Definition: the word pharaoh refers to the title of the ancient Egyptian kings. The title “pharaoh” means the “great house” and refers to the royal palace.

Definition: the word pharaoh refers to the title of the ancient Egyptian kings. The title “pharaoh” means the “great house” and refers to the royal palace.

Pharaohs were the god kings of ancient Egypt who ruled between 3150 B.C. and 30 B.C. (when Rome conquered Egypt). Each time a new family took control of the throne, a new kingdom began in the history of this fascinating nation. While rulers often intermarried with daughters, granddaughters, sisters and brothers to keep the throne within the family the throne still managed to shift hands multiple times; creating a dynamic and complex pharonic history.

Thirty-one Dynasties ruled from the Early Dynastic Period to the Ptolemaic Period. Scholars also include a Dynasty 0 but any kings from this period are not well represented in the archaeological record. Some Dynasties ruled at the same time in different areas of Egypt during the intermediate periods.

10 Famous Pharaohs

Below is a top 10 of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs:

1. Tutankhamun (aka King Tut) restored the capital to Thebes after the death of Akhenaten and restored the worship of the old gods. Later pharaoh’s erased his name from some king lists so scholars found his tomb’s goods intact in the 1920s.
2. Cleopatra VII was the last pharaoh of Egypt who tried to hold off the Romans under Augustus. She ruled beside three pharaohs including her young son and was the lover of Marc Antony.
3. Ramses II ruled during the New Kingdom for either 66 years. He built all over Egypt and many of his statues and temples are still standing today. He is probably the most prolific of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, siring over 100 children with more than a dozen wives.
4. Ramses III was the last king of the New Kingdom and is considered the last great pharaoh. He was murdered by one of his wives.
5. Hatshepsut ruled during the New Kingdom for around 20 years. She organized military campaigns and sent out trade expeditions to bring exotic goods to Egypt.
6. Akhenaten ruled during the New Kingdom for less than 20 years. Scholars call him the hieratic pharaoh because he forbade the worship of the old gods. He built Amarna as the center for the worship of his god, Aten.
7. Khufu also known as Cheops, ruled during the Old Kingdom and built the Great Pyramid.
8. Djoser ruled during the Old Kingdom and built the first true stone pyramid, the Step Pyramid.
9. Thutmose III was the 6th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. He ruled Egypt for 45 years and created the largest empire ever in Egypt. Thutmose was buried in the Valley of the Kings.
10. Amenhotep III was the son of Thutmose IV and was the 9th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. He ruled during the peak of ancient Egypt’s power.

Click here for a list of the 25 most famous pharaohs of ancient Egypt

Symbols of Kingship

Below is a list of some of the symbols used by the pharaoh to show his/her kingship. Images of the pharaoh show him/her wearing a crown or headdress with the uraeus (cobra) over the forehead. S/he also had a bull’s tail coming from his/her belt to show personal power and wore a false beard which was a sign of divinity.

• • White Crown – the crown of Upper Egypt symbolized control over this region. The Pharaoh wore it on occasions that concerned only Upper Egypt. It resembles a tall white mitre or a white bowling pin without a bottom.
  • Red Crown – the crown of Lower Egypt that symbolized control over this region. Pharaoh wore it on occasions that concerned only Lower Egypt. The bottom of this crown is circular with a tall thin part sticking up at the back and has a long curl attached to its base.

• Double Crown – the combined crown of Upper and Lower Egypt which symbolized the pharaoh’s control over them. This crown combined the Red and White Crowns, with the White Crown inside the Red Crown.
• Blue Crown – a headdress made of blue cloth or leather and decorated with discs of bronze or gold. Pharaoh wore it in battle and during some ceremonies.
• Atef Crown – a white crown decorated with ostrich feathers and topped by a small sun disc. Pharaoh wore it while performing religious rituals.
• Nemes Headdress – a blue and gold stripped head-cloth falling down both sides of the head, the front of each shoulder and the back. This headdress is part of some pharaoh’s death masks and sarcophagi (coffins) and King Tut wears it in his death mask.
• Crook – a blue and gold stripped staff with a hook on one end. Pharaoh holds it in statues and on sarcophagi, with the flail, crossed over his/her chest.
• Flail – came from a manual threshing device that had a long handle with a free-swinging stick that farmers used to beat wheat.
• Cartouche – loop of rope with a knot on one end that contained some of the pharaoh’s names in hieroglyphic inscriptions. It symbolized “that which the sun encircles” and meant that the pharaoh ruled everything the sun encircled. Discover more about cartouches…
• Serekh – written sign for kingship resembling a palace and containing one of the pharaoh’s names.