Egypt's story: Djoser, founder of the Old Kingdom

Kwack Min-soo

The author is the director of the Korea Institute of Egyptology and adjunct professor at Hanyang University. 

Following Khasekhemwy, the ruler credited with reunifying Egypt after the divisions of the Early Dynastic Period, the throne passed to Djoser, who is generally believed to have reigned from 2667 to 2648 B.C. It was during his rule that Egypt appears to have achieved a high degree of political centralization. As a result, historians regard the beginning of his reign as the start of the Old Kingdom, the first of the three great eras of Egyptian civilization, followed by the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom. These were periods when a unified Egypt reached the height of its political power and administrative sophistication.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Djoser may have been the son of Khasekhemwy, although the exact process by which he inherited the throne remains uncertain. Reconstructing the chronology of the early Third Dynasty is difficult because surviving records are scarce and often contradictory. Even so, most scholars identify Djoser as the dynasty's first pharaoh and the founder of the Old Kingdom.

One intriguing detail is that "Djoser" does not appear in contemporary inscriptions. Instead, the king is identified as Netjerikhet, meaning "divine body." "Djoser," which can be interpreted as "the noble one," was likely an epithet bestowed upon him long after his lifetime.

The conclusion that Djoser and Netjerikhet were the same individual comes from the "Famine Stela" on Sehel Island near Aswan. The stone inscription recounts a 7-year famine during Djoser's reign and describes how the crisis was resolved. Modern scholarship, however, generally dates the monument not to Djoser's lifetime but to around the second century B.C. As a result, historians consider the account unlikely to be a factual record of events.

However, the stela remains historically significant. It demonstrates that Djoser's name was still remembered some 2,500 years after his death. His enduring reputation is also reflected in the Turin King List, compiled during the New Kingdom. While the names of most kings were written in black ink, Djoser's alone was recorded in red, suggesting that later Egyptians regarded him as an exceptional ruler.

Djoser was remembered not simply as another pharaoh but as the figure who symbolized the beginning of a unified Egyptian state and the Old Kingdom. His reign also marked the emergence of a development that would permanently transform Egyptian history: the construction of pyramids, which began during his era and became the defining monument of ancient Egyptian civilization.