Old Kingdom Kingdoms

The kingdoms of Ancient Egypt have a long and detailed history ranging over thousands of years. This time period consists of the Old Kingdom through the New Kingdom. Between these two kingdoms, there was a lot of change. In the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt flourished. It was a time of peace and prosperity. The pharaohs of the Old Kingdom were powerful and considered to be gods, which kept a very stable government. This was also the time of the first pyramids. However, after about five hundred years, this time of peace came to an end at the start of the First Intermediate Period. Egypt fell into chaos. The massive expense of the pyramids and the drought caused the people of Egypt to lose faith in the pharaoh. The pharaoh’s power drained, and

One of the most influential and important gods in this period was Ra. Ra was the god of light, and was always meant to be worshipped outside under the light of the sun. In Ra’s creation story, Ra is the first being, and he is self-created (The Creation 7). He rises from Nun, which are the Primordial Waters of Chaos (The Creation 7). Ra discovers that he has no place to stand, so the first thing that he calls into being is land for him to stand on, and this becomes the first hill (The Creation 7). He then creates two other cosmic deities. Because he was the only being created at the time, he had no mate, so he created the first pair of gods from his semen (The Creation 7). These two were Shu, air, and Tefnut, moisture. Shu and Tefnut bore Geb and Nut, who then gave birth to the gods Osiris and Set, and the goddesses Isis and Nephthys (The Creation 7). This group of nine gods is called the Ennead, and these last four gods and goddesses bore all of the rest of the gods of Egypt (The Creation 7). Apart from Ra creating gods is the story of how man came to be. After he created Shu and Tefnut, they were left with Nun. However, Ra’s eye, which was the sun, left Ra to follow them and keep watch on their safety (The Creation 7). While his eye was gone, Ra created another eye to take its place. However, once his eye came back, it saw that Ra had replaced it and

One of the most well known pieces of architecture from this kingdom is the Step Pyramid. This was the first building in history to be completely made out of dressed stone (Cole 28). The Step Pyramid at its peak is at a height of two hundred feet (Cole 28). It was constructed by Imhotep for his pharaoh Djoser, and it was Djoser’s final resting place (Cole 28). The Step Pyramid and the temple and mortuary complex around it would provide Djoser’s spirit with a home and food or drink in the afterlife (Cole 28). The Step Pyramid was also constructed to have many traps and moving walls in order to deter thieves from the riches that lay inside the pharaoh’s tomb (Cole 28). The Step Pyramid was the start to all pyramids, such as the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Pyramid (Cole 28). Apart from the Old Kingdom, the next point in time was the First Intermediate