was resumed in the XXVIth Dynasty.

If Upper and Lower Egypt represented ancient kingdoms, the nomes have
been thought to carry on the traditions of tribal settlements. They are
found in inscriptions as early as the end of the IIIrd Dynasty, and the
very name of Thoth, and that of another very ancient god, are derived
from those of two contiguous nomes in Lower Egypt. The names are written
by special emblems placed on standards, such as an ibis, [HRG: G26], a
jackal [HRG: E15:R12], a hare [HRG: wn:R12], a feathered crown [HRG:
Swty:R12], a sistrum [HRG: zSSt:R12], a blade [HRG: T30:R12], &c.,
suggesting tribal badges. Some nomes having a common badge but
distinguished as "nearer" or "further," i.e. "northern" or "southern,"
have simply been split, as they are contiguous: in one case, however,
corresponding "eastern" and "western" Harpoon nomes are widely separated
on opposite sides of the Delta. In a few cases, such as "the West," "the
Beginning of the East," it is obvious that the names are derived solely
from their geographical situation. It is quite possible that the
divisions are geographical in the main, but it seems likely that there
were also religious, tribal and other historical reasons for them. How
their boundaries were determined is not certain: in Upper Egypt in many
cases a single nome embraced both sides of the river. The number and
nomenclature of the nomes were never absolutely fixed. In temples of
Ptolemaic and Roman age the full series is figured presenting their
tribute to the god, and this series approximately agrees with the
scattered data of early monuments. The normal number of the nomes in the
sacred lists appears to be 42, of which 22 belonged to Upper Egypt and
20 to Lower Egypt. In reality again these nome-divisions were treated
with considerable freedom, being split or reunited and their boundaries
readjusted. Each nome had its metropolis, normally the seat of a
governor or nomarch and the centre of its religious observances. During
the New Empire, except at the beginning, the nomes seem to have been
almost entirely ignored: under the Deltaic dynasties (except of course
in the traditions of the sacred writing) they were named after the
metropolis, as "the province (_tosh_) of Busiris," "the province of
Sais," &c.: hence the Greek names [Greek: Bousirites nomos], &c. The
Arsinoite nome was added by the Ptolemies after the draining of the Lake
of Moeris (q.v.), and in the later Ptolemaic and t