This Memphite era is called by the name of its capital, Memphis (which would be throughout the entire Old Kingdom), in the I nome, today about 25 km southeast of the capital, Cairo. The Old Kingdom comprises Dynasties III to VI.
International situation
Its chronological period corresponds approximately to the first archaic Dynasties of Mesopotamia in the cities of Kish, Ur and Uruk and the Akkadian Empire.
Old Kingdom dynasties
Dynasty III
The first king of the Third Dynasty, Sanajt or Nebka , united by marriage with the heiress of the previous dynasty. He was succeeded by his brother Djeser / Djoser, Dyeser, Tosortos . With him a new dynasty begins, due to the great progress that Egypt made in his time.
Although Zoser he is the most important figure of the Dynasty and is considered to be the son of Nimaathap, wife of Kasekemui , there are reasons to consider Sanajte as the first pharaoh of the Third Dynasty.
This king was fortunate to have the help of an exceptional man:the chief architect Imhotep, whose reputation was maintained through the centuries as a doctor and was also credited with the invention of the procedure for carving stone, which is proof the magnificent set of Saqqara (staggered slab) that represents the triumph of stone architecture, compared to the adobe typical of the preceding stage. The use of stone had been increasing since the end of the Second Dynasty and was already used in the necropolis of Heluán in earlier times. The Djoser complex in Saqqara is one of the largest in the history of architecture . What is called a stepped pyramid is the end result of an evolutionary process, which, starting from an initial mastaba, was incorporating extensions and composing bodies until the structure was achieved in steps topped by a prism (an evolution that would end with the classic pyramid shape).
Djoser made Memphis his capital and extended his domain possibly into Nubia and Sinai. His successors were Sanakt or Sanajt , and Jaba . The dynasty ends with a king whose name is HU or Huni, builder of the stepped pyramid of Meidum, who is the immediate predecessor of King Snofru, who finished the pyramid and with whom the next dynasty begins.
Dynasty IV
The first king of the Dynasty was Sneferu/Snefru or Snofru , whose reign lasted more than twenty years.
He married Huni or Heteferes I, mother of Cheops and daughter of his predecessor, although he could also be the son of Huni and Meresanj I and half-brother of Hetepheres, daughter of a more important wife of Huni. This dynasty was made up of 17 Memphite kings who reigned for a total of 448 years.
Snofru
By Snofru some details can be given thanks to the Palermo Stone. He organized an expedition to Nubia, from where he brought numerous prisoners and carried out campaigns in the Sinai. Inside, he built two pyramids at Dahshur, as well as temples, palaces, and fortresses. His important reign advances the artistic perfection that will be found in those of his successors:Cheops, Kefren and Micerino, whose pyramids still amaze the world and are an index of the advancedness of this civilization.
Excavations at the Valley Temple of the rhomboid pyramid at Dahshur uncovered splendid reliefs depicting female figures bearing offerings. But also in times of this king the classical scheme had been concluded of the funerary complex of the pharaohs, consisting of a valley temple, causeway, adjoining temple and pyramid, which would be repeated throughout the Old Kingdom.
This king left in classical Egyptian literature the memory of a kind man and lover of the good life, as he appears in the Prophecy of Neferti , a work of the XII Dynasty.
In it, it is seen how the king takes note with the greatest naturalness of what Neferti advises him. The Papyrus Westcar presents him bored in the palace, familiarly treating the wizards of him.
Cheops
He was succeeded by Cheops / Kufu / Khufu / Kéope / Kheops / Kheops , son of Snofru and queen Hetepheres I, who ruled about twenty-three years. Part of the components of his family and his courtiers can be reconstructed thanks to the inscriptions in the tombs of the Giza or Guizeh necropolis, where they were buried around the Great Pyramid, and also thanks to the tombs of those who lie in Saqqara.
The Great Pyramid of Cheops, in Giza, near Cairo It is the largest monument built by man. When it was complete it was 146.6 m high, although today it has lost a few, standing at 137.4 m. It has a square base of more than 227 m long. It is built with calcareous stone blocks, some of which weigh 15 tons. The faces are perfectly oriented to the four cardinal points with errors of less than 5 degrees. But this immense monument was not planned at once, but underwent some change, albeit a minor one. It has been calculated that working during the entire reign of Cheops, extracting, transporting and placing 300 blocks every day, some 100,000 men would be needed and this only for the pyramid, because to this must be added the Valley Temple, the causeway and the temple attached to the pyramid.
