The Three-Thousand-Year Timeline Behind Every Egyptian Artifact

Ancient Egypt's dynastic era ran for roughly three thousand years, from about 3100 BC until the Roman conquest in 30 BC, spanning more than thirty ruling dynasties. That makes it one of the longest sustained political timelines left behind by any ancient civilization. What survives from that span comes down mainly to three kinds of evidence: tombs, temples, and papyri.

With reporting from The Collector.