THE OLD KINGDOM
2686 to 2181 BC

Most Egyptologists consider that the Old Kingdom began with the Third Dynasty. It was one of the landmarks of Egyptian history.

But some think the 4th Dynasty introduced many political and religious changes that set it apart from the 3rd Dynasty. For instance, in the first three dynasties the king was a living embodiment of the god Horus, whereas in the 4th Dynasty, he became the son of the sun god Ra.

In any case, the Old Kingdom was not so much a break with the Early Dynastic Period as a continuation and consolidation of it. One king-list, in fact, lists all kings from the first five dynasties together as a single group.

Old Kingdom Egyptians emphatically believed in the divinity of the king. He wielded absolute power. He worked personally with the gods to produce the annual flooding of the Nile and provide food for all. He had total control of the provincial nome governors who mostly collected taxes and mobilized labor.

During the Old Kingdom true mummification and the construction of stone monuments began.

Old Kingdom Egyptians perceived themselves as a specially selected people -- "the only true human beings on earth".

But nothing distinguishes and immortalizes the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt more than the pyramids. These remarkable constructions were the first stone buildings in all the world.

Four things made the pyramids possible: a flourishing agricultural economy; an enormous idle labor pool during the Nile flood; the technical genius of Egyptian craftsmen and architects; and the absolute power of the pharaoh to bring them all together. Royal control of the land, managed by a powerful administration both at the local and central levels, successfully mobilized the necessary money, labor, food and material.

The first pyramid (and the first stone building in the world) was the Step Pyramid at Saqqara built by Imhotep for the 3rd Dynasty king Djoser-Netjerykhet (2630-2611 BC). After this first one, several other step pyramids were built and some abandoned before they were finished.

The remarkable change from step pyramids to 'true' pyramids with smooth surfaces took place at the transition from the 3rd to the 4th Dynasties. Greater technical experience and skill made this possible. The religious shift from a 'stellar' view to a 'solar' view provided the motivation. Step pyramids symbolized "staircases to the stars"; the true pyramids represented the sun's rays angling down on the primeval "Mound of Creation".

The pyramid of Meidum (second from left above) straddles this transition. First built as step pyramid in the reign of 3rd Dynasty pharaoh Huni (2599-2575 BC), an attempt was made to convert it into a true pyramid by Snefru (2575-2551 BC), first pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty. During Snefru's reign Egyptian engineers perfected the pyramid. Their first experiment was the Bent Pyramid at the Dashur Pyramid Field (third from left above). They changed the slope to alleviate the pressure of the weight of the pyramid. They gave the Red Pyramid at Dashur (fourth from left) a more shallow slope.

But they attained perfection with the Pyramids of Giza. The Great Pyramid of Khufu (fourth from right) is a monument - not so much to this king - but to the amazing technical genius and unprecedented logistical organization of ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom society. They followed up with the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure (third and second from right)

It is unlikely that slaves built these monuments, at least not at first, as there would not have been enough of them. One popular and convincing theory is that the peasant farming people of Egypt built all of the temples and monuments during the annual floods.

Pyramid building continued for some time. In fact there are 80 known pyramid sites, although not all of them are still standing.

Old Kingdom artists and craftsmen became increasingly skilled as state-sponsored craftshops produced exquisite objects of art for the royal family and the nobility. The high-quality decoration of the private tombs grouped near the royal pyramids hint at the wealth and status of the tomb-owner. The adjacent worker towns also provide a rich source of information about daily life in the age of the pyramids.

The 4th Dynasty initiated military activity to the south, in Nubia, where a fortress was built near the 2nd Cataract. The fortress not only established Egyptian military presence in Nubia, but it also housed a commercial settlement where traders from all of Nubia came to trade with the Egyptians. From the 4th Dynasty on, Nubia - rich in raw materials, exotic goods and animals, and especially in gold - was of persistent interest to the ancient Egyptians.

The 5th Dynasty fully established the solar cult of Ra, These kings built sun temples as well as pyramids. This may partially explain why 5th Dynasty pyramids are far less dominant than their predecessors. But economic and political factors were more important: 5th Dynasty government began losing strength and control. Private tombs drifted from the vicinity of the king’s pyramid and the decoration richer and more elaborate. Some private people had their tombs built in their own nomes and not in or near the the royal necropolis of the Old Kingdom capital of Memphis.

In the 5th and 6th Dynasties, we have record of long-distance trading expeditions (accompanied by armed escort) to Canaan and Nubia. There is also evidence that Egypt began importing timber - scarce in the Nile Valley - from Lebanon.

The last king of the 5th Dynasty, Unas (2375-2345 BC), introduced another innovation: his pyramid was 'decorated' with texts, the famous Pyramid Texts. These texts relate to the fate of the king in the afterlife, when he takes his place among the gods and among the stars.

The Old Kingdom began its slow decline in the 6th Dynasty. Though Egypt flourished culturally and commercially during this period, central political power continued to weaken. The reign of Pepy II (2278-2184 BC) aggravated the trend. The last Pharaoh of the 6th Dynasty, he reigned for 94 years, longer than any monarch in history. He was 6 when he ascended the throne and 100 years old when he died. In his advanced age more power descended from the central to the provincial nome administrations. The office of nomarch became hereditary, and their local influence was thereafter always a threat to the state. The priests of the sun-god Ra at Heliopolis also grew increasingly independent.

But one cause more than any other led to the decline of the Old Kingdom: the annual Nile flood began to fail. The need to flood the land and keep it fertile required local emergency irrigation measures by the nome rulers. Successful nomarchs strengthened their position against the central government.

When Pepy II finally died in the 22nd century BC, the Old Kingdom, after a long and spectacular existence, fell apart.