Pepi I.
Egyptologists supposed for a long time that the 6th dynasty was the beginning of the First Intermediate Period, the decline period, which lasted till re-unification of the Upper and Lower Egypt under Mentuhotep II. rule around the year 2,060 BC. Actually rules of eminent Pharaoh of the 6th dynasty (Teti, Pepi I. and Pepi II.) still belong to the Old Kingdom period, because Egypt further expanded at that time.
Tumultuous beginning of Pepi I. rule seemed to adumbrate other frequent turns that happened under his rule. Pepi I. came to the throne still as a youth. As a Horus name he chose "He whom both Lands love", that indicates an effort of soothing the situation. So we can suppose that the riots stopped then.
Builder Pepi I.
As well as all significant Pharaohs of the Old Kingdom Pepi I. did large structural works in sanctuaries in Dendera, Abydos and Elephantine. He strengthened Egyptian control over the Sinai Peninsula and he brought his army all the way to south Syria. He continued with the minig in Sinai and he opened quarries in Nubia, where stone was mined for building of his pyramid in southern Saqqara. He also did structural works with the support of his loyal secretary Weni in Tell Basta (Lower Egypt).
Weni served the first three Pharaoh of the 6th dynasty. Curriculum Vitae of this man, whose existence was proved, is and example of Pharaoh's officer carreer. He left the state administration and joined the army, then he was nominated for a head of all royal structural works and by virtue of this position he managed the mining in royal quarries and excavation of a canal at the first cataract.
Pepi I. married two daughters of magnate Khui from Abydos. One of Khui's sons became a vizier of Pepi II. The first son of Pepi I. Merenre ruled only for a short period after his father. Then came Pepi II. to the throne at the age of 6. According to the royal chronologies, the new ruler ruled for more than ninety years, it would mean the longest rule in Egyptian history ever! But too long rule resulted in troubled First Intermediate period.
New cospiracy of the court
Pepi I. wasn't spared of intrigues in his surroundings. The proof of it is a text found in chantry chapel sacred to Weni in Abydos. As usual in Egypt Pepi as a loyal dignitary let inscribed his autobiography into its walls. It especially tells about a conspiracy in the palace that was plotted against the king in harem. The consequence of the conspiracy was banishing guilty wife and son, who was its cause:
"A secret trial took place with the queen Weret-yamtes in royal harem. (...) Nobody in my position has heard the secret of royal harem yet, but His Majesty wanted me to hear it, because in His Majesty's opinion I was more capable than all his judges, dignitaries and servants."
The conspiracy occured in the twenty-first year of Pepi I. rule. The Pharaoh subsequently married two daughters of the magnate Khui from Abydos briefly before. Both women get the name Ankhesenpepi at the wedding and both gave birth to several children of the Pharaoh. The first wife became mother of prince Merenre and princess Neith. Neith married her half-brother Pepi II., who was son of Pepi I and Ankhesenpepi II. The conspiracy might be related just with this wedding.
