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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 Beginning: Third Dynasty
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).
Golden Age: Fourth Dynasty
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).
Decline and Collapse: Fifth - Eighth Dynasties
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...
References
Further reading
- 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
External Links
- Middle East on the Matrix: Egypt, The Old Kingdom — Photographs of many of the historic sites dating from the Old Kingdom
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"Old Kingdom"