Senuseret I (Part II) and the Teachings of Amenemhat.

In the wake of his father's unexpected murder, Senuseret I ascends the throne as sole ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt. His early years must be spent navigating the transition of power: although this was greatly facilitated by ten years of co-regency, the king must now find his own way.

To strengthen his ethical reputation among the country's elites, Senuseret commissions and publishes The Teachings of Amenemhat. Puporting to be written by the late king, the work promotes the new king's view of his situation and courtly society, with special warnings to trust no one. 

Whether the work is full of Senuseret's own ideas, or perhaps composed from teachings given by the late Amenemhat during their co-regency, it is a fascinating piece of Egyptian didactic literature.

An 18th Dynasty copy of the Teachings, written in hieratic.

The pyramid of Amenemhat I at al-Lisht. A modern cemetery in the foreground.

The cartonnage and wood coffin of Hapy-Ankhtyfy, Twelfth Dynasty.

Nakht, a steward for Amenemhat I and Senuseret I. Buried in the cemetery at al-Lisht. 

The mummy mask of Khnum-hotep, a Twelfth Dynasty official.

A New Kingdom piece of cartonnage: linen or papyrus coated in plaster, left to set, and then painted.

Bibliography

Dorothea Arnold. "Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes." Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal. 1991 (Free Download from MMA).

Wolfram Grajetzki. Court Officials of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom. 2009.

Gay Robins. The Art of Ancient Egypt. 2008.

William C. Hayes. The Scepter of Egypt. 1976 (Free Download from the MMA).

Senuseret I (Part III) and Karnak Temple.

The building projects of Senuseret I were the most widespread and splendid of any ruler since the Old Kingdom. Buildings up and down the Nile valley were begun under his rule, including monuments at Karnak, Heliopolis and Elephantine.

The king's pyramid at al-Lisht attempted an innovative building method, with mixed success. 

The White Chapel of Senuseret I at Karnak. Re-assembled in the modern era. 

Senuseret before Min. White Chapel.

The exquisite carvings of the White Chapel. Senuseret receiving life from Re.

Digital reconstruction of the White Chapel, by the UCLA Digital Karnak Project.

Digital reconstruction of the Amun Temple of Senuseret. By the UCLA Digital Karnak Project.

(More images of the White Chapel can be found here - Flickr User: Kairoinfo4u)

Part of the Satet Temple at Elephantine; this section dates from long after the Middle Kingdom. (Photo: Dominic Perry, 2008).

Part of the Satet Temple looking East; nearby to this was a deep pit used to measure the Inundation, for which Satet was partly responsible. (Photo: Dominic Perry, 2008).

Part of the Satet temple, with modern tourists (my colleagues). (Photo: Dominic Perry, 2008).

The Obelisk of Senuseret I at Heliopolis. Originally one of two, they it flanked the entrance to a temple for Atum-Re.

Close-up of the same.

The king's pyramid at al-Lisht. Badly denuded, its burial chamber remains submerged in groundwater. (Image: Wikipedia)

The internal masonry of the pyramid, showing the sixteen cells that strengthened the pyramid's core. (Image: Wikipedia).

The original layout of the king's pyramid complex. Satellite pyramids now mostly destroyed. (Image: Wikipedia)

A polished shell decorated with the nomen of Senuseret. Digitalegypt.ac.uk.

Bibliography:

Wolfram Grajetzki. The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. 2006. 

UCLA Digital Karnak Project.

James H. Breasted. A History of Egypt. 1905. (1959 Edition).

Senuseret I (Part IV) and the Gold of Nubia.

Gold! Gold! Gold! The driver of empires and warfare since time immemorial. For the Egyptians, gold is a valuable resource to embellish temples and state projects. And Senuseret has a lot of these; you have to get your decorations from somewhere...

Into Nubia, the Eastern Desert and Sinai, Senuseret's soldiers and labourers are led in campaigns to find the precious resources needed to decorate the king's thirty-five different building projects in various parts of the Nile Valley.

Some of the major sites of this episode. (Wikipedia.org).

Negotiating the Second Cataract.

Nubian fortresses, from the JIAAW (Brown.edu).

Bibliography:

Wolfram Grajetzki. The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. 2006. 

Henriette Hafsas-Talkos. "Between Kush and Egypt: the C-Group People of Lower Nubia." in Between the Cataracts: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference for Nubian Studies. 2006.

The International Fame of Nubkaure Amenemhat II.

Life is good in Egypt: Nubkaure is the third ruler of Dynasty XII to live a long life (ruling 35 years) and to lead the country capably. He despatches fleets to the Levantine coast, where items bearing his name and those of his family are found as far afield as Syria, at Ugarit.

