Seventh and Eighth Dynasties of Egypt

The Seventh and Eighth Dynasties of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasties VII and VIII) are often combined together and regroup a line of poorly known short-lived pharaohs reigning in the early 22nd century BC, a troubled time referred to as the very end of the Old Kingdom or the beginning of the First Intermediate Period, depending on the scholar.

The Dynasties VII and VIII ruled Egypt for approximately 20–45 years and various dates have been proposed: 2181–2160 BC, 2191–2145 BC, 2150–2118 BC.

The power of the pharaohs of the 7th/8th Dynasties was waning while that of the provincial governors, known as nomarchs, was on the rise. Eventually the nomarchs of Heracleopolis Magna overthrew the 8th Dynasty and founded the 9th Dynasty.

The Egyptian priest Manetho wrote an history of Egypt during the 3rd century BC known as the Aegyptiaca. Manetho's work has not survived to this day and is only known to us via three later writers who quoted from it. Unfortunately, these three sources are exceedingly difficult to work with. For example, they often contradict each other, as is the case for the two ancient historians — Sextus Julius Africanus and Eusebius of Caesarea — who quote from the section of the Aegyptiaca regarding the 7th and 8th Dynasties. Africanus claims that Dynasty VII consisted of 70 kings that ruled during a period of seventy days in Memphis, and Dynasty VIII consisted of 27 kings who reigned for 146 years. However, Eusebius records that during Dynasty VII five kings ruled over seventy five days, and Dynasty VIII includes five kings who ruled for 100 years. Seventy kings in seventy days is usually considered the correct version of Manetho, but obviously not the actual correct dates. This epithet is interpreted to mean that the pharaohs of this period were extremely ephemeral, and the use of seventy may be a pun on fact that this was Manetho's seventh dynasty. Because Manetho does not provide actual historical data on this period, many argue that the seventh dynasty is fictitious.

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