EnvironmentNorth Africa

The Old Kingdom falls

2,182 BCE

The Nile fails, and the Egypt of the pyramids comes apart

In depth

Sediment cores from the Nile delta and the Mediterranean show a marked drought around 2200 BCE, the same that felled Akkad in Mesopotamia and struck the Indus valley. Egyptian lament texts from the period describe social collapse in terms still unsettling to read. The realm was rebuilt after a couple of centuries, but with a wholly changed idea of the king's infallibility.

For children

For several decades the Nile flood failed to come as it should. The granaries emptied and people starved. The king was held responsible for the flood — so when it failed, faith in him failed too, and the realm came apart.

Connects to

The pyramids of Giza2,561 BCE
Akkad — the first empire2,335 BCE – 2,155 BCE
Farming along the Nile5,001 BCE

Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org