Some system of geographic division existed from at least the beginning of the Pharaonic period, though perhaps at first there were far fewer nomes than later on in Egyptian history. In the late 3rd Dynasty, perhaps during the reign of Huni, some scholars believe that a set of seven non-sepulchral step pyramids were erected at certain sites, which perhaps corresponded to proto-capitals of the nomes, located at Zawiyet el-Mayitin, Abydos, Naqada, el-Kula, Edfu, Seila and the island of Elephantine in the Nile River at modern Aswan.

These provincial capitals were also religious and economic centers serving the surrounding countryside, where the vast majority of Egyptians lived in small villages. Many had more than local importance, with the state investing in their development, above all by building temples. Some had strategic importance as fortresses defending a frontier or as staging points for invasions of foreign countries. 

Hence, Nomes, together with their ruling  nomarch, played an important role in ancient Egypt. Specifically, when the central power was weak and ineffective, the nomarchs often enlarged and embellished their provincial capitals, from which they supervised the maintenance of irrigation canals and dams, the local distribution of the Nile water and the dispensation of justice. When their powers were elevated in this manner, they also challenged, and sometimes overwhelmed the central power base of the king.

It should be clearly pointed out that some nomes shifted over time and that the location of others remains uncertain. The number of provinces in Upper Egypt seems to have been constant from the Old Kingdom onwards, whereas the number and position of the provinces in Lower Egypt varied, growing over time as marshes were converted to cultivated land and as the river branches of the Nile Delta shifted over the centuries.

However, for much of the dynastic period, there appears to have been twenty-two Upper Egyptian nomes and twenty Lower Egyptian nomes. Each nome was generally governed by its own regional ruler known as a nomarch, and each had its own symbol or sign, though those Lower Egypt appear to date later than those of Upper Egypt. Upper Egyptian nomes were also usually represented in the form of a standard, thus leading to provinces being described by such names as the "hare nome" or the "ibis nome". Lower Egyptian nomes appear to have had no counterpart of these standards. 

The reliefs in many temples and shrines include a lower register along which groups of personifications of estates or nomes were record around the temple. At other times, statue groupings and columns might be used to represent the various nomes. 