His pyramid complex at Dashur is the source of an incredibly rare find: the intact burials of Princess Ita and Queen Khnumet, both his daughters (Khnumet married Senuseret II, his successor). Their gorgeous funeral jewellery are masterpieces of the art.

The diadem (crown) of Queen Khnumet, daughter of Nubkaure. (Image source: Flickr user Ancient Egyptian Jewellery).

The collar of Khnumet, described by Jacques de Morgan in his excavation report. (Image source: Flickr user Ancient Egyptian Jewellery).

Princess Ita's dagger, found in her tomb. (Image source: The New York Times, 1899).

The annals of Nubkaure, from the city of Memphis. (Image source: the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology Classroom - Brown.edu)

Illicit digging pits (centre) encroaching on the pyramid complex of Nubkaure (bottom left). (Image source: Google Maps).

Bibliography:

Jacques de Morgan - Fouilles a Dachour 1894-1895. 1903 (Free Download).

The New York Times, 1899 - Jacques de Morgan speaks to the American Archaeological and Numismatic Society on his discovery.

Reshafim.org - the Biography of Khnumhotep II, of Beni Hassan (Menat Khufu).

Wolfram Grajetzki - The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. 2006.

The Wealth and Splendour of Nubkaure Amenemhat II.

Trade missions to and from the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine) bring wealth and exotic goods into Egypt. Goods even arrive from as far afield as southern Turkey and the Aegean Sea, finding their way into the temples being built or renovated by the king.

Nubkaure's reign is remarkable for the archaeological finds of al-Tod that give testament to the foreign wealth entering the kingdom. This wealth goes to fund a number of building projects.

The king's name also becomes associated with the Great Sphinx of Giza, thanks to Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt and a few fringe authors today...

The reach of Nubkaure's contacts (direct and indirect).

An Asiatic trade deputation or migration (Source: the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology Classroom - Brown.edu)

The al-Tod Treasure (Source: the Louvre Museum, Paris)

The al-Tod Treasure (Source: the Louvre Museum, Paris)

The al-Tod Treasure (Source: the Louvre Museum, Paris)

The al-Tod Treasure (Source: the Louvre Museum, Paris)

The pylon of Nubkaure's temple at Hermopolis (Source: Sebastien Polet) 

Transporting a statue (possibly of Nubkaure), from the tomb of Thoth-Hotep at Beni Hassan. (Source: Emhotep)

The family-tree of Beni Hassan (as far as I can figure it out).

The Tanis Sphinx of Nubkaure Amenemhat II. (Source: Wikipedia)

Bibliography:

Wolfram Grajetzki - The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. 2006.

Nicolas Grimal - A History of Egypt. 1994.

Ezra S. Marcus - "Amenemhet II and the Sea: Maritime Aspects of the Mit Rahina (Memphis) Expedition." Egypt and the Levant vol. 17 (2007) - Free Download (Academia.edu)

K.R. Maxwell-Hyslop - "A Note on the Anatolian Connections of the Tod Treasure" Anatolian Studies vol. 45 (1995) - Read Free Online (JSTOR)

Lawrence E. Stager - "Port Power in the Early and the Middle Bronze Age: The Organization of Maritime Trade and Hinterland Production." Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and Neighboring Lands in Memory of Douglas L. Esse. 2001. - Free Download (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago) 

Metropolitan Museum News - the Colossal Statue of Amenemhat II.

Reshafim.org - the biography of Thoth-Hotep.

Interlude: Celebrating the Divine.

In a short break from our historical narrative, we visit two types of Egyptian festivals: the raucous celebrations in honour of Hathor, the sombre re-enactment of the Passion of Osiris.

Ranging from beer halls to temples to necropoleis, the episode explores the means and tools at the hands of Egyptian revellers. Their hedonistic practices get a look in, particularly in the realms of humour and sexuality.

Osiris (Wikipedia).

Hathor, with Menkaure of the Fourth Dynasty (Wikipedia).

The Stela of Ikher-Nefret (Wikipedia).

The cemetery field west of Abydos, in which the Passion of Osiris would be performed (Wikipedia).

Bibliography:

John C. Darnell, "The Opet Festival." UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology.

LA Times interview with Prof. Betsy M. Bryan, Johns Hopkins University.

E.F. Morris, "Sacred and Obscene Laughter in the Contendings of Horus and Seth," in Egyptian Stories, 2007.

Plutarch, Isis and Osiris (1st Century CE). 

The Ikher-nefret Stela (12th Dynasty).

Additional Music: Vangelis - Alexander (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).

The Faiyum Oasis and Senuseret II.

