The Abu Simbel temples were built during the reign of Ramesses II, during the nineteenth dynasty. The Abu Simbel temples were built in Nubia to commemorate the reign of Ramesses II and for the worship of his divinity.

Deir el-Medina is an important archaeological site. It was discovered in the early twentieth century by Jaroslav Cerny. Most archaeologists agree that Deir el-Medina was established as a planned settlement for people working on the monuments in the Valley of the Kings.

The Abu Simbel temples were built in Lower Nubia during the reign of Ramesses II. They were constructed partially to commemorate Ramesses’ great victory over the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh.

El-Amarna (often called Akhetaten) is the best preserved town that modern archaeologists have to work with. El-Amarna was built during the reign of Akhenaten, to serve as his new capital. The reign of Akhenaten was defined by his unusual religious reforms and El-Amarna was only inhabited briefly. As such, Egyptologists have to be skeptical about any conclusions they draw about Egyptian society based on evidence found at El-Amarna.

The North Riverside Palace is part of the archaeological record found at El-Amarna. It was most likely built to house Akhenaten and his family during the turbulent “Amarna Period.”

Papyrus was an extremely versatile and stable crop for Egyptians living in the New Kingdom. The crop was used as food (the roots are edible and nutritious), while the stems were used to make numerous industrial products, like boats, household mats and coverings, and paper. Papyrus is not, however, a strong enough substance out of which to build houses.

Most Egyptian houses were built using mud-baked bricks. These houses were common throughout the span of ancient Egyptian history.

The Berlin Medical Papyrus most likely dates from the New Kingdom period. It provides evidence that the ancient Egyptians understood the function of the heart and the vascular system. The ancient Egyptians, when compared to other ancient civilizations, had an extremely advanced medical understanding.

The Turin Papyrus Map is the earliest known example of a topographical survey found anywhere in the world. It shows the location of various metal mines in the Wadi Hammamat. It was used during a quarrying expedition of Ramasses IV to locate gold reserves.

The Hittites, an Indo-European people originating in Anatolia, created an emerging empire as a result of rapid chariot-based conquests. The inevitable showdown with New Kingdom Egypt, secure in its internal situation as a result of the expulsion of the Hyksos by the Eighteenth Dynasty, culminated in the Battle of Kadesh in modern-day Syria (near the Lebanese border). While Ramesses won a tactical victory, he was forced to withdraw, resulting in a war of attrition lasting many more years until a peace treaty was signed. While the Battle of Kadesh represents Egypt at perhaps the height of its power, with spheres of influence in the Levant and Nubia, Egyptian power and influence declined precipitously during the Iron Age (the Third Intermediate Period and the Late Period). While Egypt had essentially ruled Canaan as a satellite during the period of the New Kingdom, the weakening of Egyptian power as a result of the Bronze Age collapse and the invasions of the Sea Peoples allowed independent kingdoms of Israel and Judah to fill this vacuum. The Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian Empires all succeeded in ending Egyptian independence by conquering Egypt, followed by the Alexandrian Macedonian, Hellenistic and Roman Empires.