Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends between Nubia, and downriver (northwards) to Lower Egypt.

In Pharaonic times Upper Egypt is known as Ta Shemau, which means "the land of reeds."

It is divided into twenty-two districts called nomes.The first nome is roughly where modern Aswan is and the twenty-second is at modern Atfih (Aphroditopolis), just to the south of Cairo.The main city of predynastic Upper Egypt is Nekhen (Greek: Hierakonpolis), whose patron deity is the vulture goddess Nekhbet.