The 5th Dynasty ended with Unas, and the 6th Dynasty (c. 2345–2181 BC) began with Teti. Kings still built pyramids at Saqqara, and Egypt still sent expeditions to Nubia, Sinai and Byblos. But power was spreading out. Officials in the provinces grew richer and more independent, and some told the story of their careers in their tombs.
Key idea
Two careers
- Weni served Teti, Pepi I and Merenre. His autobiography, from his tomb chapel at Abydos, tells how he rose from a minor post to governor of Upper Egypt, led an army against "sand-dwellers" to the northeast, judged a case in the royal household, and fetched stone from distant quarries.
- Harkhuf, governor of Elephantine at the southern border, led four trading expeditions into Nubia, to a land called Yam, returning with incense, ebony and ivory. On his tomb at Aswan he copied a letter from the young king Pepi II, delighted that Harkhuf was bringing back a dancer, and telling him to guard him well.
Why it works
Using an autobiography
These texts are wonderful sources, and they have an agenda: to present a perfect servant of the king, worthy of an afterlife. They tell what an official was proud of and how service was valued. They rarely mention failure. Read them as any other source: who wrote this, for whom, and why?
Worked example: Reading a tomb
- Where an official chose to be buried shows where his life and loyalties lay.
- Earlier, great officials were buried near the king, whose favor gave them their place.
- Burial at home suggests their power now rested in their own province.
Answer: Power was shifting from the court to the provinces.
Pepi II came to the throne as a child and is said to have reigned a very long time (Manetho says 94 years; many scholars think about 60 or a little more). His long reign leads into the end of the Old Kingdom.
Common mistake