As Frankforter notes, the rise and prosperity of Egyptian civilization parallels that of the Sumerian civilization. Like the Sumerians, Egyptians found the fertility of a river valley, the Nile, beneficial to the development of agriculture and farming. During the period known as the Early Dynastic Period, the Egyptians developed a method of writing similar to but more advanced than the Sumerian cuneiform. Hieroglyphics were created by painting ink on paper rather than inscribing clay tablets. During the Old Kingdom, pharaohs exercised sweeping power over their vast kingdom. Though it is unclear why the Old Kingdom came to an end, its collapse coincided with the decline of Sumerian civilization. Egypt's First Intermediate Period was characterized by regionalism and unrest, a sharp contrast to the stability and unified prosperity enjoyed by Egyptians under the Old Kingdom. How did this transition allow for further growth as a civilization under the Middle Kingdom?