Assassination, betrayal and the reaction of Pepy I

This thesis examines the alleged assassination of Teti, and the subsequent succession of Weserkare followed by Pepy I. The apparent murder of his father and usurpation of the throne by Weserkare tempered the interaction between Pepy I and his officials. He altered the policy of government in the provinces, often dividing the high titles between a number of individuals. He attempted to create loyalty within the ranks of his officials by marrying into high ranking families, marrying his own relatives into others and educating the sons of provincial officials in the capital. where they also initially served in low ranking positions. Many of thee were also policies of his father Teti. Despite this, Pepy I appears to have trusted very few, with a number of provincial officials also serving from the capital. This mistrust was well placed as he was the subject of an unsuccessful plot himself, one involving his nephew and vizier Rawer. While there were a great number of intriguing problems in the early Sixth Dynasty, it does not appear that there was a process of decentralisation occurring which would contribute to the fall of the Old Kingdom.