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For over 3000 years, the Ancient Egyptians were ruled by a series of kings called pharaohs. The word "pharaoh" is Hebrew for the word "pera", which, in ancient Egyptian, means "Great House" because the pharaoh was Egypt, and Egypt was a "great house" for the people. The pharaoh was believed to be a deity (god). He was worshipped as the falcon-headed sky god, Horus, the "living" god on Earth, and as the son of Amun-Ra, the king of the gods and Lord of the Universe. A pharaoh's titles included: Mighty Bull of Ma'at, Lord of the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ruler of the Black Land, Beloved of Amun-Ra, Beloved of Set, Beloved of Ptah, Incarnation of Horus, He Who is Like the Bee, King of Kings, and Ra-Begot-Him: Son of the Light.
The pharaoh was also the "heart" of Egypt. He was the way that the people could communicate with the gods; each day, he had to get up at sunrise to make daily offerings in the temples. He also had to protect his people from outside invasions. When war called, he was there on the battlefield immediately. He also owned all the land, had control of the army, and owned all the taxes.
A pharaoh usually never ruled alone. His chief wife was called the Great Royal Wife; normally, her children were his heirs. A pharaoh usually married many times; he would often marry a sister, cousin, or even one of his daughters. He often had many wives and concubines so his reign would be "complete". He would do this because if he died without an heir, then there would be a fight for the throne among those who were the most powerful in the land. A good example of this would be Pharaoh Pepi II, who ruled for over one hundred years (he came to the throne when he was six years old). When Pepi died without an heir to throne (he had outlived all his children), there was chaos in Egypt as the nobles made a bid for power. Ramses II knew of this, and that is one of the reasons he had so many children.
The pharaohs were buried first in pyramids during the Old and Middle kingdom, then in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes during the New Kingdom. This was done because all of the pyramids had been plundered and robbed of all the king's jewels and finery. In the New Kingdom, the reigning pharaohs decided that instead of building tombs which were visible to everyone, why not build tombs that were invisible to those who intended on stripping the tomb of all its treasures? The Valley of the Queens was another burial site for royal children as well as the queens. It was meant as the same idea as the Valley of the Kings. This was a place where the pharaohs and queens could rest in peace for all eternity. Or so they thought...
The List of Pharaohs
Famous Pharaohs
