Vivian Davies and Renée Friedman, Egypt (p. 74), give a lively account of the building problems at the Bent Pyramid. Calculation of construction rates and different theories about the length of Sneferu’s reign are addressed by Rainer Stadelmann, “Beiträge zur Geschichte des Alten Reiches,” and Rolf Krauss, “The Length of Sneferu’s Reign.”
The concentration of political power among a handful of royal relatives during the Fourth Dynasty is discussed by Nigel Strudwick, The Administration of Egypt in the Old Kingdom, and Michel Baud, La famille royale. For the careers of Hemiunu, Perniankhu, and Hetepheres, see Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (nos. 11, 12, and 9, respectively). Hetepheres’s bracelets are beautifully illustrated in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Egyptian Art (pp. 216–217). The best summary of the Great Pyramid’s stellar orientation is Kate Spence, “Are the Pyramids Aligned with the Stars?,” while her two more specialist articles, “Ancient Egyptian Chronology” and “Astronomical Orientation of the Pyramids,” explain and defend her own theory that the Egyptians used two of the circumpolar stars.
The pyramid workforce is discussed in Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, which also presents a summary of the material from Gerget Khufu; for a more detailed discussion of the latter, see Zahi Hawass, “The Workmen’s Community at Giza.” Mark Lehner’s publication “The Pyramid Age Settlement” is the definitive source for the pyramid town at south Giza, usefully supplemented by Nicholas Conard and Mark Lehner, “The 1988/1989 Excavation.” Richard Bussmann, “Siedlungen im Kontext der Pyramiden,” provides a useful synthesis of the evidence to date. For the burials of workers at Giza, see Zahi Hawass, “The Pyramid Builders,” and Vivian Davies and Renée Friedman, Egypt (pp. 85–87). The physical trauma suffered by the pyramid builders, as well as the medical intervention carried out to treat injuries, is discussed by F. Hussein et al., “Similarity of Treatment of Trauma.”
The purpose and symbolism of pyramids has received an enormous amount of attention, and the bibliography is almost endless. A useful starting point is Kate Spence, “What Is a Pyramid For?” but the discussion in the current volume is based upon the author’s own unpublished research.
Ann Macy Roth, “The Meaning of Menial Labour,” explores the culture of servitude among Fourth Dynasty officials. The evidence for far-flung desert expeditions is presented by Rudolph Kuper and Frank Förster, “Khufu’s ‘Mefat’ Expeditions”; Ian Shaw, “Khafra’s Quarries”; and Ian Shaw and Tom Heldal, “Rescue Work in the Khafra Quarries.” New excavations at the pyramid of Djedefra are published by Michel Valloggia, “Radjedef’s Pyramid Complex,” and excavations in the associated necropolis are published by Michel Baud and Nadine Moeller, “A Fourth Dynasty Royal Necropolis.”
For the pyramids of Khafra and Menkaura, see, once again, Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids. Rainer Stadelmann, “The Great Sphinx of Giza,” has argued plausibly, on stylistic and topographical grounds, that the Sphinx was carved by Khufu; other scholars have suggested that it was carved in Khufu’s likeness, but by his eldest son, Djedefra—or even that it was recarved in the Fourth Dynasty from a lion-headed statue that had first been created in the First Dynasty. But Mark Lehner, “The Sphinx,” has made a more convincing case for the generally accepted attribution of the monument to the reign of Khafra, based upon the geological and architectural evidence, and his conclusions have been followed here. For the ivory statuette of Khufu, see, among others, Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (no. 10).
1. Jaromír Málek, “The Old Kingdom,” p. 92.
2. Herodotus, Book II, Chapters 124 and 127.
CHAPTER 5: ETERNITY ASSURED
Userkaf’s sun temple was excavated and published by Herbert Ricke, Das Sonnenheiligtum des Königs Userkaf; the main elements and decoration of this and other Fifth and Sixth dynasty royal monuments are again usefully summarized in Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids.
For the administrative reforms at the beginning of the Fifth Dynasty, and later in the Old Kingdom, see Naguib Kanawati, Governmental Reforms, and Nigel Strudwick, The Administration of Egypt in the Old Kingdom. Christopher Eyre, “Weni’s Career,” offers a closely argued and penetrating analysis of political and administrative developments in the late Old Kingdom, as seen through the lens of one individual’s career. The standard work on so-called ranking titles is Klaus Baer, Rank and Title. Tombs of high officials in the Memphite area are discussed by Jaromír Málek, In the Shadow of the Pyramids, and the most famous examples are illustrated in Alberto Siliotti, Guide to the Pyramids of Egypt. The tomb of Mereruka is comprehensively and beautifully published in the immense two-volume work by Prentice Duell, The Mastaba of Mereruka.
