A team from the UK found that the transformation from a land of disparate farmers into a state ruled by a king was more rapid than previously thought.

Using radiocarbon dating and computer models, they believe the civilisation's first ruler - King Aha - came to power in about 3100BC.

The research is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A.

Lead researcher Dr Michael Dee, from the Research Laboratory for Archaeology at the University of Oxford, said: "The formation of Egypt was unique in the ancient world. It was a territorial state; a state from which the moment it formed had established borders over a territory in much the same way we think of nations today....