( )

THE FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD

This month NETFISHING continues its look at the history of Egypt by seeing what the World Wide Web has to say about the beginnings of the First Intermediate Period.

The First Intermediate Period (c.2181-1991 BC) is the period of history which stretches between the end of the Old Kingdom and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. As such it is often overlooked in the books which tend to concentrate on the more colourful periods of Egyptian history. The reasons for the end of the Old Kingdom are diverse but undoubtedly the long reign of king Pepi II, the numerous exemptions from taxation granted to temple lands, the failure of the Nile, and the growing independence of the nobility were all contributing factors to the eventual economic collapse of Egypt’s earliest period of civilization. Refer:

www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/apocalypse_egypt_01.shtml

www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-25-1-what-caused-egypt-old-kingdom-to-collapse

www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/the_end_of_the_old_kingdom.htm

www.gizapyramids.org/pdf_library/hassan_fs_oconnor.pdf

www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/oldkingdomdates.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151224-egypt-climate-change-old-kingdom-archaeology/

https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/drought-caused-collapse-of-egypts-old.html#dkVCmAdmPA5GGrHD.97

General outlines of the First Intermediates Period can be found at a number of web-sites, such as:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Intermediate_Period_of_Egypt

www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/firstintermed.html

www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/first-intermediate-dark-age.html

www.thebanmappingproject.com/resources/timeline_3.html

www.touregypt.net/hfirstin.htm

www.ancient-egypt.org/history/1st-intermediate-period/index.html

After the death of king Pepi II we quickly enter the Seventh Dynasty in which the kings continued to rule from Memphis but appear to have  controlled little outside this area. The historian Manetho mentions “70 kings who ruled for 70 days” which, while not accurate, surely refers to the large number of short reigns during this Dynasty. One of these kings, a ruler called Ibi, did however, manage to build a small pyramid at Saqqara and details of this pyramid can be found at:

www.touregypt.net/featurestories/fipp.htm

The Eighth Dynasty was again centred in Memphis, and it is thought that this line of kings may well have had a link back to the ‘old’ royal line of the Old Kingdom. These kings ruled for about twenty years, but appear to have lost control over much of the Delta area as Asiatics moved in from the East taking advantage of Egypt’s weakness.

Egypt, at this time, still appears fragmented and whilst the Ninth Dynasty ruled over much of Middle Egypt, separate rulers tried to establish control further South. The most famous of these local warlords was the Nomarch Ankhtifi who ruled from Hierakonpolis and then conquered the Nome of Edfu, bringing him into conflict with rulers of Thebes (modern day Luxor). A power struggle appears to have commenced with Ankhtifi playing a major role in support of the Northern kingdom (the Ninth Dynasty) who launched attacks against Theban territory.

Ankhtifi’s well-decorated tomb at Mo’alla survives and his bombastic inscription

“I was the beginning and the end of mankind ... nobody like me was ever born nor will he be born.

I surpassed the feats of the ancestors, and coming generations will not be able to equal me in any of my feats within this million of years.”

provides a great deal of information about conditions during this period. Refer:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankhtifi and www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/ankhtifi.htm

General information about the tomb can be found at

https://egyptsites.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/el-moalla/

and photographs can be viewed at:

www.osirisnet.net/tombes/moalla/ankhtifi/e_ankhtifi_01.htm

The Tenth Dynasty, whose ruling family was called Akhtoy, was again based at Herakleopolis and they continued the struggle with Thebes for supremacy over all of Egypt. Unfortunately, for them, the ruling family at Thebes was by now a breed of strong warrior princes called Inyotef (or Intef) who formed the Eleventh Dynasty. Refer:

www.ancient-egypt.org/history/middle-kingdom/11th-dynasty/index.html

The struggle for control of Egypt between the Akhtoy princes of Herakleopolis and the Inyotef princes of Thebes will be discussed in the next issue.

Victor Blunden

Back to Ancient Egypt Magazine - Volume 17 Issue 1  contents

( )