Old Kingdom of Egypt

𓂋𓏤𓈖𓈎𓅓𓏏𓊖 𓅨𓂋𓉼𓋴𓈖𓏥
(Ancient Egyptian)

c. 2686 BC–c. 2181 BC

During the Old Kingdom of Egypt (circa 2700 BC – circa 2200 BC), Egypt consisted of the Nile River region south to Abu (also known as Elephantine), as well as Sinai and the oases in the western desert, with Egyptian control/rule over Nubia reaching to the area south of the third cataract.^[1]

Capital

Memphis

Common languages

Ancient Egyptian

Religion

Ancient Egyptian religion

Government

Divine, absolute monarchy

Pharaoh

• c. 2686 – c. 2649 BC

Djoser (first)

• c. 2184 – c. 2181 BC

Last king depends on the scholar, Neitiqerty Siptah (6th Dynasty) or Neferirkare (7th/8th Dynasty)

History

• Began

c. 2686 BC

• Ended

c. 2181 BC

Population

• 2500 BC

1.6 million^[2]

Preceded by

Succeeded by

Early Dynastic Period of Egypt

First Intermediate Period

In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynasty, such as King Sneferu, who perfected the art of pyramid-building, and the kings Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, who constructed the pyramids at Giza.^[3] Egypt attained its first sustained peak of civilization during the Old Kingdom, the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods (followed by the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom), which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley.^[4]

The concept of an "Old Kingdom" as one of three "golden ages" was coined in 1845 by the German Egyptologist Baron von Bunsen, and its definition would evolve significantly throughout the 19th and the 20th centuries.^[5] Not only was the last king of the Early Dynastic Period related to the first two kings of the Old Kingdom, but the "capital", the royal residence, remained at Ineb-Hedj, the Ancient Egyptian name for Memphis. The basic justification for a separation between the two periods is the revolutionary change in architecture accompanied by the effects on Egyptian society and the economy of large-scale building projects.^[4]

The Old Kingdom is most commonly regarded as the period from the Third Dynasty to the Sixth Dynasty (2686–2181 BC). Information from the Fourth to the Sixth Dynasties of Egypt is scarce, and historians regard the history of the era as literally "written in stone" and largely architectural in that it is through the monuments and their inscriptions that scholars have been able to construct a history.^[3] Egyptologists also include the Memphite Seventh and Eighth Dynasties in the Old Kingdom as a continuation of the administration, centralized at Memphis. While the Old Kingdom was a period of internal security and prosperity, it was followed by a period of disunity and relative cultural decline referred to by Egyptologists as the First Intermediate Period.^[6] During the Old Kingdom, the King of Egypt (not called the Pharaoh until the New Kingdom) became a living god who ruled absolutely and could demand the services and wealth of his subjects.^[7]

Under King Djoser, the first king of the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, the royal capital of Egypt was moved to Memphis, where Djoser established his court. A new era of building was initiated at Saqqara under his reign. King Djoser's architect, Imhotep, is credited with the development of building with stone and with the conception of the new architectural form, the step pyramid.^[7] The Old Kingdom is best known for a large number of pyramids constructed at this time as burial places for Egypt's kings.

