Teti

King c.2345-2333 BC.

    The Fifth and Sixth Dynasties are separated by events which remain obscure, but the transfer of power to Teti, the first king of the Sixth Dynasty, does not appear to have involved a major upheaval or conflict. Indeed, the titles borne by his chief queen, Iput, indicate that she carried the royal line from one dynastic family to the next, and it is probable that she was a daughter of *Unas, the last king of the Fifth Dynasty.

    Little further evidence remains of Teti's reign, although foreign contacts were obviously continued with *Byblos, Syria and *Nubia. The country was stable and affluent and the courtiers continued to build fine tombs around the king's pyramid at Saqqara; one particularly impressive tomb belonged to the vizier Mereruka, who was also the king's son-in-law.

    Teti's pyramid was conventional in style; on the inside walls the inscriptions provide a selection of magico-religious texts ('The Pyramid Texts'), which were intended to ensure the king's safe passage into the next world and his acceptance there by the gods. Nearby, he built a pyramid for two of his queens, Iput and Khuit.

    According to *Manetho, Teti was murdered by his bodyguard, although there is no historical corroboration of this statement. He was briefly succeeded by a king named Userkare, and then by *Pepy I, his son by Queen Iput.

BIBL. Firth, C.M. and Gunn, B. The Teti Pyramid Cemeteries. (two vols) Cairo: 1926.

Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Egypt by Rosalie and Antony E. David

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(reigned c. 2345–321 BC)

   Founder of Dynasty 6 and son of Queen Mother Sesheseshet. His origin is unknown, and it is not clear how he came to power. He had a long and apparently successful reign. He was buried in a pyramid tomb at Saqqara, which was opened in 1882. Nearby were the tombs of his queens, Iput I, Khuit, and Khentet, whose complete name is lost. The area surrounding his pyramid was excavated by the Egyptian Antiquities Service under Victor Loret in 1893 and from 1897–1899, James Quibell from 1905–1907, and Cecil Firth from 1920–1922. It was also examined during the 1950s and 1960s by a French team, and the Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass has been working there since 1993.

   See also Pepy I.

Historical Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt by Morris L. Bierbrier