1. Egypt’s Old Kingdom and First
Intermediate Period:
The Age of the Pyramids
Caroline Fleischauer, Rebecca
Jakubson, Casey Rolfe, Max
Taylor-Milner

2. Time Period: Old Kingdom
Around 2650-2134 BCE
3rd Dynasty to 6th Dynasty
King Djoser built first pyramid, step
pyramid
All pyramids built
Internal security and prosperity

3. Time Period: First
Intermediate Period
2181-2055 BCE
“dark period”
7th dynasty to 11th dynasty
Two competing power bases: Thebes
in Upper Egypt and Heracleopolis in
Lower Egypt
Pillaging and violation of temples and
artwork

4. The fall of the old kingdom
Many scholars attribute the fall of the old
kingdom to Pepi II’s long reign (over 90
years), though recent discoveries show
that in fact it was due to global cooling.

5. Global cooling (opposite of global warming)
lowered water levels and resulted in lower
annual flooding from the Nile
Since the Egyptians relied on the annual floods
to fertilize their fields this meant a famine.

6. This famine lasted decades throughout
which people ate their own children and
violated the noble’s graves in search of
food.

7. Pepi II’s son
Merenre Nemtyemsaf II (Pepi II’s son)
ruled just over a year before being
assassinated during this period of civil
disorder, which was so great that the
people questioned whether the pharos
where truly loved by the gods.

8. Greek myth?
Though there is no proof Merenre
Nemtyemsaf II’s sister, after seeing her
brother killed, invited the bandits to a
feast in the basement of the palace. She
than used a hidden passageway to the
Nile to flood the chamber killing the
bandits.

9. Than fearing their comrade's vengeance
she cast herself into a room of embers.

10. Relationships to Surrounding
Peoples
Traded with Canaan (Israel and Sinai); stone
and clay vessels found at both sites
Egyptians most likely inhabited Canaan, as
90% of ceramics found Egyptian
Distinctive metal ax found in Egyptian tombs
Traded with Nubians
Vases bearing hieroglyphics found at Byblos
Internal conflict; Upper vs. Lower Egypt

11. Architecture in Ancient Egypt
First developed around 4000 B.C.
Mastabas (long, low stone tombs) were the ancestors to pyramids
Pyramids began in the 3rd Dynasty with the Step Pyramid of
Djoser
The Bent Pyramid attempted to make a true pyramid with smooth
sides but the angle was too steep and the architects were forced to
finish building at a smaller angle
The Red Pyramid was the first true pyramid with casing and
uniform sides
The Pyramids of Giza are the largest, most recognized pyramids
in Egypt and are protected by the Sphinx a statue of a deity with
the head of a pharoh and the body of a lion

12. Bent Pyramid
Step Pyramid
Red Pyramid
Pyramids of Giza

13. Art in Ancient Egypt
Great use of symbolism to convey meaning
People shown often had combined human/animal characteristics
The technique of frontalism (always showing a subject from the
front) was used in paintings and most scenes showed military or
religious events or daily life of the Egyptians
Pottery was widely made for both every day and religious
purposes
Statues were often included in temples and tombs as symbols of
divinity
Obelisks were built in pairs to the Sun God Ra as symbols of
protection
Jewelry was made from a variety of materials from clay to gold
and was thought as a form of protection
Elaborate masks were made to protect mummies

14. Painting of Egyptian Egyptian
Farming Pottery
Egypt Funerary Mask

15. The Economy In Ancient Egypt
There was a planned economy ruled by administrators who organized
the economy.
The administration was represented on the state and local levels.
Some of their jobs were to manage resources, ensure the flow of
supplies and materials, collecting taxes (in the form of produce and
crops), stored and redistributed crops from farmers, and the
administration of public works (aka coordination the construction of
the pyramids)
The domestic and trading markets consisted of surplus crops after
taxation

16. Sources of Wealth in Ancient Egypt
The sources of wealth during this time period were:
Agriculture:accounts for most of the wealth in Egypt. Consists of
raising grain, vegetables, fruit, cattle, pigs, etc
-the fertile soil from the Nile flooding made for good agriculture
Manufacturing: on a small scale
Successful occupations of other countries
Importation of wood: because it was a scarce commodity in
Egypt, therefore they trades with Byblos for wood
Trading: slaves, luxury goods and gems, animals and animal
products, produce, and many other items

17. Trade Relations in Ancient Egypt
Most trading was in the hands of
merchants that worked for the pharaoh
During the 4th Dynasty the Egyptians
established a military and merchant
holding in Nubia. They were interested in
Nubia because of its gold mines and its
overland routes to Kush and Punt
They traded with Canaan and Syria
because they were such important
crossroads for Egyptian royal trade for
items like Serekh signs, etc
They also had minimal contact with
Mesopotamia
The Egyptians usually had better trading
deals since they exerted substantial
influence in their area

18. Early Religion
At the beginning of the Old Kingdom, there
was no nationally unified cosmology
Each king to come into power brought with
him the patron god of his city of origin
Efforts on the part of the priesthood resulted
in the development of two religious systems,
one in the North of the Nile delta,the other in
the South.

19. Divided Religious Viewpoints
in the Old Kingdom
Memphis: the Cult Heliopolis: the Cult
of Ptah of Re-Amun
Memphis was a city Heliopolis was
in the South delta located in the North
Center of the of the Nile delta
creator God Ptah center of worship
for the sun-god,Re-
Amun

21. Memphis and Ptah
Ptah was the
deification of the
primeval mound,
which was the
creation of the
world
He “dreamt creation
in his heart”
Held symbols of
life, power, and
stability

22. Creation in the Ptah Theology
Ptah created universe with heart and
tongue
Ancient Egyptians saw the heart as the
center of thought instead of the brain
By creating the world through the
naming of things, Ptah represented a
synthesis of the mental and physical
world

24. Heliopolis and Re-Atum
Heliopolis and
Memphis differed
over origin of
creation, and which
god created whom
Heliopolis
maintained that
Ptah was created
by Re-Atum, not he
other way around

25. The Creation Myth of Re-Atum
Atum created himself from the primeval
chaos, the built a pyramid-shaped mound,
called the Benben, to stand on
While standing on this, he separated the
universe into dark and light, order an chaos
Because the Benben was the first place the
rays of the sun touched, Atum was regarded
as a sun god

26. scources
http://www.nemo.
nu/ibisportal/0egyptintro/4egypt/index.htm
http://www.bbc.co.
uk/history/ancient/egyptians/apocalypse_
egypt_01.shtml

27. Works Cited
http://www.wsu.edu~dee/EGYPT/OLD.HTM
http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/Africa/OldKingdom.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=old+kingdm+egypt&hl
http://hompage.powerup.com.au/~ancient/chron.htm
http://www.jstor.org/pss/504869
http://www.jstor.org/pss/3853519
http://www.jstor.org/pss/3596235
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/syria_0039-
7946_1966_num_43_3_5872
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/workrelations.htm
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/index.html
http://www.philae.nu/akhet/history2.html