Ve Egyptian dynasty

The covers approximately a period estimated of the years -2500 at -2300.

This dynasty will give up the monumental pyramids for more modest constructions of dimensions, because the country does not need more unifying great projects to glory of “King-God”. The best known one of the sovereigns of the 5th dynasty is Ounas, because of the Textes of the pyramids that Gaston Maspero discovered in its monument of Saqqarah and who constitute a whole of magic formulas intended to ensure the survival of the king in beyond.

Under the 5th dynasty, a new site for the necropolis royal was selected with Abousir, in the north of Saqqarah. Five Pharaons, among the nine that the dynasty counted, were made there build their burial like those their queens. More with north, Ouserkaf and Niouserrê set up at least two solar temples with Abou Ghorab.

Sovereigns of the 5th dynasty

Genealogy

A mythological origin

It is Manéthon which it first class in one 5th dynasty a whole of sovereigns who all reigned on Egypt in full apogee of the Ancient Empire.

But the independent source, and sometimes only, concerning this dynasty comes us from the ancient Egyptians themselves. A tale of the Papyrus Westcar reports a prophecy which would have been made by an old man Mage with the king Khéops: the god Re in person would send Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet, Héqet and Khnoum to deliver the wife of a Re priest, the Redjédet lady, of the first three kings of the 5th dynasty, so that they exert “this beneficial royalty in this whole country”.

According to the German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt, kings Ouserkaf and Sahourê would have been the wire of Chepseskaf () and the queen Khentkaous {{Ire}}, girl of Mykérinos. Ouserkaf, founder of the dynasty, would have thus been wire of the princess Néferhétepès, girl of the king Djédefrê, and a prince who was perhaps large priest of Héliopolis, which would still explain better the ascending one taken by the worship of Re. The crown would thus have passed, by a coup d'etat, with a branch junior. Sahourê and Néferirkarê Kakaï, on the other hand wire of Chepseskaf and Khentkaous {{Anger}}, would belong to the legitimate branch.

The patient inquires of the Egyptologists

However, which one knew of this dynasty remained thin and so almost all the monuments of its sovereigns could be identified, it missed essential components to include/understand its genealogy and thus to make sure that it formed a single and coherent entity within the Ancient Empire.

Made discoveries with Saqqarah and recent work of excavations of the site of Abousir, necropolis royal if not dynastic, cure it gradually and make it possible to moderate the above mentioned analysis, completely to even renew it.

Indeed, with the excavation and the identification of the complex of Ouserkaf and in particular that of his royal wife Néferhétepès, of first indices made it possible to better include/understand the bonds which linked the 5th dynasty with the glorious one. Thus Jean-Philippe Lauer and Audran Labrousse formulated the assumption according to which the queen Néferhétepès, carrying the title of “Royal Mother”, was actually the royal wife of Ouserkaf and the mother of Sahourê.

It still missed a direct proof of this fact among the monuments of the reign, which was found only recently by Zahi Hawass in the vestiges of the roadway of the funerary temple of Sahourê precisely to Abousir. Several blocks belonging to the decoration of this roadway were found and reconstitute an essential part of the iconographic programme of this part of the funerary complex: scenes introducing the royal family. Among these parents illustrated with their title in the side of Pharaon in scenes of the intimate life of the royal palace, Néferhétepès appears. Its title of Royal Mère is unambiguous here and clearly identifies it as being the mother of Sahourê. Better, the king is accompanied by his descent and thus allows to clarify a collateral succession up to that point imagined. Néferirkarê Kakaï is thus well the son junior by Sahourê and would be assembled on the throne following the death of its elder Netjerirenrê of which fall it was found not far from the pyramidal complex of his/her father.

Another series of excavations made it possible to clarify the continuation of the events. A team of Czech Egyptologists , directed by Miroslav Verner, undertook since the Années 1970 the exhaustive excavation of the site of Abousir. Very quickly it is a true harvest of new discoveries which reveal a new essential female character within the dynasty, Khentkaous {{II}}, character up to that point identified with his famous homonym of, buried it with Gizeh. Marry Néferirkarê Kakaï it puts at the world two wire, Néferefrê and Niouserrê which will reign successively. One even supposes that it has a time assured regency the kingdom following the sudden death of Néferefrê.

Finally a last queen, remained anonymous for the moment, allows to establish the link between the last sovereigns of the dynasty. Djedkarê Isési which succeeds Niouserrê made build for his wife small a complex pyramidal complete beside his with Saqqarah. The excavation of this monument revealed a relief carrying the cartouche of Ounas, successor of Djedkarê, thus attesting probable bond of relationship between the two sovereigns whose queen would be the missing link which would ensure still a direct ascent there.

