How far back does Egyptian history go?

For almost 30 centuries—from its unification around 3100 B.C. to its conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.—ancient Egypt was the preeminent civilization in the Mediterranean world.

The term predynastic denotes the period of emerging cultures that preceded the establishment of the 1st dynasty in Egypt. In the 6th millennium bce there began to emerge patterns of civilization that displayed characteristics deserving to be called Egyptian.

The pyramid texts provide the first written reference to the great god Osiris, king of the dead. The so-called “utterances” are inscriptions meant to be spoken out loud (hence their designation) and, by the way in which they are written, most likely chanted.

The word hieroglyph literally means “sacred carvings”. The Egyptians first used hieroglyphs exclusively for inscriptions carved or painted on temple walls. This form of pictorial writing was also used on tombs, sheets of papyrus, wooden boards covered with a stucco wash, potsherds and fragments of limestone.

Although Egypt sits in the north of the African continent it is considered by many to be a Middle Eastern country, partly because the main spoken language there is Egyptian Arabic, the main religion is Islam and it is a member of the Arab League.