In comparison to other early states, Egypt cannot be considered fragile. From its first through its eighth dynasty, for instance, pharaoh followed pharaoh for nearly 800 years (c. 2900–2118 bc)... Some runners in this relay stumbled, but others invariably picked up the sceptre and ascended the throne. Thus, the state endured as an essentially recognizable and functional entity for a seemingly unfathomable amount of time. This is especially notable given that multiple lines of evidence reveal points of stress and fracture that should have brought it to its knees many centuries before.

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