This dissertation focuses on the analysis of archaeological remains from the site of Mendes in the Nile Delta to discuss the transition from the late Old Kingdom to the First Intermediate Period in Egypt. This project reevaluates prevalent narratives about the site’s fate during the late 3rd millennium BCE, especially concerning its supposed decline during the late 3rd millennium BCE, to contribute to current debates about the nature of this period. This research centers more specifically on reexamining the extensive, but only cursorily published, finds made in the 1960s and 70s by the Institute of Fine Arts (IFA), New York University. Utilizing the excavation archive of the IFA expedition, now housed at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures at the University of Chicago, the project clarifies the stratigraphic relationships, chronology, and material culture associated with one of Mendes’ most complete archaeological sequences for the late 3rd millennium BCE. This analysis is then contextualized within the broader archaeological landscape of Mendes to assess changes in the use of urban space and burial practices. While some views of Mendes’ socioeconomic development during the Old Kingdom are reinforced through this work, new perspectives emerge regarding the town’s experience during the First Intermediate Period. Rather than seeing evidence of economic decline or social strife, we propose that changes in the various excavated sectors reflect an intensive use of space in a town whose occupation likely expanded during this period. The receding reach of the royal court affected the highest elite but did not translate into a widespread impoverishment of the population, which displayed continuity in their mortuary practices and possibly even a slight increase in personal wealth. Similar trends, noted at other provincial capitals and cemeteries across Egypt, challenge prevailing assumptions about the local impact of the weakening Memphite monarchy.