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Transcription

Hi there, my name’s John Green and this is Crash Course: World History, and today we’re going to talk about Egypt. No, not that Egypt. Older. Older. Older. Less fictional. Yes, that one. Ancient Egypt is probably the most influential of the river valley civilizations. Like you might not recognize any Assyrian Kings or Assyrian language, but you probably do know King Tut. And you may recognize that the Eye of Horus is right now staring at me and judging me. I can feel, I can feel your judgement. [music intro] [music intro] [music intro] [music intro] [music intro] [music intro] When we think of Ancient Civilizations, we think of Egypt. There are a few reasons for this, like the fact that the pyramids are the last man standing among the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. But more importantly, Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted from 3000 BCE to 332 BCE. That’s a period that historians call a long-ass time. And I will remind you it is not cursing if you’re talking about donkeys. So there are many approaches to the study of history. You could view history as a millennial long conversation about philosophy or as clashes between great men or you can see history through the lens of traditionally neglected populations, like women or indigenous peoples or slaves. And we’re going to try to take many approaches to our study of history during Crash Course. Mr. Green, Mr. Green, which approach is right? I mean, for the test. Oh me-from-the-past. Remember how you spent all of third year French writing notes back and forth to that girl and she eventually agreed to go out with you and you did make it to second base but now you can hardly parle un mot de francais? Historical lenses are like that, my friend: With every choice, something is gained and something is lost. Right, so in discussing agriculture and early civilizations, we’ve been approaching history through the lens of resource distribution and geography. And just as the violent and capricious Tigris and Euphrates rivers shaped the worldview of early Mesopotamians, the Nile shaped the world view of the Egyptians. Let’s go to the Thought Bubble. The Nile was regular, navigable, and benign, making for one of the safest and richest agricultural areas in the world. Each summer the river flooded the fields at precisely the right time, leaving behind nutrient-rich silt for planting season. Planting was so easy that Egyptians just tossed seeds around the silty earth and then let their cattle or pigs walk on it to press the seeds into the ground, and then boom, grain and figs and wheat and pomegranates and melons and joy. Unlike most river valley civilizations, Egyptian communities existed ONLY along the Nile, which was navigable enough to get valuable resources downstream from timber to gold, which the Egyptians considered the divine metal, thereby introducing an idea that would eventually culminate in Mr. T. The Nile is also easily tamed. While other river valley civilizations needed complicated and labor-intensive hydraulic engineering projects to irrigate crops, the Nile was so chill that Egyptians could use a simple form of water management called basin irrigation, in which farmers used floodwaters to fill earthen basins and canals for irrigation. In short, the awesomeness of the Nile meant Egyptians could create big food surpluses with relatively little work, allowing time and energy for some pretty impressive projects. Also, the Nile may help explain the ancient Egypt’s general optimism: While ancient Sumerian religion, for instance, saw the afterlife as this gloomy, dark place, Egyptians were often buried with things that were useful and pleasurable to them in life, because the Afterlife was seen as a continuation of this life, which, at least if you lived along the Nile, wasn’t half-bad. Thanks, Thought Bubble. And now, my dear pupils, I shall terrorize you with the oppression of dates. No. Dates. Yes. Thank you. Historians have divided Egyptian history into three broad categories. Each with their own numbered dynasties. But only hardcore Egyptologists know the dynasties, and we’re not trying to become hardcore Egyptologists. The Old Kingdom lasted from 2649 to 2152; The middle kingdom from 2040 to 1640; And the New Kingdom, so called because it is only 3,000 years old, lasted from 1550-1070 BCE. In between you have a couple so-called Intermediate periods. Okay, OLD KINGDOM. This was really the glory age of ancient Egypt, when we get all the stuff that will later make Indiana Jones possible, like the pyramids at Giza, and the sun king Ra, and the idea of divine kingship. which seems like a good gig, except that it meant that he wasn’t expected to act like a person, he was expected to act like a god, which in ancient Egypt means acting like the Nile: calm, cool, benevolent... There’s no fun it that. And then of course there are the pyramids, which aside from remaining impressive to behold represent a remarkable degree of political and social control over the population, because it is not easy to convince people to devote their lives to building a sarcophagus for someone else. The most famous pyramids were built between 2575 and 2465 BCE. The one with the Sphinx was for Khephren; the largest, the Great Pyramid, was built for the Pharaoh Khufu. These pyramids were built partly by peasants who were required by Egyptian law to work for the government a certain number of months per year, and partly by slaves, but not by Moses and the Jews, who showed up on the scene long before pyramids were ever even a twinkle in Khufu’s eye. This leads to an overwhelming question: Why? Why in the sweet name of Ra would anyone ever build such a thing? Well, let’s start with Ra. So, Ra started out as a regional god, reigning over Heliopolis, but he eventually became really central to the entire pantheon of gods of ancient Egypt. He was the god of the sun, but also the god of creation. And the thinking was that if humans did their jobs then the pantheon of gods would maintain cosmic order, and since the pharaohs became gods upon their death, it made sense to please them even unto pyramids. Egyptian popular religion also embraced the belief in amulets and magic and divination and the belief that certain animals-- especially cats—had divine power. And yes, I did bring that up just so I could lolcat. Old Kingdom Egypt was also remarkably