In ancient Egypt, the country was divided into administrative regions called “nomes”. Nomes were territorial divisions that helped organize and govern different areas of Egypt. Each nome was governed by a nomarch, who was accountable to the vizier for their jurisdiction.
Long before empires and pharaohs emerged, Egypt was divided into smaller, autonomous city-states. Each of these regions had its own identity, traditions, and even gods, yet they were all linked by the life-giving flow of the Nile River. Over time, these city-states began to unite under a single leadership, eventually establishing the mighty civilization known as Egypt. However, even when the regions were unified under a single monarch, their historical divisions, known as nomes, persisted.
These nomes were more than just lines on a map—they were the heartbeat of Egypt’s administrative and cultural life. From the sweeping northern Delta to the rugged southern cliffs, the land was divided into 42 nomes—20 in Lower Egypt and 22 in Upper Egypt.
The 20 nomes of Lower Egypt spanned from Memphis, the city of white walls, to the Mediterranean Sea. Memphis, the capital of the First Nome, ruled over the adjacent pyramids of Saqqara and Giza, whose towering structures guarded the kingdom’s rich history. To the east, in the Eighteenth Nome, was Bubastis, the home of the cat goddess Bastet, where devotees congregated to celebrate her festivals with song and dance.
Upper Egypt, on the other hand, was an area of ancient temples and craggy cliffs that spanned 22 nomes. The First Nome, located at the First Cataract on the Nubian frontier, was centered on Elephantine, an island that served as a gateway to the countries to the south. Further down the river, Thebes, also known as Waset by its people, dominated the Fourth Nome, with huge temples to Amun-Ra attracting pilgrims from all across the country.
Each nome had its own symbol, its own sacred creatures, and its own stories. In Hares land, the swift hare was a symbol of abundance and fertility, while the Sha-Set animal land honored the mythical Set animal, a creature tied to the unpredictable forces of the desert. The Oryx Nome to the north revered the desert-dwelling oryx, a symbol of resilience amidst the harsh sands.
Throughout Egypt’s history, from the Old Kingdom to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, the nome system served as a framework for both regional administration and central government supervision.