Egypt is divided into nomes or districts administered by nomarchs or governors.

At first, the nomarchs were royal officials who moved from post to post and had no pretense to independence or local ties.

The post of nomarch eventually becomes hereditary, however, and nomarchs pass their offices to their sons.

Hereditary offices and the possession of property turn these officials into a landed gentry.

Concurrently, kings begin rewarding their courtiers with gifts of tax-exempt land.

From the middle of the Fifth Dynasty can be traced the beginnings of a feudal state with an increase in the power of these provincial lords, particularly in Upper Egypt.