The Middle Kingdom of Egypt, also known as the Period of Reunification, marks a significant era in ancient Egyptian history. Spanning from the end of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Twelfth Dynasty, roughly between 2000-1700 BCE, this period is characterized by the reunification of Egypt and subsequent military campaigns to expand and secure its borders.
A Map of the Middle Kingdom.
The Rise of the Middle Kingdom
After the collapse of the Old Kingdom, Egypt entered a period of weak pharaonic power and decentralization called the First Intermediate Period. During the First Intermediate Period, the governors of the nomes of Egypt-nomarchs-gained considerable power. Towards the end of the First Intermediate Period, Mentuhotep II and his successors unified Egypt under a single rule, and commanded such faraway locations as Nubia and the Sinai. Mentuhotep II reigned for 51 years and restored the cult of the ruler, considering himself a god and wearing the headdresses of Amun and Min.
Mentuhotep II and the Reunification
Around 2055 BC the northern Theban forces under Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II finally defeated the Herakleopolitan rulers, reuniting the Two Lands. When the Eleventh Dynasty reunified Egypt it had to create a centralized administration such as had not existed in Egypt since the downfall of the Old Kingdom government.
Not all the country welcomed the 11th dynasty, the monuments and self-presentation of which remained local and Theban.
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When Was The Middle Kingdom? - Archaeology Quest
Military Organization and Campaigns
From the Twelfth dynasty onward, pharaohs often kept well-trained standing armies, which formed the basis of larger forces raised for defense against invasion, or for expeditions up the Nile or across the Sinai. Frequent campaigns and military occupation, which lasted another 150 years, required a standing army. A force of this type may have been created early in the 12th dynasty but becomes better attested near the end.
It was based on “soldiers”-whose title means literally “citizens”-levied by district and officers of several grades and types. It was separate from New Kingdom military organization and seems not to have enjoyed very high status.
Amenemhet I and Consolidation of Power
Amenemhet I never held the absolute power commanded, in theory, by the Old Kingdom pharaohs. To strengthen his position, Amenemhet required registration of land, modified nome borders, and appointed nomarchs directly when offices became vacant. In his twentieth regnal year, Amenemhat established his son Senusret I as his coregent, beginning a practice which would be used repeatedly throughout the rest of the Middle Kingdom and again during the New Kingdom.
Relief of King Amenemhet I from his Pyramid Complex at El-Lisht.
Senusret I: Expansion into Nubia
During his reign, Senusret continued the practice of directly appointing nomarchs, and undercut the autonomy of local priesthoods by building at cult centers throughout Egypt. Under his rule, Egyptian armies pushed south into Nubia as far as the Second Cataract, building a border fort at Buhen and incorporating all of Lower Nubia as an Egyptian colony. Senusret I also exercised control over the land of Kush, from the Second to the Third Cataract, including the island of Sai.
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Senusret III: The Warrior-King
Senusret III was a warrior-king, often taking to the field himself. In his sixth year, he re-dredged an Old Kingdom canal around the First Cataract to facilitate travel to Upper Nubia. He used this to launch a series of brutal campaigns in Nubia in his sixth, eighth, tenth, and sixteenth years. Domestically, Senusret has been given credit for an administrative reform that put more power in the hands of appointees of the central government, instead of regional authorities.
Statues of King Senusret III in the British Museum.
Egypt was divided into three warets, or administrative divisions: North, South, and Head of the South (perhaps Lower Egypt, most of Upper Egypt, and the nomes of the original Theban kingdom during the war with Herakleopolis, respectively). Senusret III left a lasting legacy as a warrior pharaoh. His name was Hellenized by later Greek historians as Sesostris, a name which was then given to a conflation of Senusret and several New Kingdom warrior pharaohs. In Nubia, Senusret was worshiped as a patron God by Egyptian settlers.
Reasons for Nubian Campaigns
The purpose of the occupation of Lower Nubia is disputed, because the size of the fortresses and the level of manpower needed to occupy them might seem disproportionate to local threats. An inscription of Sesostris III set up in the fortresses emphasizes the weakness of the Nubian enemy, while a boundary marker and fragmentary papyri show that the system channeled trade with the south through the central fortress of Mirgissa.