literate: They had two forms of writing, hieroglyphics for sacred writing and then demotic script for recording contracts and agreements and other boring stuff. The last thing I want to say about Old Kingdom Egypt; it was ridiculously rich. But then around 2250 BCE there were a series of droughts and Pharaohs started fighting over who should have power and we had an intermediate period. [classic intermission music] Which was followed by the Middle Earth... No, what? The middle kingdom? Ohh. Really? That’s a bummer, Stan. I want it to be the Middle Earth. How awesome would that be? Like right in the middle of Egyptian history, there were Hobbits.... So the Middle Kingdom, which apparently had no Hobbits, restored Pharaonic rule in 2040 BCE but with some distinct changes: First, the rulers were outsiders, from downriver in Nubia. Second, they fostered a new pantheon of gods, the star of which was Ammun, which means hidden. So here’s a little lesson from history: Hidden gods tend to do well because they’re omnipresent. So Ammun eventually merged with Ra to form the god Ammun-Ra, who was like the best god ever and all the Middle Kingdom pharaohs made temples for him and devoted all of their surplus to his glory. The Middle Kingdom also developed an interest in conquering, specifically the new homeland of Nubia, and they developed a side interest in getting conquered, specifically by Semitic peoples from the Levant. They were able to conquer much of Egypt using superior military technology like bronze weapons and compound bows, and chariots of fire. What? They were just regular chariots? STAN WHY ARE YOU ALWATS KILLING MY DREAMS? One group, the Hyksos, were able to conquer all of Egypt, but rather than like destroying the Egyptian culture, they just relaxed like the Nile and assimilated into the Egyptians. And the Egyptians adopted their military technology. And then the Egyptians destroyed the Hyksos and expelled them from Egypt. And then by 1550 BCE there was again an Egyptian pharaoh, Ahmosis... ...whose name only sounds like an STD. Anyway, after all this conquering and being conquered, Egypt eventually emerged from its geographically imposed isolationism and, can you cue the New Kingdom Graphic please? There it is! New Kingdom Egypt continued this military expansion but it looked more like an Empire, particularly when they headed south and took over land in an attempt to find gold and slaves. Probably the most expansive of the New Kingdom pharaohs was Hatshepsut, a woman who ruled Egypt for about 22 years. And who expanded Egypt not through military might, but through trade. But most new kingdom pharaohs being dudes, focused on military expansion, which brought Egypt into conflicts with the Assyrians who you’ll remember from last week, And then the Persians, and then Alexander the Great and finally, the Romans. On the whole, Egypt probably would’ve been better off enjoying its geographical isolation and not trying to conquer new territory, but all of Egypt’s friends had jumped off a bridge, so… One last thing about the New Kingdom. There was this crazy New Kingdom Pharaoh named Akehenaten, who tried to invent a new god for Egypt, Aten. Akehenaten was kind of the Kim Jong Il of Ancient Egypt, like he had this feared police force and this big cult of personality. And also he was a nut job. Anyway, after his death he was replaced by his wife, and then a daughter and than a son, Tutankaten, who turned his back on the weird god Aten and changed his name to Tutankhamen. And that is about all King Tut did before he died... ...probably around the age of 17. Honestly, the only reason King Tut is famous is that most Pharaohs had their graves robbed by ancient people; and King Tut had his grave robbed by 20th century British people. Which brings us to the Open Letter. [scoots to super sweet chartreuse throne] An Open Letter to King Tut: Oh, but first we gotta find out what Stan left for me in the Secret Compartment. It’s a pen. [clicks pen] AAHHHH!! It’s a shock pen! Stan?%@# That’s a terrible, terrible gift for the secret compartment. Dear King Tut, I know that as Pharaohs lives go, yours was pretty poor. First, you had to marry your sister, which hopefully you weren’t that psyched about, plus you had a cleft palette and probably scoliosis. Plus you died before really reaching adulthood. But dude, you have had the best afterlife ever. Since your body was discovered in 1922, you’ve become probably the most famous ancient person. There have been lots of books about you, scholars have devoted their lives to you. Dude, we’re so obsessed with you that we used this fancy new technology to scan your body and establish that you probably died of an infected broken leg and/or malaria, So you’ve inspired such seminal works of art as the Discovery Kids series Tutenstein, which my son forces me to watch. Your relics have been to six continents! So it all works out in the end, man. Well, I mean, you’re still dead. So that’s kinda sucks. Best wishes, John Green King Tut leads us nicely to the really crucial thing about Egyptian culture. Because King Tut lived right around the same time as the pyramids right? Wrong. Remember the pyramids were built around 2500 BCE during the Old Kingdom. King Tut died in 1322 BCE, 1200 years later! That’s five and a half Americas. But because Egypt was so similar for so long, it all tends to blend together when we imagine it. Ancient Egypt lasted 1000 years longer than Christianity has been around, and about 800 years longer than that other super-long lived civilization, China. So there was an entire culture that lasted longer than Western Civilization has existed and it had run its course before “the West” was even born. Next week, we’ll look at the Persians and the Greeks. I’ll see you then. Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller; The show is written by Raoul Meyer my high school history teacher and myself; our script supervisor is Danica Johnson and our graphics team is ThoughtBubble. Last week’s phrase of the week was “Male Models.” You can take your guess at this week’s phrase of the week in Comments and also suggest future phrases of the week. And if you have any questions about today’s video, leave them in Comments and our team of semi-professional quasi-historians will endeavor to answer them as best we can. Thanks for watching and as we say in my hometown: Don’t forget to be awesome. [skiddilydiddilies off screen]

