Barta, KMT 251, Colapso I.a.

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COLLAPSEHIDDEN INSUCCESS:Rise & Fall of the

Old Kingdomby Miroslav Barta

T

he so-called Old Kingdom (about2700-2200 BC) represents notonly the first centralized territo-

rial state in the history of Africa, but infact in the history of mankind, lastingfor about half a millennium. Yet afterseveral centuries the Old Kingdomseemingly all of sudden vanished. Thisarticle attempts to identify causes thatmay have led to the demise of this onceinvincible state.

The causes for the Old Kingdomscrisis and the eventual demise of its po-

litical and economic structure may befound at its very beginning. The avail-able evidence shows that most of thelate Old Kingdom critical factors weredeeply rooted in the rise of the Thirdand the early Fourth dynasties around2500 BC. The eventual disappearance ofthe Old Kingdom came about as a resultof long-term and predominantly inter-

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nal critical factors in the state organization andin society generally that were hastened by a ma-jor climatic event around 2200 BC.

ACCUMULATING THE POTENTIAL

In about 3000 BC, Narmer, the most powerfulchieftain in the southern part of Egypt, be-came the first ruler on the throne of a unified

Egypt. He and his successors were considereddescendants of the gods, especially of the sungod, Re, by whose commission they governedtheir world. Numerous ruling elite emerged rela-tively quickly, representing the connecting link

between the king and the remainder of the popu-lation. As a consequence of deep social transfor-mation connected with the emergence of thenascent centralized state, the Egyptian societybecame more distinctly stratified.

Especially after 2700 BC, the number ofofficials mastering writing and mathematics, whowere essential for the exchange of information,its archiving and tax collection, grew rapidly.

This enabled the administration of all areas ofancient Egypt, reaching from the Mediterraneancoast up to todays Aswan. In the course of fourcenturies, the count of officials in the land mul-tiplied greatly.

By this time the basic tools of governanceand techniques of power and status display wereestablished. The ruling elite wielded theirstrength with the help of a specifically createdideology, advocating the actual social alignment.

To convey its special rank, the elite mainly uti-lized rare and imported commodities that wereotherwise unavailable and which were acquiredthrough controlled long-distance trade. Anotherimportant role was also gradually played by mon-umental architecture. The system of privilegesthat was granted by the ruler (as every loyaltyalways had and still has its price) distinctly help-ed to hold the whole system in check. Generally

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Tax collection depicted in this raised relief scene from the Tombof Mereruka at Sakkara was essential for raising sufficient fundsto enable the emergence of a highly specialized & complex societysuch as the Old Kingdom. Photo by the Author


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said the system was built in such a way that a priori hinder-

ed any social change and rigidly kept the status quo.

ARCHITECTURAL LANDSCAPE OF POWER AND RANK

Within the framework of monumental architec-

ture, the most important role was played by the

pyramid complexes. These can, in their nature

and main aspects, allegedly be considered the economic tools

that clarified the fundamental elements of the rise and final

fall of the Old Kingdom. In order to finance their construc-

tion, a sophisticated tax-collection system was required. Tax-

es were measured by the height of the yearly Nile flood,

which determined the area of irrigated fields. To keep trackof the dynamic evolution of the state, the troops of trained

administrators were soon to merge into an army.

It took approximately 300 years from the unifica-

tion of Egypt before the Egyptian architect Imhotep would

be able to build the first monumental funerary complex

made purely of stone, which belonged to King Netjerikhet

Djoser. His six-stepped pyramid, which was created in the

course of the Twenty-seventh Century BC, is situated at to-

days Sakkara, approximately forty kilometers south of Cairo.

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The Third Dynasty mortuary complex which thearchitect Imhotep built for his king, NetjerikhetDjoser, included the Step Pyramid, the first all-stone funerary monument, & set the precedent

for the extensive pyramid building which char-

acterized the Old Kingdom. Authors photo


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The pyramid complex of Djoser was made to resemble the

earthly residence of the king, consisting of many rooms andspaces, and equipped with thousands of luxurious objects.

The sovereign was considered a god and after his death his

soul could temporarily dwell in an immortal (e.g., stone)

residence.

Several decades later the greatest ancient Egyptian

pyramid of King Khufu was built. It is estimated that over

10,000 workers partook directly in its building and the same

number worked in the quarries and participated in the logis-

tic background of a construction endeavor that took approx-

imately twenty years.

Now we come to a further aspect of complex soci-

eties the tenability of reciprocity. An ancient Egyptian so-

vereign and the ruling elite could not wield their power if

they had not (to a certain extent) guaranteed the welfare

of their populace. Already in this period the king was re-

sponsible for the governance of the land, for unchanging

order, defense of the state from external attacks and the well-

being of his subjects, all in the framework of the principlethat was named after the ancient Egyptian goddess of order,

justice and harmony, Maat.

