After going through this week’s material, I think that the most interesting things were the shifts and changes in power that came about during the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period. Whereas during the Old Kingdom we had pharaohs with an almost god-like status, we now see authority shifted away from the pharaohs. I think the fact that during the 13th dynasty, when we see a high amount of turnover as far as pharaohs are concerned, but little turnover among viziers and little internal conflict, illustrates the diminishing importance of the pharaohs during the Middle Kingdom. The decreasing importance of the pharaohs can also be seen in that there are fewer pyramids from this era and the ones that we do see are far less opulent and far diminished in their quality and size compared to those made during the Old Kingdom. When I take this into account along with the fact the Middle Kingdom era pyramids are known for their portcullises and false passages (designed to deter grave robbing), it really seems  obvious that the power of the pharaohs is waning. During the Old Kingdom, it seems like it would have been unthinkable for someone to commit grave-robbery of a pharaoh’s tomb. The fact that during the Middle Kingdom measures such as portcullises and false passages had to be taken really illustrates how the position of royal had changed. (Although, I think that it is important to note that the pharaohs were merely no longer viewed as the demigods that they were considered to be in earlier times.
During this time period, we also see changes in the status of members of Egyptian society in general in that forms of material culture that were once the the province of only the royal and upper-class members of Egyptian society were now being co-opted by lower-status social groups. For example, Pyramid Texts were no longer limited to royal use, but were now being adopted by non-royal elites.