History

Rise of the Old Kingdom

The first King of the Old Kingdom was Djoser (sometime between 2691 and 2625 BC) of the Third Dynasty, who ordered the construction of a pyramid (the Step Pyramid) in Memphis' necropolis, Saqqara. An important person during the reign of Djoser was his vizier, Imhotep.

It was in this era that formerly independent ancient Egyptian states became known as nomes, under the rule of the king. The former rulers were forced to assume the role of governors or otherwise work in tax collection. Egyptians in this era believed the king to be the incarnation of Horus, linking the human and spiritual worlds. Egyptian views on the nature of time during this period held that the universe worked in cycles, and the Pharaoh on earth worked to ensure the stability of those cycles. They also perceived themselves as specially selected people.^[8]

The Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara.
The Temple of Djoser at Saqqara
The head of a King, c. 2650–2600 BC, Brooklyn Museum. The earliest representations of Egyptian Kings are on a small scale. From the Third Dynasty, statues were made showing the ruler life-size. This head wearing the crown of Upper Egypt is larger than human scale.^[9]

Height of the Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom and its royal power reached a zenith under the Fourth Dynasty (2613–2494 BC). King Sneferu, the first king of the Fourth Dynasty, held territory from ancient Libya in the west to the Sinai Peninsula in the east, to Nubia in the south. An Egyptian settlement was founded at Buhen in Nubia which endured for 200 years.^[10] After Djoser, Sneferu was the next great pyramid builder. He commissioned the building of not one, but three pyramids. The first is called the Meidum Pyramid, named for its location in Egypt. Sneferu abandoned it after the outside casing fell off of the pyramid. The Meidum pyramid was the first to have an above-ground burial chamber.^[11]

Using more stones than any other Pharaoh, he built the three pyramids: a now collapsed pyramid in Meidum, the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, and the Red Pyramid, at North Dahshur. However, the full development of the pyramid style of building was reached not at Saqqara, but during the building of the Great Pyramids at Giza.^[12]

Sneferu was succeeded by his son, Khufu (2589–2566 BC), who built the Great Pyramid of Giza. After Khufu's death, his sons Djedefre (2566–2558 BC) and Khafre (2558–2532 BC) may have quarrelled. The latter built the second pyramid and (in traditional thinking) the Great Sphinx of Giza. Recent re-examination of evidence has led Egyptologist Vassil Dobrev to propose that the Sphinx was built by Djedefre as a monument to his father Khufu.^[13]Alternatively, the Sphinx has been proposed to be the work of Khafre and Khufu himself.

There were military expeditions into Canaan and Nubia, with Egyptian influence reaching up the Nile into what is today Sudan.^[14] The later kings of the Fourth Dynasty were Menkaure (2532–2504 BC), who built the smallest of the three great pyramids in Giza; Shepseskaf (2504–2498 BC); and, perhaps, Djedefptah (2498–2496 BC).

