Proto-kingdom of Thinis

Origins

Thinis, near Abydos in Upper Egypt, became the seat of a line of rulers in the late 4th millennium BCE. Their burials in Cemetery U at Abydos grew steadily richer, and by c. 3200 BCE the Thinite chiefs had absorbed the Proto-kingdom of Naqada and extended their reach over the Proto-kingdom of Nekhen.

Rule and society

Tomb U-j at Abydos, built around 3320 BCE, contained hundreds of imported Levantine wine jars and small bone labels carrying some of the earliest known Egyptian writing. Kings now wrote their names inside a serekh, a palace façade topped by the Horus falcon. These rulers, known today as Dynasty 0, ran an economy of grain, wine and prestige goods and pushed their trade into the Delta.

Decline and legacy

The Thinite line culminated in Narmer, who around 3100 BCE ruled both Upper and Lower Egypt and is usually counted as the founder of Early Dynastic Egypt. Abydos remained the burial ground of the First Dynasty kings and later became the great cult centre of Osiris.