The Sixth Dynasty (2423-2270 B.C.)

                                                  

The Sixth Dynasty (2423-2270 B.C.)

The kings of the Fifth Dynasty bestowed numerous gifts and endowed lands upon the priests and the local governors. This increased potential of the provincial governors encouraged them to shake off gradually the rule of the kings and, after the reign of Unas, they succeeded in overthrowing the Fifth Dynasty.

Teti  

Egypt's 6th Dynasty marks the decent into the darkness of the First Intermediate Period in Egypt's history. Teti was the first king and the founder of the 6th Dynasty His reign settled some of the accession problems following the death of Unas. His Horus name was Sehetep-tawy, which means, "He who pacifies the Two Lands".

He probably ruled Egypt for twelve years. The Turin King's List gives him less then one year's rule, which most scholars find very unlikely.  Manetho suggests thirty, to thirty-three years, but there is no evidence of his jubilee festival, so this also seems unlikely. 

                     

His wife, Queen Iput I, was probably the daughter of King Unas who was the last king of the 5th Dynasty. The queen was the mother of Teti's heir, King Pepi I. She is buried in her own pyramid near Teti's at Saqqara.  Other wives included Khuit and Weret-Imtes. His daughter Seshseshet was married to the vizier Mereruka, which probably empowered Teti's political stability.

Almost all the major court officials of King Unas remained in power during Teti's reign, including his other vizier, Kagemni. Little is known about Teti's reign, though there is evidence that quarry work was performed on his behalf at Hatnub near Abydos, and that he maintained commercial and diplomatic relations with Byblos. He also may have maintained relations with Punt and Nubia.

We have evidence of his exempting the temple at Abydos from taxes, and he was the first ruler to be particularly associated with the cult of Hathor at Dendera.

Teti granted more lands to Abydos and his name was inscribed in Hatnub. He built his pyramid in Saqqara.  A statue of him made of black and pink granite is exhibited at the Egyptian museum.

 The king was probably murdered by his guards for mysterious reasons, according to Manetho.  However, there is no other evidence of this violent death. , though it might help to explain the possible short rule of a King Userkare, possibly between Teti and his son, Pepi I. Userkare means the "Ka of Ra is powerful", and therefore has a strong relevance to the 5th Dynasty.  Therefore, Userkare may have been a surviving rival of Teti from the 5th Dynasty.

Pepi I  

 

Pepi I was the second ruler of Egypt's 6th Dynasty. He is the most powerful king of this dynasty. Pepi I was his birth name. His throne name was Mery-re, meaning "Beloved of Re". He probably ascended the throne at an early age, and appears to have ruled for 40 - 50 years.

It is possible that Pepi I did not follow his father to the throne.  Kings Lists include the name of King Userkara between that of Teti and Pepi I, and it may be that this king usurped the throne for a short time.

He was probably the son of Teti and his queen, Iput I. The wives of Pepi I were Ankhnesmerire I and II, who were the daughters of an important official or governor at Abydos named Khui. Pepi I made his brother-in-law, we believe a son of Khui named Djau, vizier. A woman named Were-Imtes may have been his first wife but some Egyptologists have suggested that she might not have been his wife at all. It may have been Were-Imtes who plotted a conspiracy against her husband from the harem, but she was found out and punished. This happened in the twenty-first cattle census, or about year 42 of the king's rule. An accomplice in this plot might have been Rewer, a vizier of Pepi I who's name has been erased from his tomb. Others suggest that the conspiracy was not by one of Pepi's queens, but was instead a plot by perhaps the mother of King Userkare.

                                       Ankhnesmerire II holds the infant Pepi II             

 Apparently, Pepi I married Ankhnesmerire I late in his rule, perhaps even after the harem conspiracy, and may have married her younger sister after the first sister's death. His sons, Merenre (by Ankhnesmerire I) and Pepi II (by Ankhnesmerire II) would rule Egypt through the end of the 6th Dynasty.  He also had a daughter by Ankhnesmerire I called Neith, who would later marry her half brother Pepi II. Pepi I may have had a number of other wives, including a Nebuunet (Nebwenet) and Inenek-Inti, who's small pyramids are near his at South Saqqara. Recently, in June 2000, another pyramid that has been discovered by the French team near Pepi I's appears to be that of Ankhnesmerire II.

At least four statues of the king have survived, including the earliest known life size metal statue. This statue came from the temple of Hierakonpolis  in Upper Egypt and is made of copper.  Found with it was also a copper statue of his young son and future king, Merenre. Other statues include a small green statue of the king probably making offerings to gods, and a small alabaster statue of Pepi I holding the royal crossed flail and scepter (crook).

