Narmer was an ancient Egyptian ruler known to be the last king of the Naqada period and the first king of the First Dynasty. Regarded as the unifier of Egypt, he was most likely the successor to the Protodynastic king, Ka, or possibly Scorpion II. Most Egyptologists identify him with Pharaoh Menes, a renowned figure in the classical tradition, who is recognized in the ancient Egyptian written records as the first king of a unified Egypt. Narmer was originally the ruler of Upper Egypt and later took control over Lower Egypt, either peacefully or through conquest. In the Narmer Palette, an ancient inscribed slab of siltstone, he can be distinguished by the white Hedjet Crown of Upper Egypt and the Red Deshret Crown of Lower Egypt. The date generally ascribed to the beginning of Narmer’s reign is 3,100 BC. According to a significant number of Egyptologists, Narmer’s queen was Neithhotep or Neith-hotep and his immediate successor, Hor-Aha, was his and Neithhotep’s son. However, recent discoveries dispute this, suggesting that Neithhotep was actually Hor-Aha’s spouse. Narmer’s tomb is located in Umm el-Qa'ab near Abydos in Upper Egypt and is comprised of two joined chambers. In recent years, he has been the subject of several fictional works, including ‘The First Pharaoh’ by Lester Picker and ‘The Third Gate’ by Lincoln Child.