Ignored sovereigns

Until discovered Saqqarah and mainly of Abousir, the Pharaons of the 5th Egyptian dynasty far from known nor were studied for lack of complementary sources, contrary to the preceding dynasty or of the following one. If from now on it seems that the history of the royal family is delivered little by little, the family tree of the 5th dynasty however remains still turbid on certain points. The identity of Ouserkaf remains still prone to guarantee for example, the discoveries which followed one another not having indeed for the moment not brought yet the proof of its royal origin. The Egyptologists always think that it could be a son of Khentkaous {{Ire}}.

This queen of received a worship throughout the end of the Ancient Empire and was regarded as the ancestor of the dynasty. Marry Chepseskaf, it would have had two wire which both will assemble on the throne successively what its title of “Mother of two kings de Haute and Low-Egypt” comes to confirm. She is represented in her tomb with all the signs of the capacity, which encourages to think that she really undoubtedly exerted it to ensure the making of the throne between her two sons following an unexpected event. This scenario, which seems to repeat for Khentkaous {{II}} at the time of the succession of Néferirkarê Kakaï, would make it possible to solve a secular enigma of the Egyptology known under the name of “Khentkaous problem”. Better, if the assumption of its ascent on the 5th dynasty were confirmed, it would have supported the reconciliation of the royal family by making so that her reigning son wife Néferhétepès, the girl of Djédefrê. At all events, this sovereign of the Ancient Empire remains a key character to include/understand the articulation between the two dynasties and undoubtedly had a strong influence over its time. Undoubtedly of next discovered will allow to see there more clearly on this point.

Lastly, others Pharaon S or succession between two sovereigns still remain in the shade. Thus a Pharaon named Chepseskarê did not find yet its place final in the chronology of the dynasty. Another named Menkaouhor would have succeeded Niouserrê, but for the moment its monument was not identified yet and only the mentions of the king in the mastabas of the contemporary dignitaries make it possible to ensure his existence.

Economy and company

Starting from the 5th dynasty, each “House” (ministry) is duplicated in a department for the High-Egypt and for the Low-Egypt: most important being the Double White House (the Treasury), the Double Attic (royal warehouses) and the Double Office (royal archives). Each “House” had at its head an intendant, except for the Treasury and of the Double Attic, whose vizier assumed the direction. Contrary to the preceding dynasty, this last is not systematically a son of the king but a dignitary whose career is often long, cumulating the honorary titles and of the quite real functions which ensure the government of the country. The bureaucratic machinery is weighed down and a many class of scribes develops what implies in parallel the development of schools through all the country in order to train the future civils servant necessary for the good operation of the State.

The clergy closely remains related to the royalty, but one witnesses little by little a basic change which will continue until the end of the Ancient Empire. So certain large priests marry royal princesses, thus guaranteeing the bonds between the capacities, little by little the religious capacity escapes the royal family to take an increasingly marked independence. The pontifical functions are transmitted then of wire father until forming lines of large priests as for the case of the clergy of Memphis. One has several royal decrees reforming the worships of the kingdom attesting that these changes were not done without the approval of Pharaon. One will quote for example the “will of Nikaânkh” registered in his Mastaba which gives a report on a royal decree of the time of Ouserkaf reforming the worship of Hathor of Tenneh. In another Mastaba, one learns that it is the large temple of Ptah of Memphis which provides the daily offerings intended for the funerary worship of Néferhétepès. The files of the temples of Abousir also delivered decrees of Djedkarê Isési reforming the funerary worships of the royal family. These contemporary documents of the reigns of the end of the dynasty clarify under a new day the operation of part of the Egyptian company, that which was with the service of the worships of the sovereigns of the dynasty and which forms to some extent its heart. They enable us to foresee the intense life which surrounded these sanctuaries, works of each reign. Towns of priests, scribes, craftsmen, workmen, settle with the foot of the royal monuments with Abousir of course but also with Gizeh in particular along the roadway of access of the funerary complex of Khentkaous {{Ire}} whose development dates from the beginnings of the 5th dynasty.

