The Most Famous Rulers of Egypt

The history of ancient Egypt dates back to more than 5000 years where the greatest men and women this civilization can offer were able to change the course of history and create an immortal legacy and heavenly heritage. Explore all the information relating to these ancient Egyptian pharaohs and see how the great civilization of Egypt shifted over the years.

1. King Menes {Narmer}

King Narmer is the ruler who united the two lands of upper and Lower Egypt whose reign lasted for 62 years as he crowned himself as the 1st king of the first centralized monarch in 3150 BC as recorded on the Narmer Palette. He recorded this great event on his palette which is located at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, the palette consists of two faces. We can found the name of Narmer written in a small square, the king wearing the white crown and holding the heads of one of his enemies from his collective hair, on the other side we can see the king wearing the red crown which means he became the ruler of both lands.

2. King Zoser {Djoser}

King Djoser is the pharaoh of the third dynasty whose reign lasted for 19 to 28 years from 3686 till 2648 BC the builder of the 1st pyramid in Egypt the Step Pyramid in Saqqara to be his tomb as part of his funerary complex during the 3rd dynasty, his pyramid at Saqqara complex has a limestone statue located on the 1st floor at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and considers one of the masters' pieces of the Museum because it’s the 1st life-size statue in ancient Egypt. it is now located at the Grand Egyptian Museum.

3. King Snefru

King Snefru was a pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty whose reign lasted between 24 to 30 years from 2600 BC. He is the builder of the first true pyramid at Dahshour which is opened for all visitors. He is responsible for building three pyramids that offered a great deal of innovation. The most famous pyramid is the red pyramid which acts as his tomb.

4. King Khufu {Cheops}

King Khufu is the son of king Snefru and ruled Egypt more than 23 years during the 4th Dynasty from 2589 to 2566 BC, and the builder of the Great Pyramid one of the seven wonders of the ancient world which is known for its unusually large size and because of the burial chamber is in the center of the pyramid rather than at the bottom. It has about 2,300,000blocks of stone each one is about 2.5 tons.

5. King Khafra { Kefren}

King Khafre is the son of King Khufu, he succeeded his father on the throne of Egypt and built the second largest Giza Pyramid and the Great Sphinx. His reign lasted for 26 years starting in 2570 BC. The ancient Egyptian pharaohs have many statues displayed at the Grand Egyptian when you see those statues during your journey to Egypt where you’ll discover the intelligence of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs.

6. King Menkaure {Mycerinus}

King Menkaure ruled Egypt From 2532 to 2503 during the 4th dynasty of the old kingdom. He is the builder of the 3rd pyramid at Giza complex, he only had one daughter who died during his life and he buried her in a golden coffin inside the pyramid but it was stolen by grave robbers a long time ago.

7. King Pepi II

King Pepi II also Known as Nefer Ka Ra was a pharaoh from the 6th Dynasty, during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, from 2278 to 2184 B.C.  he ruled Egypt for a long time many historians say 94 years while others say 64 years. The first half of his reign seems to have been prosperous with trade existing with various places. During the latter part of his reign, local officials grew in power and began setting up little kingdoms. The second half of Pepi II’s reign was a time of economic crisis. Circumstances forced him to establish an economic overseer in Upper Egypt.

8. King Senusret I

King Senusret I also called "Kheper Ka Ra" & "Sesostres I" was a king of Egypt who ruled during the 12th Dynasty in the Middle Kingdom. His reign from 1971 till 1926 BC was a time of peace with no records of military campaigns found to date. Senusret I was the first pharaoh to begin irrigating the Faiyum to open more land for cultivation purposes. He has many statues displayed in the Grand Egyptian Museum all in a very good state of preservation, he also built a pyramid and a funerary complex at Lahun.

9. King Ahmos I

King Ahmos I was a member of the Theban Royal house during that time, his father is king Sekenenra. He is the founder of the 18th Dynasty which began in the New Kingdom of Egypt and reign lasted for 25 years from 1549 till 1524 BC. He started the reunification of Egypt after the Second Intermediate Period. He fought battles in Egypt, Palestine, and Kush as he sought to banish the Hyksos and their culture. Ahmose I began building projects at Memphis and in his religious capital. His tomb location is unknown but his mummy was part of the Deir el-Bahri royal mummy.

10. King Amenhotep I

King Amenhotep I was from the 18th Dynasty, during the New Kingdom. He was the son of Ahmose I and he continued his father’s building projects and his military campaigns. His reign lasted for 20 years from 1525 till 1504 BC. Amenhotep I military campaigns brought many treasures that allowed the pharaoh to fund his building projects. The workmen at Deir el-Medina worshipped him, and his mother, as their patron gods for centuries. Deir el-Medina was the town where the government workers who built the Valley of the Kings lived. During that time, it became a rule that royal females could only marry a king.

11. King Thutmose II

King Thutmose II was a ruler of the 18th Dynasty, in the New Kingdom and his reign lasted from 1493 till 1479 BC.  His father is king Thutmose I. His mummy, found in the royal cache at the Temple of Hatshepsut, shows signs of weakness and diseases that caused his death.

12. Queen Hatshepsut

Queen Hatshepsut was a pharaoh from the 18th Dynasty who is considered to be one of the powerful ancient Egypt pharaohs ruled Egypt during the New Kingdom from 1481 till 1472 BC, and the first woman who ruled Egypt when her husband (Thutmose II) died because his son (Thutmose III) was a young child. She began her rule as his queen regent but she became the pharaoh. Queen Hatshepsut extended Egyptian trade and oversaw ambitious building projects, most notably the temple of Deir el-Bahri "Hatshepsut Temple". She claimed to be the child of Amun and transformed herself into a king by wearing the symbols of kingship as shown at her marvelous temple in Luxor.

