The word pharaoh comes from an Egyptian term pir-aa, meaning "great house," a way of referring to the king—compare the modern term "the White House"—which first came into common use in Egypt during the New Kingdom (1550-1200 BCE). Pharaoh should, therefore, not be applied to kings before that period, rulers such as Khufu or any of those for whom the pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom in the third millennium BCE.

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