Ancient Egyptian Chronology
Egyptologists reconstruct ancient Egyptian chronology from a variety of sources, including dated monuments, king lists, and archaeological data. Our understanding of ancient Egyptian history is still being refined. While most elements of the chronology have been firmly established, scholars disagree on some details. The chronology presented here follows that published in Ian Shaw, ed., The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 479–83.
This chronology lists ancient Egypt’s historical periods and dynasties. Dates for specific reigns are only given for rulers who are named in this catalogue. It should be noted that certain dynasties only controlled part of Egypt, and that in some periods more than one dynasty ran concurrently.
All dates before Dynasty 26 are approximate, with the margin of error increasing the further back in time one goes. The designation BCE/CE (Before Common Era/Common Era) is used here, and corresponds to BC (before Christ) and AD (anno Domini) respectively.
Names of kings are in Italics and correspond to their respective reign dates.
—Ashley F. Arico
| Period | Approximate Dates |
|---|---|
| Predynastic Period | about 5300–3000 BCE |
| Badarian | about 4400–4000 BCE |
| Naqada I | about 4000–3500 BCE |
| Naqada II | about 3500–3200 BCE |
| Naqada III/Dynasty 0 | about 3200–3000 BCE |
| Early Dynastic Period | about 3000–2686 BCE |
| Dynasty 1 | about 3000–2890 BCE |
| Dynasty 2 | about 2890–2686 BCE |
| Old Kingdom | about 2686–2125 BCE |
| Dynasty 3 | about 2686–2613 BCE |
| Djoser | about 2667–2648 BCE |
| Dynasty 4 | about 2613–2494 BCE |
| Khufu | about 2589–2566 BCE |
| Dynasty 5 | about 2494–2345 BCE |
| Dynasty 6 | about 2345–2181 BCE |
| Teti | about 2345–2323 BCE |
| Pepi II | about 2278–2184 BCE |
| Dynasties 7 and 8 | about 2181–2160 BCE |
| First Intermediate Period | about 2160–2055 BCE |
| Dynasties 9 and 10 | about 2160–2025 BCE |
| Dynasty 11 (pre-reunification) | about 2125–2055 BCE |
| Middle Kingdom | about 2055–1650 BCE |
| Dynasty 11 (post-reunification) | about 2055–1985 BCE |
| Dynasty 12 | about 1985–1773 BCE |
| Senwosret I | about 1956–1911 BCE |
| Amenemhat II | about 1911–1877 BCE |
| Senwosret II | about 1877–1870 BCE |
| Senwosret III | about 1870–1831 BCE |
| Dynasty 13 | about 1773–after 1650 BCE |
| Dynasty 14 | about 1773–1650 BCE |
| Second Intermediate Period | about 1650–1550 BCE |
| Dynasty 15 | about 1650–1550 BCE |
| Dynasty 16 | about 1650–1580 BCE |
| Dynasty 17 | about 1580–1550 BCE |
| New Kingdom | about 1550–1069 BCE |
| Dynasty 18 | about 1550–1295 BCE |
| Amenhotep I | about 1525–1504 BCE |
| Thutmose III | about 1479–1425 BCE |
| Hatshepsut | about 1473–1458 BCE |
| Amenhotep II | about 1427–1400 BCE |
| Amenhotep III | about 1390–1352 BCE |
| Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten | about 1352–1336 BCE |
| Smenkhkare | about 1338–1336 BCE |
| Tutankhamun | about 1336–1327 BCE |
| Aye | about 1327–1323 BCE |
| Horemheb | about 1323–1295 BCE |
| Dynasty 19 | about 1295–1186 BCE |
| Ramesses II | about 1279–1213 BCE |
| Seti II | about 1200–1194 BCE |
| Dynasty 20 | about 1186–1069 BCE |
| Ramesses XI | about 1099–1069 BCE |
| Third Intermediate Period | about 1069–664 BCE |
| Dynasty 21 | about 1069–945 BCE |
| Psusennes I | about 1039–991 BCE |
| Dynasty 22 | about 945–715 BCE |
| Osorkon I | about 924–889 BCE |
| Sheshonq II | about 890 BCE |
| Dynasty 23 | about 818–715 BCE |
| Dynasty 24 | about 727–715 BCE |
| Dynasty 25 | about 747–656 BCE |
| Late Period | 664–332 BCE |
| Dynasty 26 | 664–525 BCE |
| Psamtek I | 664–610 BCE |
| Necho II | 610–595 BCE |
| Psamtek II | 595–589 BCE |
| Amasis | 570–526 BCE |
| Dynasty 27 (First Persian Period) | 525–404 BCE |
| Darius I | 522–486 BCE |
| Xerxes I | 486–465 BCE |
| Dynasty 28 | 404–399 BCE |
| Dynasty 29 | 399–380 BCE |
| Dynasty 30 | 380–343 BCE |
| Nectanebo I | 380–362 BCE |
| Teos | 362–360 BCE |
| Nectanebo II | 360–343 BCE |
| Second Persian Period | 343–332 BCE |
| Ptolemaic Period | 332–30 BCE |
| Macedonian Dynasty | 332–305 BCE |
| Ptolemaic Dynasty | 305–30 BCE |
| Ptolemy II Philadelphus | 285–246 BCE |
| Ptolemy V Epiphanes | 205–180 BCE |
| Roman Period | 30 BCE–395 CE |
How to Cite
Ashley F. Arico, “Ancient Egyptian Chronology,” in Ancient Egyptian Art at the Art Institute of Chicago by Emily Teeter and Ashley F. Arico, ed. Ashley F. Arico (Art Institute of Chicago, 2025), https://doi.org/10.53269/9780865593213/13.
© 2025 by The Art Institute of Chicago. This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
