In the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt it was characterized by an evolution in religious ideas . Instead of being considered as in previous times, as a god, the kings will now be considered as mere mortals, although of great ability and bravery. The relationship between humanity and the divinity of kings was a very important intellectual problem for the Egyptians. Unity was restored, ending the power of the nomarchs and the nomes as administrative units disappeared and new administrative units were created:city and its surrounding territory .
With peace and prosperity a bourgeois middle class grew . There was a great improvement of the hydraulic systems. Abundant imports and exports were carried out due to the excellent relations with foreign countries and numerous legal texts from the time of Sesostris II are known, such as donations, inheritances, purchases, sales, etc.
Religion
This period was characterized by the contrast of the Osiriac religion (which ensures survival in the afterlife coupled with the preservation of mummies) with that of Ra.
From the XI Dynasty, the god Osiris acquired a greater preponderance in the religious field because he was a popular god close to man who, like a human, suffered and died, while Ra was a distant solar god. Along with the popular religion of Osiris, it appears with the XI Dynasty, a new religion with clearly Heliopolitan tendencies, whose main god was Amun-Ra. The dogma was established by the priestly college of Thebes, who lived near the king. The early kings of the Eleventh Dynasty had favored the cult of Osiris for political reasons, and their successors reacted against a religion that had become too popular. During the XII Dynasty the two religious tendencies developed in parallel, both acquiring enormous importance.
Literature
The Middle Kingdom is the time of splendor and heyday of Egyptian literature . Their language is regarded as classical, the works of this period being endlessly copied by scribes and apprentices of earlier times. We know, among others, the Teachings of King Amenemhat (Sesostris I puts instructions in his father's mouth). They are preserved in Papyrus Milingen and Papyrus Sallier II. They used to be used for school exercises. Other examples are The Sinuhe Papyrus, The Castaway's Story, Tales of Magic, and Neferti's Prophecy. Among the mythological stories are the Tale of Isis and Ra and that of Horus and Seth. Also the great sacred dramas such as the Coronation Drama or the Memphite Drama.
Science
Many documents demonstrate scientific progress, both in mathematics and astronomy, such as the Mathematical Papyrus and the Rhind Papyrus.
In medicine, the Ebers Papyrus is important. Since the XII Dynasty we know the Texts of the Coffins . To this period also belongs the famous Satire of the trades o Instruction of the scribe Hety, son of Dwa .
Artistic manifestations in the Middle Kingdom
With the unification of the country, achieved by the Theban Princes, the artistic situation acquired new characters that can be seen both in architecture and in sculpture, painting and in a whole series of the so-called minor arts .
Architecture
The Middle Kingdom is considered the quintessential classical period of Egyptian civilization. However, it is not the longest or the best documented and from an architectural point of view it is the least known, since of the great temples, such as those of Amun-Ra in Karnak and that of Tanis, only few reused remains remain. The period stands out only for the excellence of the few works that are preserved.
Military
The architecture of this time was distinguished by the fortifications, which the pharaohs erected to protect the country from possible incursions by foreign peoples and from pillage by the Nubian tribes. Most of these military-type works have homogeneous, solid and grandiose characteristics, such as the Buhen fortress at the second cataract, Kor, Mirgissa, Semna and Kumma. These constructions demonstrate a long and precise military experience.
Funeral home
As for funerary architecture, the kings of the Middle Kingdom tried to imitate that of their powerful predecessors of the IV and V Dynasties, but their possibilities were much lower. Instead, they achieved outstanding achievements in terms of originality and architectural solutions such as the burial temple of Mentuhotep , founder of the Eleventh Dynasty at Deir el-Bahari. Its elevation and beauty is achieved through a succession of terraces until reaching a courtyard with porticoes that led to the temple, whose walls were magnificently decorated with reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions of great beauty. A few centuries later, the architect Senemmut built the funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut next to it, taking inspiration from this building.
The kings of the XII Dynasty built their funerary monuments trying to imitate the great pyramids of the Old Kingdom. Thus, not far from his residence, near the oasis of El Fayoum. they raised their pyramids and funerary temples, such as the pyramids of Amenemhat II and Sesostris III, in addition to one of the two built by Amenemhat III, the Lich complexes (Amenemhat I and Sesostris I), from Illahum (Sesostris II), from Hawara (Amenemhat III) and from Masghuna (Amenemhat IV) are new.
The tombs of the pharaohs are usually authentic labyrinths and their funerary temples were generally large. Instead, the temples dedicated to divinities used to be smaller. The temple consecrated by the pharaohs Amenemhat III and IV to the serpent goddess of the crops, Renenutet and the crocodile god Sobekh and the White Chapel are noteworthy. of Sesostris I in Karnak, almost the only vestige that remains of what must have been an important set of buildings, erected in the place called to become the most famous and grandiose sanctuary in Egypt, dedicated to Amun, the sovereign god of Thebes who began now his political career.
