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Old kingdom Egypt
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Old Kingdom The most important development of all in the Fifth Dynasty was the growth of the power of provincial nobles. Whether as a deliberate royal policy or as the result of a weakening center, many administrative posts became hereditary and their holders began to live on estates in the provinces they administered. This led to a gradual but inexorable decline in the authority of the kings. Now that they lived in the provinces, the nobles also built their tombs there. Many were of great opulence and on a scale that would not have been acceptable in earlier times. The achievements of each official were proclaimed in an autobiography carved on the wall of the tomb, a justification of his right to enjoy offerings from others for eternity. As the owners could no longer rely on their links with the kings for an afterlife, a new philosophy began to emerge which focused on the relationship of the deceased with Osiris, the god of the Underworld. The dead man would no longer be judged on his relationship with the king but on his own merits. This would become the dominant belief of the following centuries. A number of factors may have been important in bringing a collapse in central authority in the Sixth Dynasty, about 2180 BCE. Rainfall had been diminishing in northern Africa, and it may have been that the Nile floods were lower.
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