The label Egyptian Empire is often applied to the New Kingdom, when pharaohs of the 18th to 20th dynasties ruled a territory stretching from Nubia in the south to the Levant in the north-east. It began when Ahmose I expelled the Hyksos and reunited the country, and reached its greatest extent under Thutmose III. Famous rulers include Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II, who fought the Hittites at Kadesh and later signed a peace treaty with them. Pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings. Invasions by the Sea Peoples, economic strain and weakening central power ended the period and ushered in the Third Intermediate Period.
Before and after
- from c. 1,600 BCE to 1,046 BCEShang dynasty
- from c. 1,600 BCE to 1,100 BCEMycenaean Greece
- from c. 1,580 BCE to 1,550 BCESeventeenth Dynasty of Egypt
- from c. 1,550 BCE to 1,292 BCEEighteenth Dynasty of Egypt
- from c. 1,550 BCE to 1,070 BCEEgyptian Empire
- from c. 1,531 BCE to 1,155 BCEKassites
- c. 1,507 BCEBirth of Hatshepsut
- from 16th century BCE to 5th century BCEVedic period
- 16th century BCEVedas
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- from c. 2,601 BCE to 1,901 BCEThe Indus Valley cities reach maturity
- c. 1,051 BCEThe Phoenician alphabet spreads
- from 351 BCE to 1494Construction of Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
- from 323 BCE to 30 BCEHellenistic period
- 323 BCEConstruction of Temple of Ephesian Artemis
- 248 BCEConstruction of Terracotta Army
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 16th century BCE.