The Old Kingdom, also known as the Ancient Empire, included dynasties III, IV, V, and VI between 2700 and 2200 BC.
As the first of Egypt’s three main eras known as “kingdoms” (the others being the Middle and New Kingdoms), it attained its initial height of civilization in terms of complexity and accomplishment.
Primary Information about the Old Kingdom of Egypt
Capital: Memphis
Religion: Ancient Egyptian religion
Population: one million and half
Government: Divine absolute monarchy
Common languages: Ancient Egyptian
Periodization and dating
The eras of ancient Egyptian history are not uniformly categorized, which is why some Egyptologists consider the Seventh and Eighth Dynasties part of Memphis’s central government.
It followed the Old Kingdom by the First Intermediate Period, decentralization, and cultural decline.
20th-century historians developed the Old Kingdom title to distinguish it from the so-called Archaic Period, including the first two Tinite dynasties.
The dramatic transformation in architecture followed by changes in Egyptian society justifies this division between the two historical eras.
Historical development of the Old Kingdom
Previous epoch: Tinitas dynasties
The land was united about 3100 BC, but the notion of Egypt separated into two distinct zones ( Upper Egypt to the south and Lower Egypt to the north ) lasted for a long time. King Narmer (some historians link him with King Menes) was the architect of the union and creator of the first dynasty.
The beginnings: Dynasty III
Zoser of the 3rd Dynasty ordered the building of the first step pyramid at the Memphis necropolis, present-day Saqqara. His vizier, Imhotep, was also Ptah’s chief priest, physician, and architect (the first pyramid designer).
Under the centralized rule of Pharaoh, Egypt’s historic autonomous nations known as nomos, and former rulers required to collect taxes as nomarches or supervisors.
The Egyptians believed Pharaoh was a divinity who provided the yearly Nile floods necessary for their crops.
Time was cyclical, and Pharaoh had to preserve their stability as God on Earth. The Egyptians saw themselves as “the sole actual human beings on Earth,” a chosen tribe.
Apogee: Dynasty IV
Dynasty IV, led by Seneferu, was the pinnacle of royal authority. This king erected three pyramids, the previously destroyed Meidum, the layered Dahshur, and the red pyramid, north of the exact location.
So starts the golden era of pyramid building. The “Great Pyramid” was built at Giza, not Saqqara, and is the true pinnacle of pyramid architecture.
Khufu, Seneferu’s son, built the Great Pyramid of Giza. Subsequent Egyptian legend characterized him as a tyrant for forcing his people to build his pyramid, although later archaeological finds revealed differently.
After his death, Dyedefra and Kefrén may have fought. The latter erected the second pyramid and perhaps the Giza sphinx, while fresh evidence points to Dyedefra as the builder. Menkaura, Shepseskaf, and Dyedefptah were the final Dynasty IV rulers.
Decline and Collapse: V-VI Dynasties
After Userkaf, the V Dynasty started to diminish the pharaonic dominance and centralization in the Old Kingdom.
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After Userkaf and Sahura’s reigns, the nomarchs’ internal disputes escalated, threatening unity and centralized governance. But regional autonomy and strife were not the primary drivers of decline.
The vast building projects of Dynasty IV strained the treasury and widespread labor, undermining the Old Kingdom itself.
A prolonged drought in the Nile’s source area between 2200 and 2150ane devastated the expected levels of river floods.
After decades of starvation and rioting, the Old Kingdom collapsed.
The hierarchical society
Significant hydraulic works to control Nile floods necessitated an increasingly complicated organizational structure that sparked the centralized Egyptian State.
Egyptian society divided into classes during the Old Kingdom:
- Pharaoh’s depository of divine favor and even God himself during the height of the V Dynasty.
- The priests and high officials of the centralized administration.
- The people, the ordinary people: artisans, peasants, etc.
The Pharaoh
Horus, the successor of Osiris on Earth, and “Maat,” the keeper of justice and cosmic order, were all created during the Old Kingdom.
No other lawful wives or concubines might be buried close to the Pharaoh in smaller pyramids or their mastaba.
The king had unlimited political, religious, administrative, and judicial sovereignty over the State.
Management: senior officials
The vizier, appointed by the Pharaoh, was the most important office. He had his council: mission chiefs. He was the head of the Great House of Justice. He also looked after the files.
He also managed the public finances, taxation, agriculture, and the royal household.
The chancellor of the monarch of Lower Egypt, whose title was only honorary, and the chancellor of God, in command of military and commercial missions, were both lower than vizier.
No death penalty or severe penalties were part of the royal prerogative’s codified laws (partially known through references). Egypt had the right to appeal to the monarch.
Fields and cattle were the focus of agricultural management. The real estate renter figure emerges.
It preserved the city’s records in a house named Casa de la Vida by scribes who excelled in hieroglyphic writing. Among the writers was the religious chief of secrets.
The monarch was responsible for irrigation, agricultural performance, tax collection, and determining property boundaries following the yearly flood. The number of nomes was 38 or 39, rising to 42 in later centuries.
The village
Peasants and artisans dominated the socioeconomic pyramid’s base. They worked in agriculture and owned land.
