Fragment of the Palermo Stone which documents the arrival of forty ships loaded with timber imported from another country during the reign of Sneferu - Petrie Museum, London

The fourth dynasty of Ancient Egypt is characterized as a golden age of the Old Kingdom. The Palermo Stone is a large fragment of a stela called the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now The term Golden age is best known from Greek mythology and legend but can also be found in other ancient cultures (see below The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement The fourth dynasty lasted from from ca. 2575 to 2467 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with other countries is documented.

The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth dynasties are often combined under the group title, the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, which often is described as the age of the pyramids. The capital at that time was Memphis. Memphis was the ancient capitol of the first nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 2200 BC and

Rulers

The pharaohs of the fourth dynasty include rulers who are best known for constructing pyramids, perhaps the hallmark which distinguishes the ancient culture of Egypt. Pharaoh is the title given in modern parlance to the ancient Egyptian kings of all periods A pyramid is a Building where the upper surfaces are triangular and converge on one point A hallmark is a mark or series of marks struck on items made of precious metals &mdash Platinum, Gold, Silver and in some nations Palladium All of the rulers of this dynasty commissioned at least one pyramid to serve as a tomb or cenotaph. For the New York prison see The Tombs. A Tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. A cenotaph is a tomb or a Monument erected in honour of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere A number of them (eg. Sneferu, Djedefra, Khafre) took their own sisters to wife.

Sneferu

Sneferu, the dynasty's founder, was believed to have commissioned three pyramids, and some believe he was responsible for a fourth. Sneferu, also spelled as Snefru or Snofru (in Greek known as Soris) was the founder of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt, reigning Although Khufu, his successor and son by Hetepheres I, erected the Great Pyramid of Giza. Khufu (in Greek known as Χέωψ Cheops; ˈkiɑps was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt 's Old Kingdom. Queen Hetepheres I was the sister and wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Snefru, and mother of Khufu, and is thought to have been the daughter of The Great Pyramid of Giza, also called Khufu's Pyramid or the Pyramid of Khufu, and Pyramid of Cheops, is the oldest and largest of the three Sneferu had more stone and brick moved than any other pharaoh.

Surviving from this era are the earliest-known records of Egyptian contact with her neighbors. They are recorded on the Palermo stone. The Palermo Stone is a large fragment of a stela called the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. Information carved on the stone predates and antedates this dynasty. Although some portions of the stone are lost, one remaining portion contains notations about the arrival of forty ships laden with timber from an unnamed foreign land purchased during the reign of Sneferu. Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or

Khufu, Djedefra, Khafra, and Menkaura

Statue of Menkaura, flanked by Hathor and Bat to lend authority to the rule of the pharaoh

The names of Khufu and Djedefra were inscribed in gneiss quarries in the Western Desert 65 km. Menkaura (or Men-Kau-Re Mycerinus in Latin; Mykerinos in Greek) was a Pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt (c In Egyptian mythology, Hathor (Pronounced Hah-Thor ( Egyptian for house of Horus) was originally a personification of the Milky Way In early Egyptian mythology, Bat was the Deification of the Cosmos and the Milky Way. Khufu (in Greek known as Χέωψ Cheops; ˈkiɑps was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt 's Old Kingdom. Gneiss (ˈnaɪs is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from preexisting formations that were originally to the northwest of Abu Simbel; objects dated to the reigns of Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura have been uncovered at Byblos. Abu Simbel ( أبو سنبل or ar '''أبو سمبل''' is an Archaeological site comprising two massive rock Temples in southern Egypt Byblos ( Βύβλος) is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal (earlier Gubla) Objects dating to the reign of Khafra have been found even farther away, at Ebla, where there is evidence of diplomatic gifts or trade also. Ebla ( Arabic: عبيل، إيبلا modern Tell Mardikh, Syria) was an ancient city about 55 km southwest of Aleppo.

Khufu is the ruler who is known in Greek as Cheops. Khufu (in Greek known as Χέωψ Cheops; ˈkiɑps was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt 's Old Kingdom. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly His son is, Khafra (Greek Chephren), and his grandson, Menkaura (Greek Mycerinus). Khafre also refers to a block cipher Khafra or Khafre ( Greek Χεφρήν, Chephren) Menkaura (or Men-Kau-Re Mycerinus in Latin; Mykerinos in Greek) was a Pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt (c All of these rulers achieved lasting fame in the construction of their pyramids at Giza. The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt.

