Old Kingdom Kemet
Welcome to The Nile Valley Level 2, Lesson 3: Old Kingdom Kemet
In this lesson, you will learn about:
The founding of Kemet
The major pharaohs in Kemetic history
The most famous monuments built during this period
Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you will understand:
How Kemet was founded
Who was the first pharaoh of Kemet
Which pharaohs commissioned the building of the Great Pyramids and Sphinx
How Kemet’s economy functioned during this time
What caused the Old Kingdom period to end
Kemet was founded in 5660 BC.
It was entirely dependent on the River Nile. The Nile flows from Lake Victoria in modern-day Uganda into Sudan and through Egypt, then divides and fans out into the Mediterranean. The dividing portion of the river is called the Delta, and is filled with swamplands.
The Kemetic year was 12 months, with each month lasting 30 days. Five festival days were added at the end of the year to complete the 365-day cycle. The structure of their calendar was based on the sun and is the basis for the calendar used in the West today.
Prior to 5660 BC, Kemet was divided into Upper and Lower portions. Lower Kemet was the northern part of modern-day Egypt and Upper Kemet was the southern part of modern-day Egypt. Each portion had its own capital. The ruler of Upper Kemet wore a white crown and the ruler of Lower Kemet wore a red crown.
The earliest pharaoh and the man who unified Kemet was Mena, also referred to as Narmer. He ruled from the Upper Kemetic city of Thinis and reigned for 62 years. The “Narmer Palette” shows the unification of Kemet, with Mena wearing the white crown of Upper Kemet on one side, and the red crown of Lower Kemet on the other side. From this date, pharaohs wore the Red-White crown, also known as the “Double Crown.”
The city of Abydos was important and the kings of the first two dynasties were buried there. One of the tombs has 12 rooms with doors and windows resembling a palace, and an ivory sceptre that demonstrates that the incumbent was a king.
Out of the unification emerged a new capital - the city of Memphis. A huge palace for the royal family was built. White walls surrounded the royal palace, and it was also known as “The Balance of the Two Lands”.
Pharaoh Mena founded the First Dynasty of Kemet. In 5598 BC, Pharaoh Hor-Aha succeeded him. Hor-Aha built a castle and tomb at Memphis made of sun-dried bricks with five underground rooms carved out of rock. He also had a statue carved of the goddess Neith.
The next ruler was Pharaoh Djer. Djer was prolific in science, writing books on anatomy and medicine himself, and scientific advances were made during this period. Pharaoh Mer-Neith was his successor, and the first known woman in history to run a country in her own right.
4 more rulers followed, but political turmoil led to the founding of the Second Dynasty. 12 rulers were thought to have ruled from 5386 to 5046 BC. Like those of the First Dynasty, these pharaohs were from the city of Thinis.
Agriculture was the key economic activity at this time and taxes were paid to the government. Grain was collected and stored in warehouses, and the surplus was used to pay for royal building and relief activities. Food was also sold across Africa and the Middle East.
With the Third Dynasty, which lasted from 5046-4872 BC, there was a change in administration as the Prime Minister came to lead the political structure. Pharaoh Djoser was the most famous leader of this dynasty. At the city of Saqqara, Djoser commissioned for the building of a massive complex. Imhotep, his Prime Minister, designed the building, and is the first known polymath in history. The complex contained Egypt’s first pyramid, known as the Step Pyramid.
Houses at this time were typically one or two storeys with front courtyards. One-storey houses had three rooms, and two-storey houses had six with an outside staircase. The roofs were flat, domed or barrel-vaulted, and wood was used for columns, ceiling beams and stair supports. The walls were made from mud-brick, and the window and door-frames were made of stone.
The Fourth Dynasty was founded in 4872 BC by Pharaoh Sneferu. In 4824 Khufu succeeded Sneferu and built the first Great Pyramid of Giza. The first Great Pyramid has more than 2.3 million individual stone blocks, with an average weight of over two tons! Each of the blocks was cut to an accuracy of 0.01 inches and some were moved hundreds of miles from the southern part of the kingdom.
During this pyramid age, Egypt was primarily an urban civilisation. Cities, towns and ports were dotted along the Nile, which was an “urban strip” - a highway with huge populations of people all the way down.
Pharaoh Khafra built the second Great Pyramid of Giza as well as a granite temple. He is also credited with building the Great Sphinx of Giza. However, there is some controversy with regards to the Sphinx. Analysis has been done on the face of the Sphinx and conclusions have been drawn that suggest Khafra is not the pharaoh depicted. Other geophysical studies have suggested that the Sphinx is thousands of years older than initially thought.
Menkaura inherited the throne from Khafra around 4678 BC, building the third Great Pyramid of Giza. Two more pharaohs followed Menkaura as the Fourth Dynasty drew to a close.
The Fifth Dynasty lasted from 4599-4402 BC and had its origins in the city of Elephantine. The pharaohs built important pyramids in the city of Abusir in South Giza. Pharaoh Userkaf founded the Fifth Dynasty and ruled for 28 years, making international contacts. His successor, Sahura, sent the first fully documented expeditions to Punt, the name for Ancient Somalia and Ethiopia. Trading with Syria, Kemet imported Syrian bears for their Royal Zoo.
Pharaoh Teti founded the Sixth Dynasty and during the time governors in other parts of the kingdom became more powerful and significantly undermined royal authority. A later ruler, Pharaoh Pepi II conquered lands to the south including Punt. However, political turmoil ensued and the Sixth Dynasty fell. This marked the end of the Old Kingdom Period and the beginning of the First Intermediate Period.
