Welcome back to Ancient Egypt! This chapter addresses the period of the 1st Intermediate Period, from about 2200 BC to about 2040/50 BC followed by the Middle Kingdom from about 2040/50 BC to 1783 BC.
The 1st Intermediate Period is characterized by somewhat more than a century of widespread chaos and warfare. As we saw earlier, the demise of the central government due to climate conditions brought about the rise of local governments controlled by nomarchs. Some of these nomarchs were more successful politicians than others and proclaimed themselves king of their own regions, while some still recognized the failed central government.
The 9th and 10th Dynasties were in control of an area from Heracleapolis in the Delta, south to Abydos where they were challenged by the 11th Dynasty in Thebes. Lesser nomarchs aligned themselves with either the Heraclepian or Theban dynasties. The two disparate dynastic areas clashed repeatedly both politically and militarily and resulted in civil war. Small regions west of the Nile were spared the effects of warfare but a great deal of the artistic achievements of the Old Kingdom paid the price of the civil war. Local nomarchs who could not afford to pay the formerly state-sponsored artisans turned to local talent for the building of structures, inscription of hieroglyphs, and artistic decoration. Much of the artifacts of this period reflect crudity and dis-proportionate depictions as well as less ornamentation.
However the impact on Egypt as a single culture was enhanced by this period of turmoil. The rise of the local governments and warring dynasties brought the Pharaonic culture to widespread areas outside of the royal court and the elite. All Egyptians regardless of caste were now indulging in the Pharaonic culture and adapting to the ways of Ra and his cohort of gods. This cultural development insured the survival of the Pharaonic culture through the decline of the Old Kingdom to the birth of the Middle Kingdom.
Mentuhotep II of the Theban dynasty won final victory and once again unified Egypt under a single ruler and the Middle Kingdom began in about 2040-50 BC. The years cannot be precisely dated due to the state of the country at the time.
Following the death of Mentuhotep II, his vizier Amenemhat I became Pharaoh. He led military campaigns in Nubia to further Egyptian control south of the first cataract of the Nile. With the fortunes claimed, he began a new building campaign for his new administrative center in Itj-Tawi, a location central to the two former warring dynasties, as well as temples and forts along the eastern frontier. The capital itself was relocated back to Memphis as it had been during the Old Kingdom. Later, Sesostris III eliminated all local governors to once again establish central control and then directed more military campaigns in Nubia, pushing all the way south of the 2nd cataract of the Nile. He also led the first campaigns in Syria and Palestine, possible as revenge for tribal incursions into Egyptian lands. However, with his heir’s royal blood in question, a foreign potentate from the eastern Nile region wrested control – once again dividing the country and the Middle Kingdom collapsed in 1783 BC.
Visit again and follow the history of Egypt through the Second Intermediary Period.
by Vicki Gardner
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