The Egyptians believed that their land consisted of two, distinct regions — Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt — which had been united by King Menes. The rulers of Lower Egypt typically wore a red crown to represent their dominion over Lower Egypt; and the rulers of Upper Egypt typically wore a white crown to represent their dominion over Upper Egypt. Many Pharaohs, of course, wore a red and white crown to represent their dominion over unified Egypt.

According to legend (details are scarce since Menes is estimated to have lived around 3100 BCE), Menes ruled for just over 60 years, until he was killed by a hippopotamus.

For centuries, Upper and Lower Egypt were two separate social and political entities, divided by the many branches of the Nile River and its surrounding Delta plains. The historical record of the unification is murky and filled with inconsistencies, half-truths, and possible legends. In all likelihood, in 3100 BCE, the King Mena (sometimes also known as Narmer) unified the two areas, most likely through military force (either threatened or actually deployed). Mena consolidated his rule over both the Upper and Lower regions by erecting a new capital city, named Memphis, right along the border between the two previously separated locales. Ancient symbolic depictions of this unification portray Upper Egypt as a reed of papyrus and Lower Egypt as a Nile waterlily, often bound together by each plants’ lower tendrils.

A Pschent was a crown worn by many Egyptian rulers during the New Kingdom period. The Pschent was a double crown, both red and white, demonstrating the wearer’s authority over both Upper and Lower Egypt. The Pschent was an important part of Egyptian iconography.

There is only one correct answer. The crowns represented the two divided sections of Egypt that were united during the First Dynasty.

Image from Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Double_crown.svg

The ancient city of Elephantine was located on an island in the middle of the Nile River. It was situated right at the border between Egypt and Nubia and so was an important center of trade, as well as a notable Egyptian military fortification.

Memphis was the capital city of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Memphis was founded, according to classical era historians, by the original Pharaoh Menes. Menes is generally credited with uniting Lower and Upper Egypt and forming the first Egyptian ruling dynasty.

The Great Sphinx can be found in close proximity to the Pyramids of Giza. Much of our understanding of the Sphinx is surrounded in myth and legend, but it is generally believed to have been built during the Old Kingdom, as part of the mortuary complex of a powerful Pharaoh (Khafre, Khufu, and Sneferu are most often claimed to have been associated with the construction of the Sphinx).

The second Pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, Sneferu's son Khufu, built the Great Pyramid of Giza as his tomb. The Fourth Dynasty featured the prolific building of pyramids and other grand monuments, as Sneferu was responsible for the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid, both at Dahshur. The Giza Sphinx is traditionally believed to have been built by Khafra, though some alternatively hold that it was constructed by his brother Djedefra (while there are also separate pyramids for both pharaohs), and Shepseskaf's tomb is the Mastabat al-Fir'aun at Saqqara.

Hermopolis is the Greek name for the ancient Egyptian city of Khmun (although it is much more common, even in the exclusive study of Egyptian history, to use the Greek name). Hermopolis was also the origin of the Ogdoad theory of creation and the associated eight Gods of creation. As a result, Hermopolis was often called “eight-town” during the Old Kingdom period.