The ancient Egyptians are considered among many to be the civilization upon which much of the western world's views and attitudes are based. From religion, to architecture, and art have been handed down generation to generation and improved along the way. Many of the ancient Egyptian traditions have been modified or altered, the majority of their core principles remain constant. Despite the Egyptians conservative nature, there were some changes within the infrastructure of their society. Throughout the ages known as the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom modifications of Egyptian life were subtle and noticeable.
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Old Kingdom.
The Old Kingdom began in the year 2700 and ended 2200 B.C.E.,The pharaohs, or kings, of this time include the third through the sixth dynasty, beginning with Djoser and ending with Pepi II. Few documents of the Old Kingdom survive so historians rely on surviving funerary text from the tombs of the Pharaoh in order to reconstruct the achievement of the particular individuals. Writing became more popular in the old kingdom, the writings come on papyrus, produced by hammering, drying and processing river reeds. Papyrus is fragile and decays easily so it was hard to keep record of most ancient artifacts.
One of the greatest ancient architectures of the Old Kingdom was the step pyramid designed by Imhotep also the prime minister to Djoser the Pharaoh of the Third Dynasty. Imhotep embraced medicine, astronomy, theology and mathematics; but above all he was an architect. Earlier Pharaohs had already built enormous burial arrangements and it was Imhotep who designed the Step Pyramid, the first building in history made entirely of dressed stone. Built west of the administrative capital of Memphis, the Step Pyramid towers over the desert to a height of two hundred feet. Its design was based on the older form of burial monument, the mastaba, a low rectangular structure built of brick with a flat top and sloping sides.
