Middle Kingdom

From ArchaeoWiki

The Middle Kingdom period of ancient Egypt is the conventional name given to the extended period in the early second millennium BCE when Egypt was reunited—and subsequently ruled—by dynasties of rulers originating from the Thebaid, after a period of profound disunity (the First Intermediate Period). The Middle Kingdom was followed by another period of disunity, the Second Intermediate Period.

The Middle Kingdom is frequently thought of as the "Classical" period of mature Egyptian culture, art and literature.

During the period, the political-religious capital was initially at Thebes; subsequently, rulers of the Twelfth Dynasty gravitated northwards to a political centre in the region of Lisht in the Faiyum region.

Egypt's foreign policy was characterised by the imperial domination of Nubia and close‚if ambiguous—engagement with Canaan and Syria (as revealed in the Execration Texts).

Dynasties

• the late Eleventh Dynasty
• the Twelfth Dynasty
• the early Thirteenth Dynasty

Bibliography

• Bourriau, Janine [1988], Pharaohs and Mortals: Egyptian Art in the Middle Kingdom, Cambridge, 1988 - Exhibition catalogue with contributions by Stephen Quirke.

• Edgerton, W.F. [1942], "Chronology of the Twelfth Dynasty", JNES 1 (1942), pp.307-314.

• Quirke, Stephen [1990], The Administration of Egypt in the Late Middle Kingdom—The Hieratic Documents, New Malden: SIA Publishing, 1990. ISBN 1872561012

• Simpson, William Kelly [1963], "Studies in the Twelfth Egyptian Dynasty: I-II", JARCE 2 (1963), pp.53-63.

• Weinstein, James M. [1975], “Egyptian Relations with Palestine in the Middle Kingdom”, BASOR 217 (1975), pp.1-16.