Snapshots in Time: Ancient Egypt, the Old Kingdom

Welcome back to Ancient Egypt!  This chapter addresses the period of the Old Kingdom, from about 2700 BC to 2200 BC and is more accurately a continuation and refinement of the Pre-Dynastic Period rather than a definition of any abrupt changes in culture, religion, and politics.

A major significance in religious and political developments is the change from stellar beliefs to solar beliefs.  This is evidenced in the purpose of pyramids.  During the Pre-Dynastic Period you will recall that the Step Pyramids were not funerary but stairways to the stars; with the reign of Snefru the purpose became a solar symbol and a representation of Life.  The title “Son of Ra” was added to the growing list of affirmations bestowed upon the king of Egypt.  Snefru modified the step pyramid of Meidum to a true square-based pyramid and built the Bent Pyramid.  All the great pyramids of Giza were built during the 4th Dynasty. 

The impact of pyramid and temple building on Egypt was political in nature as the need to control men, material, supplies, and state-sponsored artists engendered a strong administration at both the central and local levels.  The need for expensive raw materials for artists brought with it the need for the exploitation of the Sinai for its copper and turquoise, and military posts and trading centers in Nubia to obtain great amounts of its gold ore.  As part of these military forays into lands beyond the Nile Valley, a warrior caste was developed within the military.

At the end of the 5th Dynasty, pyramid and temple artists began to inscribe “Pyramid Texts” which described the fate of the king in the afterlife in addition to relating his accomplishments during life.  From these texts we learn the breadth of the Egyptian religion of the time.

During the end years of the Old Kingdom the annual flooding of the Nile decreased.  The added strain on how best to provide for the people became difficult from a single centralized administrator.  Decisions regarding how to best use what flood effluence was experienced was left to local administrators.  Power, once granted, is hard to regain and the Old Kingdom power center eroded and finally collapsed at the death of Pepi II.  What followed was a period of turmoil called the First Intermediary Period.

Visit again and follow the history of Egypt through the First Intermediary Period.

by Vicki Gardner

Snapshots in Time: Ancient Egypt, the Pre-Dynastic and Early Dynastic Periods

Egypt is a land with a long history – one of the longest histories recorded for mankind.  In this series we will cover the most important eras of this fabled land, highlighting the accomplishments of each era.  This is not a definitive work; rather it is a synopsis of catalogued historical facts.

Pre-Dynastic Period
Due to worldwide climate changes around 30,000 BC, parts of the continent of Africa began to dry out and the Sahara Desert began its formation.  Early peoples and animals began to migrate to more fertile areas.  One of those areas was along the Nile River with its seasonal flooding which enriched the soil for early agrarian societies.  These societies needed more sophisticated stone tools than had been previously been in use and the development of spears and bows arose.  At about 13,000 BC these seasonal communities began to develop ritual burials and cemeteries.  By 7000 BC the seasonal communities had become permanent settlements in the Nile Valley.  These settlements had structures typically made from bricks, wood, and reeds.

Early Dynastic Period
The Early Dynastic Period is approximately the first 500 years of what is usually considered Ancient Egyptian History and begins in 3100 BC with Menes, the king who first conquered and unified Upper and Lower Egypt.  Prior to this time kings of both realms where recorded as being various gods and demigods, Menes is the first king to be considered the embodiment of Horus and not the actual god himself.  The concept of “divine kingship” instead of divinity being king is significant in that it allowed the development of centralized government.  The new centralized government needed more sophisticated communication skills, which forced the evolution of artistic writing into hieroglyphics with both phonetic and ideographic values.

The new centralized government also promoted the rise of urbanism with its need to have skilled craftsmen readily available.  These craftsmen began to change the landscape of the new urban areas by building in stone instead of brick and wood.  The architecture developed in this period, while refined over time, characterizes Egyptian architecture for the next 3000 years until the Greco-Roman Period.  With the rapidly developing physical and social structures came a need for security and the first true career military came into fashion.  These developments in the Nile Valley demonstrate the consolidation of the cultural, religious, and political evolutions of the Pre-Dynastic Period.  The most visual reminders of the accomplishments of this era are the Step Pyramids at Saqqara.  Built of stone, they were not intended for funerary use like later pyramids, but they do show the development of high levels of engineering and lead us to the next era: the Old Kingdom.

Visit again and follow the history of Egypt through the Old Kingdom.

By: Vicki Gardner