Lower Egypt
Nome Name:	Nome 1: White fortress (White Wall)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Horus before Inebhedj' (?)
Major Deities	Ptah, Sokar, Apis
City(s):/Tempes:	Inebhedj/Mennefer (Greek Memphis, Arabic Mit Rahina)/Ptah, Hathor
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 2: Cow's thigh (Foreleg)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Khentykhem ('foremost of Khem')
Major Deities	Horus, Kherty
City(s):/Temples:	Khem (Greek Letopolis, Arabic Ausim)/Horus-foremost-of-Khem
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 3: West
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Hepy of Hut-Ihyt
Major Deities	Hathor
City(s):/Temples:	Imu (Arabic Kom el-Hisn)/Hathor-Sekhmet
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 4: Southern shield
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Neith and Sobek
Major Deities	Neith
City(s):/Temples:
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 5: Northern shield
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Sau ('of Sais')
Major Deities	Neith
City(s):/Temples:	Sau (Greek Sais, Arabic Sa al-Hagar)/Neit
Notes:	Sais was the capital of Egypt during the Late Dynastic Period and a Greek commercial center.
Nome Name:	Nome 6: Mountain bull
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	(entry unclear)
Major Deities	Re
City(s):/Temples:	Khasu (Greek Xois, Arabic Sakha)/Ra Pe and Dep (Greek Buto, Arabic Tell el-Farain)/Wadjyt
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 7: West harpoon
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	'harpoon with cord' inscribed across provinces 7 and 8
Major Deities	Ha
City(s):/Temples:
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 8: East harpoon
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	'harpoon with cord' inscribed across provinces 7 and 8
Major Deities	Atum
City(s):/Temples:	Peratum (Biblical Pithom, Arabic Tell al-Maskhuta)/Atum
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 9: Anezti (Andjti, anD.t, Andjety)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Osiris of Djedu
Major Deities	Osiris, Andjety
City(s):/Temples:	Djedu (Greek Busiris, Arabic Abu Sir Bana)/Horus-Khentkhety
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 10: Black bull, (km-wr. Black Ox)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	(block missing or no entry)
Major Deities	Horus
City(s):/Temples:	Hutherib (Greek Athribis, Arabic Tell Atrib)/Osiris and Isis
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 11: Heseb bull (Ox count)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	(block missing or no entry)
Major Deities	Shu, Tefnut, Mihos
City(s):/Temples:	Taremu (Greek Leontopolis, Arabic Tell al-Moqdam)/Maihesa
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 12: Cow with calf (Calf and Cow)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	(block missing or no entry)
Major Deities	Onuris
City(s):/Temples:	Tjebennetjer (Greek Sebennytus, Arabic Samanud)/Inheret-Shu and Mehyt Perhebyt (Arabic Behbeit)/Isis of Hebyt
Notes:	From Tjebennetjer comes the monolithic sanctuary shrine Cairo CG 70015, set up by king Nakhthorhebyt of D30 for Shu, Bast and Inheret
Nome Name:	Nome 13: Undamaged scepter ? (Prospering Sceptre)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Isis, Bast (of) Su
Major Deities	Atum, Iusaas, Mnevis
City(s):/Temples:	Iunu (Greek Heliopolis, Arabic Matariya)/Ra-Atum, Hathor Kheraha (Greek 'Babylon of Egypt', part of Old Cairo?)/Atum
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 14: East or anterior nome , (jm.tj-xntj, Foremost of the East)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	'[Horus?] (of?) [He]benu' (or '(of) Benu')
Major Deities	Seth
City(s):/Temples:	Tjaru (Greek Sile, Arabic Qantara?)/Horus of Mesen?
Notes:	This is the frontier zone of the 'ways of Horus' leading from Egypt across N Sinai
Nome Name:	Nome 15: Ibis
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	(block missing or no entry)
Major Deities	Thoth
City(s):/Temples:	Weprehwy (?) (Greek Hermopolis, Arabic Baqliya)/Thoth
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 16: Dolphin (Fish)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	'(of) Djedet'
Major Deities	Banebdjedet, Hatmehyt
City(s):/Temples:	Djedet (Greek Mendes)/Banebdjedet
Notes:	The four sanctuary shrines at Djedet were set up by king Ahmose of Dynasty 26, with one for each of the four 'souls' immanent within Banebdjedet (Ra, Shu, Geb, Osiris)
Nome Name:	Nome 17: The throne (zmA-bHd.t, Behdet)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	(block missing or no entry)
Major Deities	Horus
City(s):/Temples:	Semabehdet (Arabic Balamun?)/Amun
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 18: Royal child upper nome (Prince of the South)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Bast
Major Deities	Bast
City(s):/Temples:	Bast (Greek Bubastis, on edge of modern Zagazig)/Bast
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 19: Royal child lower nome (Prince of the North)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	(block missing or no entry)
Major Deities	Wadjyt
City(s):/Temples:	Imet (Arabic Nebesha)/Wadjyt Djanet (Greek Tanis)/Amun, Mut and Khonsu
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 20: East (Plumed Falcon)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	(block missing or no entry)
Major Deities	Sopdu
City(s):/Temples:	Per-Sopdu (Arabic Saft al-Henna)/Sopdu
Notes:
Upper Egypt
Nome Name:	Nome 1: Land of the arch or To Khentit: the frontier (Ta-Seti)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Horus
Major Deities	Khnum, Satis, Anukis, Isis, Horus the Elder, Sobek
