Egyptian history is tied to the Nile. The river's fertile banks gave birth to the world's first nation state and a powerful civilization that invented writing and erected the first stone monuments. The river has been the source of economic, social, political and religious life since the area was first settled. Around 5000 years ago the independent riverfront states were unified under the rule of Menes, giving rise to the first dynasty of pharaohs.

The pharohs were considered divine and they ruled over a highly stratified society. The first pyramid was built in the 27th century BC; over the next 500 years the monuments grew increasingly grander. Pharohs power was at its greatest during the 4th dynasty when Khufo, Khafrae and Menkaurae built the Great Pyramids of Giza. Through the 6th and 7th dynasties power was diffused and small principalities began to appear. A second capital at Heracleopolis (near present-day Beni Swef, some 50 Km south Giza) was established and Egypt plunged into civil war.

An independent kingdom was established at Thebes (present-day Luxor) and, under Mentuhotep II, Egypt again came under control of a single strong pharaoh. From 1550 to 1069 BC, the New Kingdom bloomed under rulers such as Tuhotmose I, the first pharaoh to be entombed in the Valley of the Kings; his daughter Hatshepsuit, one of Egypt's few female pharaohs; and Tuthmosis III, Egypt's greatest conqueror, who expanded the empire into western Asia.

Amenhotep IV renounced the teachings of the priesthood and took on the title of Ikhnaton in honor of Aton, the disc of the rising sun. He and his wife Nefertiti established a new capital called Akhet-Aton(Horizon of Aton) devoted solely to the new god. Ikhnaton’s son by a minor wife was TutAnkhAmon, who ruled Egypt for nine years then died while still a teenager.

Thereafter, Egypt was ruled by generals: Horemoheb, Ramses I, II and III, and Seti I. They built massive monuments and temples, but the empire began to crumble and it was in bad shape when the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great arrived in 332 BC and established a new capital, bears his name till this moment.

Under Ptolemy I, Alexandria became a great city. The Ptolemies ruled Egypt for 300 years, many temples were built in the same ancient Egyptian style, plus the famous Library of Alexandria.

About 51 BC, Egypt was ruled by Ptolemy XIII and his sister Cleopatra VIII, when Julius Caesar sent his rival, Pompey, from Rome to watch over them. Ptolemy XIII had Pompey killed. Julius Caesar came to Egypt, threw Ptolemy into the Nile, appointed another of Cleopatra's brothers, Ptolemy XIV, as joint leader, and became Cleopatra's lover. In 47 BC Cleopatra gave birth to Caesar's son and two years later had her brother killed. Caesar was assassinated the following year. Marc Anthony came from Rome and he and Cleopatra fell in love. An unhappy Roman senate sent Octavos to deal with Marc Anthony 10 years later. Following the defeat of their naval forces at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, Anthony and Cleopatra committed suicide, after which Egypt became part of the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire fell apart in the 3rd and 4th centuries, and Nubians, North Africans and Persians invaded. Despite this, Egypt was relative y stable until AD 640 when the Arabs arrived. The Arabs brought Islam to Egypt and established Fustat few meters from the center of Christian Coptic Cairo. Ultimately it was the Fatimids who came to control Egypt, building the city of Al-Qahira (Cairo-The Triumphant city). Egypt prospered under the Fatimids and Cairo became a flourishing capital.

Western European Christians seized much of the weakening Fatimid Empire in the Crusades of the 11th century, but in 1187 the Syrian-based Seljuk sent an army into Egypt and Salah el-Din(Saladin) fortified Cairo and barred the Crusaders from Jerusalem. Salah el-Din enlisted Mamluk (Turkish armed force), but they ended up overthrowing his dynasty and ruled for two and a half centuries. Mamluk were great builders and fighters, they defeated the crusades in a big battle at Mansoura (North Cairo in the delta) and built many beautiful Mosques, before Egypt fell to the Turks in 1517. This continued until Napoleon invaded in 1798, only to be ousted in 1801, Mohammed Ali, a lieutenant in the Albanian contingent of the Ottoman army became the ruler of Egypt and established his dynasty to last for 150 years. Sacid Pasha, Ali's grandson, opened the Suez Canal in 1869.

Crippling national debt enabled British and French controllers to install themselves in 1879, and the British terminated the suzerainty that Turkey had over Egypt. During WWI Egypt aligned itself with the Allies, and shortly afterwards the British allowed the formation of a national political party - the Wafd. King Fuad I was elected head of the constitutional monarchy and for the next 30 years the British, the monarchists and the Wafdists jockeyed for power. The Arab League was founded after WWII by seven Arab countries, including Egypt, but the war had left Egypt in a mess, and its defeat in Israel's 1948 War saw the chaos escalate. In 1952 a group of dissident military officers, led by Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, orchestrated a bloodless coup. The British and French both hated to relinquish control, so they invaded-aided by Israel- in 1956.The USA and the Soviet Union joined the United Nations-deployed peacekeepers and insisted that the invaders should leave. Nasser became a hero, particularly among Arabs.

Nasser attempted to unite Egypt, Syria, Yemen and later Iraq in the late 1950s, emphasizing Arab unity. Following months of heightening tension between Egypt and Israel, the Jewish state attacked on 5 June 1967, starting the Six Day War. Israel destroyed the Egyptian air force, captured Sinai and closed the Suez Canal.

Anwar Sadat, Nasser's vice president, took over from Nasser when he died in 1970, and set about improving relations with the west. On 6 October 1973, the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Egypt launched a surprise attack on the Israeli occupiers of Sinai. Its army initially beat back the much better armed Israelis; although these initial gains were later reversed, the ceasefire agreement favored Sadat interests. In 1977 Sadat began making peace with Israel, leading to the 1979 Camp David Agreement. Israel agreed to withdraw from Sinai, and Egypt officially recognized Israel. Many in the Arab world felt Sadat had betrayed them, and he was assassinated on 6 October 1981.

Husni Mubarak, Sadat's vice president, was sworn in and has been the country's leader ever since. Mubarak has surprised many with his deft political footwork in the troubled region, improving relations with Israel and other Arab states at the same time. With the rise of fundamentalism in the Arab world, Mubarak's position has at times been precarious and he has suffered numerous attempts on his life. He sent 35,000 troops to fight against Iraq in the Gulf War, and although the war was seen as western imperialists fighting Arabs, Egypt's commitment proved useful in improving its relations with the west.

In 1992 Islamic fundamentalists began a campaign of violence a d intimidation against tourists and Egyptian security forces. The mid-1990s were characterized by tensions with Sudan over the contested Halaib territory, severe flooding in 1994 and a series of conflicts with fundamentalists culminating in an assassination attempt on President Mubarak in 1995. In 1997, the massacre of more than 70 people, most of them tourists, by Islamic militants shocked Egyptians and caused thousands worldwide to rethink their holiday plans. The subsequent government attack has contained the violence somewhat, and with low unemployment, rising literacy rates and increasing privatization of the economy, Egypt remains relatively stable.