Ancient Egyptian pharaohs and kings were able to change the course of history, create the most advanced ancient Egyptian Civilizations, and achieve immortality. The ancient Egyptian pharaohs were believed to be divine deities in human form who controlled both the political and the religious aspects of Egyptian society.
There are 30 dynasties that hold more than 170 kings who ruled Egypt through four kingdoms for 3,065 years (3,400 B.C - 335 B.C) which are Egypt Old Kingdom, Egypt Middle Kingdom, Egypt New Kingdom, and The late period. We have selected the most famous and important rulers of the ancient Egyptian period. So, discover all the hidden history of this incredible civilization and cast your eyes on beauty and greatness with our Egypt tours below.
Any name. Pharaohs were kings of ancient Egypt. Though the term pharaoh referring to the king was not used in ancient Egypt until the New Kingdom period (c. 1539-c. 1077 bce), it is now used for all kings of ancient Egypt on the basis of its use in the Hebrew Bible.
The division of pharaohs into dynasties dates to Egyptian priest Manetho’s 3rd-century-bce history of Egypt, which survives in fragmentary form in some of the works of the later historians Josephus, Julius Africanus, Eusebius, and George Syncellus. All dates given in this list are in years bce. Names of female pharaohs are marked with (f). For a list of dynasties of ancient Egypt, see the list of dynasties of ancient Egypt.
The Five Names of the Pharaoh
The king/pharaoh in ancient Egypt had five different titles:
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- Horus name.
- Nebty name.
- Golden Horus name.
- Neswbety name.
- Sa Re name.
The five names of the titulary have a rigidly fixed order. The principal name is the prenomen, and this is often found alone or accompanied only by the nomen. Only very rarely does the Horus name serves for identification purposes.
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1. Horus Name
The Horus name less suitably called banner-name or Ka-name represents the king as the earthly embodiment of the old falcon-god Horus, who became the dynastic god of Egypt, and as such was identified with the sun-god Re, himself also at some very early period the dynastic god.
This name is frequently written within a rectangular frame, at the bottom of which is seen a design of recessed paneling such as we find in the facades of early brick tombs and in the false doors of Old Kingdom mastabas; on the top of the rectangular frame perched the falcon of Horus, in more elaborate Dynasty XVIII examples crowned and accompanied by sun and uraeus. It is not quite certain whether the building symbolized by the rectangle and façade (together termed the Serkh) was the King’s palace or his tomb.
On the whole, we may conclude that the Horus name denotes the aspect of Horus worn by the king whilst dwelling in the palace.
Serekh with Horus falcon
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2. Nebty Name
The Nebty name so called because of the probable reading of the group (vulture and cobra) is Nebty “the two ladies” displays the king as standing in a special relation to the two principal goddesses of the period immediately preceding Dynasty I, when Egypt was still divided into two kingdoms; these were the vulture goddess Nekhebt of the Upper Egyptian city of El Kab and the cobra goddess Wajet of the Lower Egyptian city of Dp, these cities were in the close vicinity of the early capitals of Nekhen or Hieraconpolis and Pe respectively, and it is to this reason that the two goddess owed their prominence.
Probably Menes, the founder of Dynasty I, was the first to assume the Nebty title, symbolizing thereby the fact that he had united the two kingdoms.
3. Golden Horus Name
The Golden Horus name is more disputed. On the Rosetta Stone, that the monogram (Horus above the gold) symbolized Horus as Victorious over Nebt “the Ombite” i.e the god Seth who was worshipped at Ombos near the modern Qena. This was, no doubt the interpretation of Greek times, but the evidence of the earlier periods points in another direction.
The concept of the golden falcon can be definitely traced back to Dynasty XI, and an inscription of Dynasty XII describes the golden Horus name as the “name of gold” (rn-n-nbw).
4. Neswbity or Prenomen
The Neswbity or Prenomen is the name which follows the title (n-sw-bit) “he who belongs to the sedge and the bee” the plant (swt) symbolizing Upper Egypt is supposed to be identical with the flowering (scripus-reed) or sedge, Egyptian (shemea), a common emblem of Upper Egypt; the exact connection of the bee with Lower Egypt is still obscure.
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In effect the title means “King of Upper and Lower Egypt”, and the Rosetta Stone translates it. The prenomen itself is almost compounded with the name of the god Re; typical examples are “Shtp-ib-re” (propitiating the heart of Re) (Amenmhat I), “Nb-Maat-Re” (Lord of the truth is Re) (Amenhotep III); one of the first cases of Re as an element in a king’s name is with “Re-kha-f” (Khafre) of Dynasty IV, and the instance without Re all date before Dynasty IX.
