Ancient Egypt for Kids
The Two Lands
& King Menes

The Nile is 4,000 miles long! It is the longest river in the world! There was a lot of land along the Nile on which to settle. The early people who settled along the Nile seem to settle in two main regions. One region was at the mouth of the Nile, where the Nile enters the Mediterranean Sea. The other main region was to the south, at the base of the mountains.

Each of these regions had a king. It was easy to tell the kings apart by the color of their crown (which was more like a hat.) The king who ruled the people who lived in the north, at the mouth of the Nile, wore a Red Crown. Their land was called Lower Egypt. The king who ruled the people who lived in the south, at the base of the mountains, wrote a White Crown. Their land was called Upper Egypt.

These two regions were always fighting. They spoke the same language. They worshipped the same gods. They had the same culture. But, for some reason, they could not get along.

About 5,000 years ago, King Menes ruled Upper Egypt, at the base of the mountains. He conquered Lower Egypt. These two regions were combined into one country. But it didn't help. The people kept fighting amongst themselves. To help his people think of themselves as one people, the king had a special crown made, a double crown. It was not white. It was not red. It was a mix of white and red. And it did the trick. The people started calling their combined land the "The Two Lands". Over time, "The Two Lands" became known as Egypt.

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