Alan (The Lone Librarian) Teder’s Reviews > Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt: A Captivating Guide to the Age of the Pyramids and the Egyptian Pharaohs Who Ruled > Status Update

When Pepi II died, the Old Kingdom quickly collapsed into independent, warring fiefdoms. Egypt found itself back where it started about 1,000 years earlier, with the ordinary people of the Nile valley at the mercy of warlords and praying for another Narmer-Menes. It would take 100 years for order to be brought back into the Nile valley.

With Khafre buried, succession may have briefly gone to a minor son, but it was then taken by Khafre’s other son, Menkaure, who ruled for about 20 years. (As always, dynastic dates are difficult to verify.)

Then there is the Sphinx. The enigma of Egypt. A riddle lying in plain view. One of the oldest and largest sculptures ever carved anywhere in the world – and probably the most mysterious.

Khafre, Djedefre’s brother, followed as the next pharaoh and set about building his pyramid on the Giza plateau.

Khufu’s son, Djedefre, was the next ruler, and he made the first attempt to outdo his father. ... Somewhere in antiquity, plunderers carted away most of the stones and casing to make their own buildings. Today the once majestic structure looks like a long heap of rubble.

His engineers gave it the thumbs up. Khufu rolled up his royal sleeves and 4,600 years ago began to build the Seventh Wonder of the ancient world that today we call the Great Pyramid.

The Red Pyramid: The First True Pyramid This calm system of methodical ritual and worship was at variance with the intellectual fervor of Snefru and his engineers as they turned their attention to their next project.

The next attempt at a pyramid followed Djoser's model but was less successful. The foundations were prepared at Meidum, about 65 km up the river from the Step Pyramid. ... We know from inscriptions it was completed by the first king of the fourth dynasty, Snefru.

Djoser ushered in the glorious Age of the Pyramids. He built the first one, the massive Step Pyramid. It was the world's first monumental stone building. Djoser built it in the royal graveyard of Saqqara (across the Nile from Memphis, more or less opposite today's Cairo).