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IV saw the construction of five great pyramids of outstanding technical merit. The dynasty begins with Snofru, who reigned for 24 years. Snofru built many memorials as well as two stone pyramids - the Northern Stone Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid, both at Dahshur. Both exceed 310 feet in height. Some scholars even attribute a third pyramid at Meidum to Snofru. Then, of course, there is the Great Pyramid at Giza, a feat that 'surpasses in bulk every building known to have been raised by the enterprise of man'. The three pyramids at Giza were built by Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus.

The magnificence of the pyramid was a propagandistic tool designed to represent the pharaoh's link to the gods. In Dynasty V however, some of the ostentatious grandeur of the past two dynasties was lost. Although several pyramids were constructed, they are described by Gardiner as being 'greatly inferior' to their Dynasty IV counterparts in size. As a result, there must have been some corresponding loss in the stature of the kingship.

The architecture of the Old Kingdom was not achieved on the back of slave labour. Only a minority of workers were slaves, with the vast majority being provided food and wages. From the point of view of the central government, this was a major shortcoming. While payment for services may have been the most humane course, it also placed a tremendous strain on royal finances, hence weakening the administration.

Another source of fiscal strain was the numerous foreign campaigns conducted by the dynastic kings into Nubia and Punt, among others. And although strictly not a domestic factor, there was also foreign infiltration into Egypt during the 6th dynasty by Asiatics: 'The archaeological evidence definitely proves that the growing Asiatic menace, which we could trace under the Sixth Dynasty, actually developed into a Syrian influx'. This foreign interference, albeit nowhere on the scale of the Hyksos invaders during the Second Intermediate Period, may have hastened the downfall by destabilising the government at a crucial time.

The growing influence of the priests and nobles further weakened the fiscal position of the king. To keep these two groups onside, kings increasingly gave temples tax-exempt status or transferred land to favoured elites, thereby reducing the assets available for use by the central government. Perhaps due to the sharp rise in influence of the priests, six of the nine kings of Dynasty V are known to have built sun-temples.

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