Dyedefre/Didufri
His successor was Dyedefre / Didufri , who reigned eight years according to the Turin Papyrus. he left behind an unfinished pyramid at Abu Roash, north of Gizeh, of which almost nothing remains, as well as an adobe temple and a granite column bearing the king's name. The ascension of this pharaoh has been explained by a dissension in the royal family that occurred after the death of Cheops. Meresanj's father, Prince Kewab, died and his wife Heteperes II married Didufri who came to the throne. Didufri's reign ended amid general discontent. The opposition party led by the princes Ninjaf, Amaf and Neermaat brought Khafre, the builder of the Pyramid named after him, to the throne.
Kephren
Kephren (Jaefre or Rejael) he reigned, 24 years according to the Royal Canon of Turin. Queen Heteperes II, widow of Kawab and Didufri, gave him her daughter Meresanj II as his wife, bringing peace back to the royal family and the active Hetepheres II lived until the end of the dynasty. Khafre built his pyramid next to Khufu's, which is somewhat smaller, but since it is situated on a somewhat higher level it appears even somewhat larger. The Temple of the Valley is preserved, a beautiful structure with a double entrance, vestibule, hypostyle hall with six pillars, built in local stone covered in polished red granite. In it was found the famous statue of Khafre with Horus protecting him, one of the twenty-three statues that were in that temple.
The most famous achievement of Pharaoh Khafre was the Sphinx of Giza or Gizeh . It was a rock from which stone was extracted in the times of Cheops and in those of Khafre the hill was carved and some blocks were added to give it the shape of a lion with a human head and a pharaonic headdress, thus achieving one of the most famous works of ancient art and one of the greatest monuments built by the hand of man. In the New Kingdom she was believed to be the god Harmakis (Horus who is on the horizon ), and Thutmose IV in the 15th century BC. he ordered to clean it of sand and engraved a stele (Stela del Sueño ), which is contained between the front legs of the Sphinx. Excavations in 1925 uncovered the temple at the foot of the Sphinx, also from the Fourth Dynasty.
During these reigns and the subsequent one of Didufri/Djedefre , the expeditions to Sinai were continued although they were more important in the time of Cheops.
Sepseskaf
Sepseskaf he was the sixth and last king of the Fourth Dynasty, whose reign was short and inglorious. After him begins the Fifth Dynasty.
Dynasty V
This dynasty reigned for 140 years according to the Turin Papyrus. Its origin is explained in the Westcar Papyrus. The role of the pharaoh-queens in these ancient dynasties seems unquestionable. Thus Khent-kaus, was the daughter of Hordjedef and mother of Userkaf, Sahuré and Nefierekara. Almost all the work of this Dynasty was the work of the priests of Heliopolis, whose solar theology triumphed for almost a century and a half.
Its first sovereigns, Userkaf and Sahura , according to what is deduced from the legend collected in a papyrus whose manuscript dates from the end of the Middle Kingdom, they were not of royal blood, but sons of the wife of a simple priest of Ra from a small town in the Delta called Sajebu. However, it is possible that the first king of the dynasty was the son of Neferhotep, daughter of Didufri, and that he married Khentkaues, the probable son of Menkaure. She is buried in the Unfinished Pyramid of Giza which is really a mastaba similar to the mastaba of the pharaoh .
The V Dynasty brought many novelties to the Egyptian state. The royal title of son of Ra , already used sporadically in the previous Dynasty, was generalized in this period, incorporated into the royal title. Written texts increased and an elevation of literary and scientific thought is verified
Userkaf
By Userkaf , the first king, we know that he built in the south, because in a later temple located in Tód a square column with his name was found.
Sahura
The second king of this Dynasty, Sahura , he reigned about fourteen years and in his time there were campaigns against the Libyans and the Asiatics. He sent expeditions to Punt and Sinai. He started the Abusir cemetery, which would be continued by his successors with a somewhat different scheme from the previous one:valley temple, causeway and pyramid.
At this time the pyramids are smaller, built with smaller materials. The temple attached to the pyramid was used for worship and offerings dedicated to the deceased king. A novelty in the temples is the use of palm-shaped columns and reliefs.
