Old Kingdom Egypt

8 CH

the great pyramids rise

Old Kingdom Egypt2,686 BCE – 2,055 BCE

The First Man-Made Mountain

Djoser's Step Pyramid — the first monumental stone building on earth

~2686–2650 BCE

three experimental pyramids and the engineering breakthroughs they required

~2613–2589 BCE

Khufu's Great Pyramid — how 2.3 million blocks became perfection

~2589–2560 BCE

Khafre, the Sphinx, and the end of the pyramid-building frenzy

~2558–2500 BCE

smaller pyramids, sun temples, and the rise of the priesthood

~2494–2345 BCE

Pepi II rules for decades as central authority slowly erodes

~2345–2181 BCE

famine, civil war, and the collapse of the Old Kingdom

~2181–2100 BCE

Mentuhotep II reunites Egypt and launches the Middle Kingdom

~2100–2055 BCE