01 Egypt: The Old Kingdom

necropolis

A cemetery, especially a large one belonging to an ancient city.

Osiris

The Egyptian god of the underworld, and husband and brother of Isis.

necropolis

A cemetery, especially a large one belonging to an ancient city.

Osiris

The Egyptian god of the underworld, and husband and brother of Isis.

Sneferu

A king of the Fourth Dynasty, who used the greatest mass of stones in building pyramids.

Djoser

An ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Third Dynasty, and the founder of the Old Kingdom.

Old Kingdom

Encompassing the Third to Eighth Dynasties, the name commonly given to the period in the 3rd millennium BCE, when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of complexity and achievement.

nomarchs

Semi-feudal rulers of Ancient Egyptian provinces.

Nomes

Subnational, administrative division of Ancient Egypt.

Ra

The sun god, or the supreme Egyptian deity, worshipped as the creator of all life, and usually portrayed with a falcon’s head bearing a solar disc.

The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built c. 2560 BCE, by Khufu during the Fourth Dynasty. It was built as a tomb for Khufu and constructed over a 20-year period. Modern estimates place construction efforts to require an average workforce of 14,567 people and a peak workforce of 40,000

Great Sphinx of Giza

a limestone statue of a reclining mythical creature with a lion’s body and a human head that stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The face is generally believed to represent the face of King Khafra.

Pyramid of Khafre

The later kings of the Fourth Dynasty were king Menkaura (2532-2504 BCE), who built the smallest pyramid in Giza, Shepseskaf (2504-2498 BCE), and perhaps Djedefptah (2498-2496 BCE). During this period, there were military expeditions into Canaan and Nubia, spreading Egyptian influence along the Nile into modern-day Sudan.

Mentuhotep II

A pharaoh of the Eleventh Dynasty, who defeated the Heracleopolitan Kings and unified Egypt. Often considered the first pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom.

Painted sandstone seated statue of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II, Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

oligarchy

A form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people who are distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, education, corporate, or military control

nomarchs

Ancient Egyptian administration officials responsible for governing the provinces.

First Intermediate Period

A period of political conflict and instability lasting approximately 100 years and spanning the Seventh to Eleventh Dynasties.

Theban kings

believed to have been descendants of Intef or Inyotef, the nomarch of Thebes, often called the “Keeper of the Door of the South.