The reign of Pepi I saw the rising influence and wealth of elite and nobles outside the royal court, a condition that perhaps led to the decline into the First Intermediate Period. These nobles built fine tombs for themselves. However, in spite of the partial independence of the local governors, it is evident that he possessed enough authority to hold them well in hand.

The copper statue of King Pepi I and Merenre

(6^th Dynasty) Cairo Museum           

Pepi I initiated a number of trading and other expeditions, often for fine stone to be used in his many building projects.  One inscription found at the alabaster quarries at Hatnub is dated to year 50 of his reign.  It refers to the 25th cattle count, which was a biennial event. He was also active at the Wadi Maghara turquoise and copper quarries in the Sinai, the greywacke and siltstone quarries of Wadi Hammamat, where his first Sed Festival is mentioned.  He also maintained diplomatic and commercial relations with Byblos and Ebla.

The foreign policy of Pepi I was more vigorous than that of any other pharaoh of earlier times. He conquered the Nubians and employed them in his army. He may have also sent expeditions to the mines of Sinai and as far away as Palestine. The expedition into Palestine was led by the leader of his army, Weni and involved landing troops from the sea. His autobiography provides the single inscription documenting the five campaigns led by him under Pepi I to the highland of Palestine, the Land of the Sand Dwellers as the Egyptians called the regions east of Egypt. This marks the northern most advance of the kings of the Old Kingdom.

Pepi I probably did considerable building but little of it remains. Some of his building projects were probably incorporated into later projects, but he did leave behind many inscriptions. Building projects of Pepi I include the remains of a chapel (Ht-ka) at Bubastis, as well as projects at Elephantine and Abydos.  He may have carried out work at Dendara too.  He built his pyramid at South Saqqara and the Pyramid Text inscribed on the pyramid walls were the first to be found by Egyptologists, though not the first recorded in a pyramid. This pyramid was called Mn-nfr, meaning "(Pepi is) established and good" (providing the name for the capital Memphis).

Pepi is further attested to by decrees found at Dahshur (now in Berlin) and Coptos. He was mentioned in biographies of Weni in his tomb at Abydos, Djaw from his tomb at Abydos, Ibi in his tomb at Deir el-Gabrawi, Mery-ankh-ptah-mery-re in his tomb at Giza, Qar in his tomb at Edfu and the biography on a tomb at Saqqara by an unknown person.

Merienrea  

  

Merenre was the third ruler of the 6th Dynasty. As the oldest living son of Pepi I, he succeeded his father at a young age, and probably died unexpectedly young, perhaps between his fifth and ninth year of rule.  He was succeeded by his younger half brother, Pepi II.

 Merenre was the king's throne name, which means "Beloved of Re". His birth name was Nemty-em-sa-f, which means, "Nemty is his Protection". His Horus name was Ankh-khau.

 His mother was Ankhnesmerire I who, along with her younger sister by the same name, married Pepi I in the later part of his rule.  Merenre built his pyramid in Saqqara. He had a daughter named Iput II whose pyramid is also in the south of Saqqqara

The copper statue of Merenre

Weni, who had worked under Pepi I, continued to make expeditions during the reign of Merenre, and the governor of Aswan, Harkhuf, also led expeditions into Africa.  Around, his ninth regnal year, Merenre himself visited Aswan to receive a group of southern chieftains. It is interesting to note that this was a time when new people, who archaeologists refer to as the Nubian C Group, were migrating from the south into northern Nubia because of the growing relationship between Egypt and Nubia during this period. Merenre attempted to improve contact with the first cataract region.  

At the same time the Lower Nubian rulers seem also to have profited greatly by sending their fighting men to Egypt for hire. By the end of the Old Kingdom, the Egyptian armies were mainly composed of Nubian mercenaries.

During the Old Kingdom, Egyptian texts speak of a land in Upper Nubia called "Yam." Besides troops from "Wawat, Irtjet, and Setju" (Lower Nubia), troops from Yam, too, were hired for service in the Egyptian army. The main source to provide information about Yam is a biography of the Aswan governor, Harkhuf, preserved in his tomb at Aswan. Harkhuf tells us that, on behalf of Merenre and Pepi II, he led four expeditions to Yam, each of which took eight months.

                                                          Sphinx of Merenre         

It is believed that during his reign, Merenre not only continued his father's policies in northern (lower) Nubia, but actually sent officials to maintain Egyptian rule as far south as the third cataract. The conquest of Nubia resulted from the control of the caravan routes and the Western Oasis that relied on trade.

