kingdom · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan

Eighth Dynasty of Egypt

2181 BCE – 2160 BCE (approx.) · capital Memphis

The last Memphite kings after the collapse of the Old Kingdom, a dynasty of many brief reigns at the start of the First Intermediate Period.

Origins

After the long reign of Pepi II and the end of the Sixth Dynasty, a line of kings at Memphis claimed to continue the Old Kingdom of Egypt around 2181 BCE. Manetho's Seventh Dynasty, of 'seventy kings in seventy days', is now usually regarded as fictitious, and its kings are counted with the Eighth.

Rule and society

The Abydos king list names around a dozen or more rulers in roughly twenty years, most known only by name. Qakare Ibi built a small pyramid at Saqqara inscribed with Pyramid Texts, and decrees of Neferkauhor found at Coptos show royal favour granted to a powerful local family. Real power was passing to provincial governors, and Nile floods appear to have been low.

Decline and legacy

Around 2160 BCE the Memphite line was displaced by rulers from Herakleopolis, who founded the Herakleopolitan Kingdom. Its brief, obscure history marks the end of Old Kingdom unity and the beginning of the First Intermediate Period.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Old Kingdom of Egypt 2686 BCE – 2181 BCEEighth Dynasty of EgyptHerakleopolitan Kingdom 2160 BCE – 2025 BCE

More states of Egypt, North Africa and Sudan →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Eighth Dynasty of Egypt. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eighth-dynasty-of-egypt
MLA
“Eighth Dynasty of Egypt.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eighth-dynasty-of-egypt. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Eighth Dynasty of Egypt.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eighth-dynasty-of-egypt.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Eighth Dynasty of Egypt’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eighth-dynasty-of-egypt (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