Old Kingdom
The
Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the
3rd millennium BC when
Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization complexity and achievement - this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the
Nile Valley (the others being
Middle Kingdom and the
New Kingdom). The Old Kingdom is most commonly regarded as spanning the period of time when Egypt was ruled by the
Third Dynasty through to the
Sixth Dynasty (
2575 BC–
2134 BC). Many
Egyptologists also include the Memphite
Seventh and
Eighth Dynasties in the Old Kingdom as a continuation of the administration centralized at
Memphis. The Old Kingdom was followed by a period of disunity and relative cultural decline referred to by Egyptologists as the
First Intermediate Period.
The royal capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom was located at
Memphis, where
Djoser established his court. The Old Kingdom is perhaps best known, however, for the large number of
pyramids, which were constructed at this time as pharaonic burial places. For this reason, the Old Kingdom is frequently referred to as "the Age of the Pyramids."
The first famous pharaoh of the Old Kingdom was
Djoser (
2630–
2611 BC) of the Third Dynasty, who ordered the construction of the first pyramid (the
Step Pyramid) in Memphis' new necropolis,
Saqqara. An important person during the reign of Djoser was his
vizier,
Imhotep, who oversaw the constructions of that necropolis.
It was in this era that formerly independent ancient Egyptian states became known as
nomes, ruled solely by the pharaoh. Subsequently the former rulers were forced to assume the role of governors or otherwise work in tax collection. Ancient Egyptians in this era emphatically believed that their pharaoh could assure the annual flooding of the Nile for their crops. They also perceived themselves as a specially selected people, "as the only true human beings on earth"
[ (Ancient African Civilizations to ca. 1500: Pharaonic Egypt to Ca. 800 BC, by Dr. Susan J. Herlin, 2003, page 27)].
The Old Kingdom and its royal power reached their zenith under the
Fourth Dynasty, which began with
Sneferu (
2575–
2551 BC). Using a greater mass of stones than any other pharaoh, he built three pyramids: a mysterious pyramid in
Meidum (a failure), the famous
Bent Pyramid in
Dahshur (another failure), and the small
Red Pyramid, also in Dashur.
Sneferu was succeeded by his (in)famous son,
Khufu (
2551–
2528 BC), who built the
Great Pyramid of Giza. Later Egyptian literature describes him as a cruel tyrant, who imposed forced labor on his subjects to complete his pyramid. After Khufu's death his sons
Djedefra (
2528–
2520 BC) and
Khafra (
2520–
2494 BC) may have quarrelled. The latter built the second pyramid and (in traditional thinking) the
Sphinx in
Giza. Recent reexamination of evidence has suggested that the Sphinx may have been built by Djedefra as a monument to Khufu.
The later kings of the Fourth Dynasty were king
Menkaura (
2494–
2472 BC), who built the smallest pyramid in Giza, and
Shepseskaf (
2472–
2467 BC).
The Fifth Dynasty began with Userkhaf (
2465–
2458 BC), who initiated reforms that weakened the Pharaoh and central government. After his reign
civil wars arose as the powerful
nomarchs (regional governors) no longer belonged to the royal family. The worsening civil conflict undermined unity and energetic government and also caused famines. But regional autonomy and civil wars were not the only causes of this decline. The massive building projects of the Fourth Dynasty exceeded the capacity of the treasury and populace and, therefore, weakened the Kingdom at its roots.
The final blow was a
sudden and short-lived cooling in the region that resulted in a drastic drop in precipitation between 2200 and 2100 BC, which in turn prevented the normal flooding of the
Nile. The result was decades of famine and strife. An inscription on the tomb of
Ankhtifi, a leader of the
First Intermediate Period, describes the state of the country at the end of the Old Kingdom:
All of Upper Egypt was dying of hunger and people were eating their children...*Jaromir Malek,
In the Shadow of the Pyramids: Egypt During the Old Kingdom, University of Oklahoma Press, 1986. ISBN 0806120274
Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. ISBN 0870999060 (catalogue for travelling exhibition of the same name)
*
The Fall of the Egyptian Old Kingdom, article by
Fekri Hassan*
Middle East on the Matrix: Egypt, The Old Kingdom — Photographs of many of the historic sites dating from the Old Kingdom
