State Formation in Ancient Egypt

Egypt surrounded by desert and large bodies of water, acts as geographical isolation from rest of West Asia

Egypt develops strong sense of Egyptian cultural unity, us vs. them mindset

Deeply ingrained in Ancient Egyptian consciousness was division between Nile River Delta (Lower Egypt) and Nile River Valley (Upper Egypt)

Idea that these parts were unified by a king (pharaoh), king himself embodied this unification

Transition from Predynastic to Early Dynastic world

also transition to having a single ruler of all of Egypt

Narmer

first king of Egypt

widely accepted model/theory for Egyptian unification under Narmer

Different groups along Nile engage with each other in a variety of ways, friendly as well as competition, leading to formation of alliances between groups, As competition between groups intensifies leads to string of conflicts in which at end there is “last man standing,” who is Narmer

After 3100 BCE Egypt has been “unified”, Nile Valley and Delta brought together

Many of natural resources in region are now controlled and coordinated by a king, many of resources directed towards glorification of that king

Cultural unification

Grave goods from earlier periods are much more diverse, around 3100 BCE things become homogenized

Emergence of complex writing system

Hieroglyphics (ceremonial), Hieratic script (more everyday)

General pattern of state building similar to West Asia

Need for irrigation agriculture to support large scale crop growing and therefore large settled populations, Tight control of states over resources in their territory