9.26 The Early Dynasties

Around the time that high-walled fortified cities were emerging in the prosperous civilisations in Mesopotamia, before and during the 4^th Millennium BC, they were also being built in Egypt. However, the settlement pattern in Egypt was somewhat different with fewer large cities and with people relatively evenly spread over the hospitable parts of the land (Nile Valley and oases). These cities became City-States with their own kings and developed their own form of artistic expression, which evolved over centuries.

Egyptians followed polytheism and had a large Pantheon of Gods. Several were depicted with the body of a human and the head of an animal, although “Ptah” who was the god of artisans had human form. The ibis or baboon god “Thot” was the god of science and writings, and the ram god “Khnum” was the god of potters who fashioned the unborn pharaoh child from clay on his potter’s wheel. Each city adopted its own god and built temples in its honour. When it suited the Egyptians they adopted more gods from other nearby countries.

From 3,150 to 3,100 BC early rulers of Egyptian City States vied for wider control. There was some confusion about the kings of this early period (as with several periods in Egyptian history). The earliest king ruling Hierakonpolis is said to be the “Scorpion King”, named after the illustrations in his tomb. A pottery vessel dated to about 3,150 BC has been found with a hieroglyph relating to one of the kings following the Scorpion King. It is possibly Hathor, who was the king three reigns before a notable king called Narmer. These kings who reigned before 3,100 BC were buried at the necropolis at Abydos. Towards the end of this period, prior to 3,100 BC, power started to become centred in Upper Egypt in the region around Naqada. Eventually, the kings of Hierakonpolis conquered Naqada and Thinis. The new rulers of Upper Egypt went on to defeat Lower Egypt so spreading their influence from the Delta to the First Cataract. They moved to Thinis as their Capital, so the period from 3,100 to 2,686 BC is called “Thinite”.

The historic timeline of Egypt from around 3,100 BC is divided into the reigns of kings, which are aggregated into dynasties, usually based on the same family line, although at times this was somewhat contrived by arranged marriages. Dynastic rulers had to be seen to be legitimate successors to the ancestors and so “the beloved of the gods”. Contravention of this caused serious problems in Egypt’s history. The dynasties are further aggregated into the Thinite or “Early Dynastic Period” from 3,100 to 2,686 BC, “Old Kingdom” which represented the period of the first Great Egyptian Empire from 2,686 to 2,180 BC, then the “First Intermediate Period” when there was disunity and the country split into factions, this was followed by the “Middle Kingdom” from 2,055 to 1,780 BC when a powerful Egyptian Empire re-emerged. The “Second Intermediate Period” intervened before the “New Kingdom” brought in the third powerful Egyptian Empire, lasting from 1,552 to 1,070 BC.

Green scarab referring to Pharaoh Thutmose
III’s battle at Qadesh UC12034 -
Copyright of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian
Archaeology, UCL

It was King Narmer, around 3,080 BC, who finally welded the city-states in Upper and Lower Egypt together into a formidable unified State, as part of the First Dynasty. The discovery of an impression on a jar seal gave sufficient evidence that the often referred to and legendary “King Menes” was in fact Narmer himself. He was a powerful and visionary leader able to pull together the various different cultures. Many symbols of the king were as a fierce lion or striking an enemy soldier. He built up the necessary administration to rule successfully for some 40 years, although a great investment in irrigation and its consequent effect on agricultural effectiveness was a significant contributor to this success. The religious sector grew to support the necessary rituals, such as by building temples and mortuaries, and it started to create an important power base. Stamp seals became very important to authenticate official documents and to mark belongings. They had a similar purpose to seal rings used by officials in Europe in medieval and later times. In Egypt they were often in the form of scarab beetles having a flat lower surface with inscriptions or decoration that can contain very important information for archaeologists.