Fifth Dynasty

The Fifth Dynasty (2494–2345 BC) began with Userkaf (2494–2487 BC) and was marked by the growing importance of the cult of sun god Ra. Consequently, fewer efforts were devoted to the construction of pyramid complexes than during the Fourth Dynasty and more to the construction of sun temples in Abusir. Userkaf was succeeded by his son Sahure (2487–2475 BC), who commanded an expedition to Punt. Sahure was in turn succeeded by Neferirkare Kakai (2475–2455 BC), who was Sahure's son. Neferirkare introduced the prenomen in the royal titulary. He was followed by two short-lived kings, his son Neferefre (2455–2453 BC) and Shepseskare, the latter of uncertain parentage.^[15] Shepseskare may have been deposed by Neferefre's brother Nyuserre Ini (2445–2421 BC), a long-lived pharaoh who built extensively in Abusir and restarted royal activity in Giza.

The last pharaohs of the dynasty were Menkauhor Kaiu (2421–2414 BC), Djedkare Isesi (2414–2375 BC), and Unas (2375–2345), the earliest ruler to have the Pyramid Texts inscribed in his pyramid.

Egypt's expanding interests in trade goods such as ebony, incense such as myrrh and frankincense, gold, copper, and other useful metals inspired the ancient Egyptians to build suitable ships for navigation of the open sea. They traded with Lebanon for cedar and travelled the length of the Red Sea to the Kingdom of Punt- modern-day Eritrea—for ebony, ivory, and aromatic resins.^[16] Shipbuilders of that era did not use pegs (treenails) or metal fasteners, but relied on the rope to keep their ships assembled. Planks and the superstructure were tightly tied and bound together. This period also witnessed direct trade between Egypt and its Aegean neighbors and Anatolia.^[17]

The rulers of the dynasty sent expeditions to the stone quarries and gold mines of Nubia and the mines of Sinai.^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21] there are references and depictions of military campaigns in Nubia and Asia.^[22]^[23]^[24]

Decline into the First Intermediate Period

The sixth dynasty peaked during the reigns of Pepi I and Merenre I with flourishing trade, several mining and quarrying expeditions and major military campaigns. Militarily, aggressive expansion into Nubia marked Pepi I's reign.^[25]^[26] At least five military expeditions were sent into Canaan.^[27]

There is evidence that Merenre was not only active in Nubia like Pepi I but also sent officials to maintain Egyptian rule over Nubia from the northern border to the area south of the third cataract.^[27]

During the Sixth Dynasty (2345–2181 BC) the power of the pharaoh gradually weakened in favor of powerful nomarchs (regional governors). These no longer belonged to the royal family and their charge became hereditary, thus creating local dynasties largely independent from the central authority of the Pharaoh. However, Nile flood control was still the subject of very large works, including especially the canal to Lake Moeris around 2300 BC, which was likely also the source of water to the Giza pyramid complex centuries earlier.

Internal disorders set in during the incredibly long reign of Pepi II (2278–2184 BC) towards the end of the dynasty. His death, certainly well past that of his intended heirs, might have created succession struggles. The country slipped into civil wars mere decades after the close of Pepi II's reign.

The final blow was the 22nd century BC drought in the region that resulted in a drastic drop in precipitation. For at least some years between 2200 and 2150 BC, this prevented the normal flooding of the Nile.^[28]

Whatever its cause, the collapse of the Old Kingdom was followed by decades of famine and strife. An important inscription on the tomb of Ankhtifi, a nomarch during the early First Intermediate Period, describes the pitiful state of the country when famine stalked the land.

Art

The most defining feature of ancient Egyptian art is its function, as that was the entire purpose of creation. Art was not made for enjoyment in the strictest sense, but rather served a role of some kind in Egyptian religion and ideology.^[29] This fact manifests itself in the artistic style, even as it evolved over the dynasties. The three primary principles of that style, frontality, composite composition, and hierarchy scale, illustrate this quite well.^[29] These characteristics, initiated in the Early Dynastic Period^[30] and solidified during the Old Kingdom, persisted with some adaptability throughout the entirety of ancient Egyptian history as the foundation of its art.^[31]

