The Causes of the Emergence of Provincial Elites with Inscribed Monuments in the Late Old Kingdom: Case Studies and Methodology

The causes and processes that have led to the sudden rise of the provincial elites who had the wherewithal to commission inscribed monuments, especially from the end of the Fifth Dynasty ( c .2350 BCE ), remain poorly understood. This paper aims to highlight some of the main factors involved in this process, using specific case studies and a global and comparative approach. The results indicate greater levels of complexity than previously thought, and that no single, concurrent cause applied in all provinces. The paper also discusses methodological issues about how to reconstruct a causal system for the emergence and enrichment of provincial elites and, in particular, the need to study this process diachronically to achieve deeper insights into its mechanisms.