Chronicon
Menu
Historical Period
ENGR

Follow Egypt from the division of Tanis and Thebes through the Libyan and Kushite dynasties to the Assyrian invasions and the Saite reunification.

Use the timeline below to navigate through major events and milestones.

Third Intermediate Period · c. 1069–664 BCE
Division & Foreign Kings

The Third Intermediate Period

From the division of Egypt between the Tanite kings and the Theban priests of Amun, through the Libyan dynasties of Shoshenq I and the splintering of the land, the conquest by the Kushite pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty and the height of Taharqa, to the Assyrian sack of Thebes and Psamtik I's reunification under Sais around 664 BCE. Slide across centuries of division, foreign kings, and revival along the Nile.

1069 BC
Twenty-first Dynasty
1 / 8
In the year of Our Lord

1069 BC

Twenty-first Dynasty
  • Political

    A land divided between Tanis and Thebes

    With the New Kingdom ended, the Twenty-first Dynasty rules the Delta from Tanis while the high priests of Amun govern the south from Thebes, splitting Egypt in two.

8 milestones
Full Chronicle

The Third Intermediate Period

From the division of Egypt between the Tanite kings and the Theban priests of Amun, through the Libyan dynasties of Shoshenq I and the splintering of the land, the conquest by the Kushite pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty and the height of Taharqa, to the Assyrian sack of Thebes and Psamtik I's reunification under Sais around 664 BCE. Slide across centuries of division, foreign kings, and revival along the Nile.

  1. Twenty-first Dynasty

    • A land divided between Tanis and Thebes

      With the New Kingdom ended, the Twenty-first Dynasty rules the Delta from Tanis while the high priests of Amun govern the south from Thebes, splitting Egypt in two.

  2. Twenty-first Dynasty

    • The royal mummy caches of Thebes

      To save the great pharaohs from rampant tomb robbery, the Theban priests gather and rebury dozens of royal mummies in hidden caches.

  3. Twenty-second Dynasty

    • Shoshenq I and the Libyan dynasty

      Shoshenq I, of Libyan descent, seizes the throne and briefly reunites Egypt, then campaigns into Canaan in a raid echoed in the Hebrew Bible.

  4. An Age of Fragmentation

    • Rival kings and the splintering of power

      Egypt fractures into a patchwork of competing dynasties and local rulers, with the Twenty-third Dynasty rising alongside the Twenty-second and chiefs governing the Delta.

  5. Twenty-fifth Dynasty

    • The Kushite pharaohs conquer Egypt

      Piye, king of Kush, marches north from Napata and subdues the warring rulers of Egypt, founding the Nubian Twenty-fifth Dynasty over the whole Nile valley.

  6. Twenty-fifth Dynasty

    • Taharqa and the height of Kushite Egypt

      The Kushite pharaoh Taharqa presides over a cultural revival and an ambitious building programme, but soon faces the rising might of the Assyrian empire.

  7. Assyrian Invasions

    • The Assyrians sack Memphis and Thebes

      The Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal invade Egypt, drive out the Kushite pharaohs, and in 663 BCE sack the holy city of Thebes.

  8. Toward the Saite Revival

    • Psamtik I reunites Egypt under Sais

      Psamtik I of Sais throws off Assyrian overlordship and reunites Egypt, founding the Twenty-sixth Dynasty and ending the Third Intermediate Period.