Ancient Egyptian History

2181 to 1650 BCE - The First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom

Though the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of the Old Kingdom continued to build pyramids, their grandeur pales in comparison to the pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty. Between periods designated as the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom, there is a period where records are very scare known as the First Intermediate Period. We only have vague indications about who the rulers of the First Intermediate Period were and what they did. What archeological evidence we have from this period suggests that it was a fairly unstable period in Egyptian history. The tombs of the kings during this period tended to be smaller and far less elaborate than those of their predecessors. Smaller tombs suggest that the kings of the First Intermediate Period did not have access to the vast resources that the kings of the Sixith Dynasty had, this suggests a breakdown in the bureaucratic system with Egypt and serve loss of control and power on the parts of the king. Among scholars there is great debate about not only the rulers of the First Intermediate Period, but the span of the period itself. Several scholars suggest that it begins in the last few years of the ruler Pepi II, while others suggest that it begins after the death of Pepi II’s heirs. What is apparent is that Egypt after the death of Pepi II the government of Egypt did continue to function as archeological evidence has shown that decrees from the capital of Memphis continued to made. Our best guesses suggest that the First Intermediate Period lasted approximately 130 years, from 2181 to 2125 BCE. What else we know about the First Intermediate Period is fragmented. At some point in time, Libyan raiders attacked Egypt and the decay of the central government allowed regional rulers to gain power.

Unification came to Egypt once again under the first ruler of the Ninth Dynasty, Mentuhotep I. We have only indirect knowledge about the length of time it took for Mentuhotep I to reunite Egypt, but we do know that it a great deal of time. Mentuhotep I was forced to go war with many of the regional nobles that had asserted their power during the First Intermediate Period. His success is shown to us by the scenes of warfare that appear on his mortuary temple. After his death, Mentuhotep I was succeeded by his son Mentuhotep II who continued to carry out the necessary tasks of unifying Egypt. Mentuhotep II was succeeded by Mentuhotep III, who was succeeded by Mentuhotep IV, but neither of their reigns was of particular significance.

In 1985 BCE, the Eleventh Dynasty ended and the Twelfth began as Mentuhotep’s vizier, Ammenemes (1991 – 1962 BCE) assumed power in Egypt. Ammenemes reign is famous for his military exploits against the Nubians. Under his leadership, the borders of Egypt were extended down to the Third Cataract and thousands of Nubians were captured and forced into slavery. It has been argued that Ammenemes began a renaissance as building projects and artistic designs flourished once more in Egypt as they did at the height of the Old Kingdom. There was a substantial difference between the rulers of the Middle Kingdom and those of the Old Kingdom. While the rulers of the Old Kingdom had been reclusive and distant from their populations, the rulers of the Middle Kingdom acted more as shepherds. Ammenemes engaged in extensive building projects largely copying the great reliefs of the Old Kingdom. His efforts to copy the works of the Old Kingdom were fairly successful, as archeologists today have difficultly determining whether certain reliefs come from the Old Kingdom or Ammenemes reign.

Upon his death, Ammenemes I was succeeded by his son and coregent Senwosret (1971 to 1928 BCE). Like his father, Senwosret was both a successful general and an astute politician. With Egypt all but completely pacified during his father’s rule, Senwosret was able to carry out extensive external campaigns to increase Egypt’s power. In Nubia Senwosret began a policy that can only be described as colonization. At the Third Cataract he constructed a number of forts in order to defend against Nubian raiders and hostile tribes. The primary of objective of Senwosret’s expeditions into Nubia were the gold mines there. Along with his campaigns into Egypt, Senwosret also campaigned in Libya. Besides engaging in military campaign Senwosret also engaged himself in several building projects. Senwosret’s rule lasted for forty-five years and he was considered by many Egyptian Scholars of the New Kingdom as Egypt’s greatest ruler. Senwosret’s rule can be seen as one that shows the importance of the coregent system. When he came of age, his father Ammenemes had taken Senwosret under his wing and taught him the complexities of ruling. If one were to examine Egyptian rulers they would see that this coregent system has always produced the greatest of the Egyptian rulers.

The reigns of Senwosret’s two successors, Ammenemes II and Senwosret II were fairly peaceful. Both monarchs took strides to increase Egyptian power abroad through trade, but undertook few military expeditions. Egypt’s next great ruler would be Senwosret III (1878 to 1843 BCE). Like his father and his father before him, Senwosret III was taught how to rule through the coregent system. Though Senwosret III only ruled for nineteen years, his nineteen years of rule brought great wealth and power to Egypt. Senwosret III has been credited with extensive campaigns into Nubia and Palestine, and reducing the power of nomarchs (Egyptian Nobles). To prevent Nubians from making raids into Egypt proper, Senwosret III constructed huge forts at the Second and Third Cataracts. By the end of Senwosret III’s reign at least twelve new forts had been constructed in Nubia. For the first time since the reign of Pepi I Egyptians were concerned about the region of Palestine. This apprehension towards Asiatics in Palestine culminated in a campaign into Palestine. Although this campaign was little more than a glorified cattle raid, the point of the raid was to demonstrate Egyptian military power to her potential rivals in Palestine. Although Senwosret III has been credited with curbing the power of the nomarchs, not all scholars have endorsed that view. The evidence that suggests that there was a decline nomarch power comes from their tombs just after this period. As opposed to the tombs of nomarchs of the previous reigns, the tombs of the nomarchs under Senwosret III have decreased in size and splendor. How exactly the power of nomarchs was reduced remain unknown, though many historical scholars have made speculations.

The rule of Ammenemes III is largely considered to be the last great rule of the Middle Kingdom. Like many other great Egyptian rulers he had a long rule that saw a substantial increase the in the Egyptian economy. The peaceful conditions that existed during Ammenemes rule are largely what constituted that growth in the Egyptian economy during this period. The peaceful conditions allowed Ammenemes to build trading posts and setup trading routes in Nubia, Libya, Palestine and Syria. Substantial effort was undertaken during Ammenemes reign to rebuild and refortify the various forts that his predecessors had constructed in Nubia. The forts in Nubia had two purposes, to protect Egyptian domains from Nubian raids and to act as trading posts with peaceful Nubian tribes.

The last ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty was a queen named Sobkneferu (1789 to 1786 BCE). The fact that a queen now sat on the throne of Egypt suggests that the powerful line of Ammenemes/Senwosret had finally failed to produce a male heir. Queen Sobkneferu is believed to be the daughter of King Ammenemes III and not King Ammenemes IV, the previous ruler of Egypt, prior to her reign. Her reign was fairly short, only four years, but regardless of the length of her reign she has the distinction of being the first female ruler to assume the full titulary of a king. Though Egypt once again began to ascend into anarchy after the death of Sobkneferu, there were no powerful nomarchs to seize power like what had happened in at the start of the First Intermediate period. Instead power was seized by a series of obscure princelings from the Delta region. The period that stretches from the Thirteenth Dynasty to the Seventh Dynasty is largely referred to as the Second Intermediate Period.

Next: 1650 BCE to 343 BCE - The Second Intermediate Period, The New Kingdom and The Late Period
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