A Short Guide to the Most Important Egyptian Pharaohs

Narmer: Early Dynastic Period, First Dynasty, Reign: circa 3150 BCE. Commonly credited with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, Narmer is considered the founder of the First Dynasty. Narmer is also identified with a ruler named “Menes” who founded Memphis, but archaeological evidence suggests the city already existed in pre-dynastic times. Narmer ruled from Thinis, a city in Upper Egypt, downstream from Thebes. 

Djoser: Old Kingdom, Third Dynasty, Reign: circa 2670 – circa 2650 BCE. Credited as the founder of the Old Kingdom, Djoser was the first pharaoh to build and be interred in a pyramid. He is also the subject of the oldest life-sized Egyptian statue. By the time Djoser came to power, Memphis had become the political centre of Egypt.

Sneferu: Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty, Reign: 2613 – 2589 BCE. Innovated on Djoser’s step-pyramid design to create Egypt’s first straight-sided pyramids. After two unsuccessful attempts (the Pyramid at Meidum and the Bent Pyramid), Sneferu succeeded with the Red Pyramid.

Khufu: Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty, Reign: 2589 – 2566 BCE. Also known by his Greek name Cheops, Khufu commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza. Greek authors portrayed Khufu as a tyrant, apparently out of the mistaken belief that his pyramid could only have been built using slave labour.

Khafre: Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty, Reign: 2558 – 2532 BCE. Built the second largest pyramid in Giza and probably the Sphinx.

Menkaure: Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty, Reign: 2532 – 2503 BCE. Built the third largest pyramid in Giza and is depicted at the centre of several well-preserved statue triads, in between Hathor and other deities.

Mentuhotep II: Middle Kingdom, Eleventh Dynasty, Reign: 2060 – 2009 BCE. Reunited upper and lower Egypt, gaining possession of the latter in 2040 BCE and thus launching the Middle Kingdom era. As his ancestors ruled Thebes, this city became the capital of Ancient Egypt. Mentuhotep II founded Deir el-Bahri, a complex of mortuary temples in the Theban Necropolis.

Sobekneferu: Middle Kingdom, Twelfth Dynasty, Reign: 1807 – 1802 BCE. The first confirmed female pharaoh of Egypt.

Ahmose I: New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, Reign: 1570 or 1539 – 1515 BCE. Credited as the founder of the New Kingdom, Ahmose I expelled the Hyksos from the Nile Delta and restored Theban rule over Lower Egypt. He also reasserted power over Nubia and Canaan. The pyramid of Ahmose I was the last royal pyramid built in Egypt.

Thutmose I: New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, Reign: 1506 – 1493 BCE. The first pharaoh definitely buried in the Valley of the Kings; his father Amenhotep I may have preceded him, but his burial remains unconfirmed. Thutmose greatly expanded the Temple of Karnak and penetrated deep into the Levant and Nubia.

Hatshepsut: New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, Reign: 1479 – 1458 BCE. Daughter of Thutmose I and sister-wife to Thutmose II, Hatshepsut served as regent to her stepson Thutmose III and later assumed the position of co-ruler. To reinforce her legitimacy, Hatshepsut often styled herself as a man, depicting herself with a false beard. She expanded the Temple of Karnak and built the impressive Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. After her death, there was an attempt to efface her legacy for reasons that remain unclear.

Thutmose III: New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, Reign 1479 – 1425 BCE. Co-regent of Hatshepsut, Thutmose III expanded Egypt to its greatest geographic extent through a series of expeditions to Syria and Nubia. He also founded the first combat navy in the world.

Akhenaten: New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, Reign: 1353 – 1336 or 1351 – 1334 BCE. Abandoning the name Amenhotep IV for Akhenaten, he attempted to replace Egyptian polytheism with Atenism – a henotheistic religious system centred on the sun disc Aten – and founded a new capital at Akhetaten. These changes were reversed upon Akhenaten’s death, and subsequent pharaohs attempted to blot his name from the records. Akhenaten is depicted with a face and body that seem disproportionately narrow and elongated. 

*Nefertiti: New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, Lived: circa 1370 – circa 1330 BCE. The wife of Akhenaten, Nefertiti may have briefly ruled Egypt after her husband’s death. She is famous for her beautiful bust, which was discovered in 1912 and is currently housed at the Egyptian Museum of Berlin.

Tutankhamun: New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, Reign: circa 1332 – 1323. Likely the son of Akhenaten, Tutankhamun changed his name from Tutankhaten and restored the polytheistic cults of Egypt. Crowned at the age of nine, he died when he was eighteen years old. Tutankhamun became famous thanks to Howard Carter’s 1922 discovery of his undisturbed tomb.

Ramesses II: New Kingdom, Nineteenth Dynasty, Reign: 1279 – 1213 BCE. Also called Ramesses the Great, he launched multiple successful campaigns into Syria, Nubia, and Libya. His statues and engravings dot the Ancient Egyptian landscape, and he also built the new capital of Pi-Ramesses, the famous temple complex of Abu Simbel, and the Ramesseum mortuary temple in Thebes. Ramesses II lived to the age of ninety, ruling for sixty-six years. His Greek name is Ozymandias (made famous by Shelley’s eponymous poem), and he is sometimes identified as the pharaoh of Exodus.

*Nefertari: New Kingdom, Nineteenth Dynasty, Lived: circa 1301 – circa 1255 BCE. The wife of Ramesses II and a highly literate queen who corresponded with other monarchs. The Temple of Nefertari in Abu Simbel was built in her honour and she was buried in one of the most ornate tombs in the Valley of the Queens.

Cambyses II: Persian Empire, Twenty-Seventh Dynasty, Reign: 525 – 522 BCE. Son of Cyrus the Great, Cambyses II conquered Egypt for Persia, which would rule Egypt in two periods: 525 – 404 BCE and 343 – 332 BCE.

Alexander the Great: Hellenistic Period, Argead Dynasty, Reign: 332 – 323 BCE. Conquered Egypt from the Persians and was welcomed as a liberator. He made sacrifices to Egyptian gods, restored ancient temples, and built a chapel for the sacred barge in Luxor. He also founded the city of Alexandria.

Cleopatra VII: Hellenistic Period, Ptolemaic Dynasty, Reign: 51 – 30 BCE. Attempting to preserve Egypt’s independence from Rome, Cleopatra first pursued a romantic relationship with Julius Caesar and declared their son co-ruler of Egypt. She then sided with the Roman Second Triumvirate in Rome’s civil war and had an affair with Mark Anthony. Octavian (Caesar Augustus) declared war on Cleopatra after she and Mark Anthony claimed territories under their rule for their children. She was defeated and committed suicide. Highly intelligent, she was the only Ptolemaic ruler to speak Egyptian.

Maximinus Daza: Roman Period, Reign: 310 – 313 CE. One of the last pagan rulers of the Roman Empire, Maximinus was the last person to be accorded the title of pharaoh by Egyptian priests.