Organizing and feeding the workforce needed to create these pyramids required a centralized government with extensive powers, and Egyptologists believe that at this time the Old Kingdom demonstrated this level of sophistication and the long period of prosperity required to accomplish such projects. In fact, recent excavations outside the Wall of the Crow by Dr. Mark Lehner have uncovered a large city which seems to have housed, fed, and supplied the pyramid workers. Mark Lehner, PhD is an American archaeologist with more than thirty years of experience excavating in Egypt.

Although it was once believed that slaves built these monuments—a bias based on the biblical Exodus story—study of the tombs of the workers who oversaw construction on the pyramids, has shown that they were built by a corvée of peasants drawn from across Egypt. Pharaoh is the title given in modern parlance to the ancient Egyptian kings of all periods Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now The Predynastic Period of Egypt (prior to 3100 BC is traditionally the period between the Early Neolithic and the beginning of the Pharaonic monarchy beginning with King The Protodynastic Period of Egypt (generally dated 3200 BC - 3000 BC) refers to the period of time at the very end of the Predynastic Period. The Archaic or Early Dynastic Period of Egypt immediately follows the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt c The first dynasty of Ancient Egypt is often combined with the second dynasty under the group title Early Dynastic Period of Egypt. The Second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt is often combined with the First dynasty under the group title Early Dynastic Period of Egypt. The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement Third Dynasty The Third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. The Third Fourth Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Old Kingdom. The Third Fourth Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the title " Old Kingdom " The First Intermediate Period is the name conventionally given by Egyptologists to that period in Ancient Egyptian history between the end of the Old The Seventh, Eighth, Ninth Tenth and Eleventh (Thebes only Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title First Intermediate Period The Seventh, Eighth, Ninth Tenth and Eleventh (Thebes only Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title First Intermediate Period The Seventh Eighth Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh (Thebes only Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title First Intermediate Period. The Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth and Eleventh (Thebes only Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title First Intermediate Period. The Eleventh dynasty of Ancient Egypt was one group of rulers whose earlier members are grouped with the four preceding dynasties to form the First Intermediate Period Thebes ( Thēbai) was a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean on the east bank of the river Nile ( The Middle Kingdom is the period in the history of Ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty The Eleventh dynasty of Ancient Egypt was one group of rulers whose earlier members are grouped with the four preceding dynasties to form the First Intermediate Period This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. The Eleventh (all of Egypt Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Middle Kingdom. The Thirteenth Dynasty is one of the groupings of Pharaohs or rulers of Ancient Egypt. The Eleventh (all of Egypt Twelfth Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Middle Kingdom, though this dynasty The Second Intermediate Period marks a period when Ancient Egypt once again fell into disarray between the end of the Middle Kingdom, and the start of the New The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Second Intermediate Period. The Fifteenth Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Second Intermediate Period. The Fifteenth Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Second Intermediate Period. The New Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in Ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and "Amarna period" redirects here For information on Amarna see Amarna The Eighteenth Dynasty (1550-1292 BC is perhaps the best known of The Eighteenth Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title New Kingdom. The Eighteenth Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title New Kingdom. The Third Intermediate Period refers to the time in Ancient Egypt from the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1070 BC to the foundation of the The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second Twenty-Third Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Third Intermediate The Twenty-First Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Third Intermediate The Twenty-third Dynasty of ancient Egypt was a separate regime of Meshwesh Libyan kings, who ruled Ancient Egypt. The Twenty-First Twenty-Second Twenty-Third Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Third Intermediate The twenty-first twenty-second twenty-third twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth dynasties of Ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Third Intermediate The Saite or Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest (although others followed and had its capital at The Late Period of Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian The Twenty-Eighth Dynasty is often combined with other groupings of rulers of Ancient Egypt under the title Late Period. Nepherites I founded the Twenty-ninth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (according to an account preserved in a Papyrus in the Brooklyn Museum) by The Thirtieth Dynasty of ancient Egypt followed Nectanebo I 's deposition of Nefaarud II, the son of Hakor. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' The Ptolemaic dynasty (sometimes also known as the Lagids, from the name of Ptolemy I's father Lagus) was a Hellenistic Macedonian royal family Ægyptus redirects here See Egypt Province for the province of the Ottoman Empire At the commencement of the Muslim conquest of Egypt Egypt was part of the Byzantine Empire with its capital in Constantinople. Exodus ( Greek: έξοδος eksodos = "departure" is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. Corvée is labour often but not always unpaid that persons in power have authority to compel their subjects to perform unless commuted in some way such as by a cash payment sometimes this was A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground Apparently, they worked during idle periods, while the annual Nile flood covered their fields, along with a very large crew of specialists including stone cutters, painters, mathematicians, and priests. The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River Some records indicate that each household was responsible for providing a worker for civic projects and the wealthy could hire others to take their places. Civic duties were not necessarily building projects, there were duties for the temples, libraries, and festivals as well, and both men and women filled some of the positions.

