by Michael Fassbender

Created on: September 22, 2008

The Old Kingdom was a period of stability, wealth and grandeur that would serve as the happy past in the imaginations of Egyptians for the rest of pharaonic civilization. It was a time of orderly successions, for the most part, and an ever-increasing organization of the resources of the land; at the same time, it was a dynamic age, in which royal ideology and architecture underwent mutually-reinforcing transformation. In the realm of funerary practices, this was truly the decisive period in Egyptian history. The afterlife began as the prerogative of the king, first in the form of a life among the stars and then in the form of accompanying the sun-god in his boat. As time went on, favored relatives and retainers might enjoy some form of eternal life by participating indirectly in the king's afterlife. By the end of the Old Kingdom, it is Osiris who is the guarantor of eternal life, and at least potentially, anyone might live on in Osiris' kingdom in the West.

There is some evidence to suggest that the Old Kingdom began with the restoration of order after a period of division, possibly even civil war. The conception of the king as the heir of Horus was briefly challenged by an alternate conception that championed his nemesis Seth, and the conclusion to this crisis came with a dualistic compromise by Khasekhemwy, whose name is given as "Horus and Seth name."

His successor, Sanakht, appears to have ascended the throne by marriage to Khasekhemwy's daughter. His own successor, Djoser, is generally thought to be his brother. Both returned to the tradition of selecting a Horus name only; "Djoser," in fact, is the name of later tradition, very likely the king's birth name, but in his reign he was known as the Horus Netjerikhet. The history of their reigns is sketchy, but Djoser in particular would be revered in future generations for his wisdom. If nothing else, he far outshone his brother in the manner of his burial.

Djoser's reign is best known to history for the production of the first pyramid at Sakkara. The king's vizier Imhotep is credited with the design of this marvel, which not only introduced the pyramid concept, but also pioneered the use of stone in the construction of the entire complex. Even the fact that this tomb was not a single building, but a sprawling complex, had important ramifications. Such a funerary establishment required a significant staff of priests and support personnel, ensuring that the pyramid complex was a town in miniature. Accordingly,

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