The evidence for disease and deformity in ancient Egypt is presented by John Nunn in his book Ancient Egyptian Medicine and his article “Disease”; by Joyce Filer, Disease; and Eugen Strouhal, “Deformity.” Kent Weeks, “Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health,” provides a useful overview. The tomb of Ankhmahor at Saqqara shows a fowler in the marshes with a scrotal swelling that might be an inguinal hernia or a hydrocele, while the tomb of Mehu shows two men with umbilical hernias. See John Nunn, Ancient Egyptian Medicine, fig. 8.3.
For the lives and careers of Ptahshepses, Unas, Pepiankh of Meir, Mereruka, Weni, Harkhuf, and Pepi II, see Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (nos. 13–15 and 17–20). For the career of Weni and its wider context, see Christopher Eyre, “Weni’s Career”; Eyre argues that the rise of a provincial bureaucracy in the late Fifth and Sixth dynasties signals not the beginnings of local autonomy but quite the reverse, a growing penetration of the state into the affairs of the provinces. For the striking absence of temples dedicated to local gods in the Old Kingdom, see Jaromír Málek, In the Shadow of the Pyramids (p. 109).
The standard edition of the papyri from the mortuary temple of Neferirkara at Abusir is Paule Posener-Kriéger, Les archives du temple funéraire; Barry Kemp, Ancient Egypt (pp. 164–171), also has a useful discussion of some of the documents.
Raymond Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, and James Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, are the best complete translations of these early religious inscriptions. For the disposition of texts within the pyramid of Unas, see James Allen, “Reading a Pyramid,” and for the Cannibal Hymn in particular, see Christopher Eyre, The Cannibal Hymn. The famine scene from the causeway of Unas is illustrated in W. Stevenson Smith, The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt (p. 134, fig. 126).
The existence of an ephemeral king Userkara seems proven by the inscription published by Michel Baud and Vassil Dobrev, “De nouvelles annals.” See also Naguib Kanawati, “New Evidence on the Reign of Userkare?”; Naguib Kanawati et al., Excavations at Saqqara, vol. 1; and the accompanying illustration (plate 6) in vol. 2 of the same series by Ali el-Khouli and Naguib Kanawati.
Evidence for the conspiracies against the life of Pepi I is presented by Naguib Kanawati, “Deux conspirations.” The best discussion of Pepi I’s cult chapels remains Labib Habachi, Tell Basta. The ongoing French excavations at Ayn Asil are summarized by Georges Soukiassian et al., “La ville d’ ‘Ayn Asil.” For the close links between the central government in Memphis and the Dakhla Oasis, see Laure Pantalacci, “De Memphis à Balat”; and for the watch posts surrounding the Dakhla Oasis, see Olaf Kaper and Harco Willems, “Policing the Desert.”
The autobiographical inscriptions of Weni and Harkhuf are translated in Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature (vol. 1, pp. 18–27). Toby Wilkinson, “Egyptian Explorers,” is a convenient source for Harkhuf’s expeditions to Yam.
Numerous authors have discussed the causes for the collapse of the Old Kingdom. For two recent examples, see Renate Müller-Wollermann, Krisenfaktoren, and Ian Shaw, “The End of the Great Pyramid Age.” Various principal factors have been proposed, ranging from adverse climatic conditions to the rise of provincial officials and the progressive alienation of economic resources from the central government. While the last seems unconvincing,
compelling evidence for the effect of low Niles at the end of the Sixth Dynasty is presented by James Harrell and Thomas Bown, “An Old Kingdom Basalt Quarry.”
1. Pyramid Texts, Utterances 273–274.
2. Weni, autobiographical inscription, lines 3–4.
3. Ibid., lines 10–13.
4. Ibid., lines 6–7.
5. Ibid., lines 27–28.
6. Harkhuf, tomb inscription, right of entrance, lines 8–9.
7. Ibid., left of entrance, lines 4–5.
8. Ibid., far right of façade, lines 6–7.
9. Ibid., far right of façade, lines 15–22.
CHAPTER 6: CIVIL WAR
Although there are some good recent summaries of First Intermediate Period history, notably the articles “First Intermediate Period” by Detlef Franke and “The First Intermediate Period” by Stephan Seidlmayer, there is really no substitute for direct engagement with the primary sources, epigraphic and archaeological. Texts from the period are surprisingly abundant, but scattered and fragmentary. Essential anthologies include Jacques Jean Clère and Jacques Vandier, Textes de la Première Période Intermédiaire; Henry Fischer, Inscriptions from the Coptite Nome and Dendera in the Third Millennium B.C.; Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Autobiographies; and, especially, Wolfgang Schenkel, Memphis-Herakleopolis-Theben. Ludwig Morenz, “The First Intermediate Period,” has suggested that the period should be renamed the “Era of the Regions,” to reflect the high degree of political decentralization.