These pyramids suggest that Egypt enjoyed unparalleled prosperity during the fourth dynasty. The later bias of Herodotus (Histories, 2. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 124-133) has helped instill the idea that the pyramids survived as a reminder to the inhabitants of the forced labor that created them, however, although there was a tradition of the negative memory of Khufu presented in Papyrus Westcar, these kings were not tyrannized. Westcar Papyrus (P Berlin 3033 is a fragmentary ancient Egyptian text containing a cycle of five stories about marvels performed by priests In fact, the very same Papyrus Westcar presents Snefru in a very benevolent light—even though he moved more stone to construct his pyramids than Khufu. This demonstrates that these pharaohs may have been remembered for their own individual reigns and personalities, rather than the sheer size of the monuments they built-monuments which in all probability, were built by a "willing" public.

Khentykawes I

Perhaps most intriguing is the status of Khentykawes I, whose tomb was built along the Menkaura causeway.

Menkaura and Khentykawes I

Khentykawes was the wife and royal queen of Menkaura and may have been the mother of Shepseskaf, first king of the fifth dynasty. She also may have ruled as pharaoh.

Her tomb is a large mastaba tomb, with another off-center mastaba placed above it. A mastaba was a flat-roofed rectangular building with outward sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians of Egypt's ancient period. The second mastaba could not be centered because of the free, unsupported, space in the rooms below, in her primary mastaba.

On a granite doorway leading into her tomb, Khentykawes is given titles which may be read either as mother of two kings of upper and lower Egypt or, as mother of the king of upper and lower Egypt and, king of upper and lower Egypt.

Map of Giza pyramid complex showing the large mastaba tomb of Khentykawes on the right above the lower causeway

Furthermore, her depiction on this doorway also gives the her the full trappings of royalty, including the false beard of the pharaoh. Pharaoh is the title given in modern parlance to the ancient Egyptian kings of all periods This depiction and the title given have led some Egyptologists to suggest that she reigned as pharaoh near the end of the fourth dynasty.

Her tomb was finished by her son, Shepseskaf, in the characteristic niche architecture for which he is known. However, the niches were later filled in with a smooth casing of limestone.

Shepseskaf and Djedefptah

The next recorded pharaoh is Shepseskaf, son to Khentykawes I and Menkaura. Shepseskaf was a son of Menkaure who succeeded his father on the throne His reign was short, but he completed the projects of his father and mother and established an architectural style of his own.

Djedefptah is a shadowy figure ascribed a reign of varying years, whose existence is questionable. Djedefptah is a shadowy figure whose existence is questionable Shepseskaf is usually considered to be the last pharaoh of the fourth dynasty. The ancient Egyptian historian, Manetho, however, lists a Tamphthis (which may be a corrupted form of Ptah-djedef) in this position, and the Turin Royal Canon, another resource about rulers, has an unnamed pharaoh listed who ruled for about two years after Shepseskaf. Manetho (or Manethon) was an Egyptian Historian and Priest from Sebennytos ( Ancient Egyptian: Tjebnutjer) who The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon is an Hieratic Papyrus thought to date from thereign of Ramesses II, now in the Museo This ruler may be Djedefptah.

To date, it is unclear how this dynasty came to an end. Our only clue is that a number of fourth dynasty administrators are attested as remaining in office in the fifth dynasty under Userkaf. The Third Fourth Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Old Kingdom. Userkaf was the founder of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt and the first Pharaoh to start the tradition of building sun temples at Abusir.

Fourth Dynasty timeline

See also

• Egyptian Fourth Dynasty Family Tree