<P> The history of Egypt has been long and rich, due to the flow of the Nile river, with its fertile banks and delta . Its rich history also comes from its native inhabitants and outside influence . Much of Egypt's ancient history was a mystery until the secrets of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered with the discovery and help of the Rosetta Stone . The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing . The Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the other Seven Wonders, is gone . The Library of Alexandria was the only one of its kind for centuries . </P> <P> Human settlement in Egypt dates back to at least 40,000 BC with Aterian tool manufacturing . Ancient Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh of the First Dynasty, Narmer . Predominately native Egyptian rule lasted until the conquest by the Achaemenid Empire in the sixth century BC . </P> <P> In 332 BC, Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered Egypt as he toppled the Achaemenids and established the Hellenistic Ptolemaic Kingdom, whose first ruler was one of Alexander's former generals, Ptolemy I Soter . The Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its final annexation by Rome . The death of Cleopatra ended the nominal independence of Egypt resulting in Egypt becoming one of the provinces of the Roman Empire . </P> <P> Roman rule in Egypt (including Byzantine) lasted from 30 BC to 641 AD, with a brief interlude of control by the Sasanian Empire between 619 - 629, known as Sasanian Egypt . After the Muslim conquest of Egypt, parts of Egypt became provinces of successive Caliphates and other Muslim dynasties: Rashidun Caliphate (632 - 661), Umayyad Caliphate (661--750), Abbasid Caliphate (750 - 909), Fatimid Caliphate (909 - 1171), Ayyubid Sultanate (1171--1260), and the Mamluk Sultanate (1250 - 1517). In 1517, Ottoman sultan Selim I captured Cairo, absorbing Egypt into the Ottoman Empire . </P>

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