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Ancient Egypt: Difference between revisions
→Pharaohs: expanded Middle Kingdom entry
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===Pharaohs=== | ===Pharaohs=== | ||
* | [[File:StatueOfSesotrisIII-EA684-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Statue Of Senusret III; his statues are unique as they show somber expressions and weariness, perhaps to depict the weight of responsibilities upon him]] | ||
** Upper Egypt king | * Mentuhotep II, ruled 2061-2010 BC (approx) | ||
** we Upper Egypt king who conquered Lower Egypt and reunited Egypt | |||
** started the 11th Dynasty | |||
* extensive irrigation projects | * extensive irrigation projects | ||
* economic revival | * economic revival | ||
* pharaohs don't have same power as Old Kingdom pharaohs: regional leaders still strong | * pharaohs don't have same power as Old Kingdom pharaohs: regional leaders still strong | ||
* Amenemhet I | * Amenemhet I, ruled 1991–1962 BC | ||
** possibly was the vizier to the last 11th Dynasty king, Mentuhotep IV | |||
** seized power and started the 12th dynasty, the most prominent of Middle Kingdom dynasties | |||
** land reclamation and irrigation projects | ** land reclamation and irrigation projects | ||
** return to normal flooding patterns | ** return to normal flooding patterns under 12th dynasty | ||
** economic recovery under him and successor pharaohs | ** economic recovery under him and successor pharaohs | ||
** see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructions_of_Amenemhat Instructions of Amenemhat] papyrus with poem on advice from father to son on ruling | ** see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructions_of_Amenemhat Instructions of Amenemhat] papyrus with poem on advice from father to son on ruling | ||
** see also [http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/merikare_papyrus.htm The Instruction of Merikare] | ** see also [http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/merikare_papyrus.htm The Instruction of Merikare] | ||
* Senusret III, ruled 1878-1839 BC | |||
** probably the most powerful Middle Kingdom ruler | |||
** fully consolidated central rule over regional nomarchs | |||
** led military expeditions, including to Nubia and into the Levant | |||
click EXPAND for more | |||
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"> | |||
* to support expansion into Nubia, he built a navigable canal around the first cataract and numerous forts | |||
* he bragged of his conquest of Canaan and ordered his successors to maintain the new borders: | |||
<pre>Year 16, third month of winter: the king made his southern boundary at Heh. I have made my boundary further south than my fathers. I have added to what was bequeathed me. .... As for any son of mine who shall maintain this border which my Majesty has made, he is my son born to my Majesty. The true son is he who champions his father, who guards the border of his begetter. But he [who] abandons it, who fails to fight for it, he is not my son, he was not born to me. Now my majesty has had an image made of my majesty, at this border which my majesty has made, in order that you maintain it, in order that you fight for it.<pre> | |||
* carried on irrigation projects, including to start a canal to connect the Nile to the Fayum Depression (or Fayyum; see entry here) | |||
* through wealth and trade from conquests, urbanization increased under Senusret III | |||
</div> | |||
* Amenemhet III, ruled 1860-1814 BC | |||
** maintained but did not expand the empire | |||
** sent expeditions for trade and mining to the eastern desert and to Punt (southwestern coast of the Red Sea) | |||
** continued work on the "Mer-Wer" (Great Canal) canal | |||
*** about 10 miles long and 1 mile wide | |||
*** connected the Nile to the Fayum Depression and fed Lake Moeris | |||
*** the project was completed by his son Amenemhat IV | |||
[[File:Statue of Sobekneferu (Berlin Egyptian Museum 14475).jpg|right|250px|thumb|Statue of Sobekneferu, first female Pharaoh of Egypt]] | |||
* Sobekneferu, ruled 1806-1802 BC | |||
** first fully confirmed Egyptian female pharaoh | |||
click EXPAND for more | |||
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"> | |||
* daughter of Amenemhet III and possibly sister of Amenemhat IV | |||
* Amenemhat IV had no heir | |||
** her older sister, Neferuptah, was likely heir to Amenemhat IV (as she had a pyramid), but she died young | |||
** so Sobekneferu assumed power upon Amenemhat IV's death | |||
* Sobekneferu died after ruling four years | |||
** she had no heirs and her rule marked the end of the 12th dynasty | |||
</div> | |||
* 13th Dynasty followed Sobekneferu | |||
** lasted 154 years (1803-154 BC) | |||
** was likely result of challenge to Sobekneferu | |||
** marked by weakening of central rule and separation of the Delta region | |||
*** 14th Dynasty was likely Canaanite rulers | |||
*** ruled the Delta concurrently with part of the 13th Dynasty | |||
** the 13th Dynasty is generally considered the end of the Middle Kingdom | |||
*** the rise of the 14th dynasty marked the Second Intermediate Period | |||
* end of Middle Kingdom | * end of Middle Kingdom | ||
** possible droughts and crop failures contributed to decline | ** possible droughts and crop failures contributed to decline | ||