INTRODUCTION

With the successful consolidation of state control in the first two dynasties (and most likely an increasingly effective bureaucracy), the stage was set for the impressive royal projects of the 3rd and 4th dynasties. Egypt’s first pyramids represent state control over resources, both material and human, on a new and much larger scale than previously. The state was ruled by a king, whose earthly power and ideological role were symbolized by the stone pyramid, first as a stepped structure and later as a smooth-sided form. The Great Pyramid at Giza, the most impressive of these monuments, was the largest building in the ancient world.

While most of the highest officials of the state were related to the king in the 4th Dynasty, the number of non-royal bureaucrats increased in the following dynasty. Officials built elaborate tombs near the capital and a new type of royal center also appeared in the Memphis region: the sun temple. At the same time royal pyramids were becoming increasingly smaller and less well constructed.

In the late Old Kingdom, during the 6th Dynasty, the power of provincial leaders increased and the crown income declined. The Old Kingdom ended with the death of Pepy II, who possibly had a very long reign, followed by what is called the First Intermediate Period. Little is known about the short period of the 7th and 8th Dynasties, after which centralized control of the country broke down. During the 9th and 10th Dynasties a (local) dynasty which controlled parts of northern Egypt arose at Herakleopolis.

An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Second Edition. Kathryn A. Bard. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.