 | Middle Kingdom of Egypt: Encyclopedia II - Middle Kingdom of Egypt - The Twelfth Dynasty
Middle Kingdom of Egypt - The Twelfth Dynasty
Main articles: Twelfth dynasty of Egypt, and [[{{{2}}}]], and [[{{{3}}}]], and [[{{{4}}}]], and [[{{{5}}}]]
After the reigns of his successors (Mentuhotep III) and (Mentuhotep IV) of the Eleventh Dynasty ended, there was a smooth transition into the illusturous Twelfth Dynasty. The first Pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty, (Amenemhat I), is, according to some sources, the same man as Amenemhat, the (Vizier) of (Upper Egypt), under the reign of Mentuhotep IV. This explains the smooth transition of power in which Amenemhat easily assumed the reins of power after the death of Mentuhotep IV.
Amenemhat I built a new capital for Egypt, known as Itjtawy, the location of this capital is unknown, but presumably the present-day el-Lisht, although Manetho claims their capital remained at Thebes. Amenemhet pacified any unrest in Egypt by force and curtailed the rights of the nomarchs. He is known to have at least launched one campaign into Nubia. In 1971 BC Amenemhat established his son Senusret I as his junior co-regent. In 1962 BC, he was presumably murdered by a royal bodyguard and Senuseret, campaigning against Libyan invaders, rushed home to Itjtawy with haste to prevent a takeover of the government. This proved the worth of the institution of the coregency since the new king had acquired useful experienced by the time he would start his sole reign. The co-regencies system lasted throughout the Twelfth Dynasty and provided great stability.
Senusret I (1971 BC - 1926 BC) continued the policy of his father to recapture Nubia and other territories lost during the First Intermediate Period. The Libyans were subdued under his 45 Year reign and Egypt's prosperity and security were secured.
Senusret's successor Amenemhat II (1929 BC - 1895 BC) made the position of the nomarchs hereditary again (weakening the centralized government though) and established trade connections with Nubia and a war seems to be conducted in the Levant.
Senusret II (1897 BC - 1878 BC) improved trade connections with Nubia, Palestine and the Levant.
His successor Senusret III (1878 BC - 1839 BC) was a warrior-king, often taking to the field himself. He led his troops deep into Nubia, and built an entire series of massive fortified forts throughout the country to establish Egypt's formal boundary with the unconquered areas of the territory. On the domestic front, he built a fine religious temple at Abydos; while it is now destroyed surviving reliefs show the high quality of the decorations. He was later deified at the end of the Middle Kingdom and worshipped by the pharaohs of the New Kingdom. He gave the Crown to his son in his 20th Year, according to evidence from Papyrus Berlin 10056, but remained the senior coregent.
Amenemhat III (1860 BC - 1815 BC) was the last great pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom. Egypt's population began to exceed the food production levels and Amenemhat III ordered the exploitation of the Fayyum and increased mining operations in the Sinaï desert. He made sure that nomarchs could no longer inherit their nomes as Amenemhat II had permitted. He also invited Asiatic settlers to Egypt to labor on Egypt's monuments. But late in his reign the annual floods began to fail and his successor Amenemhat IV ruled Egypt for 9 full years (1816 BC - 1807 BC) before dying prematurely.
The sister of Amenemhat IV briefly reigned as Queen Sobekneferu (1807 BC - 1803 BC). As she apparently had no heirs, the Twelfth Dynasty came to an sudden end as did the Golden Age of the Middle Kingdom.
Pharaohs of the Twelfth through Eighteenth Dynasty are credited with preserving for us some of the most fabulous of Egyptian papyri:
- 1800 BC - Berlin Papyrus
- 1800 BC - Moscow Mathematical Papyrus
- 1650 BC - Rhind Mathematical Papyrus
- 1600 BC - Edwin Smith papyrus
- 1550 BC - Ebers papyrus
Other related archives1550 BC, 1600 BC, 1648 BC, 1650 BC, 1800 BC, 1971 BC, 1991 BC, Amenemhat I, Amenemhat II, Amenemhat III, Amenemhat IV, Ancient Egypt, Ay, Berlin Papyrus, Ebers papyrus, Edwin Smith papyrus, Egyptian, Eighteenth Dynasty, Eleventh Dynasty, Fayyum, First Intermediate Period, Fourteenth Dynasty, Hyksos, Itjtawy, Levant, Manetho, Mentuhotep II, Mentuhotep III, Mentuhotep IV, Merneferre Ai, Moscow Mathematical Papyrus, Neferhotep I, New Kingdom, Nubia, Pharaoh, Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, Second Intermediate Period, Senusret I, Senusret II, Senusret III, Sinaï, Sobekneferu, Tenth Dynasty, Thebes, Thirteenth Dynasty, Twelfth, Twelfth Dynasties, Twelfth dynasty of Egypt, ancient Egypt, el-Lisht, nomarchs, papyri
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Twelfth Dynasty", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
