79
4.3 Foreign Relations 87
4.4 Competition between Herakleopolis and Thebes 90
4.5 Appraising the First Intermediate Period 92 5 The Middle Kingdom (ca. 2055-1650) 955.1 Sources and Chronology 96
5.2 Kings and Regional Elites 98
5.3 Kings as Warriors 107
5.4 Egypt in the Wider World 112
5.5 The Cult of Osiris 116
5.6 Middle Kingdom Literature and its Impact on Egyptian Culture 118 6 The Second Intermediate Period and the Hyksos (ca. 1700-1550) 1226.1 Sources and Chronology 123
6.2 Avaris: Multiple Transformations of a Delta Harbor 124
6.3 The Hyksos 127
6.4 Nubia and the Kingdom of Kush 131
6.5 Thebes in the Middle 136
6.6 The Hyksos in Later Perspective 138 7 The Birth of Empire: The Early 18th Dynasty (ca. 1550-1390) 1457.1 Egypt in a New World Order 148
7.2 Sources and Chronology 149
7.3 Egypt at War 150
7.4 Egypt and the Outside World 159 8 The Amarna Revolution and the Late 18th Dynasty (ca. 1390-1295) 1758.1 An International Age 177
8.2 Amenhotep III: The Sun King 182
8.3 From Amenhotep III to Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten 188
8.4 Akhenaten 189
8.5 Akhenaten's Memory 199 9 The Ramessid Empire (ca. 1295-1213) 2039.1 Domestic Policy: Restoration and Renewal 205
9.2 International Relations: Reforming the Empire 209
9.3 Rameses's Court 217
9.4 A Community of Tomb Builders 222 10 The End of Empire (ca. 1213-1070) 22910.1 Problems at Court 231
10.2 Breakdown of Order 235
10.3 The Decline of Royal Power 237
10.4 Pressures from Abroad 239
10.5 End of the New Kingdom 244 11 The Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1069-715) 24911.1 Sources and Chronology 250
11.2 Twin Cities: Tanis and Thebes (the 21st dynasty, 1069-945) 253
11.3 Libyan Rule (22nd to 24th dynasties, 945-715) 260
11.4 The End of the Third Intermediate Period 265 12 Egypt in the Age of Empires (ca. 715-332) 27212.1 Sources and Chronology 273
12.2 The Eastern Mediterranean in the 1st Millennium 275
12.3 Egypt, Kush, and Assyria (ca. 715-656) 279
12.4 Egypt, Greeks, and Babylonians (656-525) 283
12.5 Recollections of the Past Under the Kings of Kush and Sais 286
12.6 Egypt and Persia (525-332) 290 13 Greek and Roman Egypt (332 bc-ad 395) 30113.1 Sources and Chronology 302
13.2 Alexandria and Philae 304
13.3 Kings, Queens, and Emperors 308
13.4 Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians 313
13.5 Economic Developments: Agriculture, Finance, and Trade 319
13.6 The African Hinterland 321
13.7 The Christianization of Egypt 324 Epilogue 327Guide to Further Reading 329
Glossary 340
King List 343
Bibliography 349
Index 368