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But there was rumbling on the borders. Soldiers often had to be sent to Nubia to protect trade routes and to recruit mercenaries (soldiers for hire) for the army and police forces. A major fort was established at Buhen, near the second cataract. Libyan raiders made repeated incursions from the western desert.
The Fifth Dynasty ended in confusion. The first king of the Sixth Dynasty, Teti, settled things down. But the power and influence of the king was severely declining. Local nobles no longer felt it necessary oreven desirable to be buried near the king. They built tombs for themselves and their families in their own districts.
The last known king of the Old Kingdom, Pepy II, took the throne when he was a child. (Pepy II was, in fact, a Sixth Dynasty king, and the Old Kingdom ended in the Eighth Dynasty. However, not much is known about the kings of Dynasties 7 and 8, and Pepy II is the last king from this period to have had much influence over the course of events in the Old Kingdom.) His 94-year reign appears to have been marked by a steady decline in royal power. As the power of central government decreased, the power of local rulers increased. Instability and civil disorder followed Pepy’s death.
A few hundred years of gloriously high culture had been followed by a severe backlash. Many scholars believe the artistic and architectural achievements of the Old Kingdom were never equaled. But the Great Pyramid and similar projects were enormous drains on Egypt’s resources. The royal pretensions that led to such projects got out of hand. When powerful and all-too-independent nobles rebelled against the king’s authority and a series of low Niles brought widespread crop failure and
famine, pyramid-building was the last thing on the king’s mind.
The Fifth Dynasty ended in confusion. The first king of the Sixth Dynasty, Teti, settled things down. But the power and influence of the king was severely declining. Local nobles no longer felt it necessary oreven desirable to be buried near the king. They built tombs for themselves and their families in their own districts.
The last known king of the Old Kingdom, Pepy II, took the throne when he was a child. (Pepy II was, in fact, a Sixth Dynasty king, and the Old Kingdom ended in the Eighth Dynasty. However, not much is known about the kings of Dynasties 7 and 8, and Pepy II is the last king from this period to have had much influence over the course of events in the Old Kingdom.) His 94-year reign appears to have been marked by a steady decline in royal power. As the power of central government decreased, the power of local rulers increased. Instability and civil disorder followed Pepy’s death.
A few hundred years of gloriously high culture had been followed by a severe backlash. Many scholars believe the artistic and architectural achievements of the Old Kingdom were never equaled. But the Great Pyramid and similar projects were enormous drains on Egypt’s resources. The royal pretensions that led to such projects got out of hand. When powerful and all-too-independent nobles rebelled against the king’s authority and a series of low Niles brought widespread crop failure and
famine, pyramid-building was the last thing on the king’s mind.
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