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Hunter-gatherers start turning to settled agriculture along the Nile Valley
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At Naqada, near modern Luxor, a simple village culture flourishes
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Rectangular brick houses replace circular huts at Naqada, and other Egyptian sites. Walled towns appear
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By this date Egyptians are using both river- and ocean-going sailing boats
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The first known examples of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing date from this time
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Egypt's Early Dynastic Period begins when the First Dynasty is established under the Pharaoh Menes
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Egyptian astronomer-priests devise the first 365-day calendar
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Egyptian scribes begin to write on papyrus made from the crushed stems of a fibrous plant along the banks of the Nile River
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The Great Pyramid at Giza is built as a 480-foot-high tomb for Pharaoh Khufu
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The cat is first domesticated in Egypt
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Egypt's Old Kingdom gives way to a time of troubles called by modern scholars the "First Intermediate Period"
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Beginning of the Middle Kingdom as Mentuhotep II, ruler of Upper Egypt, conquers Lower Egypt to reunite the country
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Egypt's Middle Kingdom comes to an end and the Second Intermediate Period begins as the Hyksos kings take power in northern Egypt. They bring with them the horse-drawn chariot
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Ahmose reunites Egypt, driving out the Hyksos and begins the New Kingdom
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Queen Hatshepsut becomes Egypt's second female pharaoh
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The boy-king Tutankhamen comes to power in Egypt
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Accession of Ramses II, whose 66-year reign marks the peak of Egyptian power
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The Israelites leave Egypt on the migration to Canaan known as the Exodus
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Egypt's New Kingdom comes to an end as civil war divides the nation
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Persian Emperor Cambyses conquers Egypt
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Alexander takes control of Egypt, and the following year founds the city of Alexandria on Egypt's Mediterranean coast.
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In the power vacuum following Alexander's death, Ptolemy, Egypt's Macedonian governor, proclaims himself pharaoh; the Ptolemaic Dynasty that he founds will rule Egypt until 30 BCE
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Euclid, a Greek mathematician working at the court of Ptolemy I in Alexandria, outlines the main principles of geometry
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Text celebrating Pharaoh Ptolemy V are carved on the Rosetta Stone in Greek and Egyptian scripts; 2,000 years later they will be key to deciphering hieroglphics
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Cleopatra becomes ruler of Egypt as coregent with her brother. The two become involved in a power struggle that Cleopatra wins with the help of the visiting Julius Caesar
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Mark Antony gives Cleopatra 200,000 volumes to add to the library in Alexandria, making it the greatest library in the world
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Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide, and Rome annexes Egypt
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Egyptian astronomer and geographer Ptolemy dies. His legacy is the Earth-centered view of the universe that becomes known as the Ptolemaic-System
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Anti-Christian rioting breaks out in Alexandria
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Christianity is proclaimed the official religion of Egypt. Many temples of the old gods are destroyed
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Hypatia, a mathematician and philosopher of Alexandria, is murdered by a Christian mob, perhaps on the instructions of Cyril, archbishop of Alexandria, who resented her influence
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The Arabs conquest of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Syria seriously weakens the Byzantine Empire
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Caliph Uthman brings Muhammad's teachings together to form a single sacred volume, the Koran.
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Ali ibn Abi Talib eventually becomes caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, but his succession is disputed. Outbreak of the first civil war between Ali and dissident Muslims led by Muawiya, governor of Syria
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The civil war ends with Ali's murder and Muawiya's recognition as caliph. His Umayyad descendants hold power over the Islamic world for the next 90 years.
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Arab merchants from North Africa trade across the Sahara, exchanging salt, glass, and horses for African gold, ivory, and slaves
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As-Saffah, a descendent of Ali, mounts a successful revolt against the Umayyads. He massacres almost the entire Umayyad family and establishes his own Abbasid Dynasty, which reigns throughout the Middle East and North Africa
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The first paper mill is established in the Islamic empire
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The Arabs adopt Indian numerals, they are the "Arabic" numerals in general use today
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Fatimid general Jawhar conquered Egypt
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The House of Knowledge, a science library, is founded in Cairo
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Caliph al-Hakim orders the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
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Saladin establishes himself as Egypt's first Ayyubid sultan
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The al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque is completed in 1335, and is considered Cairo's best-preserved building from the Mamluk Sultanate
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Ottoman sultan Selim I captured Cairo from the Mamluks and transferred the center of power in Egypt to Constantinople.