For a reevaluation of the end of the Sixth Dynasty, the identification of Neitiqerty as a male ruler, and the ephemeral kings of the Eighth Dynasty, see Kim Ryholt, “The Late Old Kingdom.” The pyramid of Ibi at Saqqara was published by Gustave Jéquier, La Pyramide d’Aba, and is summarized in Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids (p. 164). Hans Goedicke, Königliche Dokumente (pp. 163–225) and William Hayes, “Royal Decrees,” remain the standard editions of the Gebtu decrees, while Goedicke’s “A Cult Inventory” provides useful background information about the temple cult at Gebtu in the late Eighth Dynasty. If, as Goedicke (“A Cult Inventory,” pp. 74 and 82) has suggested, Gebtu was a garrison town in the late Old Kingdom, its nomarchs may have provided the Eighth Dynasty kings with military as well as moral support.
Little is known for certain about the Herakleopolitan dynasty; the meager evidence is summarized by Jürgen von Beckerath, “Die Dynastie der Herakleopoliten,” while Stephan Seidlmayer, “Zwei Anmerkungen,” helps to refine the chronology of the period. The dynasty’s rise to power by force may be suggested by the late Old Kingdom tombs at Hagarsa, near Akhmim in Middle Egypt, which seem to show evidence of military activity. See Naguib Kanawati, “Akhmim.” For the tomb of “King Khui” at Dara, see Barry Kemp, Ancient Egypt (pp. 338–339) and Stephan Seidlmayer, “The First Intermediate Period” (pp. 132–133). Dissent within the Herakleopolitan realm is discussed by Donald Spanel, “The First Intermediate Period.” For the inscriptions of Merer and Iti and their references to famine, see Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature (vol. 1, pp. 87–89). Famine as a leitmotif in First Intermediate Period autobiographies is discussed by Anrea Gnirs, “Biographies.” The life and times of Ankhtifi have been treated at length by, among others, Donald Spanel, “The Date of Ankhtifi,” and Stephan Seidlmayer, “The First Intermediate Period” (pp. 118–123). The military nature of the conflict between Ankhtifi and his rivals is reflected in the scenes of soldiers, both in the tomb of Ankhtifi himself and in that of his contemporary Setka, from Abu. See Jacques Vandier, Mo‘alla.
For the conference of nomarchs attended by Intef the Great’s representative, see Henry Fischer, Varia Nova (pp. 83–90). As well as Intef the Great, nomarch of Thebes, the overseer of his army was also named Intef. Intef the Great’s three successors were likewise named Intef (designated Intef I, II, and III, since they claimed royal titles); and one of the Thebans’ most loyal lieutenants, who served Intef II, III, and the next king, was another Intef (see John Bennett, “A New Interpretation”). A roll call of the Theban army must have been a confusing exercise! The tradition continued into the reign of Mentuhotep, when the king’s chief of police was also named Intef.
The Nubian mercenaries at Inerty were brought to scholarly attention by Henry Fischer, “The Nubian Mercenaries”; more recently, Sabine Kubisch, “Die Stelen der 1. Zwischenzeit,” has studied the epigraphy, iconography, and chronology of stelae from the same cemetery. For the hugely important discovery of Tjauti’s Western Desert inscription, and a thorough analysis of its significance for the early stages of Theban expansion, see John and Deborah Darnell, Theban Desert Road Survey.
The military achievements of Intef II are best traced in the inscriptions of his loyal lieutenants. The Theban annexation of the three southernmost nomes is described in the inscription of Hetepi of Elkab—see Gawdat Gabra, “Preliminary Report on the Stela of Htpi.” For the inscription of Djemi, which alludes to the distribution of food aid in the conquered areas, see Hans Goedicke, “The Inscription of Dmi”; and for Djari, see Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Autobiographies (pp. 40–42). Accounts from the other side in the civil war are preserved in the tombs at Sauty. See Hellmut Brunner, Die Texte aus den Gräbern der Herakleopolitenzeit von Siut; and Donald Spanel, “Asyut” and “The Herakleopolitan Tombs.” The Herakleopolitan lament over the fate of Abdju appears in the literary work known as The Instruction for Merikara, believed to have been written by King Kheti for his son.
