A nome (, from , nomós, "district") was a territorial division in ancient Egypt. Each nome was ruled by a nomarch ( Great Chief). The number of nomes changed through the various periods of the history of ancient Egypt. Etymology The term nome comes from Ancient Greek νομός, nomós, meaning "district"; the Ancient Egyptian term was sepat or spAt. Today's use of the Ancient Greek rather than the Ancient Egyptian term came about during the Ptolemaic period, when the use of Greek was widespread in Egypt. The availability of Greek records on Egypt influenced the adoption of Greek terms by later historians. History Dynastic Egypt The division of ancient Egypt into nomes can be traced back to prehistoric Egypt (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 Nile 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 nomes Lower Egypt (Egyptian: "Ā-meḥty"), 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. White Walls Nome Travellers land Cattle land Southern shield land Northern shield land Mountain bull land West harpoon land East harpoon land Andjety god land Black bull land Heseb bull land Calf and Cow land Prospering Sceptre land Eastmost land Ibis-Tehut land Fish land The throne land Prince of the South land Prince of the North land Sopdu-Plumed Falcon land Upper Egypt nomes Upper Egypt was divided into 22 nomes. The first of these was centered on Elephantine close to Egypt's border with Nubia at