The reign of Pepi II and the first recorded political demonstration
Pepi II was one of the late pharaohs of the sixth dynasty. The boy king ascended the throne at the age of six. He was thought to be the son of Pepi I but it is now more accepted that Pepi II was the son of Merenre (who was thought first to be his half-brother). His mother Ankhesenmeryre II served as regent for a number of years while Pepi II was a child.
Pepi
II ruled for 94 years according to the Turin King-list. Manetho also recorded
that he reigned for 94 years. This would make Pepi II the longest ruler of
Ancient Egypt. However, some doubt has been shed on this number, and some
researchers suggest that it was a misreading of 64.
At first glance, we do not notice that Pepi
II was a bad king. He developed new trade links with southern Africa and he also strengthened foreign
relations in a very similar manner to both his predecessors of the 5th and 6th
Dynasties. These are such as the good relations he maintained with the Nubians during his reign. Egypt received goods such as
incense, ebony, animal skins, and ivory from there.
Despite what history records to be his stupendous work, it is believed that his long reign was the main reason for
the decline of the old kingdom and resulted in one of the first social revolutions.
How did Egypt enter a dark age by the end of Pepi II’s reign?
We
started to see a gradual decline of the central government. Increasing wealth
and power appears to have been handed over to high officials during Pepi II's
reign. The aging king was no
longer capable of ruling the country and that is why the power of the
provincial governors increased. Pepi also divided the role of vizier into two:
one for Upper Egypt and one for Lower away from the royal capital of Memphis.
Further, the seat of vizier of Upper Egypt was moved several times which is an indication of ensuing chaos during that time.
We
noticed that Pepi II's foreign policy started to have some problems. Many
commercial relationships with foreign countries were broken off. In the
beginning of his reign, many expeditions were sent to Nubia. Later, several
expedition leaders met their deaths while campaigning in Nubia.
It
must also be noted that Pepi's funerary monument at Saqqara was built very poorly compared to the lavish remains of his predecessors and this confirms that there was a decline in welfare
generally during his reign. It may be one of largest complexes of the fifth and sixth dynasties but its structural weakness defines it much like Pepi's reign himself. This decline was probably the result of the lower annual inundation of
the Nile. Harvests and crops weren’t plenteous.
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| Queen Ankhnes-meryre II and her son, Pepi II, the boy king Photo Attribution: Brooklyn Museum, CC BY 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons |
Eventually, a social revolution occurred due to the poor living conditions, and the unlawful power gained by the priests, regional rulers, and the king’s entourage. The Ancient Egyptians protested in order to paralyze the economic movement and force the king to implement their demands, much similar to the contemporary Egyptian revolution of the 25th of January. This uprising, too was sparked in the Capital, Memphis at the time. It was (also similarly) more of an angry uproar rather than an organized movement with proper leaders. The country fell into chaos as thugs exploited the disorder and vengeance overwhelmed the masses.
Pepi ruled long enough to see his power falter and ended the sixth dynasty in the process. All Pepi's children could not cope with the amount of corruption their father left and so the sixth dynasty fell. It would take almost a century for Egypt to recover.
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