The best explanation of the Egyptian presence is that Lower Nubia was annexed by Egypt for purposes of securing the southern trade route, while Karmah was a rival worth respecting and preempting; in addition, the physical scale of the fortresses may have become something of an end in itself.
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It is not known whether Egypt wished similarly to annex Palestine, but numerous administrative seals of the period have been found there. Sesostris III reorganized Egypt into four regions corresponding to the northern and southern halves of the Nile valley and the eastern and western delta.
Administrative and Economic Reforms
During the Middle Kingdom, Egypt underwent significant administrative reforms under the reigns of Amenemhet I and Senusret III. These reforms centralized power by allowing the kings to directly appoint high officials, aiming to curtail the influence of the nomarchs who had amassed significant power during the tumultuous First Intermediate Period. Additionally, the Middle Kingdom witnessed a period of economic prosperity, notably marked by the expansion of agricultural practices through the irrigation of the Fayum region under Senusret II.
Moreover, Amenemhet III oversaw semi-permanent mining operations in the Sinai Peninsula and Wadi Hammamat, further boosting economic growth and resource extraction.
The Decline and Second Intermediate Period
After a reign of 45 years, Amenemhet III was succeeded by Amenemhet IV, under whom dynastic power began to weaken. Contemporary records of the Nile flood levels indicate that the end of the reign of Amenemhet III was dry, and crop failures may have helped to destabilize the dynasty. Furthermore, Amenemhet III had an inordinately long reign, which led to succession problems. Amenemhet IV was succeeded by Sobekneferu, the first historically attested female king of Egypt, who ruled for no more than four years.
The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties
Despite a continuity of outward forms and of the rhetoric of inscriptions between the 12th and 13th dynasties, there was a complete change in kingship. In little more than a century about 70 kings occupied the throne. Many can have reigned only for months, and there were probably rival claimants to the throne, but in principle the royal residence remained at Itjet-towy and the kings ruled the whole country. Egypt’s hold on Lower Nubia was maintained, as was its position as the leading state in the Middle East.
A Map of the Possible Territory of the Fourteenth Dynasty.
The Hyksos Invasion
The increasing competition for power in Egypt and Nubia crystallized in the formation of two new dynasties: the 15th, called the Hyksos (c. 1630-c. 1530 bce), with its capital at Avaris (Tell el-Dabʿa) in the delta, and the 17th (c. 1630-c. 1540 bce), ruling from Thebes. The word Hyksos dates to an Egyptian phrase meaning “ruler of foreign lands.” Asiatic rule brought many technical innovations to Egypt, as well as cultural innovations such as new musical instruments and foreign loan words.
The changes affected techniques from bronze working and pottery to weaving, and new breeds of animals and new crops were introduced. In warfare, composite bows, new types of daggers and scimitars, and above all the horse and chariot transformed previous practice, although the chariot may ultimately have been as important as a prestige vehicle as for tactical military advantages it conferred. The effect of these changes was to bring Egypt, which had been technologically backward, onto the level of southwest Asia. Because of these advances and the perspectives it opened up, Hyksos rule was decisive for Egypt’s later empire in the Middle East.
The Second Intermediate period was the consequence of political fragmentation and immigration and was not associated with economic collapse, as in the early First Intermediate period.
Key Figures of the Middle Kingdom
| Pharaoh | Achievements |
|---|---|
| Mentuhotep II | Reunified Egypt, established Thebes as a religious and political center. |
| Amenemhat I | Founded the 12th Dynasty, relocated the capital to Itjtawy, consolidated power. |
| Senusret I | Strengthened Egypt’s economy, expanded trade routes, fortified borders in Nubia. |
| Senusret III | Led military campaigns in Nubia, securing Egypt's southern borders with fortresses. |
| Amenemhat III | Completed major irrigation projects in the Faiyum region, enhancing agricultural output. |
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