A History of Ancient Egypt’s Most Famous Sites

Africa may have given rise to the first humans, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later. From the Library and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Ancient Egyptians produced several wonders of the world, revolutionized architecture and construction, created some of the world’s first systems of mathematics and medicine, and established language and art that spread across the known world.

For almost four millennia, the Great Pyramids of Ancient Egypt have been widely hailed as the single greatest archeological feat man has ever accomplished. The Great Pyramid at Giza is the only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world to have survived into the modern age. Unlike so many pieces of the historical record which have been “re-discovered,” relatively recently (in the grand scheme of things,” in their four thousand years of existence, the Great Pyramids have never allowed themselves to be truly forgotten by the human civilization which has never ceased to regard them with wonder and awe.

Egypt also impressed its contemporaries. The 5th century B.C. Greek historian Herodotus wrote that Egypt was “the gift of the Nile” because the river made its soil so fertile and thus helped create one of the first great civilizations. Indeed, the land of Egypt so impressed the Greeks that when Alexander the Great conquered the Nile Valley in the 4th century B.C., he decided that he would build a new city on its soil and name it Alexandria. After Alexander, the city of Alexandria grew and became the most important city in the world for centuries as it watched and played a role in the rise and fall of numerous dynasties. The city also became home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – the Lighthouse of Alexandria – and a center of culture and learning, which was exemplified by the Library of Alexandria.