They helped build temples, palaces, and tombs when not engaged in these chores. Others served in the Pharaohs, nobles’, priests’ courts, or the army.
The assumption that a king tamed the lower classes is prevalent but inaccurate. The pharaohs granted many privileges until the charges became hereditary, including private property.
If registered, personal property was protected by the State, with biennial censuses of moveable and immovable property.
Country people
It was the economic basis. It was mainly farmers, ranchers, and free laborers who earned pay in kind. Markets suggested private property among them.
City people
It was mainly in the delta and the Nile Valley. Egypt’s ideological motor was urbanization.
The wealthy and educated classes lived and became religious and cultural hubs. Memphis, the capital, was the most significant city.
The ancient art of the Old Kingdom
Architecture
During the earliest dynasties, they created large funerary complexes for pharaohs in Abydos and Saqqara (the tomb was a synthesis of the notion of the temple and private mansion).
The abundance of pottery, masonry, and ivory or bone sculptures in these tombs attest to their high level of civilization.
The Egyptian hieroglyphs (writing via drawings) showed their character as a living, like the rest of the décor.
In the III Dynasty, the capital moved to Memphis, and the pharaohs started building pyramids to replace the mastaba tombs.
The architect, scientist, and thinker Imhotep designed and constructed Saqqara for Pharaoh Zóser (c. 2737 – 2717 ane).
The enormous step pyramid housing the Pharaoh’s remains is the earliest example of monumental architecture still standing and represents one of the stages in the evolution of the pyramid as an architectural type.
The Old Kingdom’s architecture was colossal, using local limestone and granite to create enormous palaces and tombs. They made a unique architectural style.
They employed substantial stone blocks that fit flawlessly without cement and unknown lifting methods.
The stone vault was recognized but not utilized. Few of the temples erected during this period survive.
The Giza massive complex, where the 4th Dynasty pharaohs buried, showcases Egyptian builders’ expertise and competence in erecting one of the world’s seven wonders. Seneferu built the first pyramid without stairs.
Cheops built the Great Pyramid, which is 146 meters tall and made up of 2.3 million stone pieces weighing an average of 2.5 tonnes apiece.
His son Kefrén erected a small pyramid, and Micerinos designed the complex’s third great pyramid.
The pyramids built to preserve and safeguard the pharaohs’ corpses for all time.
Each pyramid had a valley temple, a jetty, a connection tunnel linking areas, and a chamber allocated for religious ceremonies before burial.
A necropolis (city of the dead) built up around the Giza pyramids (Cheops, Khafre, and Micerinos).
They called them after Egyptian adobe dwellings in a truncated pyramid with a flat roof and sloping walls.
The mastabas were the royal family, high command, courtiers, and officials’ burials.
Upon first glance, it seems to be a truncated pyramid with a rectangular floor plan containing the deceased’s statue, called serdab, and the false door that connected the worlds of the dead and the living.
The burial ceremony held, and the donations put in front of her. The burial chamber was underground, accessible only by a locked tunnel after burying the corpse.
Although the cemetery has preserved many examples of domestic architecture and civil constructions, the use of adobe (mud bricks mixed with hay or straw and baked in the sun) to build the palaces and houses has prevented their preservation.
Thus, the stone temples and tombs, erected with a clear sense of immortality, give the best and practically only knowledge about ancient Egyptian traditions and way of life.
Sculpture
Predynastic figures made of clay, bone, and ivory underwent rapid development in Egyptian sculpture. Between 2737 and 2717 BC, created monumental statues of Pharaohs and rulers were to house the spirits of the dead. Hieratic, stiff, cubic, and frontal shapes define Egyptian sculpture.
After cutting it, they drew the figure object of representation on the stone’s front and two lateral sides. A statue that could only see from the show was the result (law of frontality).
Because the aim was to create an enduring portrait that reflected the spirit and personality of the subject, it wasn’t essential to sculpt the figure from every perspective.
They did not seek a representative for the Egyptian artist. Even though romanticized, the dynasty age had a thorough grasp of human anatomy.
Pharaoh Kefren’s (c. 2530) seated statue (archaeological Museum of Cairo) erected the second-largest pyramid in the Giza burial complex.
In this artwork, the Pharaoh represented seated on a throne decorated with the united kingdoms’ symbol, with hands-on knees and a gaze looking into Eternity.
The falcon of Horus appears behind Khafre’s head, symbolizing that he is the ‘living Horus.’ The overall harmony and proportion of the diorite statue convey a powerful sense of celestial majesty.
Individual and character representations have varied patterns and forms. Aside from the seated or standing solitary figures, numerous pairs and sculptural groups were made, including the deceased alongside family members.
The primary building materials were stone, wood, and to a lesser extent, metal.
The statue’s painted surfaces and inserted eyes in various materials, including crystal, give it a more realistic look.
On the other hand, other pieces depicted laborers and ladies going about their daily lives in their multiple jobs.
They were all traveling to the same place: the grave. Around the end of the IV Dynasty, it formed the scribe-on-the-the-ground pose. The Old Kingdom also created the bust portrait.
