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
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