The current capital of Egypt is

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

. Over the course of history, however, Egypt's capital has changed.

List of Egyptian capitals

Thinis Thinis (Greek: Θίνις ''Thinis'', Θίς ''This'' ; Egyptian: Tjenu; cop, Ⲧⲓⲛ; ar, ثينيس) was the capital city of the first dynasties of ancient Egypt. Thinis remains undiscovered but is well attested by ancient writers, incl ...

: (3150 BC – 2686 BC) – I and II dynasties * Memphis: (2686 BC – 2160 BC) – III dynasty to VIII dynasty * Heracleopolis Magna: (2160 BC – 2040 BC) – IX and X dynasties * Thebes: (2135 BC – 1985 BC) – XI dynasty * Itjtawy: (1985 BC – c.1700 BC) – XII dynasty and XIII dynasty *

Avaris Avaris (; Egyptian: ḥw.t wꜥr.t, sometimes ''hut-waret''; grc, Αὔαρις, Auaris; el, Άβαρις, Ávaris; ar, حوّارة, Hawwara) was the Hyksos capital of Egypt located at the modern site of Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern ...

: (1725 BC – 1550 BC) – XIV dynasty and XV dynasty (

Hyksos Hyksos (; Egyptian '' ḥqꜣ(w)- ḫꜣswt'', Egyptological pronunciation: ''hekau khasut'', "ruler(s) of foreign lands") is a term which, in modern Egyptology, designates the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt (fl. c. 1650–1550 BC). T ...

) * Thebes: (c.1700 BC – c. 1353 BC) – XVI dynasty to XVIII dynasty before

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth D ...

* Akhetaten: (c. 1353 BC – c. 1332 BC) –

of XVIII dynasty * Thebes: (c. 1332 BC – 1279 BC) – XVIII dynasty and XIX dynasty until

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom period, ruling c.1294 or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. The ...

* Pi-Ramesses: (1279 BC – 1078 BC) – XIX dynasty starting from

Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is often regarded a ...

and XX dynasty *

Tanis Tanis ( grc, Τάνις or Τανέως ) or San al-Hagar ( ar, صان الحجر, Ṣān al-Ḥaǧar; egy, ḏꜥn.t ; ; cop, ϫⲁⲛⲓ or or ) is the Greek name for ancient Egyptian ''ḏꜥn.t'', an important archaeological site in the ...

: (1078 BC – 945 BC) – XXI dynasty * Bubastis/Tanis: (945 BC – 715 BC) – XXII dynasty *

Leontopolis Leontopolis was an ancient Egyptian city located in the Nile Delta, Lower Egypt. It served as a provincial capital and Metropolitan Archbishopric. The archaeological site and settlement are known today as Kafr Al Muqdam. Name Known most popular ...

/Thebes: (818 BC – 715 BC) – XXIII dynasty * Sais: (725 BC – 715 BC) – XXIV dynasty * Memphis (715 BC – 664 BC) – XXV dynasty (The Kushite rulers were based in Napata,

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

but ruled Egypt from Memphis) * Sais: (664 BC – 525 BC) – XXVI dynasty * Memphis: (525 BC – 404 BC) – XXVII dynasty ( first satrapy of Egypt under the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

) * Sais: (404 BC – 399 BC) – XXVIII dynasty * Mendes: (399 BC – 380 BC) – XXIX dynasty *

Sebennytos Samannud ( ar, سمنود ) is a city (''markaz'') located in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt. Known in classical antiquity as Sebennytos ( grc-gre, Σεβέννυτος), Samannud is a historic city that has been inhabited since the Ancient Egypti ...

: (380 BC – 343 BC) – XXX dynasty * Memphis: (343 BC – 332 BC) – XXXI dynasty ( second satrapy of Egypt under the

) *

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

: (332 BC – 641 AD) – Greco-Roman period Since the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641, Egypt has been ruled from a series of settlements currently situated in

Old Cairo Old Cairo (Arabic: مصر القديمة , Miṣr al-Qadīma, Egyptian pronunciation: Maṣr El-ʾAdīma) is a historic area in Cairo, Egypt, which includes the site of a Roman-era fortress and of Islamic-era settlements pre-dating the founding of ...

: * Fustat: (641 AD – 750 AD) * Al-Askar: (750 – 868 AD) * Al-Qata'i: (868 – 905 AD) * Fustat: (905 – 972 AD) *

: the current capital since 972 AD

List of Egyptian capitals

See also