New Kingdom of Egypt

State · 1,500–801 BCE · at its largest around 1,400 BCE

Egypt's imperial age under the 18th to 20th dynasties, when pharaohs such as Thutmose III and Ramesses II ruled from the Levant to Nubia.

Its battles, in Battle View

Battle of Kadesh (1,274 BCE)

On its lands while it lasted

Thebes (3,200–801 BCE): Capital of Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2000 BCE–1782 BCE), New Kingdom of Egypt (1500 BCE–801 BCE).
Tyre (2,750–501 BCE): Capital of Phoenicia (1150 BCE–501 BCE).
Hatshepsut (c. 1,507 BCE – 1,458 BCE): One of the few women to rule Egypt as pharaoh (c. 1479–1458 BCE), she sponsored an expedition to Punt and built a great mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari.
Akhenaten's cult of the Aten (c. 1,346 BCE): Akhenaten promoted worship of the sun disc Aten above all other gods and founded a new capital at Amarna; the traditional religion was restored after his death.
Bust of Nefertiti (c. 1,345 BCE): A painted limestone bust of Queen Nefertiti attributed to the sculptor Thutmose; found at Amarna in 1912, it is now in Berlin's Neues Museum.
Mask of Tutankhamun (1,323 BCE): The gold death mask laid over the mummy of the boy king Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, inlaid with lapis lazuli, quartz and coloured glass. Howard Carter’s team uncovered it in 1925.
Ramesses II (c. 1,303 BCE – 1,213 BCE): Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty (r. 1279–1213 BCE), known for his long reign, military campaigns and vast building works such as Abu Simbel and the Ramesseum.
Battle of Kadesh (1,274 BCE): Ramesses II fought the Hittite army of Muwatalli II near Kadesh on the Orontes, possibly the largest chariot battle ever fought; it ended without a decisive result.
Abu Simbel temples (c. 1,264 BCE): Two rock-cut temples built by Ramesses II in Nubia; in the 1960s they were cut into blocks and moved to higher ground to escape the rising waters of Lake Nasser.
Memphis (c. 1,213–1,069 BCE): Capital of New Kingdom of Egypt (1213 BCE–1069 BCE).
Late Bronze Age collapse (c. 1,200 BCE): Around 1200 BCE many Eastern Mediterranean states, including the Hittite Empire and Ugarit, collapsed amid attacks by the Sea Peoples, drought and systemic breakdown.
Sidon (c. 1,150–501 BCE): Capital of Phoenicia (1150 BCE–501 BCE).
Phoenician alphabet (c. 1,050 BCE): The Phoenicians developed a 22-letter consonantal alphabet that spread through Mediterranean trade and became the ancestor of the Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Arabic scripts.
Hebron (c. 1,000 BCE): Capital of Kingdom of Israel (1000 BCE–930 BCE).
Mesha Stele (c. 840 BCE): Basalt stone inscribed by King Mesha of Moab recording his revolt against Israel; found at Dhiban in 1868, it is one of the earliest extra-biblical references to Israel and now stands in the Louvre.