One of the examples of his responsibility for their

welfare consisted of the provision of food to a large part of

the population. Officials were given offices and privileges,

while common peasants were given subsistence rations for

taking part in state projects, which included the construc-

tion of the pyramids. About 20,000 adult men (measured by

ancient Egyptian standards) working on the building of the

Pyramid of Khufu had, in most cases, extended families and

children, and also took care of their parents (the idea of re-

tirement homes serving to put aside the unneeded had notyet come to be, and the wider family was taken care of) im-

plies that almost a fourth of the then population of Egypt

could benefit from this particular construction project it

is estimated that Egypt had 1,000,000 inhabitants in that pe-

riod.

DECLINE HIDDEN IN SUCCESS

Of course with the increasing complexity of the state

administration and specialized ministries, the sov-

ereign lost direct control over the development of

state matters and necessarily adopted a rather symbolic role.

This turning point came about with the onset of the Fifth

Dynasty, at around 2500 BC.

Highly positioned officials were gradually able to

promote members of their families to prominent state offic-

es, their sons were named to the offices held by their fathers

and nepotism flourished. The state was by degrees divided

among powerful families who had control of different parts

of the land, and the politics of pressure and interest groups

were ubiquitous. The king, in order to maintain most of his

authority and secure loyalty of his subjects, had to devise

new measures to enable this. One of those was the politics

of marrying some of his daughters to important officials ofnon-royal origin. The evolution of this practice led to the

circumstance when, at the end of the Old Kingdom, Pepy I

had a need to take the daughters of provincial officials for

his wives.

FATHER OF MODERN LOBBYISTS

The uncontrollable growth in the number of state offi-

cials, regionalization as a consequence of interest

groups pressure, economic matters such as uncon-

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Above, The Mastaba of PtahshepsAbusir, dating to the 5th Dynasty Niuserre. Authors photo Ptahshepses (began his career as a royal hairdreadvanced to vizier, the highest posEgypt after the king. At left, the imentrance to his mastaba (Photos Kmt/one of the largest non-royal tombsThird Millenium.


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trollable state expenses, erosion of central state authority, so-

cial disorder, lawlessness and the like are today, just as they

were in ancient Egypt, quite distinctive features of a col-lapse. By the term collapse is meant here the fact that the

state becomes dysfunctional in most of the parameters enu-

merated above.

This conflict is sharpened between the spheres of

influence of the functions of formerly authorized officials

and gray eminences who, although not possessing any offi-

cial function, can decide state matters more than a minister

or a deputy. We know a few such figures from ancient Egypt.

As an example we may mention the vizier (prime minister)

Ptahshepses of Abusir. By coincidence the Czech Institute of

Egyptology initiated excavations at the necropolis of Abusir

with the exploration of his tomb. This official began his ca-reer at the court as a royal hairdresser. Apparently, he helped

King Niuserre to the throne and was subsequently made vi-

zier out of gratitude. Also, the king allowed him to marry

his daughter, Princess Khamerernebty. By degrees Ptahshep-

ses usurped some of the royal privileges this is clearly

manifested in the construction of his mastaba, which be-

came one of the largest non-royal tombs of the Third Millen-

nium. In this way Ptahshepses initiated the tradition of pow-

erful officials of the Old Kingdom building luxurious and

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richly decorated tombs for themselves. He also initiated ne-

potism at the highest levels of state administration, by en-

abling his sons to establish and advance their careers at

court, just as he had done.The Orwellian description of the rather recent rule

of the last Ethiopian emperor, Haille Selassi, who governed

19301974, in the work of Ryszard Kapuciski, sounds very

similar. It is full of unbelievable details of the mechanisms of

Selassis rule. It indicates that a plebian Aklil (without any

function in the state or the palace) had more influence on

the happenings at the court and in the land than most of the

ministers. This was due to the fact that spheres of influence

were not defined by official status and titles, but instead by

the possibility of direct access to the king and his ear. Todays

parallels need no mention at all.

COLLAPSE OF THE STATE AND THE CULTURAL FLORUIT

To return to ancient Egypt, the erosion of central au-

thority was soon linked to a crisis of the ability of

the sovereign and state to ensure enforcement of his

decisions in the regions further from the center of state

power, followed by a crisis of legitimacy. This is not surpris-

ing, in so far as we realize that the influence and power of

the highly positioned families whose members executed

the most prominent functions in the ancient Egyptian

state were in a rapid stage of advancement at the end of

the Old Kingdom during the Twenty-third Century BC. The

individual Egyptian nomes (administratively discrete units)

were basically doing whatever they wanted in the period of

decline and shifted under the authority of several local oli-

garchs.

Naturally, the ancient Egyptian sovereigns attempt-

ed to respond to these tends. The last seven or eight rulers

of the Old Kingdom tried to prevent, through administrativereforms, the increasing influence of the officials governing

the southern part of the land. However, the biggest mistake

in their internal politics was the constant return to modifica-

tions of an already dysfunctional model of central state-con-

trol. Unknowingly, they were making an ever-present and

even today very common mistake in not recognizing that

certain factors had exhausted their effects; and they believed

that crises could be diverted through inveterate improve-

ment and modifications with only short-term effectiveness.

