COMPARING the two parallel civilizations the Mesopotamian and the Pharaonic, we saw how, during the third millennium BC, the Sumerian followed by the Akkadian civilizations developed in Mesopotamia, while the Old Kingdom flourished in Egypt.
The Old Kingdom is distinguished by its engineering achieve¬ments that materialised mainly in the building of pyramids; the first one was the Stepped Pyramid of Saqqara, then it was fol¬lowed during the four dynasty by the famous three pyramids of Giza. The era of the pyramid builders continued, yet on a smaller scale, until the end of the Old Kingdom, which continued during the fifth and the sixth dynasties. Most of the pyramids of the fifth dynasty were built in one area; in between Giza and Saqqara, known as Abu Sir and some of the pyramids of the sixth dynasty were built again in Saqqara near the Stepped Pyramid.
The total number of pyramids located between Giza and Dahshour (south of Saqqara) amounts to about one hundred. A very peculiar pyramid that belongs to a king from the fifth dynasty called Ounas lies next to the Stepped pyramid; this pyra¬mid is famous for its text engraved on the walls of the burial, chamber, which is an unprecedented occurrence. In the Pyramids of Giza as well as in the Stepped Pyramid, there are no writings at all an their burial chambers’ walls. In Ounas pyramid, the bur¬ial wall is fully covered with a religious text that addresses the afterlife. This text is normally known as the “Pyramid’s text”:
This brings us to some of the Ancient Egyptian beliefs. As we mentioned in previous articles, Egyptians believed, from the Predynastic time (i.e. before the Old Kingdom) in the presence of universal order and harmony symbolised by the deity Ma’at. They believed that god was self created into a being from the primeval water “Nun”. This sky god under the name of Atum or Atum-R,e symbolised by the sun disc, degenerated into a couple of deities; Shu (the air) and Tefnut (the moisture). Those in turn gave birth to Nut (the sky) and Geb (the earth). Finally, Nut and Geb give birth to two couples Island Osiris and Nephtys and Seth. A struggle between Osiris (the good) and Seth (the evil) created an important epic in: the belief of the Ancient Egyptians.
These nine deities represent the Pantheon of the Old Kingdom.
Osiris became the god and king of the underworld and represent¬ed the afterlife. An important part of the Egyptian belief is in the afterlife and judgment; the deceased would be judged for his deeds. Accordingly, either he is judged as good and worthy of the
paradise of Osiris or he is judged as bad and either goes to hell or is devoured by a monster ,called Ammamet.
We know a good deal about all this from the religious writings that started during the Old Kingdom, from the famous “Pyramid’s text” , developing during the Middle kingdom into what is known as the “Coffin Text” and finally during the New Kingdom into the Papyrus scroll known as the “Book of the Dead”.
At the end of the sixth dynasty, the power of the feudal lords increased, social changes quickened the breakdown of the unitary state, which lead during the last decades of the millennium into what is known as the First Intermediate Period.