Merenre, like his predecessors, maintained diplomatic and commercial relations with Byblos. According to inscriptions and tomb biographies, he had alabaster quarried from Hatnub and greywacke and siltstone from Wadi Hammamat.

A copper statue of Merenre as a young boy was found with a much larger copper statue of his father, Pepi I. These are believed to be the oldest copper statues ever found, but some are now questioning whether the statue of the boy is actually that of Merenre, or rather a young Pepi II. There is also a very small sphinx of Merenre in the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Merenre is further attested to by an ivory box in the form of a Hippopotamus, now in Paris, Louvre Museum. Further archaeological evidence of Merenre's reign include: rock inscriptions near Aswan, inscriptions on an ivory mother monkey that was probably a gift to an official, decrees of the king found at the pyramid temple of Menkawre and in biographies of Uni (Weni) in his tomb at Abydos, Djaw from his tomb also at Abydos, the tomb of Harkhuf at Elephantine, the tomb of Ibi at Deir el-Gabrawi, the Tomb of Qar at Edfu, and an unknown persons tomb at Saqqara..  He is also mentioned in an inscription in the tomb of Maru at Giza (though this inscription is now in Brussels). Recently another inscription has also been found by a Polish team that mentions Merenre on a rock wall at Deir el-Bahari on the West Bank at Luxor.  

Merenre built his pyramid at South Saqqara, though apparently this pyramid was not completed.  The mummy of Merenre found in his pyramid is the oldest known royal mummy. It is now in the Egyptian Museum. In 1997, excavations at Hierakonopolis reveal a large predyanstic cemetery full of older mummies, in this case non-royal.

Pepi II            

   

Pepi II was the last ruler of Egypt's 6th Dynasty, and in fact the last significant ruler of the Old Kingdom.  His reign of possibly 94 (some Egyptologists believe 64) years was the longest in ancient Egyptian history.  He seems to have come to the throne at about the age of six, and would therefore have lived until the age of one hundred.  The latter part of his reign was probably ineffectual perhaps due to his advanced age. 

 The pharaoh's birth name was Pepi, as was his father's.  His throne name was Nefer-ka-re, which means "Beautiful is the Soul of Re" His mother was Ankhnesmerire II, who probably acted as Pepi II's regent during his youth. There is a well known statue of her holding Pepi II as a young boy.

Calcite statue of Ankhnesmerire II holding Pepi II as a young boy

(Brooklyn Museum)

Pepi II continued foreign relations in a very similar manner to both his predecessors of the 5th and 6th Dynasties and even developed new links with southern Africa. He maintained diplomatic and commercial relations with Byblos in ancient Syria/Palestine. However, we also learn of an incident where Pepi II had to send Pepy-nakht (Heqa-ib) to bring back the body of an official who was killed on a mission in the area of Byblos.

He sent several trips and campaigns into Nubia led by Harkhuf (Khu-ef-hor), and his successor, Pepy-nakht. In fact, these powerful local governors managed to control Nubia long after the death of Pepi II form their base in Elephantine. During one of these expeditions Khu-ef-hor brought a dwarf from one of the pigmy tribes of Central Africa to the king. This was mentioned in Harkhuf's funerary autobiography referring to the dwarf as "a pygmy of the god's dances from the land of the horizon-dwellers (Yam)".

Pepi II also continued long established mining activities. According to an inscription, turquoise and copper continued to be mined at Wadi Maghara in Sinai. Alasbaster was quarried at Hatnub and Greywacke and siltsone from Wadi Hammamat.

 A scene depicting the submission of Libyan chiefs during his reign is a close copy of representations in the mortuary temples of Sahura, Niuserra and Pepi I. It is probably more symbolic than stating a real act.

Calcite lid of a vessel.

A temple at Abydos may have been a ka-chapel built by Pepi II. His pyramid and mortuary complex are located in South Saqqara. The inner walls of his pyramid were inscribed with the Pyramid Texts. Most of his wife's smaller pyramids have been discovered nearby.

Ivory headrest inscribed with his full titles

Pepi II is further attested to by a Calcite statuette of the young king and his mother, now in the Brooklyn Museum of Art, a decree of the king found at the mortuary temple of Menkawre, a decree found at Abydos, and three decrees at Koptos. One inscription, now in theEgyptian Museum at Cairo, records his Sed festival. The king was further mentioned in the biography of Djau (now in the Egyptian Museum) from his tomb in Abydos and is mentioned in the tomb of Ibi at Deir el-Gabrawi.

Smaller items attesting to Pepi II include faience plaque from various places mentioning both his first and second Sed festival, a calcite vessels attributed to his reign, an Ivory headrest inscribed with his full titles and several objects found at Byblos.