A new king is on the throne in 1892 BCE - Kha-kheper-Re Senusret II, son of Amenemhat II.

Moving his pyramid south, to Lahun, the king initiates a series of building projects in the region of the Faiyum Oasis.

With innovations in tomb security, irrigation projects and a new workers' community all underway at once, it is a period of bustle and hustle in the region of Middle Egypt.

The king himself (Source: TourEgypt.net)

The pyramid of Senusret II, at Lahun. (Source: DePual University)

The crown of Sat-Hathor-Iunet, daughter of Senusret II (Source: Wikipedia)

The crown, as displayed (Source: TourEgypt.net)

The pectoral of Sat-Hathor-Iunet (Source: Wikipedia).

Bibliography:

Wolfram Grajetzki - The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. 2006.

Nicolas Grimal - A History of Egypt. 1994.

Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton - The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. 2010.

The Secret Tomb of Senuseret III.

One of Egypt's most legendary kings has taken the throne. Kha-kau-Re Senuseret III begins his 20+ year reign, with an incredibly ambitious building program.

No less than two royal tombs are constructed at once, and a remarkable shift in artistic representation occurs at the same time.

Senuseret III will be one of the most significant rulers we meet, as literary, artistic and architectural achievements stack upon each other to provide a wealth of information on Twelfth Dynasty society. 

The "aged" but personable face of Senuseret III (Source: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).

The gorgeous sphinx of Senuseret III, carved from a single block of gneiss (Source: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).

Three faces of Senuseret III; a bold profile, beautifully carved (Source: Wikipedia & the British Museum).

Senuseret III (Source: the British Museum).

The pyramid burial chamber at Dahshur - his actual tomb, or not? We may never know (Source: the MMA).

The Dahshur pyramid of Senusret III (Source: the MMA).

The Abydos tomb of Senusret III (full resolution) (Source: Wegner, 2009).

Two sphinxes slay enemies beneath the cartouche of Senuseret III - from the burial of princess Mereret (Source: takenote.it)

Bibliography

Josef Wegner, "The Tomb of Senwosret III at Abydos: Considerations on the Origin and Development of the Royal Amduat-Tomb," in Archaism and Innovation, 2009 (Free Download).

Josef Wegner and Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner, "Seat of Eternity" in Archaeology Magazine, July/August 2001 (JSTOR).

Vanessa E. Smith, "An Investigation of the Shena of Divine Offerings Adjacent to the Mortuary Temple of Senwosret III at Abydos, Egypt," PhD. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 2010.

Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006.

Penn Museum Website - Abydos.

Ancient Egypt Online - Senwosret III at Dahshur.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Website - Senwosret III's Pyramid at Dahshur.

 Senuseret III (Part II): Death and Society

The literary golden age of Dynasty 12 is beginning, and the courtly part of society is adapting itself to conditions under the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Kha-kau-Re Senuseret III.

The king leads a short war into Nubia, continues to make contributions to the cult of Osiris, and keeps his subjects in line.

Kha-kau-Re Senuseret III: patron of the court, builder of monuments, authoritarian tyrant? (Source: The British Museum).

Travertine vessels, discovered at Haraga, and nearly sold at auction in 2014 (Source: the History Blog).

Cowrie shells worked into pendants, from Haraga (Source: the History Blog).

Silver and precious stone pendants and pectorals - note the Bee (far right, middle row) - one of the few three-dimensional jewellery pieces from ancient Egypt (Source: the History Blog).

Senwosret and Sat-Sobek (Source: Illin-Tomich, 2011).

Meket and Deju (Source: Illin-Tomich, 2011).

Her-mer-nekhet and Iu-seni (Source: Illin-Tomich, 2011).

Dedet and Nefret (Source: Ilin-Tomich, 2011).

Senwosret son of Dedu, and Sat-Hathor (Source: Ilin-Tomich, 2011).

The funerary stela of Heqa-ib, from Abydos (Source: The British Museum).

Part of the funerary stela of Inpy, showing the Wedjat eye at lower-right (Source: UCL).

The funeral stela of Ikher-nefret from Abydos (Wikipedia).

A greywacke statue of Intef-Iqer, from Lahun (Source: UCL).

Bibliography

Janet Richards, Society and Death in Ancient Egypt: Mortuary Landscapes of the Middle Kingdom, 2005 (Google Books Preview).

The History Blog, "Met Saves Treasures of Harageh from Auction Sale," 2014 (Blog post). Original Auction.

A. Illin-Tomich, "A Twelfth Dynasty Stela Workshop Possibly from Saqqara," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology volume 97, 2011 (Academia.edu). 

