First dynasty of Egypt

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First dynasty of Egypt

The first dynasty of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
is often combined with the second dynasty

Second dynasty of Egypt

The Second Dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with the First dynasty of Egypt under the group title, Early Dynastic Period of Egypt. The capital at that time was Thinis....
under the group title, Early Dynastic Period of Egypt

Early Dynastic Period of Egypt

The Archaic or Early Dynastic Period of Egypt immediately follows the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt c. 3150 BC. It is generally taken to include the First dynasty of Egypt and Second dynasty of Egypt Dynasties, lasting from the Protodynastic Period of Egypt until 2686 BC, or the beginning of the Old Kingdom....
. At that time the capital was Thinis

Thinis

Thinis is the mythological city from where Egypt, according to Manetho's chronological list, were united by the Thinnite Confederacy. It is said to have happened during the reign of the Pharaoh Menes....
.

n rulers, in the History of Egypt

History of Egypt

The history of Egypt is the longest continuous history, as a unified state, of any country in the world. The Nile valley forms a natural geographic and economic unit, bounded to the east and west by deserts, to the north by the sea and to the south by the Cataracts of the Nile....
, for the First Dynasty are as follows: class="wikitable" width="60%">

First Dynasty

Name

Comments

Dates

Narmer

Narmer was an Ancient Egypt Pharaoh who ruled in the 31st century BC. Thought to be the successor to the Predynastic Egypt King Scorpion and/or Ka , he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First dynasty of Egypt, and therefore the first king of all Egypt....

- probably Menes

Menes

Menes is the name of the Egyptian king credited with founding the First dynasty of Egypt, sometime around 3100 BC. Menes was seen as a founding figure for much of the history of Ancient Egypt, and was possibly a mythical founding king similar to Romulus and Remus for Ancient Rome....
on earlier lists

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The first dynasty of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Second dynasty of Egypt

Early Dynastic Period of Egypt

Thinis

Rulers

Known rulers, in the History of Egypt

History of Egypt

**First Dynasty**
Name	Comments	Dates
Narmer Narmer Narmer was an Ancient Egypt Pharaoh who ruled in the 31st century BC. Thought to be the successor to the Predynastic Egypt King Scorpion and/or Ka , he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First dynasty of Egypt, and therefore the first king of all Egypt....	- probably Menes Menes Menes is the name of the Egyptian king credited with founding the First dynasty of Egypt, sometime around 3100 BC. Menes was seen as a founding figure for much of the history of Ancient Egypt, and was possibly a mythical founding king similar to Romulus and Remus for Ancient Rome.... on earlier lists	c. 3100–3050 B.C.
Hor-Aha Hor-Aha Hor-Aha is considered the second pharaoh of the First dynasty of Egypt of Ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the 31st century BC....		c. 3050–3049 B.C.
Djer Djer Djer is the second or third pharaoh of the first dynasty of Egypt, which dates from approximately 3100 B.C. Djer's Horus name means "Horus who succours"....	-	c. 3049–3008 B.C. 41 years (Palermo Stone Palermo stone The Palermo Stone is a large fragment of a stela called the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. It contains the clearest inscriptions of the records of the pharaohs of the first dynasty through the fifth dynasty.... )
Merneith Merneith Merneith was a Queen consort, a regent, and possibly, the fourth pharaoh of Ancient Egypt during the First Dynasty of Egypt. Her rule was in the 30th century BC, for an undetermined period of time....	the mother of Den	-
Djet Djet Djet, also known as Wadj, Zet, and Uadji , was the third Egypt pharaoh of the First dynasty of Egypt. Djet's Horus name means "Horus Cobra."...	-	3008–2975?
Den Den (Pharaoh) Den was the fourth Egyptian Pharaoh of the First dynasty of Egypt. He was the son of Queen Merneith and presumably Djet. Early Egyptian records mention battles against Bedouin tribes in the Sinai Peninsula during his reign....	-	2975–2935 30 to 50 years(40 years?)
Anedjib Anedjib As the fifth ruler of the First dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Anedjib is poorly attested and fairly obscure within monumental records. He ruled over Egypt for 10 years....	-	2935?–2925? 10 years (Palermo Stone Palermo stone The Palermo Stone is a large fragment of a stela called the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. It contains the clearest inscriptions of the records of the pharaohs of the first dynasty through the fifth dynasty.... )
Semerkhet Semerkhet Semerkhet was the sixth king of Ancient Egypt's First dynasty of Egypt who ruled around 2950 BC. Although little is known of his reign, Semerkhet seems to have had a difficult time as king judging by the records of Manetho....	-	2925?–2916? 9 years (Palermo Stone Palermo stone The Palermo Stone is a large fragment of a stela called the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. It contains the clearest inscriptions of the records of the pharaohs of the first dynasty through the fifth dynasty.... )
Qa'a Qa'a Qa'a was the last king of the First dynasty of Egypt. He had a fairly large tomb in Abydos, Egypt which measures 98.5 X 75.5 feet or 30 X 23 meters....	-	2916?–2890 B.C.

Information about this dynasty is derived from a few monuments and other objects bearing royal names, the most important being the Narmer Palette

Narmer Palette

The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great Hierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, and containing some of the earliest Egyptian hieroglyphsic inscriptions ever found....
. No detailed records of the first two dynasties have survived, except for the terse lists on the Palermo stone

Palermo stone

The Palermo Stone is a large fragment of a stela called the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. It contains the clearest inscriptions of the records of the pharaohs of the first dynasty through the fifth dynasty....
. The hieroglyph

Egyptian hieroglyphs

Egyptian hieroglyphs was a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that contained a combination of logographic and alphabetic elements....
s were fully developed by then, and their shapes would be used with little change for more than three thousand years.

Large tombs of pharaoh

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt, only during the New Kingdom, specifically, during the middle of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt....
s at Abydos

Abydos, Egypt

Abydos , one of the most ancient cities of Upper and Lower Egypt, is about 11 km west of the Nile at latitude 26? 10' N. The Egyptian name of both the eighth Nome of Upper Egypt and its capital city was Abdju, technically, 3bdw as in the hieroglyphs shown to the right, the hill of the symbol or reliquary, in which...
and Naqada

Naqada

Naqada is a town on the west bank of the Nile in the Egyptian governorate of Qena Governorate. It was known in Ancient Egypt as Nubt and in classical antiquity as Ombos....
, in addition to cemeteries at Saqqara

Saqqara

Saqqara or Sakkara, Saqqarah is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis, Egypt....
and Helwan near Memphis

Memphis, Egypt

Memphis was the ancient capital of the first Nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 2200 BC and later for shorter periods during the New Kingdom, and an administrative centre throughout ancient history....
, reveal structures built largely of wood and mud bricks, with some small use of stone for walls and floors. Stone was used in quantity for the manufacture of ornaments, vessels, and occasionally, for statues.

Human sacrifice

Human sacrifice

Human sacrifice is the act of killing human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general....
, later discontinued, evidently was practiced during this first dynasty. It is demonstrated clearly as existing during this dynasty by hundreds of retainers being buried in each pharaoh's tomb along with other animals sacrificed for the burial. The people and animals sacrificed, such as asses, were expected to assist the pharaoh in the afterlife.

First dynasty of Egypt

Rulers

See also