Early Dynastic Period In Egypt: Unification and the Rise of the First Egyptian Kings
The Early Dynastic Period in Egypt (circa 3150 to circa 2613 BCE) is the beginning of the historical era of the country during which the regions of Upper Egypt (south) and Lower Egypt (north) were united as one country under a centralized government, and kingship was first established. During this period, the divine rule of the kings began, and a recognizable Egyptian culture, including the development of writing, arts, and sciences, developed. The title "pharaoh" was not used during this period; rulers were referred to as "kings" and addressed as "your majesty." The title of "pharaoh" was not used until the period of the New Kingdom (circa 1570 to circa 1069 BCE), when the word pero (also per-a-a) came into use to designate the royal residence and meant "Great House" in reference to the king's palace.
This era followed the Predynastic Period in Egypt (circa 6000 to circa 3150 BCE) and was followed by the period known as the Old Kingdom (circa 2613 - 2181 BCE). While these dates are not arbitrary, they should not be understood as any kind of demarcation ending one era and beginning another. They are used to help clarify the long history of ancient Egypt by dividing its story into sections of cohesive development.
The line between some periods in ancient Egyptian history does seem quite clear, while with others (such as that between the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods), it is blurred. Dates should be understood to be approximations the further back in time one travels in Egyptian history. This same paradigm, however, should also be applied to all of Egyptian history as the ancient Egyptians themselves did not record their history according to these terms and demarcations; all of these are modern constructs.
Egypt's Unification & First King
According to the chronology of Manetho (3rd century BCE), the first king of Egypt was Menes, a king of Upper Egypt possibly from the city of Thinis (or Hierakonpolis), who overcame the other city-states around him and then went on to conquer Lower Egypt. This king's name is known primarily through written records such as Manetho's chronology and the Turin King List; however, it is not corroborated by any extensive archeological evidence, and scholars now believe the first king may have been a man named Narmer who peacefully united Upper and Lower Egypt at some point circa 3150 BCE.
This claim is contested, however, owing to the Narmer Palette (an ancient inscribed slab), which depicts a king, positively identified as Narmer, as a military figure conquering a region which is clearly Lower Egypt. Scholar Marc Van de Mieroop comments:
That Egypt was created through military means is a basic concept expressed in the art of the period. A sizeable set of stone objects, including cermonial mace-heads and palettes, contain scenes of war and fighting between men, between animals, and between men and animals.
Whereas in the past, Egyptologists read the scenes of war literally as records of actual events, today they prefer to see them as stereotypical statements of kingship and the king's legitimacy.
(33)
This new method of interpreting ancient inscriptions, however valuable some may consider it, does not mean such interpretations are accurate. The argument against such interpretations asks why, if these inscriptions are to be taken symbolically, others of later periods β such as those of Ramesses II the Great at the Battle of Kadesh β continue to be read literally as historical record.
Mieroop comments further, stating, "This new approach makes it impossible to date the unification of Egypt or attribute it to a specific individual on the basis of these representations" (33-34), but he notes that, whatever the case regarding the first ruler, "the art of the period shows that the Egyptians linked unification with conflict" (34).
Scholar Douglas J. Brewer, on the other hand, does not see any problem in regarding the inscriptions symbolically. The name "Menes" means "He who endures" and could possibly be a title, not a personal name, in which case there is no difficulty in identifying the first king as Narmer, "who endured."
The name "Menes" has also been found on an ivory inscription from Naqada associated with Hor-Aha of the First Dynasty of Egypt, which could mean the title was passed down or that Hor-Aha was the first king. Brewer notes that these ancient inscriptions, such as the Narmer Palette, perpetuate "a culturally accepted scenario and, therefore, should perhaps be regarded as a monument commemorating an achieved state of unity rather than depicting the process of unification itself" (141).
To scholars such as Brewer, the means by which unification came about are not as important as the fact of unification itself. The details of the event, like those of any nation's origins, may have been largely embellished upon by later writers. Brewer writes:
Menes probably never existed, at least as the individual responsible for all the attributed feats. Rather he is most likely a compilation of real-life individuals whose deeds were recorded through oral tradition and identified as the work of a single person, thereby creating a central hero figure for Egypt's unification. Like the personalities of the Bible, Menes was part fiction, part truth, and the years have masked the borderline, creating a legend of unification.
(142)
Unification, Brewer and others claim, was "most likely a slow process stimulated by economic growth" (142). Upper Egypt seems to have been more prosperous, and their wealth enabled them to systematically absorb the lands of Lower Egypt over time as they found they needed more resources for their population and trade. Whether the king who united the country was Narmer or someone of another name, this king laid the foundation for the rise of one of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world.
Read More
β Early Dynastic Period In Egypt: Unification and the Rise of the First Egyptian Kings
