The Nile River was the wellspring of the Egyptian civilization and their Pharaoh was their god king on earth charged with the responsibility and had the divine power to ensure this life-giving river provided for its people. When this failed, it usually also signaled a change in the rulers for this ancient land. Indeed throughout its history, Egypt was ruled by thirty-two different dynasties, and sometimes by foreign rule. In fact from 342 B.C. the Egyptian were not to rule their own lands until modern times. Since then the Persians, Greeks, the Arabs, the Ottoman Turks, French, and then the British have ruled over Egypt. Finally regaining its independence in 1952 A.D.

This period saw numerous rulers laying claims to the throne, the dissolution of Upper and Lower Egypt, as well as a drought upon the land that set the backdrop for the turmoil. Finally in 2050 B.C. Mentuhope II reunited the country and re-established Pharaonic rule over Egypt, launching military campaigns to recapture the lands that rebelled against Egypt. This period began what is known as the "Middle Kingdom". The last of the pyramid tombs were also built during this time. But yet again provincial governors eventually chipped away at the power of the Pharaoh until, a foreign tribe called the Hyskos managed to invade, and establish their own Pharaoh to rule over Egypt in what is called the "Second Intermediate Period", which lasted from 1786 B.C. to 1567 B.C.

The Hyskos was finally driven out of Egypt by King Ahmosis establishing the eighteenth dynasty, and what is called the "New Kingdom". It is at this time that the Egyptians became a world power, and Egyptian culture reached a new height in sophistication. The empire expanded under the conquests of various Pharaohs, conquering Nubia and into the borders the Hittite Empire. Many of the greatest Pharaonic structures were built at this time, including the Temple of Luxor. The Egyptian religion saw much turmoil during this time. Akhenaten and his queen Nefertiti went against millennia of established traditions and established monotheism with the god Aten. No sooners after his death did the Egyptians reject this, and denounced his reforms as heresy and reverted to their old polytheistic traditions. The child King Tutankhamun also ruled at this time, and in fact, it was during his and subsequent rulers' reign that any traces of Akhenaten and his religion was fervently eradicated. The latter period of the New Kingdom saw the reign of Ramses. He and descendants were warrior Kings who sought to regain the territory lost during the reign of Akhenaten. Ramses II was the best known of the Pharaohs of this period, not only because he was very prone to trumpet his accomplishments. But in his long life created many monuments which not only outnumbering all other Pharaohs, but also in grandeur. In his youth his expedition to conquer disputed territory between the Egyptian and the Hittites lead to the Battle of Kadesh. His personal bravery at the battle turned what would have been a defeat into a draw, which he conveniently spun into a glorious victory. However exaggerated and bombastic his style, he also managed to guide Egypt into a peace treaty in 1280 B.C. with the Hittites. It created a strong and relatively stable bond between the two superpowers of the ancient world until the Hittite Empire itself ended. He accomplishments were not the only reason for his fame, but it is believed also that he is Biblical Pharaoh described in Exodus who interacted with Moses. The New Kingdom period ended when again Egypt was divided into two kingdoms. This led to foreign invasions once again, and foreign rule.

This period is called the "Late Period" which lasted from 1085 B.C. to 322 B.C. This period began with the Libyans taking over the north (Lower Egypt), and the Nubians from the south (Upper Egypt), who eventually reunited both Egypts. However with the help of resentful Egyptians, the Assyrians took over from the Nubians. The Assyrian war with the Persians forced them to withdraw and once again Egypt was ruled by an Egyptian when Psammethchus I declared himself Pharaoh. His reign also saw the revival of the traditions and culture of ancient Egypt, however this was not to last. The Persian invasion in 525 B.C. succeeded in resting control of Egypt, and they ruled until 332 B.C. The Persians had no interest in reliving ancient Egypt's past or ruling as Pharaohs as the past invaders had, and ruled the Egyptian as a subject people of the Persian Empire. Their rule was interrupted when an Egyptian rebellion managed to seize control between 425 B.C. and 342 B.C. But this would also be the last time Egypt would be ruled by Egyptians until the modern era.

