At least as early as the rule of the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom (and possibly much earlier), much of Egypt was divided into Nomes or “districts, provinces.” These Nomes were administered by Nomarchs or “governors.”

In ancient Egyptian cosmology, Nu was the name given to the primordial, infinite ocean of creation that existed before the creation of the world. The Egyptians believed that Atum, the God of creation, had lived inside Nu for countless eons before he created the world from nothingness. The concept of “Nu” was an essential component of the Hermopolis interpretation of Egyptian theology.

The Hyksos were an asiatic people who conquered Lower Egypt (and very briefly all of Egypt) setting up the 15th Dynasty. The indigenous Egyptians viewed them as barbaric interlopers, and another dynasty was centered at Thebes and ruled Upper Egypt. It took multiple campaigns to finally unseat the Hyksos and reunify Egypt. Seqenenre Tao was the first Theban Pharaoh to attempt to drive out the Hyksos, and his son Kamose further decreased their territory. However, it was not until his successor Ahmose I, the first king of the 18th Dynasty, took the throne that the Hyksos were fully driven out of Egypt.

The Battle of Carchemish was fought in 605 BCE between the combined forces of Egypt and Assyria against the combined forces of Babylon, Persia, and the Medes. The Egyptian forces were led by Necho II, an Assyrian puppet ruler. The Egyptian forces were completely destroyed and the Assyrian Empire was obliterated.

One of the four varieties of Egyptian writing scripts, Coptic initially emerged during the first century CE. It quickly rose in popularity due to its inclusion of Greek letters and its display of vowels, both of which made Coptic much more user-friendly than past scripts. Although it eventually fell out of use sometime between 1100 and 1500 CE, it is still used today in Christian churches throughout Egypt (this particular faith is otherwise known as Coptic Christianity).

The Book of Kemyt was a collection of funerary texts and accounts of the lives of previous rulers. It was used, during the New Kingdom period and later, in Egyptian government training. Would-be scribes and young upper class males were educated to read and write Egyptian through rote memorization. They would copy out classic texts like the Book of Kemyt over and over again until they had learned to write.

All of these statements about life-expectancy in ancient Egypt are accurate. At birth, life expectancy was around twenty, but those that survived infancy could expect to live into at least their thirties. It was even common for Pharaohs and noblemen to survive well into old age. Women had a much lower life-expectancy than men, however, primarily due to the inherent dangers of childbirth and the infant mortality rate was roughly fifty percent — meaning half of all children did not survive.

The Pyramid Texts emerged first, during the Old Kingdom, as a way for Pharaohs to protect themselves and ensure safe passage to the afterlife after their death. The Coffin Texts emerged later, first appearing during the First Intermediate Period and flourishing during the Middle Kingdom. The Coffin Texts were based on the Pyramid Texts, but unlike the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts were available to the whole Egyptian population (so long as one could afford to be buried in a coffin). Both texts were primarily comprised of funerary spells that were inscribed on the walls of the tomb or coffin.

Pyramids built during the Middle Kingdom are distinct from pyramids built during the Old Kingdom in that they included traps and secret passageways, designed to prevent tomb raiding. This demonstrates that the ancient Egyptian rulers had learned from the past and highlights how grave robbing must have been relatively common in Egyptian society, in spite of the many social customs designed to discourage it.

The Coffin Texts first appeared during the First Intermediate Period and became popular during the Middle Kingdom. Like the name suggests, the Coffin Texts were a series of funerary spells that were inscribed on the walls of coffins. They were inspired by the earlier Pyramid Texts, but unlike the Pyramid Texts — which were reserved for the Pharaoh and other rulers — the Coffin Texts extended access to funerary spells, and an understanding of the afterlife, to the common people.