Narmer and the Birth of Egypt’s Kingdom.
Around 3000 BCE, a King rose to power in the Nile Valley. His name was Nar-mer, and he may be the first king of Egypt. In this episode, we meet the first ruler of the land, get a sense of Egypt and its people, and introduce the podcast as a whole. Welcome!
- Time period: circa 3050 – 3000 BCE.
- Kings: Narmer, Scorpion
- Notable sites: Abydos (Abdju), Memphis (Ineb-Hedj).
Listen on 
The major divisions and sites of early Egypt (Map: Nasa)
The Narmer Palette, smiting side (wikimedia).
The Narmer Palette, smiting side (wikimedia).
Narmer Palette, the “Parade” side (Wikimedia).
Narmer Palette, the “Parade” side (Wikimedia).
The possible tomb of Narmer, in the necropolis of Abydos (Touregypt.net)
Detail of the Narmer palette: the King smites his foe while a sandal-bearer (left) and the falcon Horus (right) watch.
Detail of the Narmer palette: the King and his followers march in parade, holding the banners of the gods (centre) and counting the dead enemies (right).
A macehead from the reign of Narmer (Wikimedia).
A machead of King Scorpion (Wikimedia)
The macehead of King Scorpion, who reigned just before Narmer in Egypt’s southern lands. Scorpion (centre) digs a canal or irrigation, while attendants help. At the top, banners of the gods carry dead birds in his name.
Bibliography
- Kathryn A. Bard, An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, 2nd edition, 2015.
- Eugenia D’Atanasio et al., “The Peopling of the Last Green Sahara Revealed by High-Coverage Resequencing of Trans-Saharan Patrilineages,” Genome Biology 19.20 (2018): 1–15.
- Gunter Dreyer, “Tomb U-j: A Royal Burial of Dynasty 0 at Abydos,” in Emily Teeter (ed.) Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization, 2011: 127-36.
- A.J. Spencer, Early Egypt: The Rise of Civilization in the Nile Valley, 1993.
- Barry J. Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 3rd edition, 2018.
- David O’Connor, Abydos: Egypt’s First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris, 2011.
- John Romer, A History of Ancient Egypt from the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid, 2013.
- Alice Stevenson, “Material Culture of the Predynastic Period,” in Emily Teeter (ed.) Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization, 2011: 65-74.
- David Wengrow, “Landscapes of Knowledge, Idioms of Power: The African Foundations of Ancient Egyptian Civilization Reconsidered,” in David O’Connor and Andrew Reid (eds) Ancient Egypt in Africa, 2003: 121-36.
- David Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt: Social Transformations in North-East Africa, 10,000 to 2650 BC, 2006.
- Robert J. Wenke, The Ancient Egyptian State: The Origins of Egyptian Culture (c. 8000 – 2000 BC), 2009.
- Toby A.H. Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, 1999.
- Bruce B. Williams, “Relations Between Egypt and Nubia in the Predynastic Period,” in Emily Teeter (ed.) Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization, 2011: 83-92.
Pingback: Early episodes revamped! | The Egyptian History Podcast
I cannot seem to download this episode. Please fix it because I really want to listen to this podcast!
Hi Denis,
My apologies – when I re-jigged some of the early episodes I plum forgot to update the blog.
Page should now have the correct link.
Alternatively, I recommend subscribing via iTunes or a podcast app (Player Fm, Podbay etc) to get new episodes when they are released, and in their most up-to-date form 🙂
I can’t seem to find a link to play or download either? Shame because I am so interested and you clearly put your work in.
Hi Elli, beneath the first picture there is a link labelled Download.
Thank you very much for this phenomenal podcast series Dominic!
Thank you for listening 🙂
i love your podcast. Thank you so much!!
Is it possible to get a written file of the listening?
Hi Jordi,
Unfortunately I do not give out the transcripts at this time.
Dominic
Would you be willing to sell some transcripts for the soul purpose of education?
Hi Jordi,
Email me at egyptpodcast@gmail.com with more details of your need
Just started to listen to this. My first impression is “excellent.” While rowing on my rowing machine I listened to the fist three episodes. Will keep listening!
Would you be willing to sell them?
Hi Oliver, transcripts are not for sale. Email me at egyptpodcast@gmail.com with more details of your need and we can see if there are other ways I can help
Great work, Dominick. Just I was surpris of seeing you jump straight this time from mound primordial to Nagada 3.
