Egypt’s Monuments Part X: The Rule Of Ra Part I: “The Fifth Dynasty – When The Sun Ruled”

Miroslav Verner’s next chapter deals with the Fifth Dynasty and the shift in the religious views as well as in the political ones. The ruler’s of the Fifth Dynasty were mostly made up of the priesthood, and if not, those who ruled were put into place because of the priesthood. This was the Dynasty with which the priesthood, and religion, started to take a significant role within Egyptian politics. In former Dynasties the monarchs were the ones in charge of the economic and political state, and they would only place their family members over the official offices. In the early Dynasties the priesthood played an insignificant part within the Egyptian state, and were only in charge of the religious factors of Egyptian life; they worked under the monarchs and only focused on their religious tasks. But in the Fifth Dynasty the religious officials started to take on more than their religious duties. This could have been because of the economic instability at the end of the Fourth Dynasty. The first ruler of the Fifth Dynasty may very well have had royal blood in him but he was also a High Priest. Before this dynasty the religion and state were separate, but the fall of the economy in the end of the Fourth Dynasty could have made the priesthood decide to intervene in state affairs.

A major political figure in the end of the Fourth Dynasty, and the beginning of the Fifth, was Queen Khentkaues I. Who is believed to have reigned for a short period during the gap between the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties. Her fame was not present during her time, but after. Rulers who came years after her famed her as being the mother of the sun kings. There is a papyrus displaying, what is believed to be, her story: “And ultimately the queen mother Khentkaues probably went down in ancient Egyptian literature as the heroine of the myth of the divine birth of the kings of the Fifth Dynasty. The account given in the Westcar papyrus was written a thousand years after these events, in the era of the Hyksos kings. In it Rudjedjet appears as the consort of a sun-cult priest from the city of Sakhebu and as the mother of the sun kings, whose father was supposed to be the sun god Re himself.” (Miroslav Verner, The Pyramids: Their Archaeology and History. New York: Grove Press, 1997, p. 265). But like her supposed second husband, Userkaf, there is many more mysteries surrounding her than facts. Some Egyptologist believe that Userkaf could have been one of Menkaure’s sons: “His origin remains for the time being obscure, but he may have been, along with Shepseskaf, one of Menkaure’s sons. During his reign the sun cult seems to have reached its apogee, since from then on the title ‘son of Re’ became an inseparable part of the royal titulature. On the other hand, it is striking that in both Shepseskaf’s and Userkaf’s names the name of the sun god Re is lacking.” (Miroslav Verner, The Pyramids, p. 265). There are chief events surrounding Userkaf’s name that entitles him to be the first ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, but other than that his origin and other main factors about him are unknown. He not only undertook campaigns in the typical country of Nubia, which his predecessors did as well, but also set up trade with other foreign countries; one of them being Greece. “He undertook a further campaign in Nubia, and during his reign renewed commercial contacts with foreign lands were developed, including contacts with the distant Greeks islands, as a stone vessel bearing his name and found on the island of Cythera shows.” (Miroslav Verner, The Pyramids, p. 266). His successor was Sahure who continued the political strength and religious cult that Userkaf had set up.

The rulers of the Fifth Dynasty went down in ancient Egypt as the start of a new era and new religious ideals. But despite the impact that the Fifth Dynasty rulers had on Egyptians in later dynasties there was mystery shrouding all of the royals in power during that century. The only well known fact is that they had changed religion into a political office and the priesthood began to rise as a part of the state, instead of separate from it. There were a few rare ruler’s in the Fifth Dynasty who did not take on the recent religious ideals that had been set up, the sun cult, and one of these was King Djedkare. “At this time religious ideas and practices were spreading that had earlier played a role only at the highest level of society. The cult of the god Osiris, the ruler of the realm of the dead and the symbol of the eternal cycle of life and death, moved into the foreground. Shifts in religious ideas or economics or both were the basis for Djedkare’s decision not to have a sun temple built.” (Miroslav Verner, The Pyramids, p. 272). Religion was not the only shift that occurred during this time, and like we saw with the first King of the Fifth Dynasty trade was established and both trade and crafts were prospering. “Crafts and trade were flourishing in the country, and additional expeditions were sent to Byblos, Nubia, and distant Punt, from whence the expedition’s leader, Baurdjed, even brought back a dancing dwarf to entertain the king. The fact that these expeditions did not always involve peaceful trade is shown by a unique scene of conquest preserved on the walls of Inti’s tomb in Deshasha in Middle Egypt.” (Miroslav Verner, The Pyramids, p. 272). Another moderation that was established and prosperous during this era was writing: “Writing also flourished. In this period the famous work later known as The Maxims of Ptahhotep attributed by some scholars to Djedkare’s vizier of the same name. Its goal was to educate young men in absolute accord with the ancient Egyptian worldview and especially with the needs of the state.” (Miroslav Verner, The Pyramids, p. 273).

The change from the end of the Fourth Dynasty to the beginning, and continuing on through, the Fifth Dynasty was as different as night and day. The Fourth Dynasty started off by prospering but in the end the political leaders, the monarchs, were not able to hold up the economy. Then it seems that once the priesthood changed its status from just a religious practice away from the state to becoming a political factor within the state; the economy was once again under stable rule. But was it truly the priesthood becoming part of the state that allowed the Fifth Dynasty rulers to flourish? So far this seems like the only possible solution to how Egypt’s economic stability was able to prosper after faltering in the last part of the Fourth Dynasty. For the religious officials of Egypt to combine with the state is not an uncommon act within civilizations. Many countries only prospered because of the funds that were brought in when religion became part of the state, but it is unclear if this is what happened in Egypt. Miroslav Verner focuses more on the pyramids in his book, and their construction, instead of state affairs and issues. But Egypt’s religion does play a major role within the Egyptian state and we can see it playing even a larger role during the Fifth Dynasty. Pyramids were created the way they were because of religion, and because many costs, materials, and manual labor went into building the pyramids we can make the hypothesis that the religion, indeed, did drive the Egyptian state.