Royal houses of the Two Lands

The Dynasties of
Pharaonic Egypt

Egyptian historians organised rulers into dynasties—families or sequences of kings that help us navigate more than three thousand years of political change.

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A framework for history

Thirty dynasties, many centres of power

The dynasty system is associated with the Egyptian priest and historian Manetho, who wrote under the early Ptolemies. Modern chronology also groups dynasties into kingdoms and intermediate periods.

A dynasty did not always represent a simple father-to-son line. Rival houses could overlap, regional kings could rule simultaneously, and dates remain debated—especially in Egypt’s earliest centuries.

I

Dynasties 1–8 · c. 3100–2181 BC

Formation and the Old Kingdom

Royal institutions take shape, Memphis anchors government, and pyramid complexes express the pharaoh’s relationship with gods, ancestors and the eternal landscape.

Dynasties 1–2

Early Dynastic

Royal tombs at Abydos and Saqqara, expanding administration and the enduring symbols of the unified Two Lands.

c. 3100–2686 BC
Dynasty 3

The first pyramid age

Djoser’s Step Pyramid complex transforms royal burial and establishes monumental stone as a language of kingship.

c. 2686–2613 BC
Dynasty 4

Giza and royal scale

Sneferu experiments with pyramid form; Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure build on the Giza Plateau.

c. 2613–2494 BC
Dynasties 5–6

Sun temples and pyramid texts

Solar devotion gains visibility and sacred writings appear inside royal pyramids.

c. 2494–2181 BC
II

Dynasties 9–17 · c. 2181–1550 BC

Division, reunion and the Middle Kingdom

Regional courts compete, Thebes reunifies the country, and Egyptian influence reaches deeper into Nubia before another period of divided rule.
Dynasties 9–10

Herakleopolitan rule

Northern kings govern from Herakleopolis while Theban power grows in Upper Egypt.

First Intermediate Period
Dynasty 11

Theban reunification

Mentuhotep II reunites Egypt and creates a striking royal memorial at Deir el-Bahri.

c. 2134–1991 BC
Dynasty 12

Middle Kingdom high point

Royal residences move north while fortresses, irrigation works, literature and sculpture flourish.

c. 1991–1802 BC
Dynasties 15–17

Hyksos and Thebes

Hyksos kings rule from Avaris as Theban dynasts build the movement that will reunify Egypt.

Second Intermediate Period
III

Dynasties 18–20 · c. 1550–1069 BC

The New Kingdom and imperial Egypt

Egypt becomes a wealthy international power. Thebes, Karnak and the Valley of the Kings form the sacred heart of an age shaped by conquest, diplomacy and monumental display.
18
Eighteenth Dynasty

Ahmose to Horemheb

Ahmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun make this one of Egypt’s most transformative royal houses.

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19
Nineteenth Dynasty

Seti I and Ramesses II

Military kings restore imperial ambition, carve temples across Egypt and Nubia, and monumentalise the Battle of Kadesh.

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20
Twentieth Dynasty

The last great Ramessides

Ramesses III defeats major threats, but later reigns face economic strain and weakening central authority.

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IV

Dynasties 21–30 and Ptolemies · c. 1069–30 BC

Regional powers, revival and foreign dynasties

Libyan, Nubian, Saite and Persian rulers govern Egypt before Macedonian conquest establishes the Ptolemaic kingdom.
Dynasties 21–25

Tanis, Libyan houses and Kushite kings

Power is divided among northern royal courts, Theban priesthoods and rulers from Kush who reunify Egypt.
Dynasty 26

The Saite renaissance

Kings based at Sais revive older visual forms while engaging intensively with Mediterranean trade.
Dynasties 27 and 31

Persian pharaohs

Achaemenid rulers incorporate Egypt into a wider imperial system, though resistance repeatedly challenges their rule.
305–30 BC

The Ptolemaic dynasty

Greek-speaking rulers support Egyptian temples and royal imagery while governing from cosmopolitan Alexandria.

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