13. King Thutmose III

King Thutmose III ruled Egypt during the 18th Dynasty, of the New Kingdom from 1479 till 1425 BC, which lasted for more than 40 years. He conducted military campaigns in the Levant and conquered most of Palestine. Hatshepsut’s name and monuments were not dishonored until the end of Thutmose III’s reign. He built and enlarged many monuments and collected a vast amount of wealth from his military campaigns plus he has a great collection of statues located now at the Egyptian Museum.

14. King Amenhotep II

King Amenhotep II was an 18th Dynasty ruler, during the New Kingdom whose reign lasted from 1427 till 1401 BC, and co-regent with his father, Thutmose III. He completed the dishonoring of Hatshepsut’s monuments to end any claims by her family for the right to rule. Amenhotep II ruled for almost thirty years and his depictions show him as an athletic man.

15. King Amenhotep IV

King Amenhotep IV "Akhenaton", was an 18th Dynasty pharaoh who ruled Egypt during the New Kingdom from 1353 till 1336 BC. He ruled for less than twenty years but his reign had a great impact as he desired to enforce monotheism by worshipping Aton the sun god only despite Egypt's polytheism nature at the time. Akhenaten came to the throne at a time when the priests of Amun were wealthy and powerful even more than the king himself. In the fifth year of his reign, Akhenaten built a temple to Aten at Karnak during the first few years of his reign and a new capital at Amarna called Akhetaten which is located in Menya about 350 KM south of Cairo. He changed his name and declared Aten the only deity in Egypt. The military supported this move at the beginning of his reign but many people still worshipped the old deities in private. His wife Nefertiti was an important part of his religious revolution, plus the rituals and depictions of her making sacrifices exist at Amarna.

16. King Tutankhamun

King Tutankhamun was the youngest ancient Egypt pharaoh who ruled Egypt from the 18th Dynasty, during the New Kingdom from 1334 till 1325 BC, and the best-known pharaoh all around the world. He was the son of Akhenaten and became pharaoh at the age of nine. During the first year of his reign, Tutankhamun left Amarna and remade Thebes as his capital and restored the cults of the old deities. His regent was Horemheb who was a senior military official. King Tutankhamun restored the power of Thebes and died after around ten years of rule. Later scribes excluded his name from many of the kings’ lists and people forgot his rule. For this reason, tomb-robbers never found his tomb in the Valley of the Kings as it was well hidden. His treasures and his body have been found at The Valley of The Kings in 1920 and transferred to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo then to the grand Egyptian museum.

17. King Ramses I

King Ramses I was the first ruler and founder of the 19th Dynasty, during the New Kingdom from 1292 till 1290 BC. he was an older man when he became pharaoh and his son’s birth Seti I took place before his ascension. He ruled for less than a year and he set his son up as his heir immediately after gaining the throne. He was able to create a state of stability that helped in shaping the best time periods in the history of Egypt.

18. King Seti I

King Seti I was the son of Ramses I and the father of Ramses II. He was a pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty and a ruler of the New Kingdom. His reign lasted from 1290 till 1279 BC. He restored the traditional temples and opened old mines to raise money for his building projects and his military expiations. The exact length of his reign is about eleven years and his tomb is located at the Valley of the Kings.

19. King Ramses II

Ramses  II set on the thrones of Egypt in 1279 B.C at the age of 25 years old after the death of his father Seti I and his reign lasted for 67 years until 1213 BC. He was able to develop a strong economy and maintain Egypt's prosperity for a long time. He constructed many temples within the land of Karnak like the temple of Khonsu plus the great temple of Abu Simbel at Aswan and the hall of Columns in the Karnak Temple Complex. He protected his empire against many enemies like Libyans, Syrians, Nubians, and the Hittites during the battle of Kadesh in 1275 BC which ended in the first documented peace treaty. He had about 200 wives most famous of them was his beloved & main wife Nefertari and had about 111 sons and 51 daughters. HE declared himself a god before the tenth year of his reign and outlived his twelve oldest sons.  He died in 1213 B.C at the age of 90 years old, his body was in Valley of the Kings in Luxor then it was moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

20. King Merenptah

King Merenptah was the thirteenth son of Ramses II and ruled during the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom whose reign lasted from 1213 till 1203 BC. He conducted campaigns in Palestine and his stele contains the first written mention of Israel. After he defeated a Libyan invasion, he had a peaceful reign and built a number of temples. Merneptah must have been older when his rule began because it lasted for only nine years.

21. King Ramses III

King Ramses III was a ruler from the 20th Dynasty of the New Kingdom whose reign lasted from 1186 till 1155 BC. The records show that he was not a relative of the previous Ramses dynasty despite carrying their name. After his predecessor Twosret’s death, there was a period of lawlessness that Sethnakht, Ramses 3rd’s father ended. He had to fight various invaders trying to take advantage of Egypt’s internal turmoil. He built a mortuary temple in the Theban Necropolis and various other constructions. He reorganized the temple administrations and land allocations. By the end of Ramses 3rd’s thirty-one-year reign, one-third of the farmland belonging to the temples which caused food shortages and led to one of the first recorded strikes of the workers at Deir el-Medina. It also led to a weakening in the power of the pharaoh and the central government.

The previous kings mentioned were the most famous and important kings who had a great influence on Egyptian history and civilization.

Succession

It’s important to mention also that the descent of kingship was usually from father to son but the role of mothers and queens was equally important because the successor was a son of the king by the chief royal wife only. During the Egyptian history, the role of the queen was as a symbol of power creation and rebirth.

You can discover more about this immortal pharaonic civilization by booking  one of our best Egypt tour packages and visit the stunning attractions such as Karnak temple, Queen Hatshepsut temple, Valley of the Kings, onboard Nile cruise, which contains the history and the legacy of these everlasting names.