The Middle Kingdom comprises the XI and XII Dynasties approximately, as it was seen, since the reunification with the fourth king of the XI Dynasty would take place. In both the Saqqara List and the Abydos List as the last king of the XI Dynasty, Mentuhotep III appears for the beginning of the Dynasty. The capital moves to Thebes, in the south, although it will also have another capital.
At this time, the end of Guti rule in Akad and the beginning of the rule of the III Dynasty of Ur (2112-2004) took place. Amarsuen (2046-2038) and Ibbi Sin (2028-2004). The Assyrians are established in Cappadocia (1792), and Hammurabi begins to reign. It is also the time of the Assyrian Old Kingdom and the rule of King Shamshi-Adad I (1813-1781) and his predecessors.
The Theban Kingdom
The region of nome IV of Upper Egypt with fertile land on the banks of the Nile, was unimportant during the Old Kingdom. Thebes was at this time no more than a village on the right bank of the Nile. Within the same nome there were other cities such as Tod, Hermontis and Medamud. They all worshiped Montu, the Thebans' favorite god for a long time. On the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes, in the village of Gurna, some Old Kingdom tombs are known, including those of two nomarchs. In Gebelein a character named Iti is known, who can be placed before the foundation of the Theban kingdom and who is proclaimed pillar in the distinguished Theban nome in the southern district , who cared for Gebelein in the difficult years of the First Intermediate Period, providing the population with livelihoods and did the same with Mo'alla and Hermontis. Very similar things say the inscriptions of Heka-ib, his countryman or Merer's.
DynastiesoftheMiddleKingdomofEgypt
Dynasty XI
This Dynasty began the Middle Kingdom with the reunification of the north and south. The Dynasty itself began with 3 kings who were in fact little more than nomarchs, who ruled from Thebes. All three bear the name of Inyotef and participated in wars against the kings of Heracleopolis.
Mentuhotep I
After them reigned Mentuhotep I Nebhepetra (2060-2010), which consolidated the central power and the borders, restoring unity with force and diplomacy because the nobles and priests were still very powerful. All the great officials he appointed were Thebans. He also reestablished diplomatic relations abroad. He achieved expansion to the south (Nubia), the east (turquoise mines of Sinai) and the west (Libya).
Egypt returned to be an artistic focus at this time, although more in the southern part, where there are works such as the temples of Elephantine, Dendera and the royal tombs built in Deirel-Bahari, opposite Thebes, on the western bank of the Nile. His great funerary temple is next to that of Hatshepsut, in Deir-el-Bahari.
He succeeded Mentuhotep II , Sanjkara (2010-1998) who only reigned 12 years. He followed the practice of his predecessors of maintaining a defensive attitude against his neighbors on the northern borders, without losing sight of the south for his commercial interest.
Mentuhotep III
Prince Antef divine father , eldest son of Mentuhotep II, died before his father and was buried in the enclosure of Deir el-Bahari, so the new pharaoh was Mentuhotep III Nebtanyra.
Mentuhotep III Nebtanyra (1997-1991) came to the throne at an advanced age and reigned only six years. The time of his reign was peaceful and prosperous. Excellent works of art are preserved from this reign, in which an ascent towards aesthetic perfection, characteristic of this moment, can be seen.
With Mentuhotep III the country recovered in many respects. Expeditions were made to Libya and Nubia and foreign trade resumed. The capital remained in Thebes.
Dynasty XII
This dynasty, made up of seven kings from Thebes, was one of the most glorious in Egypt. Its first pharaoh was Amenemhat or Amenemes I. He stood out for the energy of his government and for the change in royal onomastics:the pharaohs adopted a theophoric name:Mentuhotep is named after Montu, the local god of the city of Ermant and Sesostris means the man of the Great Goddess Useret (Theban divinity).
Amenemhat/Amenemes I
Shetepibre (1991 -1962) took power in dark circumstances, after a period of revolts and invasion of the Delta by Asians.
A text called The Prophecy of Neferti, preserved in papyri and ostraka, refers in prophetic terms to the advent of a king named Ameny (diminutive of Amenemhat). It describes a chaotic state, invasions of Asians in the Delta, civil war between the Egyptians and alterations of the social order, a chaos that will be remedied by the coming of a kind of Messiah.
Amenemhat he was the son of Sesostris. Father divine in Thebes, that he will later be considered the true founder of the Twelfth Dynasty. His own name, Amenemhat, Amun is at the head already announces a political program that will lead, through a return to heliopolyam theology, in the new syncretic form of Amun-Ra, on which the new Dynasty and its successors will base their power. Amun reached its peak with the Twenty-First Dynasty, as we shall see.
Once installed on the throne, the new pharaoh, like some of his predecessors, turned to literature to spread evidence of his legitimacy and his religious change.
The king reestablished the borders and reorganized the administration of the country. The northern border built the prince's walls , in the eastern part of the Delta, as a defense against the Asians. There was a fixation of borders that avoided the fights for questions of limits. The anarchy that existed in the transit of the two Dynasties produced a return to the misuse of the nomarchs that would return to the indiscipline of the First Intermediate Period.
Amenemhat I, in the 36 years of his reign reorganized Egypt:
– Reestablishing the nomes among themselves and changing the capital, moving it from Thebes, in middle Egypt and establishing it about 32 km from Memphis, in Itjitauy (Amenemhat conquered the Double Country ).
