The highest postion in Egypt, as you know, is the pharoah. This postion is inherited by the eldest son of the chief wife. The pharoah had many wives, there was a chief wife and the others were called lesser wives. Below the pharoah were officials called viziers. Viziers would help the king govern. Generally a pharoah would appoint two viziers, one to administer the Nile delta area, the other to manage the southern region. The government also taxed the people but not like we do today. The farmers would pay in form of their crops. Skilled workers would pay in form of services to the pharoah. There also were local governments. Egypt was spilt into 42 states or areas called nomes. The pharoah appointed an official known as a Nomarch to govern each nome. The pharoah decided crimes which was punishable by death. A vizier would decide the rest.