The Middle Kingdom of Egypt started with the reunification of Egypt under Mentuhotep II in the middle of the XI Dynasty, marking the end of the so-called First Intermediate Period of Egypt and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom (c. 2040 – 1780 BC), which is also known as the Middle Empire.
Geographical geography in Egypt
The Nubian desert, a large stretch of dunes and sandy plains, is located on the border with Sudan, at the southernmost point of the country.
A sandy desert dominates the northern part of the peninsula, while rocky mountains dominate the southern region, with peaks rising more than 2,135 meters above sea level in places.
Mount Santa Catalina Jabal Katrinah o Yabal Katerina, with a height of 2,637 meters, is the highest point in the country. It located on the Sinai peninsula, much like Mount Sinai, where, according to the Old Testament, Moses received the tablets containing the Ten Commandments.
The Nile enters Egypt from Sudan and runs north for 1,545 kilometers before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.
It stretches from the southern border to Cairo across a narrow valley bordered by high escarpments on each side.
Lake Nasser, a large reservoir created by the Aswan High Dam, extends southward to the Sudanese border. It stretches about 480 kilometers and reaches a maximum width of 16 kilometers.
Egypt has a rich tradition of sculpture.
Around 60,000 years ago, the Nile River began flooding the lands within its basin regularly, leaving behind a rich deposit of alluvial material. Because of the holdings along the floodplain, it was possible to provide food and water to the population.
Climate fluctuations, which included periods of aridity, allowed for the establishment of a human population in the Nile Valley throughout time.
From the beginning of the Chalcolithic period (copper age, which began roughly 4000 BC) until the beginning of the Old Kingdom, the inhabitants distributed throughout a large geographic area.
At the beginning of the 7th millennium BC, Egypt had environmental circumstances conducive to human existence.
Since then, live evidence has discovered in the southern and upper Egypt areas; similar habitation traces have also found at Nubian sites (now in Sudan) and other locations (currently Sudan).
A significant number of ceramic pieces have discovered in Upper Egypt’s tombs dating back to the 4th millennium BC (during the Predynastic Period), which have allowed researchers to create a relative chronological sequence.
Egypt during the time of the Pharaohs
In Egypt, the predynastic period, which culminates in the country’s unification into a single state, is commonly divided into three stages. Each corresponds to the country’s archaeological artifacts discovered: Badarian, Amratian (Nagada I), and Geerziense. Badarian is when the government first united as a single state (Nagada II and III).
The deposits in the north (dating back to 5500 BC) have provided material for constructing an archaeological date with significant continuity.
Despite this, it does not give a detailed chronology of others unearthed in the southern hemisphere.
The Middle Empire
When there was no centralized government, the bureaucracy could not operate properly, which resulted in the atomization of power.
Egyptian art became primarily regional, and they built no excellent burial complex.
They also democratized religion as lower-class people sought privileges previously reserved only the royalty.
For example, people may choose to affix sections of the Pyramid Texts to the walls of their coffins or tombs, as seen in the illustration.
Although the Middle Kingdom (2134-1570 BC) may trace its origins back to the 11th Dynasty, it generally considered to have begun with the reunification of the country under Mentuhotep II (reigned 2061-2010 BC) (reigned in 2061-2010 BC).
As the first dynasty sovereigns sought to extend their authority beyond the city of Thebes to the north and south at the same time, they kicked off a reunification process that completed by Mentuhotep around 2047 BC.
Mentuhotep ruled for around 50 years, and despite frequent rebellions, he was able to retain peace and control across the kingdom.
It led to the replacement of some nomarchs and a reduction in the influence of the nomes, which remained intense.
Its capital was Thebes, and its burial temple at Dayr al-Bahari featured traditional and religious elements; the tomb separated from the temple, and there was no pyramid.
Reunification
Amenemes I, the first Pharaoh of the XII Dynasty, reigned in relative peace. He established a capital in Memphis and, like Mentuhotep before him, worked to quell Theban ambitions while advocating for national unity.
The primary god Theban Amon, on the other hand, was ascribed higher prominence than the other divinities.
A group of scribes and officials created when Amenemes successfully courted the support of the nomarchs and reformated the bureaucracy under his command.
Pharaoh’s literature was primarily propagandistic and intended to strengthen his image as a ‘good shepherd’ rather than an inaccessible deity.
During the last ten years of his reign, Amenemes served as co-regent with his son, the monarch at the time. Sinuhé’s storey, published in the New Kingdom and is considered a literary masterpiece, alleges that the king murdered.
Amenemes’ successors continued to operate on the same plan. His son Sesostris I (from 1962 to 1928 BC) built fortifications across Nubia and established trade relations with other countries.
He despatched the governors of Palestine and Syria, and he engaged in the war against the Libyans in the west.
In 1895 BC, Sesostris II (who ruled from 1895 to 1878 BC) ordered the cleaning of the Fayum region. During his reign (1878-1843 BC), his successor, Sesostris III, built a canal near the first Nile cascade and created a permanent army (which he used against the Nubians) to rebuild further fortifications on the country’s southern boundary.
In terms of administration, he divided Egypt into three geographical districts, each administered by an officer under the supervision of a vizier. He refused to acknowledge any of the regional aristocracies.
Amenemes III continued the plan of his predecessors and accelerated the reform of land ownership.
Theban emperors sparked a cultural renaissance that is still ongoing now.
Even though the period’s architecture, art, and jewelry display extraordinary design, the period is recognized as the most critical time in Egyptian literature.
Second intermediate period
They were weaker than their predecessors, yet they held power over Nubia and the administration of the central government even though there were only around 50 of them in 120 years.
In the later part of his reign, his power was tested by the competing Fourteenth Dynasty, which had failed to gain control of the delta, and the Hyksos, who sought to undermine his authority.
They arrived in Egypt from Western Asia and established themselves in northern Egypt.
As the central government entered a period of collapse, its presence allowed for a massive influx of people from the Phoenician coast and Palestine, as well as the establishment of the hicsa dynasty, kicking off the second interim period, a period of turmoil that lasted nearly 214 years and marked the beginning of the second interim period.
The Hyksos of the XXV Dynasty ruled from their capital, located at Avaris on the eastern side of the delta, allowing them to control the middle and upper sections of the kingdom. The XXV Dynasty was the last of the Hyksos to rule from their city.
The XVI Dynasty, which reigned in Egypt’s central zone during the hicsa Dynasty, existed simultaneously as the hicsa.
The XVII Theban Dynasty, which ruled the territory between Elephantine and Abydos, was a third power that existed contemporaneously with the other two and exercised more autonomy over the southern region.
The Theban monarch Kames (who ruled between 1576 and 1570 BC) was victorious against the Hyksos. Still, his brother Amosis I ultimately defeated them and restored Egypt to its former unity.
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