The 3rd century BCE Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties, a system still in use today.

He chose to begin his official history with the king named "Meni" (or Menes in Greek) who was then believed to have united the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt (around 3100 BCE).

The transition to a unified state actually happened more gradually than the ancient Egyptian writers would have us believe, and there is no contemporary record of Menes.

Some scholars now believe, however, that the mythical Menes may have actually been the pharaoh Narmer, who is depicted wearing royal regalia on the ceremonial Narmer Palette in a symbolic act of unification.

n the Early Dynastic Period about 3150 BCE, the first of the Dynastic pharaohs solidify their control over lower Egypt by establishing a capital at Memphis, from which they can control the labor force and agriculture of the fertile delta region as well as the lucrative and critical trade routes to the Levant.

The increasing power and wealth of the pharaohs during the early dynastic period is reflected in their elaborate mastaba tombs and mortuary cult structures at Abydos, which are used to celebrate the deified pharaoh after his death.

The strong institution of kingship developed by the pharaohs serves to legitimize state control over the land, labor, and resources that are essential to the survival and growth of ancient Egyptian civilization