Free Don’t Know Much About® Mythology by Kenneth C. Davis Page B

Kingdom; the capital founded at Thebes, which becomes center of the Egyptian Empire. The New Kingdom dynasties usher in a period of stability and rule for nearly five hundred years, expanding Egypt’s power into Asia.
1473 Queen Hatshepsut rules as regent for her infant stepson, who will become Thutmose III.
1479 Thutmose III takes the throne and the title of pharaoh. Thutmose III attempts to obscure all references to his aunt Hatshepsut by constructing walls around her obelisks at Karnak.
1470 Massive volcanic eruption on the isle of Thera is viewed as responsible for destruction of an advanced Minoan civilization based on Crete.
1352–1336 Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, also known as Akhenaten, introduces sun worship as a form of monotheism; his religious reforms, called the “Amarna Revolution,” plunge the country into turmoil.
1336–1327 Brief reign of famed boy-king Tutankhamun, whose tomb survived virtually intact until discovered in 1922.
1295–1200 Speculative date of Jewish Exodus from Egypt.
1286 Hittites almost defeat the Egyptians at the Battle of Kadesh in modern Syria. Following this battle, Ramses II marries a Hittite princess, cementing a peace treaty between the two powers.
1279–1213 Ramses II rules; widely believed to be the pharaoh during the biblical Exodus.
1245 Ramses II moves Egyptian capital to new city, Pi-Ramesses.
1153 Death of Ramses III, Egypt’s last great pharaoh.
1070 End of Twentieth Dynasty.
     
    Third Intermediate Period 1069–664
1005–967 Reign of King David in Israel; Jerusalem established as capital.
967–931 Reign of King Solomon in Jerusalem.
945 Egyptian civil wars; a Libyan dynasty is installed, and the first non-Egyptian line rules Egypt for the next two hundred years.
814 Foundation of Carthage, Phoenician colony in North Africa.
753 Traditional date of the founding of Rome.
747 Rule of Egypt by Nubians.
671 Assyrian king Esarhaddon attacks Egypt, captures Memphis, sacks Thebes, and leaves vassal rulers in charge.
c. 670 Introduction of iron working.
     
    Late Period 664–332
664 Egypt regains independence from Assyria.
525 Persian army led by Cambyses occupies Egypt, which becomes part of the Persian Empire.
490 The Battle of Marathon marks the beginning of the Persian Wars between Greece and Persia.
457 The Golden Age of Athens under Pericles.
450 Greek historian Herodotus visits Egypt and describes customs and history, sometimes quite fancifully, in The Histories .
     
    Ptolemaic Period 332–30
332 Alexander the Great conquers Egypt; founds the city of Alexandria.
323 Death of Alexander the Great.
305 Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander’s Greek generals, becomes king of Egypt; adapts pharaonic titles and Egyptian worship.
290 In Alexandria, Euclid sets out principles of geometry in Elements.
250–100 In Alexandria, Hebrew religious texts are translated into Greek, the version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint.
c. 200 Alexandria is the scientific capital of the world, famed for its museum, library, and university.
146 Rome conquers and destroys Carthage.
49 Roman civil war. Julius Caesar in Egypt with Cleopatra.
46 Caesar returns to Rome with Cleopatra as his mistress and is made dictator of Rome.
44 Cleopatra murders Ptolemy XIV, coruler of Egypt. Julius Caesar assassinated in the Roman Senate.
41 Marc Antony meets Cleopatra and follows her to Egypt.
31 Battle of Actium; Octavian defeats Marc Antony.
30 Deaths of Marc Antony and Cleopatra; annexation of Egypt by Rome.
4 Death of King Herod; widely accepted date of birth of Jesus.
     
    For the next five centuries, Egypt remained a province of the Roman Empire. But the rise of Christianity, and later the ascendancy of Islam in the Arab world, marked the final end of the old religions of Egypt. According to Christian lore, St. Mark, a Christian missionary, founded the Egyptian (Coptic) church in Alexandria around 40 CE. The city, which already had a large community of Jews, soon also developed a thriving Christian