Cartouche of Pepi I, Tanis, Egypt

Cartouche of Pepi I

Tanis, Egypt

Pepi I ruled Egypt about 1,300 years before one of his successors moved this block to Tanis. This block contains his titulary. From top to bottom, it reads:

  1. [nsw-bi].tj mrj ra (King of Upper and Lower Egypt, beloved of Re)
  2. nb.tj mrj X.t (The Two Ladies, beloved of body)
  3. bik.w nbw(.w) (The golden falcons)
  4. sA Hw.t-Hr nb.t iwn.t ppi (Son of Hathor the Lady of Dendera, Pepi)

The Two Ladies are Wadjet, the cobra goddess of Lower Egypt, and Nekhbet, the vulture goddess of Upper Egypt.

Pepi I was a strong pharaoh, sending armies into Nubia and trade expeditions into Somalia and Lebanon. In spite of this, his reign (2332 – 2283 BC) saw the beginning of the decline of the Old Kingdom, with devolution of royal power to regional nobles and the priesthood. In particular, the Kneeling Statuette of Pepi I in the Brooklyn Museum was the first ever in Egypt to represent Pharaoh as a mortal instead of a god.