King Narmer of First Dynasty

The Predynastic Period of Egypt is traditionally the period between the Early Neolithic and the beginning of the Pharaonic monarchy beginning with King Narmer.

King Narmer was the successor to the Protodynastic king Ka. He is often credited with uniting Egypt and was the founder of the First Dynasty, and in turn the first king of a unified Egypt.

King Narmer’s greatest accomplishment was uniting the two parts of Egypt land Upper and Lower Egypt. The thing that was expanded was the population. There was an advancement in technological during this time.

His reign displays certain features characteristic of Egypt's prehistoric past, but also some early examples of the new forms that were to distinguish pharaonic civilization.

Herodotus and Manetho’s, portray Narmer as an expert military chieftain. The kingdoms of Lower and Upper Egypt had been fighting for centuries before Narmer managed to subdue the North (Lower Egypt) and impose his rule over the whole of the Nile Valley.

Egyptologist Flinders Petrie claimed Narmer and Menes were two names designating one man: Narmer was his name and Menes an honorific. Petrie claimed that he was the first pharaoh of the First Dynasty.

Narmer founded many towns that would later come to be great Egyptian cities, such as Memphis, the first capital of the unified kingdom. He probably founded the city of Hierakonpolis, called Nekhen in Egyptian antiquity, where he instituted the cult of Horus, the first state-wide religious cult. He constructed the first unified capital for Egypt called Memphis.

Narmer's name has also been found outside Egypt, in Syria-Palestine, indicating that there was an active trade going on between Egypt and parts of the Ancient Near East.
King Narmer of First Dynasty

The Palette of King Narmer

Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt

The consolidation of the Egyptian state occurred gradually over a period spanning the later the Predynastic Period and the early First Dynasty.

The Egyptian historian Manetho (350-283 BC) states that it was King Menes who was responsible for uniting Upper and Lower Egypt and founding the First Dynasty in 3150 BC.
 
During his reign, Menes wage wars against the Nubians and Libyans in neighboring territories. King Menes is credited with irrigation works and with founding the capital Memphis. It was said that he was the first law-giver and that he brought civilization to Egypt.

During his rule, Egyptians are thrived. Trading with nearby countries in the Middle East appeared to have been well established.

In the late Predynastic period and the first half of the 1st dynasty, Egypt extended its influence into southern Palestine and probably Sinai and conducted campaign as far as the Second Cataract.
Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt

Early Dynastic in Egypt

The time of the first three dynasties of the unified Egyptian state is referred to as the Early Dynastic Period (2950-2613 BC). Early Dynastic Period can be defined as the era between the unification of Egypt and the beginning of the Pyramid Age.

The first pharaoh of a united Egypt was Menes, a king of Upper Egypt, who united both Upper and Lower Egypt and rules from Memphis. However, due to the lack of contemporary records, some scholars have suggested that Menes could have been a a mythical figures.

Still, many experts (Manetho, Herodotus) consider that Menes and Narmer are the same person. Narmer was the first of the eight kings of the First Dynasty. The name of Narmer was found on a calcite vase from Abydos.

It was under the First Dynasty that the center of development and political power switched from the south to the north, and the city of Memphis was established at the apex of the Delta, on the west bank of the Nile southwest of present-day Cairo.

The best known of the First Dynasty kings was Den, who must have come to the throne at a young age, considering his long reign. Upon reaching his maturity, Den married Queen Herneth. He began vigorous military campaigns and fought in the eastern desert.

There is evidence of military operation against enemies in both Asia and Libya.  During his campaigns he overran an enemy encampment and brought a harem of females back to Egypt.

Much higher degree of craftsmanship is discernible in the artistic production of Den’s reign.

Den was the first king of Egypt to adopt the title conventionally transliterated as ‘he of the sedge and the bee’, rendered as ‘king of Upper and Lower Egypt’.
Early Dynastic in Egypt