A nome (from Νομός, “district”) was a subnational administrative division of ancient Egypt. Today's use of the Greek nome rather than the Egyptian term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic period. Fascinated with Egypt, Greeks created many historical records about the country. These were more accessible to later Western historians and influenced their adoption of Greek terms.

Ancient Egypt

The division of ancient Egypt into nomes can be traced back to the Predynastic Period (before 3100 BC). These nomes originally existed as autonomous city-states, but later began to unify. According to ancient tradition, the ruler Menes completed the final unification..

Not only did the division into nomes remain in place for more than three millennia, the areas of the individual nomes and their ordering remained remarkably stable. Some, like Xois in the Delta or Khent in Upper Egypt, were first mentioned on the Palermo stone, which was inscribed in the Fifth Dynasty. The names of a few, like the nome of Bubastis, appeared no earlier than the New Kingdom. Under the system that prevailed for most of pharaonic Egypt's history, the country was divided into 42 nomes.

Lower Egypt, from the Old Kingdom capital Memphis to the Mediterranean Sea, comprised 20 nomes. The first was based around Memphis, Saqqara, and Giza, in the area occupied by modern-day Cairo. The nomes were numbered in a more or less orderly fashion south to north through the Nile delta, first covering the territory on the west before continuing with the higher numbers to the east. Thus, Alexandria was in the Third Nome; Bubastis was in the Eighteenth.

Upper Egypt was divided into 22 nomes. The first of these was centered around Elephantine close to Egypt's border with Nubia at the First Cataract – the area of modern-day Aswan. From there the numbering progressed downriver in an orderly fashion along the narrow fertile strip of land that was the Nile valley. Waset (ancient Thebes or contemporary Luxor) was in the Fourth Nome, Amarna in the Fourteenth, and Meidum in the Twenty-First.

Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt

Some nomes were added or renamed during the Graeco-Roman occupation of Egypt. For example, the Ptolemies renamed the Crocodilopolitan nome to Arsinoe. Hadrian created a new nome, Antinoopolites, for which Antinoopolis was the capital.

The nomarch

At the head of each nome stood a nomarch. The position of the nomarch was at times hereditary, while at others they were appointed by the pharaoh. Generally, when the national government was stronger, nomarchs were the king's appointed governors. When the central government was weaker, however – such as during foreign invasions or civil wars – individual nomes would assert themselves and establish hereditary lines of succession. Conflicts between these different hereditary nomarchies were common during, for example, the First Intermediate Period – a time that saw a breakdown in central authority lasting from the sixth and eleventh dynasties, until one of the local rulers was once again able to assert control over the entire country as pharaoh.

Survival of the nomes

The nomes survived through the Ptolemaic period, into Roman times. Under Roman rule, individual nomes minted their own coinage, the so-called "nome coins," which still reflect individual local associations and traditions. The nomes of Egypt retained their primary importance as administrative units until the fundamental rearrangement of the bureaucracy during the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine.

From 307/8 CE, their place was taken by smaller units called pagi. Eventually powerful local officials arose who were called pagarchs, through whom all patronage flowed. The pagarch's essential role was as an organizer of tax-collection. Later the pagarch assumed some military functions as well. The pagarchs were often wealthy landowners who reigned over the pagi from which they originated.

List of nomes

The nomes are listed in separate tables for Upper and Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt

Number	Egyptian Name	Capital	Modern Capital	Translation
1	Aneb-Hetch	Ineb Hedj / Men-nefer / Menfe (Memphis)	Mit Rahina	White Walls
2	Khensu	Khem (Letopolis)	Ausim	Cow's thigh
3	Ament	Imu (Apis)	Kom el-Hisn	West
4	Sapi-Res	Ptkheka	Tanta	Southern shield
5	Sap-Meh	Zau (Sais)	Sa el-Hagar	Northern shield
6	Khaset	Khasu (Xois)	Sakha	Mountain bull
7	A-ment	(Hermopolis Parva, Metelis)	Damanhur	West harpoon
8	A-bt	Tjeku / Per-Atum (Heroonpolis, Pithom)	Tell al-Maskhuta	East harpoon
9	Ati	Djed (Busiris)	Abu Sir Bara	Andjeti
10	Ka-khem	Hut-hery-ib (Athribis)	Banha (Tell Atrib)	Black bull
11	Ka-heseb	Taremu (Leontopolis)	Tell al-Urydam	Heseb bull
12	Theb-ka	Tjebnutjer (Sebennytos)	Samanud	Calf and Cow
13	Heq-At	Iunu (Heliopolis)	Materiya (suburb of Cairo)	Prospering Sceptre
14	Khent-abt	Tjaru (Sile, Tanis)	Tell Abu Sefa	Eastmost
15	Tehut	Ba'h / Weprehwy (Hermopolis Parva)	Baqliya	Ibis
16	Kha	Djedet (Mendes)	Tell al-Rubˁ	Fish
17	Semabehdet	Semabehdet (Diospolis Inferior)	Tell el-Balamun	The throne
18	Am-Khent	Per-Bastet (Bubastis)	Tell Bastah (near Zagazig)	Prince of the South
19	Am-Pehu	Dja'net (Leontopolis Tanis)	Nebesha or San el-Hagar	Prince of the North
20	Sopdu	Per-Sopdu	Saft al-Henna	Plumed Falcon

Upper Egypt

Number	Egyptian Name	Capital	Modern Capital	Translation
1	Ta-Seti	Abu / Yebu (Elephantine)	Aswan	Land of the bow
2	Thes-Hor	Djeba (Apollonopolis Magna)	Edfu	Throne of Horus
3	Ten	Nekhen (Hierakonpolis)	al-Kab	Shrine
4	Waset	Niwt-rst / Waset (Thebes)	Karnak	Sceptre
5	Herui	Gebtu (Coptos)	Qift	The two falcons
6	Aa-ta	Lunet / Tantere (Tentyra)	Dendera	The crocodile
7	Seshesh	Seshesh (Diospolis Parva)	Hu	Sistrum
8	Abdju	Abdju (Abydos)	al-Birba	Great land
9	Min	Apu / Khen-min (Panopolis)	Akhmim	Min
10	Wadkhet	Djew-qa (Aphroditopolis)	Ifteh	Cobra
11	Set	Shashotep (Hypselis)	Shutb	The creature associated with Set
12	Tu-ph	Hut-Sekhem-Senusret (Antaeopolis)	Qaw al-Kebir	Viper mountain
13	Atef-Khent	Zawty (z3wj-tj, Lycopolis)	Asyut	Upper Sycamore and Viper
14	Atef-Pehu	Qesy (Cusae)	al-Qusiya	Lower Sycamore and Viper
15	Un	Khemenu (Hermopolis Magna)	al-Ashmunayn	Hare
16	Meh-Mahetch	Hebenu	Kom el Ahmar	Oryx
17	Anpu	Saka (Cynopolis)	al-Kais	Anubis
18	Sep	Teudjoi / Hutnesut (Alabastronopolis)	el-Hiba	Set
19	Uab	Per-Medjed (Oxyrhynchus)	el-Bahnasa	Two Sceptres
20	Atef-Khent	Henen-nesut (Herakleopolis Magna)	Ihnasiyyah al-Madinah	Southern Sycamore
21	Atef-Pehu	Shenakhen / Semenuhor (Crocodilopolis, Arsinoe)	Madinat al-Fayyum	Northern Sycamore
22	Maten	Tepihu (Aphroditopolis)	Atfih	Knife

References

Alan K. Bowman (1990). Egypt After the Pharaohs. Oxford University Press.

External links

• Details of the nomes
• Archaeological survey of the nomes