Pepi II: The Pharaoh With One of History's Longest Reigns

Pepi II was a king of Egypt’s Sixth Dynasty who, according to ancient tradition, came to the throne as a child and ruled for more than 90 years, from about 2278 to 2184 BC. If the figure is right, his reign is among the longest of any monarch in recorded history. It is remembered for a charming letter he sent as a boy to the explorer Harkhuf, and for the decline of royal power that followed it.

Background: a child king

Pepi II was a son of Pepi I and Queen Ankhesenpepi II. He succeeded Merenre, usually thought to be his elder half-brother, who died young. Manetho, an Egyptian priest who wrote a history of Egypt in Greek in the 3rd century BC, says Pepi II became king at six years old.

His mother almost certainly acted as regent in the early years. Her brother Djau served as vizier, the highest official of the state. A well-known alabaster statue in the Brooklyn Museum shows Ankhesenpepi II holding the young king, dressed in royal regalia, on her lap.

How long did he reign?

Manetho credits Pepi II with 94 years, and the Turin King List, compiled in the 13th century BC, gives a figure in the 90s. On this basis many chronologies place his reign at about 2278-2184 BC.

Contemporary evidence is thinner. Years in this period were counted by the “cattle count”, often held every two years. The highest securely attested dates for Pepi II fall around the 31st count, which would correspond to roughly year 61 or 62. Some scholars therefore suggest a reign of around 64 years, still very long. The question remains open.

Harkhuf and the dancing dwarf

Harkhuf was a governor of Elephantine at Egypt’s southern border, near modern Aswan. He led four trading expeditions south to the land of Yam, somewhere in Nubia or beyond, bringing back incense, ebony, ivory, leopard skins and other goods. The exact location of Yam is debated; some scholars place it in the region of Kerma in modern Sudan.

On his fourth journey Harkhuf sent word that he was bringing back a dwarf, or possibly a pygmy, who could perform the “dances of the god”. The young king replied in year 2 of his reign with an excited letter. He told Harkhuf to come north at once, to have trusted men sleep beside the dwarf on the boat and to check on him repeatedly at night, and promised a greater reward than any official had received before.

Harkhuf had the letter carved on the façade of his rock tomb at Qubbet el-Hawa, near Aswan, where it can still be read. It is one of the very few ancient Egyptian texts that seems to show a royal personality, here a child delighted by a promised marvel.

Rule, monuments and court

Pepi II’s monuments include a pyramid at South Saqqara, originally about 52 metres high, with the Pyramid Texts carved inside. Around it lay smaller pyramids for his queens Neith, Iput II and Wedjebten, which also contained the texts.

Expeditions continued to Sinai for turquoise and copper, as the rock inscription at Wadi Maghara shows, and to Nubia and Byblos. Decrees from his reign exempt temple estates, such as those at Coptos, from taxes and forced labour. Such grants were normal, but over time they reduced the resources at the crown’s direct disposal.

Decline of the Old Kingdom

Provincial governors, called nomarchs, became more powerful during the Sixth Dynasty. Many held their posts by inheritance, built large tombs in their home provinces rather than near the king, and controlled local wealth and men.

Pepi II was succeeded by a short-lived king, Merenre II, and within a few decades the Old Kingdom had fragmented into the First Intermediate Period. Historians link this to the shift of power to the provinces, a possible succession crisis after a reign that outlived many heirs, and perhaps a period of low Nile floods. How much weight each factor deserves is still debated.

Later Egyptian tradition, reported by Herodotus and Manetho, named a queen called Nitocris among the last rulers of the dynasty. Her historical existence is doubtful, and many Egyptologists think the name may come from a misread king list.

Timeline

• c. 2278 BC: Pepi II becomes king as a child, after the death of Merenre.
• Year 2 of the reign: Pepi II writes to Harkhuf about the dancing dwarf from Yam.
• Early reign: Ankhesenpepi II and her brother, the vizier Djau, guide the government.
• Mid reign: Expeditions reach Sinai, Nubia and Byblos; the king’s pyramid is built at South Saqqara.
• c. 2184 BC: Pepi II dies, on the traditional chronology.
• c. 2181 BC: The Old Kingdom ends and the First Intermediate Period begins.

Why it matters

Pepi II’s reign marks the last high point of the Old Kingdom before its collapse. Harkhuf’s letter gives a rare personal glimpse of a pharaoh, and the debate about the length of the reign shows how carefully historians must weigh ancient king lists against contemporary evidence.