14 W. J. Perry — Cultural Significance of the use of Stone 



stone was being used for pyramids, during the Third and 

 Fourth Dynasties, the kings of Egypt seem to have enjoyed 

 undisputed power. The king's eldest son, the heir to the 

 throne, acted as his vizier, and carried on the administration 

 of the State. The governors of the provinces were chosen 

 by the king. In this period the king was able to concentrate 

 on the making of a vast tomb in which he should lie after 

 death, a very ignoble aim, which shows what human beings 

 will do when they have the chance. But, at the beginning of 

 the Fifth Dynasty a change comes over the scene, and a 

 gradual decline sets in that is like that which followed the 

 arrival of the use of bronze in Western Europe. The Fifth 

 Dynasty marks the coming to power of a new line of kings, 

 calling themselves the Children of the Sun. These kings did 

 not have the same power as their predecessors. They were 

 forced, for some reason or other, to have for their viziers men 

 whose names suggest that they were connected with the old 

 regime. And from the beginning of the Fifth Dynasty till 

 the end of the Sixth Dynasty, the office of vizier, formerly in 

 the hands of the royal family, was filled by men of some other 

 family. At the beginning of the Fifth Dynasty the governors 

 of the provinces managed to secure power for themselves, and 

 to make hereditary the succession to their offices. The kings 

 of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties were therefore faced with 

 the necessity of keeping in order their vizier and their nobles : 

 their power was not so undisputed as it was in the Third and 

 Fourth Dynasties. Consequently the king was not able to 

 command the labour necessary for the construction of immense 

 pyramids. The nobles had to be placated and kept in order, 

 if possible, and this absorbed much of the energies of the king. 

 So the pyramids degenerated in size. 



At the end of the Sixth Dynasty the ruling power collapsed, 

 and the country was given over to anarchy and foreign inva- 

 sion. So when the next dynasty that is known, the Eleventh 

 Dynasty, appears in the light of history, the tombs are once 

 again of brick. The old times when the king had complete 

 control of the country never returned, and immense stone 

 pyramids like those of the Third and Fourth Dynasties were 

 never again made. 



In Egypt, therefore, the use of stone is definitely dependent 

 upon the conditions of the country. It is not a matter of 

 caprice or of convenience. Evidently the idea to use stone 

 only came when men were led, so to speak, right up to it. 

 The steps by which the idea germinated can be watched, and 

 thev form a natural sequence in the circumstances. If, there- 