Hi Caro,
As part of the remaster project I am putting the Mythological tales into their own episodes. The first one is “Infinite Waters,” just after episode 3
Dominic
I really admire your work. Congratulations and thanks you
Thank you for this podcast, it’s super interesting, extremely well made and so on, and so on… sorry, I am not a native speaker, I just lack words to express how much I appreciate your work 🙂 I’ve been into ancient Egypt for many years now, but I couldn’t find the time to really delve into it properly. Some time ago I have made up my mind to study egyptology as soon as I finish studying medicine but untill then I would like to at least try to taste what it feels like. I have been through almost every book about egyptology in my local libraries. Unfortunately, they’re mostly really old Soviet ones, so when I finally got my hands Toby Wilkinson’s “The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt” it felt like I was reading about a completely different country altogether! So, here comes my question: could you recommend some up-to-date exhaustive books about predynastic or early dynastic history of Egypt? I would be really grateful, we don’t have much locally, but when I realized that I can import some English-language books via internet I realized how big the choice is!
So again, thank you for the podcast! I listen to it every day for a good month now and I already find it hard to survive a day without it 🙂
Hi Agata,
Pre-Dynastic specifically: I recommend The Ancient Egyptian State c. 8000 to 2000 BCE by Robert J Wenke (https://amzn.to/2MJyN6g) and A History of Ancient Egypt From the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid by John Romer (https://amzn.to/2WG2VnR). Both will give you a detailed introduction to the current trends, theories and knowledge in Egyptology / archaeology. More detailed material will be intensely academic / expensive 🙂
Hope this helps!
Dominic
Disclaimer: I’ve provided Amazon Affiliate links, which will support the Podcast if you purchase through them.
I really admire your work. Congratulations and thank you
This is really great. Have you ever thought of uploading this podcast to spotify for easy use and a wider audience?
Hi Rick 🙂 I’m trying to upload it to Spotify, but they are currently not accepting the platform on which I host (Acast). Unfortunately it is out my control, at the present time; but when that changes, I’ll be first in line.
Dominic
Thank you, I’ve been looking for, imagining, something that gives a concise history of Ancient Egypt for a long time. Awesome!
This is truly an excellent podcast. Your style and methods are brilliant. Thanks so much for what you do. This is a proverbial gold mine of historical information.
I am new to podcasts and this is my first one. I have been interested in ancient Egypt for many years but never managed to get hold of anything gripping. I find the podcasts excellent, as weel as the website content. Very good. Also, thank you for your prompt messaging.
I can’t seem to find a link for play or download either? A shame because I’m so interested and clearly you put your work into it
Great show!
I have just begun to listen to your podcast, I am looking forward to all further episodes. I do a lot of driving for work, so I have lots of time to listen. Thank you.
Just subscribed here in Spain! Love the podcast. I go to Egypt regularly and appreciate it more and more each time. Can you suggest a good general overview of Predynastic and very early Dynastic Egypt other than Before the Pyramids and Romer’s book? I’ve already read those and want to read more, especially a book that takes into account the most recent discoveries.
Keep up the good work!
Hi Sean,
The books you’ve mentioned are the best currently available. Pre-Dynastic archaeology is a growth area, and new evidence is coming out so often that publications cannot keep up-to-date. Unfortunately, it will take a few more years for that to change
Hello! I just found your podcast the other day, and it is so well done! Thank you so much for all your hard work! I will be enjoying this series for a long long time. Thank you so much.
Hi Dominic! I’ve just discovered your podcast and listened to the first episode. Loving it so far! I am currently in Egypt (first ever trip). I’ve visited many temples along the Nile, and spent some time in Cairo checking out the pyramids and museum. It’s been incredible and fascinating! I wanted to do further research and it seems like your podcast is just what I’ve been looking for. Looking forward to the journey!
Getting caught up with this podcast is part of my New Year’s Resolutions! I’m so excited to learn more, this is such a great podcast and I really want to thank you for all the work you do on it.
I am another new listener, and I intend to be a regular now, and promote your podcast on Ricochet.com. I, like listener Kirk Dobihal above, listen while working out on my home rowing machine! I was interested in ancient Egypt as a kid, and got back to it recently, when a friend turned me on to T. Lee Harris’s novel, The Eloquent Scribe (about a kid detective whose sidekick is a smarty-pants temple cat). Thanks for the bibliography, so I can read up and listen too.
I’ve been listening to the podcast for about eight months (I’m on episode 128 atm!) and I absolutely love it.
I’ve dreamed of writing a novel series since I was a young girl, and to get on with it finally! Ancient Egypt will be my setting, so I’m going through your earlier episodes to take notes. I want to really immerse myself in the culture in order to create depth and an authentic reading experience. This podcast is so accessible, and a wonderful place to start.
Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this podcast. If I ever actually publish, I’ll be certain to give you an acknowledgement, even if its likely that only me and my immediate family will read it (even that is an exciting prospect!).
All the best,
Laura
Thanks Laura, that is very kind 😊 Good luck with your book!
I am so glad I stumbled on this podcast and blog. I have been interested in Egyptian history for so long, but could not find a proper place to sate my curiousity and learn more about this beautiful culture. Now, I’m so happy I found your podcast. Looking forward to more podcasts!