At first Egypt consisted of two kingdoms, or states having kings as rulers. One was Upper Egypt. It lay in the south in the river valley. The other was Lower Egypt. It lay in the north in the delta.
Around 3100 B.C. Narmer, a king of Upper Egypt, led his armies from the valley north into the delta. He conquered Lower Egypt and married one of its princesses. Narmer united the two kingdoms into a single nation. He wore a double crown, the high white one of the south plus the shallow red one of the north. Nermer set up a new capital Memphis, a city on the border between Upper and Lower Egypt.
Around 2700 B.C. a period known as the Old Kingdom started in Egypt. It lasted for about 650 years. During the Old Kingdom Egyptian cities became centers of religion and government. There lived kings, priests, government officials, and craftspeople who worked for the temples or the government.…
