The Pharaoh was the monarch of ancient Egypt. The title came into use from the Eighteenth Dynasty onwards and was subsequently attributed to all the previous kings of Egypt. Before this Pharaoh was a term that meant more of the kings' administration. The earliest confirmed instance of the title used contemporaneously for a ruler is a letter to Akhenaten, possibly preceded by an inscription referring to Thutmose III. Although the title only came into use in the Eighteenth Dynasty during the New Kingdom, scholars today use it for all the rulers of Egypt from the First Dynasty until the annexation of Egypt by the Roman Republic in 30 BCE.