<P> During the early days prior to the unity of the lower and upper kingdoms of ancient Egypt, a Deshret, the red crown, was a representation the Kingdom of lower Egypt; while the Hadjet, a white crown, was worn by the kings of the kingdom of upper Egypt . After the unification of both kingdoms into one united Egypt, the Pschent, the combination of both the red and white crowns was the official crown of kings . With time new headdresses were introduced during different dynasties like Khat, Nemes, Atef, Hemhem, and Kepresh . At times, it was depicted that a combination of these headdresses or crowns would be worn together . </P> <P> The word pharaoh ultimately derives from the Egyptian compound pr - ʕ3 "great house," written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr "house" and ʕ3 "column", here meaning "great" or "high". It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr - ʕ3 "Courtier of the High House", with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace . From the twelfth dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula "Great House, may it live, prosper, and be in health", but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person . </P> <P> During the reign of Thutmose III (circa 1479--1425 BCE) in the New Kingdom, after the foreign rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period, pharaoh became the form of address for a person who was king . </P> <P> The earliest instance where pr - ʕ3 is used specifically to address the ruler is in a letter to Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten), who reigned circa 1353--1336 BCE, which is addressed to "Pharaoh, all life, prosperity, and health". During the eighteenth dynasty (16th to 14th centuries BCE) the title pharaoh was employed as a reverential designation of the ruler . About the late twenty - first dynasty (10th century BCE), however, instead of being used alone as before, it began to be added to the other titles before the ruler's name, and from the twenty - fifth dynasty (eighth to seventh centuries BCE) it was, at least in ordinary usage, the only epithet prefixed to the royal appellative . </P>

Who was the first king of egypt to use the title pharaoh