Before the unification of Egypt, the land was settled with autonomous villages. With the early dynasties, and for much of Egypt's history thereafter, the country came to be known as "The Two Lands" (referencing Upper and Lower Egypt). Thepharaohs established a national administration and appointed royal governors, and buildings of the central government were typically open-air temples constructed of wood orsandstone. The earliestEgyptian hieroglyphs appear just before this period, though little is known of the spoken language that they represent.
By about 3600 BC,Neolithic Egyptian societies along theNile had based their culture on the raising of crops and the domestication of animals.[5] Shortly after 3600 BC Egyptian society began to grow and advance rapidly toward refined civilization.[6] A new and distinctive pottery, which was related to the pottery in the Southern Levant, appeared during this time. Extensive use of copper became common during this period.[6] TheMesopotamian process ofsun-dried bricks, and architectural building principles—including the use of the arch and recessed walls for decorative effect—became popular.[6]
Concurrent with these cultural advances, a process of unification of the societies and towns of the upper Nile River, orUpper Egypt, occurred. At the same time, the societies of theNile Delta, orLower Egypt also underwent a unification process.[6] Warfare between Upper and Lower Egypt occurred often.[6] During his reign in Upper Egypt, KingNarmer defeated his enemies on the Delta and merged both the Kingdom of Upper and Lower Egypt under his single rule.[7] Narmer is shown on palettes wearing thedouble crown, composed of thelotus flower representing Upper Egypt and thepapyrus reed representing Lower Egypt - a sign of the unified rule of both parts of Egypt which was followed by all succeeding rulers. In mythology, the unification of Egypt is portrayed as thefalcon-god, called Horus and identified with Lower Egypt, as conquering and subduing thegod Set, who was identified with Upper Egypt.[8] Divine kingship, which would persist in Egypt for the next three millennia, was firmly established as the basis of Egypt's government.[9] The unification of societies along the Nile has also been linked to the end of theAfrican humid period.[citation needed]
Funeral practices for non-elites would have been the same as in predynastic times, but the rich demanded more elaborate rituals.[citation needed] Thus, the Egyptians began construction of themastabas which became models for the later Old Kingdom constructions such as thestep pyramid.Cerealagriculture and centralization contributed to the success of the state for the next 800 years.
It seems certain that Egypt became unified as a cultural and economic domain long before its first king ascended to the throne in the lower Egyptian city of Memphis. Political unification proceeded gradually, perhaps over a period of a few centuries, as local districts established trading networks and as the ability of their governments to organize agriculture labor on a larger scale increased. Divine kingship may also have gained spiritual momentum as the cults of gods likeHorus, Set andNeith associated with living representatives became widespread in the country.[10]
It was also during this period that the Egyptian writing system was further developed. Initially, Egyptian writing had been composed primarily of a few symbols denoting amounts of various substances. The Second Dynasty of Egypt sees the advent of the first known complete sentences in Egyptianhieroglyphs. Probably the first known such sentence isa seal impression fromPeribsen's tomb, at the end of the Second Dynasty, dating to ca. 2660–2650 BC. The sentence relates to the unification of Egypt:“Sealing of everything of Ombos (i.e.,Naqada): He of Ombos has joined the Two Lands for his son, the Dual King Peribsen.”[11][12] By the end of the 3rd dynasty it had been expanded to include more than 200 symbols, bothphonograms andideograms.[9] In all likelihood,Naqada III saw the earliestcodification of signs, where royalserekhs—a rectangularcartouche representing the niched or gated façade of a palace surmounted by theHorus falcon—are also first seen, painted on jars and impressed on their sealings. These goods were oftentraded "abroad through the northern Sinai to southern Palestine."[13]
According toManetho, the first monarch of the unified Upper and Lower Egypt wasMenes, who is now identified withNarmer. Indeed, Narmer is the earliest recorded First Dynasty monarch. Narmer appears first on the necropolis seal impressions ofDen andQa'a.[15][16][17] This shows that Narmer was recognized by the first dynasty kings as an important founding figure. Narmer is also the earliest king associated to the symbols of power over the two lands (see in particular theNarmer Palette, a votivecosmetic palette showing Narmer wearing thecrowns of Upper and Lower Egypt) and may therefore be the first king to achieve the unification. Consequently, the current consensus is that "Menes" and "Narmer" refer to the same person.[6] Alternative theories hold that Narmer was the final king of the Naqada III period[8] andHor-Aha is to be identified with "Menes".