Above, Raised relief in the Tomb of Ptahhotep II at Sakkara reflectsthe lavish food offerings and vast redistribution system which at theend suffocated the Old Kingdom state. Authors photoRight, Officials

such as the scribe Nefer (his statue found in only 2012 at Abusir)were the backbone of the state during the Old Kingdom. Photo: M. Frouz

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The end of the Old Kingdom highprovencial official Harkhuf, who inhis biography recorded in his rock-cut tomb at Aswan (Qubbit el Hawa)made significant mention of his manyablilities, high standing & admirablecharacter. Authors photo


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the king. Subsequently they were able to usurp more and

more power, to introduce the principle of hereditary state of-

fices, to crumble the state administration and greatly con-

tribute to the boom in clientelism.

(3) The structure of state administration: At the be-

ginning of the development of the state, it was vertical and

centralized, while at its end decentralization and regional-

ization occurred, with several self-contained centers existing

simultaneously.(4) Construction of royal pyramid-complexes: Early

on in the existence of the Old Kingdom, it stimulated the or-

ganization of state management and its economic basis; but,

as a consequence, it led to a gradual growth in state admin-

istration, a huge increase in mandatory expenses and crucial

multiplication in the number of officials of all grades.

(5) The running of the royal pyramid complexes:

At first it functioned to strengthen royal power, state ideol-

ogy and the development of technologies; eventually it led

to a disproportionate encumbrance of the economy, im-

peaching royal authority and a build-up of regional elites.

(6) Economic system: In the beginning we have anefficient system of collection, distribution and redistribution

of the taxes which, finally evolved into disintegration and

regionalization; a disintegration of effectively functioning

central elements came to pass, together with the inability to

share economic potential with the class of subjects as it was

before.

After a closer examination of the above-mentioned

factors, it is not complicated to identify most of

them even today. If we explore how people perceiv-

ed collapses (in the quality of life, social security, mobility,nutrition, level of crafts, fuzzy ideology, lawlessness and

general insecurity) in the past, we will find that, as a matter

of fact, it does not differ, except in its phraseology, from how

collapses have been described in all later civilizations. We

may quote an extract from a text almost 4,000 years old. It is

known among scholars as The Admonitions of Ipuwer(or The

Lamentations of Ipuwer; see Gardiner, 1909) and describes

the situation that came to pass after the dissolution of the

Old Kingdom around the year 2200 BC. The disintegration

of the central government and administration had transpired

and manifested itself in lawless times, the delivery of sup-

plies had collapsed, the climate had deteriorated, there was acommon deficiency in food products and the state had bro-

ken into several independent regions, where power was

usurped by the most powerful:

Indeed, the private council-chamber, its writings are taken

away Indeed, public offices are opened and their inventories

are taken away; the serf has become an owner of serfs. Indeed,

[scribes] are killed and their writings are taken away. Woe is

me because of the misery of this time! Indeed, the writings of

the scribes of the cadaster are destroyed, and the corn of Egypt

is common property. Indeed, the laws of the council chamber are

thrown out; indeed, men walk on them in public places, and

poor men break them up in the streets Behold, the land has

knotted itself up with confederacies, and the coward takes the

brave man's property Behold, the possessors of tombs are

ejected on to the high ground, while he who could not make a

coffin for himself is now [the possessor] of a treasury Be-

hold, no craftsmen work, for the enemies of the land have im-

poverished its craftsmen [Behold, he who once recorded]

the harvest now knows nothing about it, while he who never

ploughed [for himself] takes place but is not reported. The

scribe [sits in his office], but his hands [are idle] in it Au-

thority, knowledge, and truth are with you, yet confusion is

what you set throughout the land

In this text, we may find a pure extract of how the

ancient Egyptians imagined a collapse. Namely, as a total

failure of the top administrative structures, unexpected and

sudden changes in social hierarchy, the loss of education,

poor availability of information, knowledge and ability incraftsmanship, the slowing down or prevention of the trans-

fer of information; in other words, chaos.

MIDDLE KINGDOM RESTART

However, already at this time a new order began to

arise that would, in its foundation, use the chief

trends of this period. The collapse after 2200 BC

had positive features, as well. We can observe (re-)emer-

gence of many local centers of craftsmen production and po-

litical power. In 200 years the Egyptian so-called Middle

Kingdom would sprout from these roots and would adapt itsstructure to new social developments.

The sovereigns of the Middle Kingdom would call

themselves shepherds. They would heed the position of

the middle rank of officials at the court and in the provinces

(thus respecting the previous development), and they would

permit the middle class access to the official religion. The

rulers themselves would start to be represented in front of

the gods on their knees, in positions of adoration, which

was a tradition that had already formed in the period of the

declining Old Kingdom. Statues of the kings would show

them with individualized features, as care-worn leaders who

looked after their people, maintaining order and justice inthe land. However, even these shepherds would fail in the

end. One cannot trust shepherds, just as one cannot trust

despots.

About the Author Dr. Miroslav Barta is a professor at the

Czech Institute of Egyptology, Charles University, Prague,

Czech Republic. Since 1991 he has been director of the

Abusir South Project, excavating in the Old Kingdom ceme-

teries there. He is also the author of several monographs.

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