25a: Nile Divided - The First Intermediate Period (Part 1)

The History of Egypt Podcast

Dominic Perry

History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2014

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

By 2100 BCE, Egypt’s royal house was in trouble. A line of kings, known as the pr-Hty (“House of Khety”) claimed authority over the whole Nile Valley. But archaeological and historical data paint a different picture: of a growing division between communities in the north and south of Egypt. The “Two Lands” were separating, and government was too weak to stop it… Researched and written in 2024. Logo image: A northern official named Ipi. From his tomb at the cemetery of Ihnaysa el-Medina (Photo Perez Die 2016). The History of Egypt Podcast: Website: ⁠www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com⁠. Support the show via Patreon ⁠www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast⁠. Make a one-time donation via ⁠PayPal payments⁠. Music and interludes by Keith Zizza ⁠www.keithzizza.net⁠. Music and interludes by Luke Chaos ⁠www.chaosmusick.com⁠. Select Bibliography Adams, M. D. (2005). Community and Society in Egypt in the First Intermediate Period: An Archaeological Investigation of the Abydos Settlement Site [Unpublished PhD. Thesis]. University of Michigan. Beckerath, J. von. (1962). The Date of the End of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 21, 140--147. https://pharaoh.se/ancient-egypt/kinglist/turin/library/vol-26/ Brovarski, E. (2013). Overseers of Upper Egypt in the Old to Middle Kingdoms. Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und Altertumskunde, 140, 91--111. OEB. https://doi.org/10.1524/zaes.2013.0009 Brovarski, E. (2014). Overseers of Upper Egypt in the Old to Middle Kingdoms. Part 2: Dossiers. Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und Altertumskunde, 141, 24--35. OEB. https://doi.org/10.1515/zaes-2014-0003 Demidchik, A. E. (2013). The History of the Heracleopolitan Kings’ Domain. In H.-W. Fischer-Elfert & R. B. Parkinson (Eds.), Studies on the Middle Kingdom in Memory of Detlef Franke (pp. 93--106). Ejsmond, W. (2019). Some Thoughts on Nubians in Gebelein Region During First Intermediate Period. In M. P. Hlouchová, D. Belohoubková, J. Honzl, & V. Nováková (Eds.), Current Research in Egyptology 2018 (pp. 23--41). Fischer, H. G. (1961). The Nubian Mercenaries of Gebelein During the First Intermediate Period. Kush, 9, 44--80. Fischer, H. G. (1964). Inscriptions from the Coptite Nome: Dynasties VI-XI. Fischer, H. G. (1968). Dendera in the Third Millennium BC Down to the Theban Domination of Upper Egypt. Gee, J. (2015). Did the Old Kingdom Collapse? A New View of the First Intermediate Period. In P. D. Manuelian & T. Schneider (Eds.), Towards A New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom: Perspectives on the Pyramid Age (pp. 60--75). Moeller, N. (2005). The First Intermediate Period: A Time of Famine and Climate Change? Egypt and the Levant, 15, 153--167. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23788258 Moreno García, J. C. (2022). Egypt in the First Intermediate Period. In D. T. Potts, N. Moeller, & K. Radner (Eds.), The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, Volume II: From the End of the Third Millennium BC to the Fall of Babylon (pp. 47--120). Papazian, H. (2015). The State of Egypt in the Eighth Dynasty. In P. D. Manuelian & T. Schneider (Eds.), Towards a New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom: Perspectives on the Pyramid Age (pp. 393--428). https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004301894_011 Pitkin, M. (2023). Egypt in the First Intermediate Period: The History and Chronology of its False Doors and Stelae. Romer, J. (2012). A History of Ancient Egypt Volume I: From the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid. Seidlmayer, S. (2000). The First Intermediate Period (c. 2160—2055 BC). In I. Shaw (Ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (pp. 108--136). Seidlmayer, S. J. (2006). The Relative Chronology of the First Intermediate Period. In E. Hornung, R. Krauss, & D. A. Warburton (Eds.), Ancient Egyptian Chronology (pp. 159--167). Spalinger, A. J. (2024). Ancient Egyptian Warfare (3000 BCE-332 BCE). https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199791279-0261 Wilkinson, T. (2010). The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt: The History of a Civilisation from 3000 BC to Cleopatra. Willems, H. (2010). The First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom. In A. B. Lloyd (Ed.), A Companion to Ancient Egypt (Vol. 1, pp. 81--100). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Around 2100 BCE, the Old Kingdom had disappeared.
0:13.9	Not suddenly, but surely.
0:16.2	Over generations, royal power and resources slowly diminished. The kings left fewer and fewer marks on the historical
0:24.5	record. There were still noteworthy figures, like the Queen King Netokris, or Nith Ikerti,
0:31.7	now a legend of Gothic murder, Kakaraibi, the last of the old pyramid builders, and Imhotep, a curious ruler
0:41.7	with the same name as a famous architect. Sadly, we don't know much about them, but their existence
0:48.7	and the continued operation of royal government suggests that the end of the old kingdom was not a catastrophic
0:55.6	fall, more like a slow decay. Over the course of decades, the royal authority that had centralized
1:03.6	power and dominated most of Egyptian society, slowly faded into obscurity. Then a new king arose.
1:13.8	His origins are unknown.
1:16.1	The date of his rule is unknown.
1:19.1	His personality is tangled.
1:21.8	His name is Keti.
1:24.9	Keti, or he of the divine body, seems to be the founder of a new dynasty.
1:31.6	Historians call this lineage the 9th dynasty, closely followed by the 10th. We'll come back
1:37.9	to that later. Ketti comes from somewhere. The surviving records do not reference his origin, and it's entirely
1:46.6	possible that he was a newcomer to royal power. That is, Keti may have seized the throne,
1:53.4	rather than inherited it. In the 300s BCE, the Egyptian Greek author Manathho described this historical period.
2:02.4	Explaining the reign of Keti, whom he called Akhthawes, Manatho said, quote,
2:08.6	The ninth dynasty consisted of four kings, who reigned for 100 years.
2:14.8	The first of these, King Akthos, behaving more cruelly than all his predecessors,
2:20.3	wrought woes for the people of all Egypt."
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