Ancient Kemet
The Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Dynasties (around 2700–2200 BCE) are usually included in the Old Kingdom. However, it has been suggested that the Third Dynasty might be better placed with the First and Second Dynasties in the Archaic/Early Dynastic Period. People often call the Old Kingdom the “Pyramid Age,” because it was during this time that the pyramid grew in size, workmanship, and complexity to its highest levels.
During the second half of the Second Dynasty, there seems to have been a civil war that the last king, Khasekhemwy, was the only one who could stop. His son and heir, Djoser, was thought to have started a new dynasty, and his time in power seems to have been a big step forward for the country’s economy and technology.
He seems to have been the first king to use the turquoise mines in the Sinai Peninsula. He also built a church in Heliopolis, but the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, which was his tomb and the first large stone building in the world, is the most impressive thing he did. We don’t know much about the kings who came after Djoser, and none of the kings who came after him were able to finish a pyramid.
At the end of the era, however, King Huni seems to have built a number of small pyramid-shaped monuments for religious purposes around Ancient Kemet, as well as a huge brick pyramid at Abu Rowash that has almost completely disappeared. Seneferu came after him. He started the Fourth Dynasty and built no less than four pyramids, a small temple, and three more pyramids that were all meant to be his tomb.
He seems to have been buried in the Red Pyramid at Dahshur. When Seneferu was in charge, a lot more information about history became accessible. During Seneferu’s time in power, there were campaigns against Libya and Nubia, work in the Sinai turquoise mines, and the import of forty shiploads of cedar in a single year. These look like they came from the port of Byblos in Lebanon, which was Ancient Kemet’s main trade partner in that area for hundreds of years. Future generations appear to have loved Seneferu, but his son Khufu had a bad reputation.
This probably had to do with how big his tomb, the Great Pyramid at Giza, which is the largest free-standing structure ever built, was. On the other hand, the amount of materials and work that went into Seneferu’s four pyramids was a lot more than what went into Giza, but it seems to have had the exact opposite effect on people’s views. We don’t know much about what happened during Khufu’s rule, but we do know that he sent missions to the Sinai and worked in the diorite quarries that are deep in the Nubian desert, northwest of Abu Simbel.
During most of his rule, his nephew Hemiun was in charge of the Vizierate. The huge cemetery of mastabas (tombs with rectangular bases, sloping sides, and flat tops) that was set up around the royal pyramid tells us about many other members of the royal family. Khufu’s two sons, Djedefre and Khaefre, took over after him, and then Khaefre’s son, Menkaure, took over after him. Userkaf, who may have been Djedefre’s grandson, started the Fifth Dynasty after the rule of Shepseskaf, who took over from Djedefre’s son.
The pyramids constructed by the new royal family did not come close to matching those of Seneferu and his immediate successors in quality. They were smaller and not as well made, but they were connected to much bigger and better decorated temples. During the second half of the Old Kingdom, the government seems to have been involved in a lot of foreign activities, both peaceful and not. Under Userkaf’s replacement, Sahure, there are pictures of ships coming back from a trip to Byblos.
There is also the first known trip to the land of Punt, which was on the coast of the Red Sea and seemed to include parts of modern Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. During the Fourth Dynasty, the ruling princes had a lot of power over the Vizierate. This was not the case during the Fifth Dynasty. Officials kept their ties to the royal family by marrying the king’s daughters, but the king’s sons no longer wanted to be in charge of the government. This change did not occur until well into the New Kingdom.
The kings of the Fifth Dynasty built both a pyramid and a temple to the sun. Most of these structures are in the Abusir area, which is near Memphis, the capital. Neferirkare, Sahure’s brother, took over after him. Then came Neferefre, his son, and then Niuserre. Shepseskare may have been Neferefre’s successor, but we don’t know for sure. He probably started a pyramid at Abusir that was barely started. Their heirs, Menkauhor, Isesi, and Unas, moved back to Saqqara, and Unas added religious writings to the walls of the royal tomb.
The materials of the Sinai were still mined, and the kings did other things, but from the time of Isesi on, there were small changes. The end of building sun temples is the most noticeable change, but there were also changes to how nobles were given their titles. The fact that there was more than one vizier, one of whom was based in the south, was probably the most important thing. It showed that the provinces were important.
During the last part of the Old Kingdom, the Sixth Dynasty, the number and quality of tombs made by local dignitaries, especially provincial governors, at provincial centers grew. Teti was the first king of the new kingdom. When he died, his son, Pepy I, took over the throne. During his long time on the throne, he sent missions to the south and east. The eastern ones went to the mines in Sinai and even farther away, to southern Palestine. Several places show that the king built things.
The remains of a church can still be seen at Bubastis, and other pieces can be found in Aswan (Elephantine) and Abydos. Nemtyemsaf I, Pepy I’s oldest son, took over after him. He may have been a co-ruler with his father for a few years. During his short rule, Harkhuf, the governor of Aswan, went on the first of several trips to Africa. Nemtyemsaf went to Aswan in his ninth year as king to meet with a group of southern chieftains.
This shows that the pharaohs are now interested in the lands to the south. Nemtyemsaf died suddenly when he was still a young man, putting his young brother Pepy II on the throne. Power seemed to lie with his mother and his uncle, Djar, who was the Southern Vizier. Harkhuf and other important people from Aswan continued to look for trade goods all over the world while they were in charge of them. They went as far as the African continent. Harkhuf had been to the land of Yam three times before.
Yam was likely in the area south of modern Khartoum. Not long after Pepy II became king, he went on his fourth trip, during which he bought a dancing deneg, who was either a midget or a dwarf. This fact was in the report that was sent ahead to the royal court while he was traveling back to Egypt from the north. The idea of the deneg seemed to please the boy king, who told Harkhuf to come back as soon as possible with his charge.
Later, Harkhuf wrote the letter from the king on the front of his tomb. Sabni, who lived in Aswan, was another desert traveler. He went to Nubia to find the body of his father, Mekhu, who had died while looking for strange goods in the south. Tjetjy, Khui, and Pepynakhte, also known as Heqaib, were also among these early travelers. Pepynakhte was one of the most important of these people.
Heqaib went on two military trips to Nubia before he was sent to the eastern desert to find the body of a friend who had been killed while making a boat on the Red Sea coast to take to Punt. He did this job well, and he also found and punished the people who killed them. Heqaib became a god after he died, and people worshipped him in a chapel on the island of Elephantine. For many generations, the royal family supported this church. Pepy II took the throne when he was young and ruled for either 64 or 94 years.
If the latter is true, it will have been the longest reign in human history. Like his father and brother, Pepy was buried at Saqqara. His son, Nemtyemsaf II, took over after him. Nemtyemsaf II only ruled for a short time, but after him came a number of kings whose names and order are not clear. It seems that after Pepy II died, there was a big drop in royal power and a rise in local power, which led to the end of the state.
From the 7th to the 10th Dynasties, which came after Pepy II’s death, there was a lot of fighting, which didn’t end until the civil war that led to the founding of the Middle Kingdom around 2040 BCE, about 150 years after Pepy II’s death.
Also Read: How Ancient Egypt Ended: The Decline Of A Great Empire