The prenomen and nomen are invariably written within cartouches (the French word means an ornamented tablet of stone, wood, or metal destined to receive an inscription) or “royal ring”. The cartouche depicts a loop formed by a double thickness of the rope, the ends tied together so as the offer to the spectator the appearance of a straight line; strictly speaking, the loop should be round, as it is one or two very early examples, but becomes elongated and oval because of the length of the most hieroglyphic names enclosed in it: the Egyptians called the cartouche (shenw) from a verb-stem (sheni) “encircle”, and it seems not unlikely that the idea was to represent the king as ruler of all “that which is encircled by the sun”, a frequently expressed notion. Another name of the cartouche not found before Dynasty XIX is (mensh).
Cartouche of Thutmose III
5. Sa-Re Name or Nomen
The Sa-Re name or nomen, is introduced by the epithet (sa-Re) “son of the sun-god Re”. The name in the cartouche was, as a ruler, that borne by the king before accession to the throne; it is almost the equivalent of our family name. The first Egyptian kings to distinguish a nomen and a prenomen were those of Dynasty V.
Key Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt
Here are some of the most famous and influential pharaohs who shaped the history of ancient Egypt:
- King Mina: Better known as "Narmer", is noted to be the first pharaoh to have united Upper and Lower Egypt and thus began Egypt's dynastic period, about 3150 BC.
- King Djoser: Is the one who ordered on the throne the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, the first big stone building in Egypt, and a predecessor of later pyramids.
- King Khufu: He is principally known to have constructed the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
- King Khafre: He is best known for his pyramid, the second largest in Giza, standing directly beside his father Khufu's Great Pyramid.
- King Snefru: Achieved revolutionary improvements in pyramid building and is credited for building three major pyramids. The greatest of Snefru's achievements was the Red Pyramid at Dahshur, the first true smooth-sided pyramid in Egypt.
- Hatshepsut: One of the most amazing queens in ancient Egyptian history, rose to power as a co-regent with her stepson "Thutmose III". She declared herself pharaoh and ruled Egypt for almost 22 years.
- Akhenaten: Ruled from 1353 to 1336 B.C., reigned for 17 years, and is remembered primarily for his religious revolution, he introduced the people to monotheistic worship of Aten, the disk of the sun as their only god.
- Tutankhamun: The general public refers to the "boy king." He was a young boy who took the throne of Egypt during the 18th Dynasty. He is best known for his nearly intact tomb discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter.
- Ramses II: Was one of the most powerful pharaohs in Egypt, having reigned from 1279 BC to 1213 BC during the 19th Dynasty. He is remembered for his military genius since, during his time, he commanded an army of 100,000 warriors and successful campaigns that included the famous Battle of Kadesh.
- Queen Nefertari: Wife of Ramses II, is famous for her beauty, intelligence, and the influential role she played during the 19th Dynasty, which has been dated from about 1290-1224 BC.
- Cleopatra VII: As the world's most famous monarch, Cleopatra VI, last king of the Petolmy, is regarded.
- King Pepi II: The Pharaoh of the 6th Dynasty of Egypt was considered to have the longest reign in ancient Egyptian history, as his rule extended for 90 years.
- Tuthmosis III: Also called the "Napoleon of Ancient Egypt," was truly one of the greatest military pharaohs of Egypt during the 18th Dynasty and is remembered for his brilliant strategies in his famous victory at the Battle of Megiddo.
Dynasties of Ancient Egypt
The history of ancient Egypt is divided into dynasties, each representing a period of rule by a particular family. Here's a summary of the dynasties and the number of kings within each:
| Dynasty | Number of Kings |
|---|---|
| 1 | 8 / 10 |
| 2 | 11 / 11 |
| 3 | 8 / 8 |
| 4 | 9 / 9 |
| 5 | 9 / 9 |
| 6 | 7 / 7 |
| 8 | 25 / 25 |
| 9/10 | 0 / 7 |
| 11 | 11 / 11 |
| 12 | 8 / 8 |
| 13 | 62 / 62 |
| 14 | 0 / 0 |
| 15 | 0 / 8 |
| 16 | 0 / 12 |
| 17 | 4 / 10 |
| 18 | 15 / 15 |
| 19 | 8 / 8 |
| 20 | 10 / 10 |
| 21 | 11 / 16 |
| 22 | 13 / 13 |
| 23 | 7 / 7 |
| 24 | 7 / 7 |
| 25 | 11 / 11 |
| 26 | 8 / 8 |
| 27 | 9 / 9 |
| 28 | 1 / 1 |
| 29 | 4 / 4 |
| 30 | 3 / 3 |
| 31 | 3 / 3 |
| 32 | 1 / 1 |
| Macedonian | 3 / 3 |
| Ptolemaic | 13 / 19 |
| Roman | 33 / 56 |
This is a comprehensive guide to the history of Egypt's most prominent monarchs to learn about their architectural achievements before you see them in person during a lot of Cairo Day Tours.
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