Sixth dynasty of Egypt

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Sixth dynasty of Egypt

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt

History of Egypt

The history of Egypt is the longest continuous history, as a unified state, of any country in the world. The Nile valley forms a natural geographic and economic unit, bounded to the east and west by deserts, to the north by the sea and to the south by the Cataracts of the Nile....
are often combined under the title "Old Kingdom

Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
".

n rulers of the Sixth Dynasty are as follows (the absolute dates given are suggestions rather than facts, as the error margin amounts to tens of years):

The Sixth Dynasty of Egypt is considered by many authorities as the last dynasty of the Old Kingdom

Old Kingdom

History of Ancient Egypt

The History of ancient Egypt spans the period from the early Predynastic Egypt settlements of the northern Nile Valley to the History of Roman Egypt in 30 BC....
, although The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt includes the Seventh and Eighth Dynasties as part of the Old Kingdom.

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Encyclopedia

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt

History of Egypt

Old Kingdom

Rulers

Known rulers of the Sixth Dynasty are as follows (the absolute dates given are suggestions rather than facts, as the error margin amounts to tens of years):

**Sixth Dynasty**
Name	Comments	Dates
Teti Teti Teti was the first Pharaoh of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt. He is also less commonly known as Othoes. He reigned from around 2345 to 2333 BC and is buried at Saqqara, however the exact length of his reign has been destroyed on the Turin King List, but is believed to have been about twenty years....	-	2345 BC – 2333 BC
Userkare Userkare Userkare was the second king of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt. He is generally seen as one of the leaders who opposed his predecessor, Teti's royal line and was most likely an usurper to the throne....	-	2333 BC – 2332 BC
Pepi I Meryre Pepi I Meryre Pepi I Meryre was the third king of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt. His first throne name was Neferdjahor which the king later altered to Meryre meaning "beloved of R?."...	-	2332 BC – 2283 BC
Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Merenre Nemtyemsaf I was the fourth king of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt. His nomen, theophorically referring to Nemty, was formerly read as Antyemsaf, a reading now known to be incorrect....	-	2283 BC – 2278 BC
Pepi II Neferkare Pepi II Neferkare Pepi II was a pharaoh of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt in Egypt's Old Kingdom. His throne name, Neferkare , means "Beautiful is the Egyptian soul of Ra"....	-	2278 BC – 2184 BC
Merenre Nemtyemsaf II Merenre Nemtyemsaf II Merenre Nemtyemsaef II was briefly Pharaoh, likely succeeding his long-lived father Pepi II Neferkare. The Turin King List says that Merenre reigned for only a year, after succeeding his father Pepi II Neferkare....	-	2184 BC
Nitiqret? or Neitiqerty Siptah Neitiqerty Siptah The Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Neitiqerty Siptah is an obscure successor to Merenre Nemtyemsaf II, towards the end of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt....	-	2184 BC – 2183 BC

The Sixth Dynasty of Egypt is considered by many authorities as the last dynasty of the Old Kingdom

Old Kingdom

History of Ancient Egypt

Manetho

Manetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic dynasty, ca. 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca ....
writes that these kings ruled from Memphis

Memphis, Egypt

Memphis was the ancient capital of the first Nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 2200 BC and later for shorter periods during the New Kingdom, and an administrative centre throughout ancient history....
, since their pyramids are placed at Saqqara

Saqqara

Saqqara or Sakkara, Saqqarah is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis, Egypt....
, very close one to another.

Teti

The Sixth Dynasty was founded by Teti

Teti

Teti was the first Pharaoh of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt. He is also less commonly known as Othoes. He reigned from around 2345 to 2333 BC and is buried at Saqqara, however the exact length of his reign has been destroyed on the Turin King List, but is believed to have been about twenty years....
, who had married Iput, commonly believed to be the daughter of King Unas

Unas

Unas was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, and the last ruler of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt from the Old Kingdom. His reign has been dated as falling between 2375 BC and 2345 BC....
of the Fifth Dynasty

Fifth dynasty of Egypt

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Old Kingdom....
. Manetho claimed that Teti had been murdered by his bodyguard, but no contemporary sources confirm this.

Pepi I

During this dynasty, expeditions were sent to Wadi Maghara in the Sinai

Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt. It lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, forming a land bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia....
to mine for turquoise

Turquoise

Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrate phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula copperaluminium648?4water....
and copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
, as well as to the mines at Hatnub

Hatnub

Hatnub is/are Egyptian alabaster quarries and associated seasonally occupied workers' settlement in the Eastern Desert, about 65km southeast of modern el-Minya....
and Wadi Hammamat

Wadi Hammamat

is a wadi in Egypt's Eastern Desert, about halfway between Qusier and Qena. It was a major mining region and trade route east from the Nile Valley in ancient times, and three thousand years of rock carvings and graffiti make it a major scientific and tourist site today....
. Pharaoh

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt, only during the New Kingdom, specifically, during the middle of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt....
Djedkara sent trade expeditions south to Punt

Land of Punt

The Land of Punt, also called Pwenet, or Pwene by the ancient Egyptians, at times synonymous with Ta netjer, the "land of the god", was a fabled site in the Horn of Africa and was known for producing and exporting gold, aromatic resins, African Blackwood, ebony, ivory, slaves and wild animals....
and north to Byblos

Byblos

Byblos is the Greek language name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic language name of Jbeil and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades....
, and Pepy I

Pepi I Meryre

Pepi I Meryre was the third king of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt. His first throne name was Neferdjahor which the king later altered to Meryre meaning "beloved of R?."...
sent expeditions not only to these locations, but also as far as Ebla

Ebla

Ebla was an ancient city about southwest of Aleppo. It was an important city-state in two periods, first in the late 3rd millennium BC, then again between 1800 BC and 1650 BC....
.

Pepi II

Another notable member of this dynasty was Pepi II

Pepi II Neferkare

Pepi II was a pharaoh of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt in Egypt's Old Kingdom. His throne name, Neferkare , means "Beautiful is the Egyptian soul of Ra"....
, who is credited with a reign of 94 years, the longest in the history of ancient Egypt

History of Ancient Egypt

The History of ancient Egypt spans the period from the early Predynastic Egypt settlements of the northern Nile Valley to the History of Roman Egypt in 30 BC....
.

Nitiqret

Also known by the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
name Nitocris, this woman is believed by some authorities to have been not only the first female ruler of Egypt, but the first in the literate world, although it is currently accepted that her name is actually a mistranslation of Neitiqerty Siptah

Neitiqerty Siptah

The Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Neitiqerty Siptah is an obscure successor to Merenre Nemtyemsaf II, towards the end of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt....
.

The rise of the nobility

With the growing number of biographical inscriptions in non-royal tombs , our knowledge of the contemporary history broadens. For example, we hear of an unsuccessful plot against Pepy I. We also read a letter written by the young king Pepy II, excited that one of his expeditions will return with a dancing pygmy

Pygmy

A pygmy is a member of any human group whose adult males grow to less than 150 cm in average height or less than 155 cm. A member of a slightly taller group is termed pygmoid....
from the land of Yam, located to the south of Nubia

Nubia

Nubia is a region in Southern Egypt along the Nile and in what is now northern Sudan. Most of Nubia is situated in Sudan with about a quarter of its territory in Egypt....
.

These non-royal tomb inscriptions are but one example of the growing power of the nobility, which further weakened the absolute rule of the king. As a result, it is believed that on the death of the long-lived Pepy II his vassals were entrenched enough to resist the authority of his successors, which may have contributed to the rapid decline of the Old Kingdom.