For impoverishment and serfdom in the First Intermediate Period, see Juan Carlos Moreno Garcia, “Acquisition de serfs.” The carefully calculated imagery used by Intef II in his letter to Khety is discussed by John Darnell, “The Message of King Wahankh Antef II.” The letter’s subtext is subtly symbolic. By accusing Khety of having “raised a storm” over the Thinite nome, Intef is equating him with Seth, the storm god and enemy of Horus; the implication is that Intef is the true Horus, and hence the legitimate king. The final stages of Intef II’s campaign are recorded on the stela of the overseer of scouts of Djari, and on the king’s own “dogs stela” inscribed in the last year of his reign. The funerary stela of Intef II and the stela of Tjetji are translated by Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature (vol. 1, pp. 94–96 and 90–93, respectively).
For the final phase in the civil war and the repressive policies of Mentuhotep, see Henry Fischer, “A God and a General” and “The Inscription of In-it.f”; and William Hayes, “Career of the Great Steward Henenu.” Scenes in the tomb of Kheti II at Sauty show soldiers marching in formation, holding their shields in preparation for battle, armed with fighting axes; yet, despite such evidence, Hans Goedicke, “The Unification of Egypt” (especially pp. 163–164), argues that the reunification was the result of peaceful negotiations, not of military conquest. His radical reinterpretation has not found general favor, but it illustrates the often slippery nature of the contemporary sources. Graffiti of the soldier Tjehemau at Abisko record Mentuhotep’s Nubian campaign; see John Darnell, “The Rock Inscriptions,” and “The Route of Eleventh Dynasty Expansion.”
Recent archaeological work in the cemetery at Herakleopolis is summarized by Maria del Carmen Pérez-Die, “The Ancient Necropolis at Ehnasya el-Medina.” The precise date of formal reunification is uncertain, but Mentuhotep had certainly adopted the title of reunifier by his thirty-ninth year on the throne. Mentuhotep’s change of Horus names and the implications of that change are discussed by Sir Alan Gardiner, “The First King Menthotpe”; the king’s deification is covered by Labib Habachi, “King Nebhepetre Menthuhotp,” and Gae Callender, “The Middle Kingdom Renaissance” (pp. 140–141). The trusted follower appointed by Mentuhotep II to be his personal representative in Herakleopolis was named Intef, son of Tjefi. The war grave (at Deir el-Bahri) was excavated and published by Herbert Winlock, The Slain Soldiers. Its alternative dating to the early Twelfth Dynasty, not followed here, is mentioned in Ronald Leprohon, “The Programmatic Use of the Royal Titulary.”
1. Willia
m Hayes, “Royal Decrees,” p. 23.
2. Merer, funerary stela, line 9.
3. Iti, stela, columns 2–3, and 6.
4. Ankhtifi, tomb inscription, section 10.
5. Ibid., section 2.
6. Intef, stela, line 2.
7. Tjauti, false door, right-hand side.
8. Ibid., desert inscription, line 2.
9. Hetepi, funerary stela, line 5.
10. Djemi, funerary stela, columns 3–4.
11. Kheti I, tomb inscription, lines 7–8.
12. Djari, funerary stela, lines 3–4.
13. Intef II, funerary stela, lines 4–5.
14. Tjetji, funerary stela, lines 12–13.
15. Intef, funerary stela from Naga el-Deir, line 4.
16. Henenu, funerary stela, line 3.
CHAPTER 7: PARADISE POSTPONED
The so-called democratization of the afterlife is critically appraised by Stephen Quirke in Werner Forman and Stephen Quirke, Hieroglyphs and the Afterlife, which also includes one of the best discussions of the Coffin Texts. The concept of original sin finds perhaps its earliest expression in the Coffin Texts (Spells 1130 and 1031), where Ra says, “I made every man like his fellow; and I did not command that they do wrong. / It is their hearts that disobey what I have said.” For the assumption of royal attributes, see also Paul John Fransden, “Bwt in the Body.” The Sixth Dynasty funerary texts from the Dakhla Oasis survived only as faint impressions on the plaster coating of Medunefer’s coffin. Whether they were originally painted on the outer walls of the coffin itself, or on a shroud that covered the coffin, is impossible to determine. Either way, the intention seems to have been to place the protective spells around Medunefer’s body.
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