Ancient Egypt Artifacts and Antiquities

The cornerstone for Egyptian society was laid around 3100 BC with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the rule of a single King. This king, known as Pharaoh, was the central figure of the Egyptian state which built pyramids during the Old Kingdom, mainly in the 3rd Dynasty, starting at Saqqara (c. 2650 BC). The most notable of these was the Great Pyramid at Giza built by Khufu (Cheops). Later-Dynasty Pharaohs turned their attention to the building of temples with large halls and stylized columns. Dynastic rule in ancient Egypt ended in approximately 300 BC with the beginning of the Macedonian Kings and Ptolemaic reign which itself ended with its conquest by the Roman Empire and the death of Cleopatra in 31 BC.