Frontality, the first principle, indicates that art was viewed directly from the front. One was meant to approach a piece as they would a living individual, for it was meant to be a place of manifestation. The act of interaction would bring forth the divine entity represented in the art.^[29] It was therefore imperative that whoever was represented be as identifiable as possible. The guidelines developed in the Old Kingdom and the later grid system developed in the Middle Kingdom ensured that art was axial, symmetrical, proportional, and most importantly reproducible and therefore recognizable.^[33] Composite composition, the second principle, also contributes to the goal of identification. Multiple perspectives were used in order to ensure that the onlooker could determine precisely what they saw.^[29]

Though Egyptian art almost always includes descriptive text, literacy rates were not high, so the art gave another method for communicating the same information. One of the best examples of composite composition is the human form. In most two-dimensional relief, the head, legs, and feet are seen in profile, while the torso faces directly front. Another common example is an aerial view of a building or location.^[29] The third principle, the hierarchy of scale, illustrates relative importance in society. The larger the figure, the more important the individual. The king is usually the largest, aside from deities. The similarity in size equated to similarity in position. However, this is not to say that physical differences were not shown as well. Women, for example, are usually shown as smaller than men. Children retain adult features and proportions but are substantially smaller in size.^[29]

Aside from the three primary conventions, there are several characteristics that can help date a piece to a particular time frame. Proportions of the human figure are one of the most distinctive, as they vary between kingdoms.^[33] Old Kingdom male figures have characteristically broad shoulders and a long torso, with obvious musculature. On the other hand, females are narrower in the shoulders and waist, with longer legs and a shorter torso.^[33] However, in the Sixth Dynasty, the male figures lose their muscularity and their shoulders narrow. The eyes also tend to get much larger.^[29]

In order to help maintain the consistency of these proportions, the Egyptians used a series of eight guidelines to divide the body. They occurred at the following locations: the top of the head, the hairline, the base of the neck, the underarms, the tip of the elbow or the bottom of the ribcage, the top of the thigh at the bottom of the buttocks, the knee, and the middle of the lower leg.^[33]

From the soles of the feet to the hairline was also divided into thirds, one-third between the soles and the knee, another third between the knee and the elbow, and the final third from the elbow to the hairline. The broad shoulders that appeared in the Fifth Dynasty constituted roughly that one-third length as well.^[33] These proportions not only help with the identification of representations and the reproduction of art but also tie into the Egyptian ideal of order, which tied into the solar aspect of their religion and the inundations of the Nile.^[29]

A statue of Menkaure with Hathor and Anput from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Demonstrates a group statue of graywacke with Old Kingdom features and proportions.^[34]

Though the above concepts apply to most, if not all, figures in Egyptian art, there are additional characteristics that applied to the representations of the king. Their appearance was not an exact rendering of the king's visage, though kings are somewhat identifiable through looks alone. Identification could be supplied by inscriptions or context.^[29] A huge, more important part of a king's portrayal was about the idea of the office of kingship,^[29] which were dependent on the time period. The Old Kingdom was considered a golden age for Egypt, a grandiose height to which all future kingdoms aspired.^[35]

As such, the king was portrayed as young and vital, with features that agreed with the standards of beauty of the time. The musculature seen in male figures was also applied to kings. A royal rite, the jubilee run which was established during the Old Kingdom, involved the king running around a group of markers that symbolized the geographic borders of Egypt. This was meant to be a demonstration of the king's physical vigor, which determined his capacity to continue his reign.^[35] This idea of kingly youth and strength were pervasive in the Old Kingdom and thus shown in the art.^[31]

The sculpture was a major product of the Old Kingdom. The position of the figures in this period was mostly limited to sitting or standing, either with feet together or in the striding pose. Group statues of the king with either gods or family members, typically his wife and children, were also common.^[30]

It was not just the subject of sculpture that was important, but also the material: The use of hard stone, such as gneiss, graywacke, schist, and granite, was relatively common in the Old Kingdom.^[36] The color of the stone had a great deal of symbolism and was chosen deliberately.^[29] Four colors were distinguished in the ancient Egyptian language: black, green, red, and white.^[36] Black was associated with Egypt due to the color of the soil after the Nile flood, green with vegetation and rebirth, red with the sun and its regenerative cycle, and white with purity.^[29]

The statue of Menkaure with Hathor and Anput is an example of a typical Old Kingdom sculpture. The three figures display frontality and axiality, while fitting with the proportions of this time period. The graywacke came from the Eastern Desert in Egypt^[37] and is therefore associated with rebirth and the rising of the sun in the east.

