The History of Ancient Egypt: The Middle Kingdom: Weiliao Series: Ancient Egypt Series, #4

By Hui Wang

"Weiliao" is a series program that tells the story of the world, it created by Wei Yi Culture and Media AB, and launched in 2020. The content touches on history, science, technology, astronomy, geography, music, and more.

 

The "The History of Ancient Egypt" is a series of books to tell the historical stories of Ancient Egypt, and the stories run through the whole of Ancient Egypt. This book "The Middle Kingdom" is the fourth episode, the historical period includes from the Eleventh Dynasty through to the Thirteenth Dynasty. The content includes Mentuhotep II reunified Upper And lower Egypt and established the Eleventh dynasty. This period is known as the "The Classical Age of Egypt Middle Kingdom." In the Twelfth Dynasty, Senusret I expanded Egypt and brought it in a new period. This period is known as the "The Golden Age of Egypt Middle Kingdom." Other content also covers The Thirteenth Dynasty. And there is more exciting content in the book is looking forward to your reading.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wei Yi Culture and Media AB
• Release date: Oct 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9789189209107

Book preview

Introduction

The The History of Ancient Egypt is a series of books to tell the historical stories of Ancient Egypt, and the stories run through the whole of Ancient Egypt. This book The Middle Kingdom is the fourth episode, the historical period includes from the Eleventh Dynasty through to the Thirteenth Dynasty. The content includes Mentuhotep II reunified Upper And lower Egypt and established the Eleventh dynasty. This period is known as the The Classical Age of Egypt Middle Kingdom. In the Twelfth Dynasty, Senusret I expanded Egypt and brought it in a new period. This period is known as the The Golden Age of Egypt Middle Kingdom. Other content also covers The Thirteenth Dynasty. And there is more exciting content in the book is looking forward to your reading.

1

Overview

Tomb stela of Amenemhat

Tomb stela of Amenemhat

The Middle Kingdom is a period that succeeded the end of the First intermediate Period and preceded the Second Intermediate Period. The Middle Period is considered as a classical age in the history of Ancient Egypt which is marked by the most spectacular art and literature in Ancient Egypt. The only thing that remains confusing about the Middle Kingdom is when it started and exactly when it ended. Some of the researchers and authors argue that it started in the middle of the 11 th dynasty when the Upper and Lower Egypt were united and ended in the middle of the 13 th dynasty when Hyksos rose in Lower Egypt. We shall, therefore, consider the period to have ran from the 11 th dynasty through the 12 th , to mid-13 th dynasty. The reason behind including half of the 11 th dynasty in the Middle Kingdom is that this is the time when the Thebans took over power and brought the Upper and Lower Egypt into a common course. This is the time when development in terms of economy, art, literature, and architecture started to improve from the impacts felt during the First Intermediate Period and took shape.

---

In the 12

th

dynasty, as some consider it to be the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, is the time when the economy among other things gained momentum and stability. But all this wouldn’t happen if the 11 th dynasty did not have peace, therefore the development of the 12 th dynasty as well as the whole of the Middle Kingdom is based on the 11 th dynasty. As a concession of the argument, the dates considered for the Middle Kingdom are 2040-1782 BCE which falls in the middle of the 11 th dynasty and runs to the end of the 13 th dynasty. Among all the dynasties of the Middle Kingdom, the 13 th dynasty is considered to be the weakest dynasty considering it is the dynasty that struggles for power was witnessed and even allowed the Hyksos, who were immigrants, to find their way to power in the Lower Egypt. The 12 th dynasty was the strongest dynasty during the Middle Kingdom considering the stability and developments witnessed during this period but later found instability in the 13 th dynasty. It is from this instability that led Egypt to another series of problems in a Period Known as the Second Intermediate Period. Most historians believe that the 12 th dynasty was the pillar of the Middle Kingdom, having accomplished most that were done in the Middle Kingdom.

---

Just as a reminder, the Middle Kingdom rose from the First Intermediate Period which was a period of turmoil and power hunt between the kings in the Upper and Lower Egypt until the Thebans took control at the beginning of the 11 th dynasty. During this time, the nomarchs had aimed popularity and power to a point where they had pushed the national government to a diminishing point, where no one even knew that it still existed. The result of this wrangles was the rise of the Herakleopolis in the Lower side of Ancient Egypt and Thebes