The tombs of the notables were carved into the rock (hypogea). They are found in Beni Hassan, Asiut, Meir and Assuán and constitute a new type of funerary monument. The tomb was accessed by a narrow ramp, the antechamber was shaped like a porch with free-standing columns carved in the same rock, columns that due to their vertical grooves similar to those used many centuries later in the first Greek art have been called protodoric . Behind the access portico was the chamber with a niche for the statue of the deceased. The access to the true tomb where the sarcophagus with the mummy of the deceased was hidden was concealed by false doors. Only one well gave entrance to it.
Civil architecture
In civil architecture, the city ordered to be built by Pharaoh Sesostris II stands out for the workers and other workers in charge of building his pyramid in Kahun , near the oasis of El Fayoum, named after Petrie when he discovered it in 1889. This city was built with raw brick.
This pyramid is an authentic urban complex, built according to a precise plan and for this reason it is an exception with respect to the cities of Ancient Egypt, which were a simple alignment of houses. This city stands out for a very clear division, accentuated by a wide wall, between the popular neighborhood, with an octagonal outline, and the residential one, much more extensive, in whose houses the rooms for receptions, the owner's rooms and the harem are distinguished, in addition of warehouses and water tanks.
Hathoric capital
In the Middle Kingdom a new type of capital appears for the first time in which, instead of the one formed by lotus, palm or papyrus leaves, used in the Old Kingdom, the face of the goddess Hathor was now represented. This capital, called hathoric , will become a classic element of Egyptian architecture. The same evolution will take place with the Osiriac pillar in which a figure of Osiris is seen, leaning on a square pillar. Although from this time, the Osiriac pillar achieves greater use in architecture, it had already existed in an earlier period.
Granite sphinxes and double obelisks carved from a single block of red granite were placed at the entrance to the great religious complexes, the top of which was generally covered with a polished metal plate. The four sides of the obelisk were covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions, as can still be seen in the surviving copies.
Sculpture
At the end of the First Intermediate Period, two main schools of sculpture were distinguished in Egypt:In the north, near Memphis, the artists produced works of great artistic quality, probably due to the great sculptural tradition received from the Old Kingdom. In the south. instead, where the Old Kingdom did not create anything of importance, there was a lack of that local tradition and the sculpture reveals a greater clumsiness of execution.
From the XII Dynasty (already in the Middle Kingdom), a greater unity of style is observed with a quality, in general, quite high and with very common models. In the official figuration dominates, in the magnificent hieroglyphic drawings, many times true works of art, the representation of the union of Upper and Lower Egypt, and as a novelty, it is a question of equaling, in the representations, on the same plane, the king and the divinity, although the real innovation was the cubic statues , born from the geometric investigations of the First Intermediate Period.
However, the majestic peace that characterized the kings of the Old Kingdom is not appreciated in the representation of the pharaohs. There is now a pessimistic current and the artists lack the security in the magnificence of their pharaohs and their works. Thus, in the portrait of Sesostris III one sees not the serenity of a pharaoh, but rather a tired, sad and even worried man. Although the portrait of Sesostris III is unique in Middle Kingdom sculpture , unequaled by any other well-known of this period, indicates the attempt of some artists of this period to break with the conventionalisms and rigorous schemes, although the general note is of academicism classic and cold, as we see in the statues of pharaohs Mentuhotep I and Sesostris I and especially in the representations of officials.
Painting
In the tombs, the paintings, in general, have higher proportions than those made in the Old Kingdom. In some traditional subjects, the scheme is transformed, the composition is denser and the figures occupy less space.
True works of art are often found in these tomb paintings, especially in the hypogea of Beni Hassan , where the representations of natural scenes and figures of animals stand out between fields of papyrus and lotus, true precursors of the later Amenian style.
Goldsmith
Although the tradition of goldsmithing from the Old Kingdom continues, at this time the technique was perfected, achieving very remarkable results such as the beautiful pectorals of Sesostris II and of his daughters, found in Dahshur, which stand out with the exceptional work in enamel and gold. Another beautiful gold work is the Princess Chumet diadem , with 156 small flowers of gold, carnelian, turquoise, lapis lazuli and vitreous paste (whose gold balls number 128 and are only 1mm in diameter), was also found in Dahshur. Another masterpiece is the pectorals of Queen Mereret , also from Dahshur, made of gold and hard stones.
Ceramic
As for pottery and stone vessels, compact shapes reminiscent of the globular jars of the Old Kingdom dominate. The vases in blue marble stand out. , an azurite that was only used at this time, which shows great refinement and great fantasy. However, the most beautiful work will be that of the woman breastfeeding her child , of unknown provenance.
It is possible that the art of the Middle Kingdom lacked time to reach its fullness. The arrival of the Hyksos and the new disorders produced by the invasions caused a new stagnation in the evolution of Egyptian art.