The development of what was arguably one of the world''s first state level societies occurred during the fourth millennium B.C. in the Nile River valley, when small, autonomous Neolithic farming villages coalesced into a single polity ruled by one individual. Although archaeological investigation of this crucial period in Egyptian prehistory has continued for over 100 years, the process of unification is not well understood. An anthropological perspective that examines the nature of pre-state political formations is required. Here, an analysis of descent, power, and competition forms the framework for the analysis of the Predynastic cemetery at Naga-ed-Dr. Six discrete spatial clusters of graves are present, and each has graves from all periods of the cemetery''s use; this evidence constitutes prima facie evidence for horizontal group differentiation in the cemetery. Analysis of behavioral and artifact patterning further supports the interpretation that these clusters represent descent groups, and suggest that power, in its economic, political, and ideological forms, was exercised differentially by various groups through time. In the early phases of burial in the cemetery, these three aspects of power exhibit intersecting trajectories, while towards the later phases they run parallel, indicating that all three modes of power begin to work together in the advancement of a single descent group to dominance at Naga-ed-Dr. Further analysis suggests that competition between groups was often intense, taking the form of competitive emulation in grave architecture, furnishings, and ritual expression. Direct evidence for competition is revealed through patterns of tomb plundering in the Predynastic. The three themes of descent, power, and competition are thus seen to present an adequate explanatory framework for understanding the rise of state society in Ancient Egypt.