The Old Kingdom of Egypt

The Old Kingdom of Egypt lasted from 2575 BC to 2134 BC. The Old Kingdom was also known as the age of the pyramids. The Ancient Egyptian writing system called hieroglyphics was invented in this period. Hieroglyphics were used to write the texts inside the pyramids. The Hieroglyphcis were used for almost 3,500 years. Hieroglyphics were very hard to learn, so mostly only important people such as: Government officials, royalty, priests, scribes, etc. knew how to use them. These hieroglyphics died out by the 1st century. During the 7th century, they had simpler versions of the hieroglyphics.

During the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Artists and Craftsmen were drawn to work for the king. The techniques of the working with metal, stone, and wood were very beneficial to the Egyptians during the Old Kingdom. These skills were greatly used during the pyramids of the rulers of the fourth dynasty, and the sun templates of the fifth dynasty. We know this by the fact that these artifacts were very well preserved over the years.

The First king to rule in The Old Kingdom of Egypt was King Djoser. He ruled in the third dynasty and was the first to rule in that dynasty.He is important because he was the one who ordered the building of the famous pyramids built during the Old kingdom of Egypt. Imhotep was a very important person during the time of King Djoser's reign. Imhotep served as the king's royal vizier.

During the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the Egyptians increased their skills in building pyramids, by creating flat smooth pyramids, rather than stepped. The stepped pyramid was a representation of a stairway to the gods. The smooth pyramid symbolized a mound from which all life came from.

During the Old Kingdom of Egypt, there was a pharaoh known as King Tut. King Tut's real name was Tutankhamen meaning, "living image of the Aten." Tutankhamen's reign was not extraordinary, but we know so much about it because when Howard Carter found his tomb, it looked like it hadn't been touched. The tomb was air tight for all these years. King Tut started his reign when he was nine years old, and died when he was nineteen. King Tut probably ruled from about 1334 to 1325 BC.


Dr. George Hart. Ancient Egypt. Fog City Press. San Francisco, California. 2003.

Downes, Dorothy. "art, ancient Egyptian." In Gowing, Sir Lawrence, gen. ed. Facts on File Encyclopedia of Art, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005.