Relief sculpture had two significant purposes: praising Pharaoh on temple walls and preparing the spirit for Eternity in graves. Images of the deceased’s daily lives shared on private cemetery markers.
It was necessary to display the human body in two dimensions to preserve the essence of what was portrayed (front and profile).
In the face of the transient, sought Eternity.
As a result, the head and lower extremities profiles integrated into the figures with the eyes and torso.
It imposed this standard or canon on pharaohs and aristocrats but not enslaved people and peasants.
In the past, reliefs painted to give them a more realistic appearance; however, reliefs are painted directly into the surface without any carving. The group had discovered the old Kingdom.
Most of our knowledge of Egyptian rituals and culture derives from tomb reliefs.
These reliefs adequately show food and its production procedures, grazing ways, wild animal hunts, boat building, and many other crafts.
The representations were envisioned not as events that transpired at a particular moment, but as occupations and offices in general, with a unique character of timelessness and Eternity—sculpture in relief, freestanding, or in a ring.
Decorative arts
Attractive unadorned pieces replaced the Predynastic Period’s lavish embellishment with polished surfaces and various forms and types meant for daily usage.
It is possible to employ ceramics for the same reasons as we do now (eating and drinking cups), enormous storage containers, or even tanks or buckets for fermenting liquids.
The gold and semi-precious stone gems have animal and vegetable forms and motifs. Throughout Egypt’s decorative arts history, there has been a strong preference for such aesthetic themes.
Few specimens of furniture have survived, but their abundance in tomb paintings provides us with a wealth of information about its design.
The patterns were basic, utilizing vegetable forms and animal claws to complete the furniture’s bottom finishes (legs of chairs and tables, for example). The parts were linked by dowels and mortises or cemented.
Geniuses’ skulls protect sleep. The most exquisite tomb furnishings in the Old Kingdom is that of Queen Heteferes, Cheops’ mother.
With less centralization, local rulers preferred to bury themselves in their provinces rather than in the cemetery of the pharaohs they served.
This dynasty produced Egypt’s earliest metal statue, a copper depiction of Pepi I (c. 2300 BC) (reigned c. 2395 – 2360 ane ). The First Intermediate Period (VII–X dynasties) was chaotic.
Until the nation reunited with the pharaohs of Thebes in the south, there could be no creative effort to equal its former age of glory.
Literature
This period’s literature may divided into two categories: religious and profane.
The Pyramid Books nearly entirely represent religious literature, although a wide range of wisdom and historical texts defile it.
After the Texts of the Pyramids, the Middle Kingdom Texts of the Sarcophagi, and the New Kingdom Book of the Dead were created by the Memphite priesthood and inscribed into the pyramids of dynasty III.
His main goal was to make the dead Pharaoh an imperishable glowing entity from the sun god Ra’s retinue.
The wisdom lessons of Ptahotep, Kagemny, and Hordyedef stand out among profane literature.
These instructional books included studies and civic and moral guidance that were excellent examples of rhetoric.
Other manuscripts recount historical events and milestones, such as Neferseshemra’s biography or the Palermo Stone’s annals, which feature names of predynastic monarchs.
Temples have kept a large number of technical, administrative documents.
Science in the Old Kingdom of Egypt
The Old Kingdom saw remarkable advances in mathematics and geometry, driven by the need to calculate the surface of irrigated fields spt (spat), which fluctuated yearly following the Nile’s great flood.
The construction of colossal constructions prompted the creation of various studies, including volumetry, which can compute the pyramid’s volume and trunk.
It also dealt with situations that required previous logical proof. The lunar and solar calendars based on astronomy arranged their gravestones with remarkable cardinal accuracy.
Medicine and pharmacopeia made significant contributions during this period, centered on the “House of Life” temples.
They wrote most subsequent medical books in ancient Egyptian, which certainly indicates probable copies of other works.
It presents complicated surgical methods such as opening the skull and diagnostics and suggested practices.
For the first time in history, we have inscriptions mentioning dentists, gynecologists, traumatologists, cardiologists, etc.
Religion in the Old Kingdom of Egypt
The time was characterized by Memphite pantheism and Heliopolitan sun mysticism. The Early Dynastic and Predynastic Periods saw the Trinity and Triads of the Nomes partly replace the early mother goddess cults.
Each city had its triad, ogdoad, or ennead, some of which would dominate state worship in later Egyptian history.
The early supremacy of Heliopolis as the religious hub of undivided Egypt, despite its administrative capital being This, was relinquished during Dynasties III and IV when it shifted the money to Memphis.
With the exaltation of the deity Ptah of Memphis as a demiurge, creative force, heart, and language of all gods, the Memphite clergy created possibly the most profound theological teaching that the Egyptian civilization could access.
The V Dynasty transferred the capital to Heliopolis, leading the Heliopolitan Great Ennead, and Ra became the national deity.
Local gods like Amun-Ra in Thebes, Montu-Ra in Hermontis, Sobek-Ra in the Fayum, and Jnum-Ra in Elephantine could only exist by merging with Ra.
With the collapse of the 6th dynasty came the return of the local gods, especially Osiris, connected with resurrection.
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