The Seventh and Eighth Dynasties of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasties VII and VIII) are often combined together and regroup a line of poorly known short-lived pharaohs reigning in the early 22nd century BC, a troubled time referred to as the very end of the Old Kingdom or the beginning of the First Intermediate Period, depending on the scholar.
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The Dynasties VII and VIII ruled Egypt for approximately 20–45 years and various dates have been proposed: 2181–2160 BC, 2191–2145 BC, 2150–2118 BC.
The power of the pharaohs of the 7th/8th Dynasties was waning while that of the provincial governors, known as nomarchs, was on the rise. Eventually the nomarchs of Heracleopolis Magna overthrew the 8th Dynasty and founded the 9th Dynasty.
Decline into chaos
Given that five names of the kings from this period have Pepi II's throne name Neferkare in their own names, they may have been descendants of Dynasty VI who were trying to hold on to some sort of power. Some of the acts of the final four Dynasty VIII kings are recorded in their decrees to Shemay, a vizier during this period, although only Qakare Ibi can be connected to any monumental construction. His pyramid has been found at Saqqara near that of Pepi II and, like its predecessors, had the Pyramid Texts written on the walls.
However many kings there actually were, it is clear that during this time period a breakdown of the central authority of Egypt was underway. The rulers of these dynasties were based in Memphis; with the exception of the final Dynasty VIII kings, all that is known of most of these rulers is their names. This group of kings was eventually overthrown by a rival group, Dynasty IX, based in Herakleopolis Magna.
Rulers
The classification of the Egyptian pharaohs into dynasties is due to the Egyptian priest Manetho who wrote an history of Egypt called Aegyptiaca in the 3rd century BC. Manetho assigns 70 kings ruling 70 days to the 7th Dynasty thereby reflecting the chaos prevailing at the end of the Old Kingdom and in the early First Intermediate Period. Nowadays, Egyptologists consider the 7th Dynasty to be fictitious owing to the lack of attestations for this dynasty and it is thus combined with the following 8th Dynasty, whose kings, although ephemeral, are attested by other sources in particular in the Abydos King List.
Dynasty VII/VIII comprises little-known pharaohs reigning from Memphis in the short time period immediately after the death of Merenre Nemtyemsaf II c. 2180 BC:
In addition, the identity and chronological position of the following rulers is highly uncertain: Wadjkare, Khuiqer, Khui.