1st Intermediate Period Overview
- Neolithic Period: 4500-3000 BCE
- Early Dynastic: 3000-2650 BCE
- Old Kingdom: 2650-2150 BCE
- 1st Intermediate Period: 2150-2040 BCE
- Middle Kingdom: 2040-1640 BCE
- 2nd Intermediate Period: 1640-1550 BCE
- New Kingdom: 1550-1070 BCE
- 3rd Intermediate Period: 1070-712 BCE
- Saite and Late Periods: 712-332 BCE
- Greco-Roman Period: 332 BCE-642 CE
- Coptic Period: 395-642 CE
- Islamic Period and Modern Times: 642 CE-Today
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- Neolithic Period: 4500-3000 BCE
- Early Dynastic: 3000-2650 BCE
- Old Kingdom: 2650-2150 BCE
- 1st Intermediate Period: 2150-2040 BCE
- Middle Kingdom: 2040-1640 BCE
- 2nd Intermediate Period: 1640-1550 BCE
- New Kingdom: 1550-1070 BCE
- 3rd Intermediate Period: 1070-712 BCE
- Saite and Late Periods: 712-332 BCE
- Greco-Roman Period: 332 BCE-642 CE
- Coptic Period: 395-642 CE
- Islamic Period and Modern Times: 642 CE-Today
The First Intermediate Period
2150 BCE – 2040 BCE
After a time, the strain of pyramid building on even a healthy economy like Egypt’s may have simply been too much for the country to bear.
A drought in central Africa led to famine and starvation in Egypt. Because the ancient Egyptians relied on the pharaoh to solve their problems, people lost faith in the kingship.
The pharaoh lost control of the country and regional governors turned their districts into city-states that warred with each other for food and other necessities. Eventually the rulers at Thebes rose up and conquered their rivals at Herakleopolis (about 60 miles south of Memphis).
