First Intermediate Period

Decentralisation of Egypt

The prosperity of the Old Kingdom could not last. During the 6th Dynasty royal power declined and authority passed to local governors. By the end of the dynasty power had been decentralised, the Old Kingdom was over and the country had split into separate territories.

For about 140 years two rival states, the Theban State and the Herakleopolitan State, competed and confronted each other, and the rivalry ended in a short period of intermittent wars. The Theban State, led by Mentuhotep Nebhepetre, defeated its rival and reunified the country, beginning the stable and prosperous era known as the Middle Kingdom.

Key rulers and events

• Pepi II of the 6th Dynasty had one of the longest reigns in Egyptian history. Royal power weakened during and after it.
• The 7th and 8th Dynasties still claimed to rule from Memphis, but their power was limited and their reigns were short.
• The Herakleopolitan kings of the 9th and 10th Dynasties, several of them named Khety, ruled from Herakleopolis near modern Beni Suef. The text known as the Instruction for Merikare, advice from a king to his son, is set in their court.
• The Theban rulers named Intef built up a rival state in the south.
• Mentuhotep II of Thebes finally defeated Herakleopolis and reunited the country.

Local governors became powerful in this period, and their tombs and inscriptions in the provinces tell us much of what we know about it. Later Egyptian writers looked back on these years as a time of trouble, and that view shaped how the period was remembered.

Where to see this era today

• Cairo’s national collection: the two famous groups of wooden model soldiers from the tomb of Mesehti at Asyut, dating from around the end of this period, are among its best-known pieces.
• Saqqara: the late Old Kingdom pyramids and decorated tombs, such as the Pyramid of Teti, show the world that came before the break-up.
• Ehnasya El-Medina, Beni Suef: the site of ancient Herakleopolis.
• Deir El-Bahari, Luxor: the temple of Mentuhotep II, which marks the end of the period.