The History of Egypt

Dynasty 6 and new ideas. Around 2440 BCE, a new king came to power. King Djed-ka-Re ("The Spirit of Re Endures") was an effective ruler, who reformed the government and left a rich artistic and written record... Date c. 2440 - 2410 BCE Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Logo: the caroutche of Djed-ka-Re, by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin via Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0. Select Bibliography: Nigel Strudwick, Texts from the Pyramid Age, 2005 (Google Books). Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, 2008. Ancient Egypt Online – Djedkare Izezi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An Uphill Battle. The reign of King Ny-user-Re was not a bed of lotuses. After a rocky start, the young ruler worked to make his household and kingdom prosperous. We see this trend in a flowering of artistic and written culture... Date c.2445 BCE Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Logo image: The pyramid of Niuserre, by Neithsabes CC-BY 3.0 via Wikimedia. Select Bibliography: Miroslav Verner, The Pyramids, 2002. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms, 1973 (2006 paperback edition). Harold M. Hays, “The Death of the Democratization of the Afterlife” in Old Kingdom, New Perspectives, 2011 (Free Download). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I Got You, Fam. After a series of short reigns, King Ny-User-Re came to power and brought some much-needed stability. In his long reign, Niuserre strengthened the power of his government and household. Many records survive from this period, like fascinating tales of the King's hairdressers Nyankhkhnum and Khnumhotep. These two men might be the earliest recorded homosexual couple in ancient Egyptian history...Ny-Ankh-Khnum and Khnum-Hotep:Photos of the tomb by Chris Irie and Kairoinfo4u.Episode details: Date c.2455 - 2440 BCE. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Linda Evans and Alexandra Woods, “Further Evidence that Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep were Twins,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (2016). Greg Reeder, ‘Queer Egyptologies of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep‘ (2008). Vera Vasiljevic, ‘Embracing his double: Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep’, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 37 (2008). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quick Successions. After the death of Sahure, multiple kings came and went in a short span of time. In this episode, we follow the reigns of Nefer-ir-ka-Re ("Making the Soul of Re Beautiful") and Ra-nefer-ef. This period is murky, but we will get through it. Oh, and another powerful queen shows up to manage affairs... Date c.2570 - 2555 BCE Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Miroslav Verner, Abusir III: the Pyramid Complex of Khentkaus, 2001. Paule Posener-Kriéger, Les Archives du Temple Funéraire de Neferirkare Kakai – Les Papyrous d’Abousir, 1976. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Great Fleet. Around 2485 BCE, King Userkaf died and passed the throne to his son, Sahure ("One Who is Close to Re"). At this point, Egyptians launched the first (recorded) expedition to Punt. This mysterious land, somewhere near Ethiopia, Somalia or Yemen, was a major destination for trade. Sahure commemorated the event lavishly... Date c.2480 BCE Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Tarek el-Awady, Abusir XVI: Sahure – the Pyramid Causeway, 2009. Gay Robins, The Art of Ancient Egypt, 2008. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Dynasty, New Me. Around 2490 BCE, a new lineage held royal power. Khentykaus I and her son, Userkaf, had established a new household. Now, the next generations of rulers had some interesting innovations in religion and monuments... Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net. Website at www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show at www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Select Bibliography: Miroslav Verner, Abusir: Realm of Osiris, 2004. Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, 2008. Ian Shaw (editor), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 2004. Gay Robins, The Art of Ancient Egypt, 2008. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Khenty-kaus, the Lady Ruler. Around 2500 BCE, Menkaure died without an heir. His sister Khenty-Kau-es ("She is Foremost") stepped into the vacuum and governed the state on behalf of her young sons. This was an interesting period, with a lasting impact on royal power... Date c. 2500 - 2490 BCE Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Vivienne Gae Callender, In Hathor’s Image: the Wives and Mothers of Egyptian Kings from Dynasties I-VI, 2012 (Amazon). Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2010 (Amazon). Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, 1994 (Amazon). Erik Hornung, Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: the One and the Many, 1996 (Amazon). Barry Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 2005 (Amazon). Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, 2008 (Amazon). Gay Robins, The Art of Ancient Egypt, 2008 (Amazon). John Romer, A History of Egypt: from the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid, 2013 (Amazon). Robert Wenke, The Ancient Egyptian State, 2009 (Amazon). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Updated in 2024. Around 2520 BCE, King Men-kau-ra (or Menkaure) ruled Egypt. In his time, royal artists produced high-quality sculpture, and builders constructed another pyramid at Giza. But Menkaura has a complicated legacy. Although his pyramid is the smallest of the three "Great Pyramids of Giza," this King's legacy proved far more positive than his predecessors. Likewise his treasures, including his beautiful sarcophagus, have gone through a difficult journey over the past 4500 years... Further information: Photos of Menkaure’s pyramid by Aidan McRae Thomson on Flickr. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music and interludes by Luke Chaos. Select Bibliography: M. Baud, Famille royale et pouvoir sous l’Ancien Empire égyptien (1999). P. Boughton, ‘The Lost Sarcophagus’, Egyptology News Network, https://egyptologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2011/01/lost-sarcophagus.html. P. Boughton, ‘Who Owns Menkaure’s Sarcophagus?’, Nile Magazine (2016), 60—66. Digital Giza, ‘Menkaure Pyramid’, http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/sites/2796/full/. D. Gibbins, ‘PHARAOH: The Sarcophagus of Menkaure and the Wreck of the Beatrice’, http://davidgibbins.com/journal/2013/8/28/pharaoh-the-sarcophagus-of-menkaure-and-the-wreck-of-the-beatrice. R. Gundacker, ‘Die Inschrift an der Nordseite der Mykerinospyramide’, Sokar 19 (2009), 18—25. J. Leclant, ‘Fouilles et travaux en Égypte et au Soudan 1967—1968,’ Orientalia 38 (1969), 240—307. M. Lehner and Z. A. Hawass, Giza and the Pyramids (2017). É. Prisse d’Avennes, Histoire de l’art égyptien: d’après les monuments; depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu’à la domination romaine, 2 vols (1879). U. C. Ringuer, ‘The Story of the Lost Sarcophage’, Archaeology Mysteries, https://archaeologymysteries.com/2019/02/09/the-lost-sarcophage/. A. M. D. Roveri, I sarcofagi egizi dalle origini alla fine dell’antico regno (1969). J. Thompson, Wonderful Things, A History of Egyptology, I: From Antiquity to 1881 (2015). M. Verner, The Pyramids: The Archaeology and History of Egypt’s Iconic Monuments (Updated edn, 2020). H. Vyse, Operations Carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837: With an Account of a Voyage into Upper Egypt and an Appendix, 2 (1840). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Updated in 2024. A tale of terror and tombs. In 1924, Weird Tales magazine published "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" (aka "Under the Pyramids"). A short story in which Harry Houdini, world-famous escape-artist, illusionist, and advocate of rationalism, came face-to-face with horrors beyond his comprehension. The tale is work of horror, ghost-written by H.P. Lovecraft. It is a fun story, worthy of the genre. Logo image: The statue of Khafra / Khephren in Cairo's old museum (Photo Dominic Perry). Timecodes: Story Part One: 00:01:40. Story Part Two: 00:38:39. Commentary: 01:18:50. The History of Egypt Podcast Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Select Bibliography: H.P. Lovecraft, “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs,” Weird Tales magazine at WikiSource. R. Emrys and A. M. Pillsworth, ‘Harry Houdini Versus Cosmic Horror: “Under the Pyramids”’, TOR.com, <https://www.tor.com/2015/02/24/harry-houdini-versus-cosmic-horror-under-the-pyramids/> accessed 12.27.2023. D. Harms, Cthulu Mythos Encyclopedia: A Guide to the Horrors Created and Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft (3rd edn, Chelsea, 2012). S. T. Joshi and D. E. Schultz, An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia (2001). H. P. (Howard P. Lovecraft, The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft (2014). D. Norris, ‘Lovecraft and Egypt: A Closer Examination’, Lovecraft Annual (2016), 3–45. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Third Giza Pyramid. Around 2520 BCE, King Khaf-Re died and his son Men-Kau-Re took power. Menkaure ("The Spirit of Re Endures") oversaw a more modest phase of pyramid building. His monument at Giza was the smallest pyramid yet. Were all of these pyramids straining the economy? We investigate a social structure very different from our own... Date c.2520 - 2500 BCE Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, 1994 (Amazon). Erik Hornung, Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: the One and the Many, 1996 (Amazon). Barry Kemp, Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 2005 (Amazon). Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids, 2008 (Amazon). Gay Robins, The Art of Ancient Egypt, 2008 (Amazon). John Romer, A History of Egypt: from the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid, 2013 (Amazon). Robert Wenke, The Ancient Egyptian State, 2009 (Amazon). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices