The “first pharaoh” of a unified Egypt is traditionally considered Narmer (sometimes also called Menes).
Unified Upper and Lower Egypt into a single kingdom.
Narmer Palette: A famous ceremonial palette showing Narmer wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt, symbolizing unification.
Narmer Macehead — a carved ceremonial mace with his name, now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
Narmer is sometimes called the “Catfish King” because of the symbols used in his name on early inscriptions, particularly the Narmer Palette and other ceremonial objects.
In some early inscriptions, his name is written with a catfish symbol (representing “nar”) and a chisel symbol (representing “mer”).
So Nar‑mer = catfish + chisel in hieroglyphs.
Narmer Macehead — a carved ceremonial mace with his name, now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