City(s):/Temples:	Abu (Greek Elephantine)/Khnum, Satet Sunet (Greek Syene, Arabic Aswan)/Isis Nubyt (Arabic Kom Ombo)/Sobek with Horus
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 2: Throne of Horus
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Horus of Behedet
Major Deities	Horus
City(s):/Temples:	Djeba (Greek Apollonopolis, Arabic Edfu)/Horus
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 3: The rural (Shrine)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Nekhbet, Horus of Nekhen, Wenu
Major Deities	Horus, Nekhbet, Khnum, Neith
City(s):/Temples:	Nekhen (Greek Hierakonpolis, Arabic Kom al-Ahmar)/Hous Nekheb (Greek Eleithyiaspolis, Arabic Elkab)/Nekhbet and Sobek Nekheb desert valley/Hathor, Shesmetet
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 4: The sceptre
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Montu
Major Deities	Amun, Mut, Khons, Montu, Buchis, Sobek
City(s):/Temples:	Perhathor (Greek Pathyris, Arabic Gebelein)/Hathor Imiotru (Arabic Rizeiqat)/Mont Djerty (Arabic Tod)/Mont Waset (Greek Thebes, Arabic Qurneh for West Bank, Luxor and Karnak for East Bank)/Amun, Mut, Khons and Various Madu (Arabic Medamud)/Mont
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 5: The two falcons
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Min of Coptos
Major Deities	Min, Seth
City(s):/Temples:	Shenhur (retains name in Arabic)/Isis Gis (Greek Apollonopolis mikra, Arabic Qus)/Horus and Heqet, divine child Khons-Thoth Gebtyu (Greek Coptos, Arabic Qift)/Min and Isis Nubt (Greek Ombos, Arabic Naqada)/Seth
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 6: The crocodile
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Hathor of Iunet, and Iq
Major Deities	Hathor
City(s):/Temples:	Iunet (Greek Aphroditipolis, Arabic Dendera)/Hathor, Ihy
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 7: Sistrum
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Bat
Major Deities	Bat
City(s):/Temples:	Hut-Sekhem-Senusret (Arabic Hu)/
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 8: Great land
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Khentamentiu
Major Deities	Khentamentiu, Osiris, Onuris
City(s):/Temples:	Abdju (Greek Abydos, Arabic al-Arabah)/Osiris Khentamentiu
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 9: Minu (Min)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Min
Major Deities	Min
City(s):/Temples:	Khentmin (Greek Panopolis, Arabic Akhmim)/Min
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 10: Cobra
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Bau (or Seru?)
Major Deities	Seth, Mihos, Nemty
City(s):/Temples:	Tjebu (Greek Antaeopolis, Arabic Qau al-Kabir)/Nemty
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 11: The Set animal (Seth)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Horus, also Seth
Major Deities	Seth
City(s):/Temples:	Shashotep (Greek Apotheke, Arabic Shutb)/
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 12: Viper mountain
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Bat
Major Deities	Nemty
City(s):/Temples:	Hut-Sekhem-Senusret (Arabic Hu)/
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 13: Upper pomegranate tree (Upper Sycamore and Viper)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Wepwawet
Major Deities	Wepwawet, Anubis
City(s):/Temples:	Saut (Greek Lycopolis, Arabic Asyut)/Wepwawet
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 14: Lower pomegranate tree (Lower Sycamore and Viper)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Possibly Hathor
Major Deities	Hathor
City(s):/Temples:	Qesy (Greek Cusae, Arabic al-Qusiya)/Hathor
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 15: Hare
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Aha (early name for Bes), also Wenut
Major Deities	Thoth, Ogdoad, Aten
City(s):/Temples:	Khemenu (Greek Hermopolis, Arabic Ashmunein)/Thoth
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 16: Oryx
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Horus of Hebenu
Major Deities	Pakhet, Khnum
City(s):/Temples:	Hebenu (Arabic Kom al-Ahmar?)/Horus? Tadehnet (Greek Akoris, Arabic Tehna)/Amun and Sobek?
Notes:	Note that Khnum is the deity of a town Herwer named in the Beni Hasan tomb inscriptions, in this district
Nome Name:	Nome 17: The black dog (Jackal)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Anubis of Henu
Major Deities	Anubis
City(s):/Temples:	Saka (Arabic al-Qes?)/Bata? Hardai/Anubis?
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 18: Falcon with spread wings (Nemty)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Nemty
Major Deities	Nemty
City(s):/Temples:	Hutnesut (Arabic Sharuna)/Horus-Dunanwy?
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 19: The pure sceptre (Two Sceptres)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Igay
Major Deities	Seth, Mormyrus fish
City(s):/Temples:	Permedjed? (Greek Oxyrhynchus, Arabic Bahnasa)/
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 20: Upper laurel (Southern Sycamore)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Empty
Major Deities	Heryshef
City(s):/Temples:	Henennesut (Greek Heracleopolis, Arabic Ihnasya)/Heryshef
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 21: Lower laurel (Northern Sycamore)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Khnum
Major Deities	Khnum, Seneferu
City(s):/Temples:	Shenakhen/Semenuhor (Greek Akanthon, perhaps near Arabic Kafr Ammar and Kafr Tarkhan?)/
Notes:
Nome Name:	Nome 22: Knife (wAD.t)
Nome Symbol:
White Chapel Deity:	Neith, also Sobek of the Southern Lake
Major Deities	Hathor
City(s):/Temples:	Tepihu (Greek Aphroditopolis, Arabic Atfih)/Hathor
Notes:	The White Chapel entry implies that the Fayum region was considered part of this province

References: