Before the 30 kings of Memphis, Manetho listed the rule of another group of kings for 1,817 years. Very little is known about this period that apparently existed between approximately 17,280 to 15,463 years ago. This was deep into the glacial drought when Egypt was extremely dry. During the period of around 17,000 years ago Lake Tana in the Ethiopian highlands dried out, which was the source for 80% of the Nile’s water during the later dynastic period. This led to the Nile’s water level falling to one of its all-time lowest points. Lake Tana did not recover until sometime after 15,100 years ago.

The other primary source of water for the Nile has traditionally been the White Nile, which flows from Lake Victoria in central Africa. The White Nile is currently the source for around 20% of the Nile’s water, however, during the time when Lake Tana was dried out, it would have been the source for most of the Nile’s water. However, Lake Victoria was very low at this time as well, ultimately drying out entirely by 15,000 years ago, meaning that the Nile itself, had almost dried out by the end of this very ancient dynasty. It is theorized that the Nile was a seasonal river during this period, flowing only part of the year, and possibly dammed by sand dunes in multiple places, where lakes would have formed behind the dams. There is very little that has been discovered dating from this period. Some stone tools have been found along the higher banks of the Nile, however, the majority of artifacts from this period would likely be buried under the Nile’s riverbed, as people would have clustered around the water, not at the top of the surrounding cliffs.