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Compiled by Tony High
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IMPORTANT
NOTE: The subject of Egyptology can best be described as a "fluid"
science rather than an absolute one. New
discoveries are continually altering our perception of the history of Ancient
Egypt along with its chronology. As
such, the chronology of Ancient Egypt is the subject of conjecture and debate.
Throughout this article, the author will use the chronology from the
Oxford History of Ancient Egypt when referring to a particular date or event.
Moreover, one can not talk about the Old Kingdom without firstly giving a
brief synopsis of the Early
Dynastic Period (c.3000-2686 BCE)
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The foundation of the pharaonic state
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Old Kingdom is generally recognised as beginning with the 3rd
Dynasty (c.2686 BCE) and finishing at the end of the 6th
Dynasty (C.2160 BCE) a period of some 526 years.
However, it may be argued that the Old Kingdom came into being with
the unification of the country.
Early scholars believed this founding point in Egyptian history
coincided with the birth of the 1st Dynasty c.3000 BCE, with Menes,
Narmer, Scorpion and Aha.
However,
recent excavations at Abydos have
revealed that there was some fourteen predecessor ‘kings’, which have
now been designated as Dynasty 0.
Perhaps it is these proto-kings, who over the mists of time merged
into the mythological, character Osiris who,
according to early mythology, became the king of the dead and was buried
at Abydos.
The early belief that Narmer
was the founding king was reinforced with the finding of the Narmer
Macehead and the Narmer Palette,
which were thought to graphically represent the unification of the country
through military intervention. The victor, being crowned king over the Two
Lands set up his capital between Buto and Nekhen at Memphis "Mekha
Tawy",
The Balance of the Two Lands, a title that reflected the
continuing unstable political climate. |
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The Narmer Palette is thought to show Narmer over- throwing the armies of Lower Egypt, unifying the two countries. Narmer is shown here wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, and on the obverse side of the palette is shown wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt. |
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As
stated in the introduction, new discoveries have now disproved the
established ideal of unification through military conflict.
Archaeological evidence has shown that the unification was a long
protracted affair, taking up to 100 years or longer to complete, beginning
long before Narmer was crowned king.
Pottery remains show that the more technically advanced communities of
Upper Egypt were trading with Lower Egypt over a number of years,
cementing a cultural and economic unification.
Political
unification undoubtedly followed, with the migration of people from one
community to another to form trading networks. Texts found at Abydos
confirm that the written word was in use some 60 years before the
inauguration of the 1st Dynasty, as evidenced by produce labels found in
tomb
U-j, dating c.3150 BCE. |
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The
first evidence of writing, bone labels found in tomb U-j at Abydos. The
left hand label could be an early representation of Wepwawet (Anubis). The
right hand label may represent an early form of the Seth animal. |
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religious doctrines had already been formulated, mythology or more
correctly cosmologies (describing how
the world and the gods came into being) were already in place. Indeed, the
concept of pharaoh being perceived as the sun god incarnate, in the form
of a semi-divine falcon, whose role it
was to maintain cosmic and earthly order through Ma’at had already been established.
Theology
and religious texts from Ancient Egypt never represented the world without
a pharaoh: the creator brought the universe and royalty into being at the
same time.
Before people existed, spirits ruled the world for 5813 years and
before them, the gods themselves for 13,900 years.
The very first of these was the sun god Re. |
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The goddess
Ma'at. |
A
proclamation issued by Narmer to his people
personified his divine nature. He embarked upon a reclamation project, diverting
the course of the Nile,
a feat akin to the god Ptah (depending on which mythology was current at
the time) causing the primeval mound to rise out of the waters of chaos.
Perhaps
it was this single event that "planted" the concept into the psyche of
the early Egyptians that pharaoh had divine attributes.
This divine power was hereditary, and upon the king's death (when he then
became Osiris) the divine power was passed onto the eldest son (who himself
became the new Horus).
The physical
representation of pharaoh >> |
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