Gallery

King khufu statue at Cairo museum.
King khafre statue at Cairo museum
Greywacke statue of Menkaure and Queen Khamerernebty II at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Rahotep and Nofret statues at Cairo museum
Kaaper around 2500 BC
Majordomo Keki statue,6th dynasty at Louvre museum.

References

^ Grimal, Nicolas (1994). A History of Ancient Egypt. Wiley-Blackwell (July 19, 1994). p. 85.
^ Steven Snape (16 March 2019). "Estimating Population in Ancient Egypt". Retrieved 5 January 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Old Kingdom of Egypt". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
^ ^a ^b Malek, Jaromir. 2003. "The Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2160 BC)". In The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0192804587, p.83
^ Schneider, Thomas (27 August 2008). "Periodizing Egyptian History: Manetho, Convention, and Beyond". In Klaus-Peter Adam (ed.). Historiographie in der Antike. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 181–197. ISBN 978-3-11-020672-2.
^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, pp. 55 & 60.
^ ^a ^b Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 56.
^ Herlin, Susan J. (2003). "Ancient African Civilizations to ca. 1500: Pharaonic Egypt to Ca. 800 BC". p. 27. Archived from the original on August 23, 2003. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
^ Bothmer, Bernard (1974). Brief Guide to the Department of Egyptian and Classical Art. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum. p. 22.
^ "The Old Kingdom (c. 2575–c. 2130 BCE) and the First Intermediate period (c. 2130–1938 BCE)". Encyclopaedia Britannica.
^ "Ancient Egypt – the Archaic Period and Old Kingdom". Penfield High School. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
^ Carl Roebuck (1984), The World of Ancient Times, p. 57.
^ Fleming, Nic (14 December 2004). "I have solved riddle of the Sphinx, says Frenchman". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
^ p.5, The Collins Encyclopedia of Military History (4th edition, 1993), Dupuy & Dupuy.
^ Miroslav Verner: Archaeological Remarks on the 4th and 5th Dynasty Chronology, Archiv Orientální, Volume 69: 2001
^ Franziska Grathwol, Christian Roos, Dietmar Zinner, Benjamin Hume, Stéphanie M Porcier, Didier Berthet, Jacques Cuisin, Stefan Merker, Claudio Ottoni, Wim Van Neer (2023), "Adulis and the transshipment of baboons during classical antiquity", eLife, 12, elifsciences, doi:10.7554/eLife.87513, PMC 10597581, PMID 37767965{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Grimal, Nicolas (1994). A History of Ancient Egypt. Wiley-Blackwell (July 19, 1994). p. 76.
^ Grimal, Nicolas (1994). A History of Ancient Egypt. Wiley-Blackwell (July 19, 1994). pp. 76, 79.
^ Verner, Miroslav (2001b). "Old Kingdom: An Overview". In Redford, Donald B. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 585–591. ISBN 978-0-19-510234-5.
^ Shaw, Ian (2003). "New fieldwork at Gebel el-Asr: "Chephren's diorite quarries"". In Hawass, Zahi; Pinch Brock, Lyla (eds.). Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century: Archaeology. Cairo, New York: American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 978-977-424-715-6.
^ Klemm, Rosemarie; Klemm, Dietrich (2013). Gold and gold mining in ancient Egypt and Nubia : geoarchaeology of the ancient gold mining sites in the Egyptian and Sudanese eastern deserts. Natural science in archaeology. Berlin; New-York: Springer. ISBN 978-1-283-93479-4.
^ Verner, Miroslav (2001b). "Old Kingdom: An Overview". In Redford, Donald B. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 588. ISBN 978-0-19-510234-5.
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External links

The Fall of the Egyptian Old Kingdom from BBC History
Middle East on The Matrix: Egypt, The Old Kingdom – Photographs of many of the historic sites dating from the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom of Egypt- Aldokkan

Preceded by Early Dynastic Period	Time Periods of Egypt 2686–2181 BC	Succeeded by First Intermediate Period

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