Dynastic = historic
Pre-dynastic = prehistoric (before 3200 B.C.).
Egypt, the Upside-Down Country. Upper Egypt is dry. Lower Egypt is a fertile delta. The two kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt, feuded. Lower Egypt was more advanced than Upper Egypt because of Mediterranean connections. Lower Egyptians created writing systems, papyrus, etc.
Hieroglyphics = sacred carvings.
Hieratic = the legal writing system.
Demotic = the writing of the people (shorthand).
Most of our knowledge of Egypt comes from the occupation of the Greeks (i.e., Ptolemaic Dynasty). Alexander the Great and Ptolemy built Alexandria, which became the most cosmopolitan city of its time. People spoke and wrote Greek. There were 32 dynasties, listed by the Greeks.
Pharaohs: 18th Dynasty - 1300 B.C. Amenhotep III, enamored of Amon, the ram-headed god. Amenhotep III built a huge city with statues of Amon called Karnak. Amenhotep IV destroyed the city because he hated Amon. He loved Ra, the sun god, and changed his name to Akhenaten ("Servant of the Sun"). He built a city for Ra in which he forbade the worship of other gods. He failed in his attempts to form a monotheism, but he tried. He was very unpopular. He was ugly. His wife was Nefertiti, the most beautiful queen in Egyptian history. Akhenaten's nephew came to the throne after his death. His advisors instructed him to restore all the gods and he did so. He became very popular but died at the age of 19. His name was Tutenkhamen.
Egyptians liked sex. They were not uncomfortable with it. They practiced incest. The eldest son and daughter of the pharaoh married and became the next pharaoh and queen. Understandably, dynasties died out very quickly to infertility and feeblemindedness. But incest was only practiced in the dynastic house (this was also true of the Spanish court). There were many fine Egyptian poets, almost all women of high birth, who wrote beautiful erotic love poetry. Hatshepsut was the only female pharaoh.
Egypt was invaded and occupied only twice. Once, c. 1700 B.C., the Hyksos moved in and occupied Egypt. They built a fortified area in Goshen. There were Hyksos pharaohs for 125 years. In 850 B.C. the people of Kush occupied Egypt, giving rise to the Kushite pharaohs, a magnificent black African kingdom. In 770 B.C., the Assyrians attempted to wrest Egypt from the Kushites and failed. Assyrians and Egyptians together eventually defeated the Kushites. When Egypt was conquered by Rome, it ceases to be Egypt any longer. Egypt was conquered by the Muslims in 600 A.D.