King Pepy I (2332-2283)

Alabaster vessel show the cartouche name of Pepy I

Late generations venerated Pepy I as one of the good rulers of the Old Kingdom. It is probable that as the son of Queen Iput, he delivered the goods Teti, although another king Usekare comes out to have ruled in brief for a year, perhaps while Iput acted as compelling for her son. Pepy I married 2 sisters who were both discovered Meryreankhnes; one gone the mother of the next king, Merenre, while the second sister developed Pepy II who finally succeeded Merenre. It is in all probability that King Pepy I married the 2nd queen late in his reign, as Pepy II was only a child when he followed to the throne. The sisters came from a non-royal background; they were the daughters of Khui, a stiff hereditary governor of the Thinite nome, and their brother, Djau, became vizier. Earlier custom had involved that the king should marry his hold full- or half-sister, but it was now more important to gain the hold of the powerful rustic nobility.

During this reign, Wenia man of common origin rose to gone a judge, and his inscription from Abydos offers details of the events of his career: as jurist, he heard in private the cases of conspiracy that had happened in the royal harem, one of which implicated a queen of Pepy I. He besides mentions his role in dealing with the incursions by the Beduin on Egypt's north-eastern frontier, indicating that pressures were already constructing up in that region. Later, such harrassment would give to the fall of the Old Kingdom.

King Pepy I constructed a pyramid complex a short distance from Saqqara and although the temple has not been turned up, the pyramid is essential because here, in 1881, Maspero first discovered the prove that the interior walls of the pyramids of the later Old Kingdom were inscribed with the Pyramid Texts. These religious turns, which take place in several pyramids, incorporate the earliest known body of religious and magical texts from ancient Egypt. Other leading building natural actions of the reign included  the  kings  sanctuary  at  Bubastis  in  the  Delta;  also  during  his  rule expeditions were sent to Nubia and Sinai. Towards the end of his reign, it is possible that the king connected his elder son Merenre with him on the throne, leaving an early model of co-regency.