The Origins of Empire in Egypt

Ancient Egyptian history is not a linear development towards empire by any means. The first kind of big pulse of imperialism in the middle kingdom actually comes after Egypt stops being this incredibly top-down society as represented by the pyramids. There are tombstones found with them which carry inscriptions that tell us about their titles in the royal court and they're actually very high ranking people who are killed and buried around the king or queen. It's just the top of the hierarchy that we're talking about, royal wives, royal guards, officials, cooks, grooms, entertainers.