The Middle Kingdom

Middle Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom lasted from about 2030 to 1640 B.C. It was a time when the ruler was Nebhepetre Mentuhotep. He was the 11th Dynasty King from Thebes that finally united the Egyptian Empire into one. Under his rule, and that of other strong kings who followed, Egypt’s power and wealth were restored (http://www.egyptattraction.com/egypt-kingdom.html). His name translates into Montu, who was the God of Thebes (http://members.aol.com/robinsash/egypt/middle_kingdom.htm). One of the great buildings of this time was the Mortuary complex to Mentuhotep. It was modeled after his great ancestors
(http://www.met museum.org/TOAH/HD/mking/hd_mking.htm).

The Middle Kingdom was not so great though. It didn’t have the pizzazz that the earlier Old Kingdom had or the later New Kingdom had. It was kind of boring. The kings of that time didn’t build huge pyramids or have a great military or any of those things. Though, the pyramids that they did build could be just as big as the ones in the 5th and 6th Dynasties. But, in the Middle Kingdom the pyramids had trap doors and secret passage ways and other cool things. The only bad thing about their pyramids was that they were now being built out of bricks made out of mud, which eventually broke down (http://friesian.com/notes/midking/htm).

100 years after the decline of the Old Kingdom, Egypt had broken itself up into dozens of different states (The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt). But, the two kings Intef and Mentuhotpe brought Egypt back together in Luxor. That was when they established the 11th Dynasty, which was also the beginning of the Middle Kingdom (A History of Ancient Egypt).

Under the reign of the two kings, trade, irrigation projects, and the writing of texts began to come back. Though, the king’s power never actually came back. When they had gotten well into the Middle Kingdom, Egypt finally established one king. That was Sesostris III (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/EGYPT/MIDDLE.HTM).

By 1640 B.C., Egypt was again facing serious problems where weaker kings proved unable to cope. Immigrants started to become a powerful political force and even had more advanced weapons than the Egyptians, including horse drawn chariots (http://www.egyptattraction.com/egypt-kingdom.html). The Hyksos Kings were able to seize control of the Delta and for nearly a century they ruled a large section of Egypt.