The Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt

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Amwag tours

Tour Guide, Cairo, Egypt

29 Jun 2021 | 3 mins read

The History of the Old Kingdom of Egypt

The Old Kingdom of Egypt started in 2650 and lasted until 2150 BC. For more than 400 years, Egypt had a strong central government and economy. The most famous thing about the Ancient Egypt Old Kingdom is the building of the pyramids. Thus, it called the “Age of the Pyramids” or “Age of the Pyramid Builders”.

Here is all information you need to know about the old kingdom.

These public works projects helped foster a sense of national identity among the men and women who lived thousands of miles away from each other.

After the Old Kingdom's power, the Egyptians were a single, united and proud people. Although the nation sometimes splits into strife, it always remained united.

The Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt

The Third Dynasty started with Djoser. During his rule, the great Saqqara Step Pyramid was built with the help of the vizier of Djoser “Imhotep”, who was a great architect and helped a lot in establishing amazing constructions. The pharaoh during that period was being treated as a god, as ancient Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was the one who was responsible for the annual flooding of the Nile.

The Pharaohs of the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt

• Djoser also spelt Zoser, the second king of the 3rd dynasty (c. 2650–c. 2575 BCE).

• Sekhemkhet was an ancient Egyptian king of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom.

• Sanakht (also read as Hor-Sanakht) is the Horus name of an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the Third Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. His chronological position is highly uncertain.

• Khaba was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, active during the 3rd Dynasty of the Old Kingdom period. The exact time during which Khaba ruled is unknown but may have been around 2670 BC.

• Huni was the last Pharaoh of the Egyptian Third dynasty. He was the successor of Khaba and maybe Khaba’s son. Huni established a fortress on the island of Elephantine, and he may be built a pyramid in Meidum.

The Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt

The fourth dynasty of Egypt started with Snefru, who followed Djoser and became the next great pyramid builder. He accomplished three pyramids, including the Medium Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid, and the Red Pyramid.

King Khufu was the pharaoh who succeeded Snefru. This amazing king, who ruled during the 26th century, built one of the Seven Wonders of the World, “The Great Pyramid”, which needed 20 years.

Then, he was followed by Khafre, who built the pyramid of Khafre and the mythical Sphinx.

The son of Khafre from the fourth dynasty, Menkaure came and continued the terrific art of his family by constructing the pyramid of Menkaure.

The Fifth Dynasty of  the Old Kingdom of Egypt 

This era started with Userkaf, who ruled from 2494 till 2487 BC, and during his reign, there has been much growing importance of the cult of the sun god Ra. That is why instead of building pyramids such as the fourth dynasty, they were interested in establishing sun temples in Abusir.

The Sixth Dynasty of  the Old Kingdom of Egypt 

During the rule of the Sixth Dynasty, there was internal disorder, and the country slipped into civil wars mere decades after the end of Pepi II’s reign.

The end of the Old Kingdom came about as the economy of Egypt and the power of the Egyptian kings declined, and the Nile Valley fell into a period of disarray known as the First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC)