The first fall of the Pharaonic state

Abstract

Pharaonic Egypt blossomed during three periods called Old-, Middle- and New Kingdom. The first of these (ca. 2650-2150 B.C.) was the time when the greatest pyramids, tombs of subsequent pharaohs, were built. This was possible thanks to a perfect organization of the country’s hierarchic administration. With time, systematically growing dynasties of noblemen became so powerful that they could compete with subsequent Kings. This led to political and social conflicts that became particularly dramatic in the times of Old Kingdom’s last (5th and 6th) dynasties. Many symptoms of progressing disintegration of the Egyptian state have been recorded in the tombs of 6th Dynasty noblemen discovered recently by Polish archaeologists in Saqqara, west of the pyramid of Djoser. The article summarizes these discoveries with respect to the country’s political, social and moral decline, which finished with the first collapse of cental power.