ABSTRACT
DURING the Fourth Dynasty, that is to say the earlier part of the period known as the Old Kingdom, a period of about 400 years-2900 B.C. to 2475 B.C., according to the usually accepted dating -the power of the Pharaoh was absolute; the government of the country was entirely vested in him, even the office of vizier being held by his eldest son. Under the kings of the Fifth Dynasty this absolutism of the Pharaoh underwent some modification. A new family, probably assisted by other noble families, attained the kingly power, and one of the resulting changes was that the office of vizier was no longer the perquisite of the crown prince. but was bestowed upon a distinguished subject .. Breasted has suggested that some sort of bargain was made between the heads of the two most influential families in Egypt, by which the one received the crown and the other the viziership.