Nefierekara
His successor, Neferirkare , was his brother and his reign lasted about ten years. Precisely at his time, the Stone of Palermo was engraved.
He built the pyramid at Abusir but could not finish it, which made his third successor Niuserre or Niuserra .
There is little news of the direct successors of Nefierekara, Shepseskara and Neferefra, as well as Niuserra, famous for its solar temple of Abusir, and its funerary complex, one of the most complete that are preserved, which Menkauhor and perhaps Isesi Dyedkara seem to follow. .
Unas/Onos
The last king of the Fifth Dynasty was Unas/Onos. He reigned thirty years and it is known that he probably made a trip to Elephantine to receive homage from the Nubian chiefs. In Byblos (on the Phoenician coast) vessels with his name appeared. It is interesting to recall the scenes on the causeway of his pyramid depicting a series of skeletal male and female figures, a way of expressing the results of the Nile's low floods.
The main care of the kings of this Fifth Dynasty was the cult of Ra, which was celebrated in open-air solar temples, although not in an exclusive way as would be the religious revolution of Akhenaten (Amenophis IV, of the Eighteenth Dynasty) and in the very sanctuaries of Ra are attested to the cults of Horus and Hathor. The result of this religious reform was the weakening of royal power, since, as the king recognized his dependence on the power of the god, he became somewhat closer to other mortals. This weakening of the monarchical conception would have a great influence on the political and social evolution of the Memphite State.
In the religious order, it is also worth highlighting the fact that in the pyramid of King Unas in Saqqara, the chambers and passageways are covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions called Texts of the Pyramids , custom that will be repeated later with other monarchs and queens. These texts are a very extensive collection of prayers, invocations, hymns, etc., intended to ensure the pharaoh's afterlife among the gods. They constitute the basis of what we will later call in the Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts and in the New Kingdom Book of the Dead . It is noteworthy that a very important part of these texts, which is called The Cannibal Anthem , it does not repeat itself.
Dynasty VI
The kings of the 6th Dynasty were from Memphis. Access to the throne of its first king. Teti I , put an end to the instability that followed the death of Unas / Onos, perhaps with his marriage to one of the daughters of said king named Ipue, which gave him the right to the throne.
His Horus name, Seheteptany , He who pacifies the Two Lands symbolizes the tranquility of the country. He possibly was assassinated, which suggests that such pacification was more desirable than certain. Perhaps to search for her, too, he married her daughter Seshseset to the vizier Mereruka, whose magnificently decorated mastaba at Saqqara is preserved.
Between Teti I and Fiope/Pepi I King Userkara is sometimes cited who perhaps reigned at some point. Remains of a wooden coffin of Teti are preserved in the Cairo Museum. Remains of the so-called Texts of the Pyramids are preserved in her pyramid. .
The stories and activities of characters from her court demonstrate the transformations of the time and the decline of royal authority.
Pepi I named Merenra co-regent in the last years of his life and he succeeded him when he died.
Merenra I , The Beloved of Ra , reign as sole king for about nine years.
Merenra I's successor, Pepi II/Nefierekara He reigned 90 years. Nothing in his reign predicted the collapse of a state as tightly organized as the Egypt of the Old Kingdom. With this king, the commercial expeditions of the previous reign continue, such as the expedition to Sinai and Yam.
Merenra II Antyemsaf
Merenra II Antyemsaf he is the successor of Pepi II, the last monarch of the VI Dynasty, who reigned only one year, his wife was queen Nitocris / Nitiqret. The fame of this queen grew until she became in Greek times, in Rhodopis, courtesan and mythical builder of the third pyramid of Giza, antecedent of her in her legend of Cinderella . She was the second known queen to exercise political power in Egypt after Merneith. of the First Dynasty. Her successor was Neferkara , son of Ankhesenpepi and Pepi II. After them begins the so-called First Intermediate Period. The Turin Canon cites six more names after Nitocris. The Abydos List does not mention it.
The crisis of royal power was accentuated with the VI Dynasty, and, above all, during the reign of Pharaoh Pepi II, who, as we have seen, married the daughters of a simple official. These provincial alliances were disastrous for the royal power and weakened it, together with the agrarian crises, giving way to a period of decentralization.