– He tried to restore royal power, although the nomarchs were still very powerful, and placed royal inspectors alongside them and rewarded those who had helped him, confirming them in their positions, such as the Oryx.
– He improved the administration of the country, controlling and organizing taxes. He increased the Royal Treasury as an instrument of power.
– He also created new positions of high officials residing at court, independent of the nomarchs.
The insecurity of Amenemhat's position, or the very need for a trusted aide, led him to associate his son Sesostris, named after his grandfather, to the throne in the 20th year of his reign. In the year 24, fourth of the regency of Sesostris, he carried out a series of punitive expeditions and guaranteed the exploitation of the turquoise mines of Serabit elKha-dim, in Sinai, also resuming diplomatic relations with the outside. The penetration in Nubia was consolidated at this time. The great fortress of Buhen, downstream of the second cataract, was built in the year 25. Amenemhat I died in an attack or conspiracy by the harem that is known from texts that have been preserved, among others in the Papyrus of Sinuhé.
Sesostris I Khperkara (1971-1926) ended with the harem women's conspiracy that killed his predecessor. He continued the Egyptian presence in Nubia and seems to have associated his son Amenemhat II to the throne. He also had commercial relations with Crete, Syria and Cyprus and with the inhabitants of the western deserts. There was great economic development in his time and he restored the temple of Ra at Heliopolis in an attempt to renew the tradition of the Old Kingdom.
In domestic politics there do not seem to be any major developments and the nomarchs continue to govern their nomes, increasingly subject to royal power, which continued to assert itself.
His construction work was remarkable throughout the country, among which the temple of Heliopolis, built in the year 3, stands out.
His successor, Amenemhat / Ameneses II (1929-1895) was co-regent with his father for two or three years and reigned thirty-four. He continued the same policy to make Egypt a secure and, for the time, prosperous state. Expeditions were sent to Sinai, Nubia, and Punt, and a port was established on the Red Sea coast at Wadi Gasu. He continued the peaceful penetration into Palestine and the treasure of the temple of the god Martu in Tod is an example of the exchanges of gifts with the princes of the area.
The same can be said of his son Sesostris II (1897-1878), during whose reign the Beni Hassan nome was ruled by a character named Khnumhotep. This king began the exploitation of El Fayum, the great oasis located about eighty kilometers south of Memphis, channeling the Bahr Yussuf that flowed into the future Lake Karum, building a dam in Illahum and adding a drainage system and canals, although the work would be finished by his grandson Amenemhat III. With these works, the royal necropolis that was installed in Illahum was moved and to the east of its funerary complex, the king had the workers installed in the city of Kahum, the first known example of an artificial city. discovered in Egypt, comparable to the craftsmen's village of Deir el-Medineh from the Ramesside era and to the recent, even older, Giza village possibly.
Sesostris III
After Amenemhat II and Sesostris II reigned Sesostris III (1878-1841) the pharaoh with whom the Middle Kingdom reached its apogee. This was the most glorious pharaoh of the XII Dynasty, carrying out a series of events that can be summarized as follows:
- Consolidated Egyptian rule in the northeastern fringe, reaching as far as Palestine Ended the power of the nomarchs and abolished almost all of their positions, so that the provinces were governed from the Royal Palace , divided into three departments or ministries, one for the north, another for the south and the third only for the so-called head of the south :Elephantine and Lower Nubia, led by a high official and a Council, all under the orders of the Vizier.
- This king forcibly recovered Nubia, which had been lost; he also campaigned against Palestine, took Shechem and his influx reached as far as Byblos and the Mediterranean islands.
- A curious sample of the political-religious mentality of the Egyptians is preserved from this reign. These are some clay statuettes representing tied prisoners on which the names of the king's internal and external enemies are written (inhabitants of the countries called The Nine Arches ), whose destruction is propitiated through execration with magical formulas. They are improperly called, Curse or Execration Texts and in them appear mentioned princes of Nubia and Asia. They are therefore an important source for knowledge of these two poles of Egyptian activity.
- The Egyptian monarchy undoubtedly reached high levels of greatness and splendor at the time of Sesostris III. The nomarchs had ceased to be independent and passed into the service of the court. The pharaoh needed a body of efficient and faithful bureaucrats and this is what the official-inspired literature in the Satire of the trades encourages.
Last pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom
Sesostris III was succeeded by Amenemhat III Nemara (1842-1797), in whose reign the economic development of the country was consolidated, with numerous expeditions to the quarries of Tura, in the Wadi Hammamat and to Aswan, in the vicinity of Toshka.
With his successor, Amenemhat IV Majerura (1798-1786) Egyptian influence continued to spread throughout the Near East.
He was succeeded by queen/king Sebekneferura O Nefrusobek, Sebekkara (1785-1782) Sobek's beauty , daughter of Amenemhat III and sister of Amenemhat IV (and perhaps wife), of whom some monuments and inscriptions remain, one of them in the second cataract. She bore the royal title of pharaoh, Horus . like later Hatshepsut, with some differences.
Egyptian civilization during the Middle Kingdom
General characteristics.
This time 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 by 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. Alongside 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 his 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 Amenemhat (Sesostris I puts instructions in the mouth of his father). They are preserved in Papyrus Millinge and Papyrus Sallier II. They used to be used for school exercises. Other examples are The Sinuhe Papyrus, The Castaway's Hysteria, 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. 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 Coffin Texts . The famous Satire of trades also belongs to this period or 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 characteristics that can be seen both in architecture and in sculpture, painting and in a whole series of the so-called minor arts .