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Artistic reconstructionScene 1 of 8

Artistic reconstruction of Memphis at dusk — not a historical image.

When the Centre Broke · c. 2160 – 2055 BCE

When the Centre Broke

Narration

Egypt did not fall in a single night. Fields were still sown, the dead still buried, the Nile still rose. But the king at Memphis no longer held everything. In this chapter we hear new voices: provincial governors, rival kings, and writers who would later look back on this time.

What the evidence says

Certainty: Probable

The First Intermediate Period is dated c. 2160–2055 BCE and spans the Ninth Dynasty to the middle of the Eleventh.

Scholarly note: Some scholars place the Seventh and Eighth Dynasties at the start of this period; Shaw places them at the end of the Old Kingdom.

  • Ian Shaw (ed.) (2000) “The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt” Oxford University Press, Chronology; S. Seidlmayer, “The First Intermediate Period”

Editorial status: Published — Editorial draft built from the cited sources, awaiting review by a specialist in the First Intermediate Period. (Last reviewed: 2026-11-13)

When the Centre Broke · KEMET