This period ushered in the era of Roman rule, and continuing with the Byzantine Empire until 640 A.D. The Romans like the Greeks integrated their culture with the Egyptian. As before the Egyptians eventually adopted latin as their language, and was granted roman citizenship in 212 A.D. This period in Egyptian history can hardly be separated from that of the Roman Empire and like Rome saw the gradual emergence of Christianity in 37 A.D. In Egypt they establishment of the Coptic Church. Like Christians in the rest of the Empire they were persecuted but by the middle of the 4th century A.D. Egypt was largely Christian, as was the rest of the Roman Empire. After the fall of Rome, Egypt was ruled by the Byzantine Empire. But a schism between Egypt and Byzantium developed after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. on the nature of Christ. The Coptic Church refused to accept the council's interpretation and rejected any bishops sent from their Byzantine rulers. During this time the Roman Empire also saw Egypt as little more then a place to supply it with grain and riches, investing very little back into Egypt. So when the Arabs invaded in 639 A.D. the Egyptians offered skant resistance. Amr ibn al As, the Muslim Hero who seized Egypt from the Byzantines, then established a new capitol in Cairo.

The Arabs gave the Egyptians three choices: convert to Islam, retain their religion in exchange for tax payments, or death. The Egyptians took the second option. The Arabs ruled Egypt as a province and treated the Egyptians fairly well, leaving the Coptic Church to rebuild after years of persecution by the Catholic Byzantines. But eventually the Egyptians began to adopt Islam, and the Arabic language. Egypt became a center for learning this period marked a high point in the culture of both Egypt and its Arab rulers. Egypt under the Arabs also became a prominent trading nation around the Mediterranean. Political changes within the Arab Empire also saw Egypt regain autonomy if under various Arab rulers during 868 A.D. to 1168 A.D. However, Egypt was once again brought back into the fold of the Arab Empire by the Kurdish general Salah ad Din ibn Ayyub, better known as Saladin by the Europeans.

This time Ottomans were more careful to remove the Mameluke power structure, and appointed Muhammad Ali, who has been called the "father of modern Egypt" to seized control of both Upper and Lower Egypt in 1805 A.D. He proceeded to modernize Egypt introducing industrialization on a broad scale. However he also had ambitions beyond the reunification of Egypt, in fact he wanted to achieve Egypt's independence from the Ottoman Empire under his rule. His forces were defeat by the combined forces the Ottomans and their European allies. Egypt was forced to accept an unfair trade pact, which eventually lead to Egypt's economic ruin.

Britain eventually used the huge debt this created and the resistance to European interference as a pretext to occupy the country in 1882 A.D. During this time, Egypt as part of the British Empire played a key role in World War II to stem the advance of the Germans in North Africa. After the war, Lt. Colonel Gamal Abdul Nasser led a group of officers in a revolution against the British occupation in 1952 A.D. Struggling to shake the shackles of European Imperialism, Egypt set a course for itself as a non-aligned nation during the cold war period, and strengthening ties with the Arab world. In the years that followed regional conflicts continued, but Egypt has managed to steer itself through the turmoil to become a respected regional power.

The Egyptian civilizations inherent advantage is in their ability to build Wonders, and build more farms. They will need to take advantage of these in order to collect the bonuses afforded by these structures and the earlier the better, as the Egyptians do not possess any inherent economic bonuses. The Egyptian player would do well to corner these wonders for its own use (as once a wonder is built they can not be built by another civilization). They should be helped in accomplishing this task by their ability to build wonders cheaper. However they will need to be careful to defend their cities so an enemy won't be able to capture those important wonders. Their farming bonus amounts to a bonus of 40% which is a huge bonus. This should give them plenty of food to age up, and build plenty of troops. The surplus can also be a great asset to trade for other needed resources. Mainly for Egypt it should be to build a bigger army to overwhelm opponents as they do not have any inherent military bonuses. However a larger army size, and military wonders should be used to offset this.

In summary the Egyptian player should try to use their early powerhouse units like the War Chariot in a rush if possible but if it looks risky should attempt to build and boom instead. Playing defensively, accumulating enough of an economic base to create an army that can withstand an invading army through sheer numbers. While taking advantage of as many wonder bonuses as possible. But they should also strive to attack before the last few ages are reached. With the lack of special units in the later ages, late game victories will likely depend on being able to successful repel an invasion and counter-attacking with massive force while the opponent is licking its wounds.

• Light Cavalry Line

• Cavalry Archer Line