Dynastic Difficulties of Ancient Egypt

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The end of a dynasty of kings and the beginning of a new dynasty appear from evidence to have been a period of turbulence throughout the Old Kingdom. Everything in the Old kingdom revolved around the King and when there was a problem in one king succeeding another then Egypt was on the verge of chaos. Chaos was something that the king ensured Egypt would not enter. Issues concerning the kings political power and economical instability became increasing problems towards the end of the OK and brought great difficulties for the kings which ultimately effected the whole Egyptian society. This can be seen in problems that all new kings faced but particularly the new king of a new dynasty and in particular in Dynasty 6. Kings had to have powerful allies to ensure that the centralised administration continued to effectively manage Egyptian affairs. At the beginning of dynasty 5 king userkaf brought in political reforms which was an indication that all kings had political problems to deal with. This leads into the idea that it is particularly in dynasty 6 that kings faced extreme dynastic problems with the assassination of one king (TETI) and the problems that the new king (PEPY I) faced. Kanawati suggests that Teti was assassinated. The murder of a king in the early period of the OK would have been unthinkable, but his evidence is compelling that by Dynasty 6 the king’s powerful position had become so vulnerable to other political and religious forces. It is surely evidence that the Old kingdom had changed and that new powers were emerging. Kanawati support manetho’s claims about teti being “assassinated by his bodyguards”. Recent archeological evidence from th teti cemetery appears to give this claim some credibility according to kanawati. Although teti’s reign didn’t pass 11 years he still drastically increased the number of mis place guards. Teti also gave a new
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