Early Dynastic Egypt, with contemporary culturesc. 3000 BC
Egyptian settlement and colonization are attested from about 3200 BC onward all over the area of southernCanaan with almost every type of artifact: architecture (fortifications, embankments and buildings), pottery, vessels, tools, weapons, seals, etc.[18][19][20][21] 20 serekhs attributed to Narmer — the first ruler of the Early Dynastic Period — have been found in Canaan.[22] There is also evidence of Egyptian settlement and occupation in lowerNubia after the NubianA-Group culture came to an end.[23][24] By the Early Dynastic Period, the Egyptian state had likely imposed its authority as far north as modern Tel Aviv and as far south as the second cataract in Nubia.[25]
TheRelief of Gebel Sheikh Suleiman probably shows the victory of a late pre-dynastic / early dynastic Egyptian king over A-Group Nubians.
Artifacts of the First Dynasty contain numerous depictions of captured foreigners, possibly alluding to the campaign to conquer Lower Egypt and the Nile Delta, and the accomplishment of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.[26] Various ethnic types seems to be represented: Asiatic-looking foreigners with full beards and straight hair, possibly alluding to vanquished people from the eastern parts of the Nile delta, or naked individuals with curly hair, possibly Libyan tribes from the western Nile delta.[26] Depiction of West-Asiatic-looking foreigners were found in the tomb of PharaohQa'a, and theNarmer Palette also exhibits similar scenes of conquest over alien people.[27]
^Kemp, Barry John (2018).Ancient Egypt: anatomy of a civilization (3rd ed.). New-York (NY): Routledge. p. 14/44, Fig.2.6.ISBN978-0415827263.Early in the developmental sequence of kingship is tomb 100 (the 'Decorated Tomb'), probably the tomb of an early king of Hierakonpolis of the Nagada IIC phase (c. 3400–3300 BC).
^Drower, Margaret 1970:Nubia, A Drowning Land, London, pp. 16-17
^Morris, Ellen (2018).Ancient Egyptian Imperialism. John Wiley & Sons. p. 29.
^abSmith, William Stevenson (1967)."Two Archaic Egyptian Sculptures".Boston Museum Bulletin.65 (340): 74.ISSN0006-7997.It has generally been agreed that a large part of this representational material is concerned with recording various steps leading to the unification of Egypt in Dynasty I, that is the subjugation of the north by the southerners who dedicated their monuments in the old shrine at Hierakonpolis, as well as at Abydos from which some of the slate palettes are said to have come.
Reid, Donald Malcolm (2003).Whose Pharaohs? Archaeology, Museums, and Egyptian National Identity from Napoleon to World War I. University of California Press.ISBN9780520240698.
Wilkinson, Toby (2001).Early Dynastic Egypt: Strategies, Society and Security. New York: Routledge.ISBN0-415-26011-6.
Wengrow, David (2006).The Archaeology of Early Egypt: Social Transformations in North-East Africa, c. 10,000 to 2,650 BC. New York: Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-83586-0.
![Depiction of king Den (2873-2859 BC).[14]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWooden_funerary_sculpture_mask_of_King_Den._1st_Dynasty%2c_Old_Kingdom%2c_Third_Millenium_BC%2c_2873_BC_-_2859_BC._Abydos_(composite).jpg)
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![Asiatic prisoner. Abydos ivory tablet from the tomb of King Qa'a (ca. 2910 BC).[27][28]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAbydos_ivory_tablet_from_tomb_of_King_Qa%2527a._Asiatic_prisoner.jpg)
![Vassal subject with headdress and spotted robe, possibly a Libyan, paying homage. First Dynasty, 2960–2770, Tomb of Menes B17, Abydos.[29][30]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSubject_with_headdress_and_spotted_robe%2c_possibly_a_Lybian%2c_paying_homage._First_Dynasty%2c_2960%25E2%2580%25932770%2c_Tomb_of_Menes_B17%2c_Abydos_(cropped).jpg)
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