The Middle Kingdom - Part 2

When Senwosret I took the throne, he continued his military activities, securing Egypt’s southern border at the second cataract with 13 forts. He sent mining expeditions to Nubia, Syria, and the western oases. He built a magnificent solar temple at Heliopolis. The 34-year reign of his son, Amenemhet II, saw great achievements. The king widened and deepened the canal that fed the Faiyum from the Nile, expanding hunting, fishing, and agriculture....

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The Middle Kingdom - Part 1

After years of fighting, the family in Thebes prevailed. They reunited Egypt under Mentuhotep II, leader of the last phase of the struggle against the Herakleopolitans. On becoming king, Mentuhotep took the kingly title “He who gives heart to the two lands.” (This kingly title was called a Horusname, after Horus, the falcon-headed god who was the traditional protector of Egyptian kings. The king is the physical embodiment of Horus-on-earth. To the...

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The First Intermediate Period

The god-king no longer enjoyed exalted status. Local rulers and nomarchs had grabbed much of his authority. When the collapse finally came, it was sudden and complete. While general disorder and the independence of local rulers helped bring about the collapse of the Old Kingdom, many scholars believe that climate change in Africa and the Near East had at least as much to do with it. Changes in the patterns of monsoon rains over the Abyssinian highlands...

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The Old KingDom - Part 3

But there was rumbling on the borders. Soldiers often had to be sent to Nubia to protect trade routes and to recruit mercenaries (soldiers for hire) for the army and police forces. A major fort was established at Buhen, near the second cataract. Libyan raiders made repeated incursions from the western desert. The Fifth Dynasty ended in confusion. The first king of the Sixth Dynasty, Teti, settled things down. But the power and influence of the...

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Connections - The Square Sail

Travel south to north in Egypt was always easy because that is the direction in which the Nile River flows. But north to south travel was slow and cumbersome until a clever boatman had a brainstorm around 3350 B.C.E. He attached a large square of fabric (probably linen) to a yard (a horizontal pole) that was attached to a mast near the front of his Nile boat. This sail caught the prevailing north-to-south...

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The Old KingDom - Part 2

The Pyramid’s interior is a complex maze of chambers, tunnels,shafts, and corridors. There is much controversy about the purpose and nature of some of these features, and whether there might be still-undiscovered features inside, or beneath, the Great Pyramid. Khufu’s son, Khafre, built his slightly smaller pyramid complex near his father’s. He added a unique touch: the Great Sphinx. A reclining lion with a human head and Khafre’s face, this guardian...

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The Old KingDom - Part 1

The Old Kingdom spans Dynasties 4 through 8, a period of 495 years from 2625 B.C.E. to 2130 B.C.E. It was the age of the great pyramids. The rule of the god-king was absolute. He alone was privileged to enjoy eternal life. As chief priest, he controlled the Nile and the inundation, and made sure the sun rose every day. As leader of an increasingly prosperous country, he commanded enormous power and wealth. Old Kingdom kings poured all of Egypt’s...

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The Early Dynastic Period

king Narmer Narmer’s triumph did not put an immediate end to conflict. There were many periods of localized warfare. Forces from the north and south clashed. For awhile, the two lands continued to think of themselves as separate kingdoms. Narmer, who was from Ta-Shomu, may have married a Ta-Mehu princess to establish his right to rule the north. Throughout Egyptian history, many kings chose wives...

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Egypt Before The Empire

IN EARLY PREHISTORIC TIMES, THE NILE VALLEY WAS NOT Agreat place to live. Each summer, floodwaters filled the narrow gorge cliff to cliff. When they receded, the valley remained wet and marshy. But it was a hunter’s paradise. The Nile was alive with fish. Papyrusthickets teemed with game birds. Antelopes, gazelles, oryxes, andwild bulls grazed in lush greenery near the cliffs. Crocodiles and...

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