UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

Pharaonic Egypt
Old Kingdom ended almost immediately after his death and then began a
period of anarchy which we call the First Intermediate Period.
The First Intermediate Period
On the death of Pepi II, Egypt disintegrated in an explosion of feudal
disorder. A period of anarchy, social chaos and civil war began. Along
the length of the Nile valley local princelings battled with each other amid
such confusion that Manetho mentioned in his history of Egypt that the
seventh dynasty included seventy kings who reigned for seventy days. This
probably represents an emergency regime set up at Memphis to replace
temporarily the kingship which disappeared with the collapse of the sixth
dynasty. ' 7
Little is known of the seventh dynasty and even when we have a record
of the names of the kings the order of their reigns is disputed. Soon,
however, a new royal house emerged at Heracleopolis (in Middle Egypt)
and some attempt was made to continue the Memphis culture. These
kings of the ninth and tenth dynasties evidently controlled the Delta, which
had become a prey to marauding desert nomads. Upper Egypt, however,
had split up into its old units, each nome under the control of a local
ruler. The subsequent history of Egypt is characterized by the growth of a
Theban power which, in the eleventh dynasty, was destined to gain
control, firstof Upper Egypt and, not very long afterwards, of the whole
country.
The condition of Egypt following the collapse of the Old Kingdom,
which had realized the highest material and intellectual achievements of the
country and had called forth the highest abilities of the individual, is best
described by the sage Ipu-wer. His writings, which seemingly go back
to the First Intermediate Period, 18 have been preserved in a papyrus of the
New Kingdom which is now in the Leiden Museum. This passage indicates
the social revolution which took place in the early part of the First Intermediate
Period and the absence of any sort of centralized authority:
All is ruin. A man smites his brother, [the son] of his mother;
plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere. A few lawless
men have ventured to despoil the land of the Kingship. A foreign
tribe from abroad has come to Egypt. The nomads of the deserts have
become Egyptians everywhere. Elephantine and Thinis [are the
domination] of Upper Egypt, without paying taxes owing to civil
strife ... The plunderer is everywhere ... gates, columns and walls are
17. The First Intermediate Period (abbreviated FIP) still presents a great many
problems. General accounts will be found inj. Spiegel and H. Stock. Very good summaries
of the problems are given in E. Drioton and J. Vandier, pp. 235-7 an d °43 _ 5-
18. The date of the text is controversial. It is tentatively ascribed to the Second
Intermediate Period in J. Van Seters, 1964, pp. 13-23. However, this new date has not
gained acceptance.
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