It should be imagined that at the end of the dynasty, since Meïdoum in the south of the area memphite until Abou Rawash in north opposite Héliopolis, the whole of the royal funerary foundations as all the necropoles which accompanied them were the seat of an intense pertaining to worship and economic activity related to the funerary rites which form the substance even Egyptian religion. Great forwardings are organized towards the foreign countries and partners like the town of Byblos or the legendary country of Pount like in the mine fields like the the Sinai or the Nubie, in order to collect there all invaluable materials necessary to a flourishing economy. A whole system of collection of the goods, goods and food is set up under the authority and the control of the administration of the Treasury and a part is redistributed through these foundations which make live a whole people dedicated to their service while the other directly will feed the palate which remains the large silent partner of this trade.

The lists of the private and royal agricultural domains intended to feed this economy are provided not only by the Archives of Abousir, but also by the reliefs of the royal or deprived monuments. Besides the latter become unequalled extensive until there and belong to personalities which all are not resulting from the royal family signs of a deep change in the Pharaonic company.

The practice of the heredity of the loads contributes to the office plurality of the benefit and thus of the land and buildings to the profit of the big families. But at the same time the careers remain open, competence and the merit being highly marked values. Under 5th and S, the administration also increases at the provincial level and there enracine, ending up creating autonomous local authorities, competitors of the central capacity whose Nomarque S represent the emerging caste.

Abydos becomes the Holy City of Osiris during the development of its worship under 5th and S. the alive king is compared to Horus, the god main falcon of the sky and wire of Osiris. Any late king becoming Osiris, promised to reappear for eternity, the myth of Osiris bases dynastic permanence on a succession of wire fathers. In his capacity as heir to Horus and wire to Re, the king remains however subjected to the order inherent in the creation, which it cannot transgress. He is the guaranteeing one. This concept of a universal nature, the Maât, founds and justifies the practice of the royal capacity and imposes at the same time to the king the obligation to maintain it.

Arts and culture

Under the 5th dynasty, arts develop and reach a refinement which will remain regarded as a golden age.

The dignitaries are made arrange sumptuous tombs or mastabas with Saqqarah, Abousir and Gizeh. The internal fittings of these tombs are increasingly complex until becoming true residences of deaths. The iconographic program of the monuments copies that of the royal funerary temples in their broad topics and one sees appearing true autobiographies glorifiant the career of large kingdom.

The private sculpture follows a parallel way producing of the chiefs of works which furnish today the collections with the large Egyptological museums of the world.

The royal monuments remain the business of the reign and if the proportion of the pyramids is reduced, compared with those of, architecture develops in the temples which were associated there. Each complex then consists of a temple of reception, or temple-low, and of a funerary temple, or temple-high, connected to each other by a long covered roadway. The two temples, with the complementary functions for the worship of the late king, are built out of fine limestone for the walls, granite for the bases and are equipped with columns monoliths also out of granite, generally papyriformes which will be largely re-used thereafter for other monuments of other reigns. These columns supported a roof carried out in large blocks monoliths. The stress is laid on the decoration of the walls of the temples which end up covering the whole of free spaces of the monuments, recalling the important facts of the reign and describing the life of the country in its least details.

With the 5th Egyptian dynasty a new standard of temples also sees the day in the form of large the solar temples built not far from the dynastic necropolis royal of Abousir. Each sovereign is famous to have ordered one of them, but only those of Ouserkaf and Niouserrê were put at the day at present. The cities of the country then start to receive a new interest for their own monuments, sign which the local elites free more and more from a centralized capacity. Few vestiges of this time reached us by the fact that these sites occupied and were constantly renewed by the successive reigns and the whims of the river whose floods sometimes devastators often obliged a complete rebuilding. Moreover these monuments were built most of the time out of raw bricks and only certain elements were out of stone. On the contrary, in the Western desert, the private monuments and royal cenotaphs were built out of stone of size and even if they suffered from time, they were better preserved and preserved.

At the cultural level a literature holding at the same time of the tale and the philosophical kind appears. The Papyrus Westcar can very well be developed at that time and it is in any case during this dynasty that the maxims sapientiales of Ptahhotep are famous to be written hand even of famous the vizier. In the mastabas the biographies of the high-ranking dignitaries employ a narrative literary style which will be often imitated thereafter.

Finally at the religious level, it should be noted that it is under the reign of Ounas that appear the Textes of the Pyramids, first known theological corpus of the ancient Egypt and who will be developed in a systematic way with the following dynasty. If the transcription in the stone of these religious writings is an invention of the reign, their contents are much older according to the style employed by certain formulas and their gathering in a homogeneous unit is the work of the priests of the dynasty who preserved in the files of the divine temples the whole of these texts intended to ensure the immortality of the king.

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