Egypt AFTER the New Kingdom

How did Egypt fall for the final time??? You said there was a kingdom in Egypt after the new kingdom. (I can’t remember that word) Or, did they never actually fall in the first place? Also, as I asked in class, who was the final pharaoh??? Who do you think was?
Thanks again!

This is a tough question, or I guess I should say questions. I’ll do my best to answer them as some of them have more than one answer depending on what criteria are used to determine what constitutes “Ancient Egypt.” Please also know that I never feel pestered by a student who wants to know more about history!!!

From the perspective taken by our book and most historians “Ancient Egypt” is divided into the kingdoms of the Old, Middle, and New. The distinction of these kingdoms is that they are ruled by Egyptians with Egyptian customs, religion, and general way of life. The last powerful pharaoh in the Old Kingdom was Ramses II. After him the Egyptian empire gradually fell apart until Egypt itself was finally taken over around 900 BC by the Libyans. Later the Kush (who we will talk about later in the year) and finally in 670BC the Assyrians took over. During this time many different groups controlled Egypt; sometimes people would take over and call themselves Pharaoh but they were not Egyptian.

Eventually a great man named Alexander the Great, who was Macedonian and educated by the Greeks, took over Egypt and other territories as far east as India (we will talk more about him when we get to Greece). When he did he did not have any children to take over so his empire was divided between his top generals. These kingdoms were called the “Hellenistic” Kingdoms (literally means “like the Greeks”). The general who was given the region of the Nile River Valley (which, by the way, was still referred to as Egypt) was the general named Ptolemy. Ptolemy then established rule and a dynasty of his family that ruled for about 200 years. This era of Egyptian history is called Ptolemaic Egypt. His family ruled in a manner that blended Egyptian and Greek Culture, though now all writing was done in Greek and Greek was the official language of the government. The last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt was Queen Cleopatra VII. She was eventually defeated by Octavian Augustus Caesar of Rome. After Augustus took over Egypt remained part of the Roman Empire for several hundred years. Later it remained part of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire after the fall of Rome. Egypt was then taken by the Islamic Moors which is how they adopted Islam as the majority religion. Later Napoleon took over for a short time. In more recent times (1801) the British took control during its time as the major world power. Finally modern day Egypt declared its independence in 1922 and was finally able to rule its self again in 1956. By the time Egyptians began to rule again so much time had passed and so many cultures had been in Egypt that modern day Egypt and Ancient Egypt are alike in name and location alone.

Throughout all of the time following the fall of the Old Kingdom, Egypt remained an important power in that region of the world. The reason it was always being fought over was for its precious farmland and the valuable wheat it produced to feed the entire region’s population (Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East). After the fall of the Old Kingdome, all rulers in that region knew if they controlled Egyptian grain, they controlled that part of the world.