Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom in Egypt was actually the time period of the dynasties one through six (3100-2890 B.C. to 2181-2125 B.C.). In the next few paragraphs, I'm going to be explaining each dynasty thoroughly.

The First Dynasty was from 3100-2890 B.C. But before the first dynasty, Egypt was actually two separate lands. It is told that King Menes was the man who joined these two lands called Upper and Lower Egypt. To keep Egypt under control, there had to be one man that would basically control EVERYTHING. When the King gained enough power, the people called him "Pharaoh." The pharaoh thought of himself to even be part god! CRAZY! Since the pharaoh had so much to do, he had family members and important people help him out wit his tasks. The First Dynasty is also the time where the Egyptians started to use papyrus. This helped them record important things that were happening that that time and write down what we are learning in history today.

The Second Dynasty was from 2890-2686 B.C. At the end of the First Dynasty, there was arguments over who was going to rule Egypt. The feud was never really resolved and toward the end of the dynasty, there seemed to have been more disorder and possibly civil war.

The Third Dynasty was from 2686-2613 B.C. This particular dynasty marks history. This dynasty is the one where the first actual monumental building is built; the Pyramid. But these pyramids were weakly constructed and not as good as those you will see in the fourth dynasty.

The Fourth Dynasty was from 2613 2494 B.C. The pyramids in this dynasty were constructed very good. The Pyramids at Giza were built during the fourth Dynasty and are one of today's most visited sites in Egypt.

The Fifth Dynasty was from 2494 2345 B.C. During this period, many people ruled Egypt. There was around nine rulers that ruled Egypt. When the rulers would die, they were put into tombs. The tombs were inside of the pyramids and these tombs were grand.

The Sixth Dynasty was from 2345-2181 B.C. The sixth dynasty includes records of trading expeditions to the south from the reigns of Pepi I.