Reshafim.org: "The Ikher-nefret Stela," and "The Loyalist Instruction of Sehetepibre" and "The Teaching of a Man for his Son."

Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006.

W.K. Simpson (editor), The Literature of Ancient Egypt, 2003.

A Fable of the Sea.

Sometime during the 12th Dynasty, a folk-tale was composed (or became popular) that carried with it far more philosophical content than might be expected.

We explore the tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor, an anonymous hero of Egyptian exploration whose adventures in the Red Sea see him survive storms, isolation, and an encounter with an immense serpent-god.

The only image I've found of this story, given a visual interpretation. Why does the serpent have arms?! (Source: Petrie's publications, via levigilant.com - a dated translation).

Bibliography

W.K. Simpson (editor), The Literature of Ancient Egypt, 2006 (Archive.org Pdf Copy). Amazon page. Primary translation for this episode.

Peter der Manuelian, "Interpreting the Shipwrecked Sailor," in Festschrift für Emmer Brunner-Traut (1992). Free Online Copy.

John Baines, "Interpreting the Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 76 (1990). Online pdf.

Fordham University - The Shipwrecked Sailor, online article.

St. Andrews University - Hieroglyphic text, transliteration and translation.

Senuseret III (Part III): The Coffin Texts.

Circa 1867 BCE Egypt is flowering, and the aristocracy are taking a greater share in its rewards than ever before. By painting spells, hymns and stories upon their coffins, they gain access to the realm of Osiris, the eternal kingdom of the Afterlife.

How did they realize this dream? What was the afterlife like? And how did they experience it once there? We explore these questions and more...

The Coffin of Gua from Deir el-Bersha, showing the Two Ways into the Underworld (Source: The British Museum).

An offering bearer from the tomb of Gua (Source: The British Museum).

An ivory head-rest from the tomb of Gua (Source: The British Museum).

The tomb of Djehuty-Hotep at Deir el-Berhsa (Source: Osiris.net)

The sister of Djehuty-Hotep on a block from his tomb (Source: The British Museum).

The entourage of Deir el-Bersha (Source: The British Museum).

Bibliography

W.K. Simpson (editor), The Literature of Ancient Egypt, 2006. PDF Copy at Archive.org.

Leonard H. Lesko, "Some Observations on the Composition of the Book of Two Ways," Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 91 (1971). JSTOR link.

Harold M. Hays, "The Mutability of Tradition: The Old Kingdom Heritage and Middle Kingdom Significance of Coffin Texts Spell 343,” Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap “Ex Oriente Lux” Vol. 40 (2007). Read Online Free at Academia.edu.

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Egyptian Funerary Literature, website.

Osiris.net, The Tomb of Djehuty-hotep, website.

Margaret R. Buson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt - Revised Edition 2001. GoogleBooks Edition.

Senuseret III (Part IV): Fortifying Our Borders, Destroying Our Foes.

1864 BCE, regnal year 16 of Kha-kau-Re Senuseret III. The king launches another campaign into Nubia, which sees the border set at the southern community of Semna.

He commissions new fortresses at Uronarti, and improves upon those at Mirgassa and Askut, which fill important functions in their region.

Plunder, trade, captives and territory all flow into Egypt's hands. How did the foreigners deal with this, and what was their relationship with their new overlords?

A view of the Second Cataract, seen from Uronarti Island (Source: Boston MFA).

Uronarti imagined today (Source: Vogel, 2010).

The fortress at Uronarti (Source: Welsby, 2004).

Bibliography

Lazlo Török, Between Two Worlds: The Frontier Region between Ancient Nubia and Egypt 3700 BC – AD 500, Leiden 2009.

Lyla Pinch Brock, Zahi Hawass, Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century: Archaeology, 2003 (Google Books).

Derek Welsby, "Hidden Treasures of Lake Nubia," Sudan & Nubia volume 8 (2004).

Carola Vogel, The Fortifications of Ancient Egypt 3000-1780 BCE, Osprey Publishing 2010 (Google Books).

Senuseret III (Part V): Bean Counters, Surveyors and Gossips

From 1865-45 BCE Egypt is quiet. Senuseret III comes to the end of his reign in either regnal year 19, or regnal year 35(ish). The throne soon passes to his son, but things get a bit...complicated first.

We meet Heqa-nakht, a rural landlord who left us with a magnificent insight into his personal and business life.

We also meet Neferu-Ptah, easily the most enigmatic woman of the Twelfth Dynasty, and the Middle Kingdom as a whole.

Amenemhat III (Source: Wikipedia and the Neues Museum, Berlin).

The pectoral of Neferu-Ptah (Source: Touregypt.net).

Medinet Maadi under excavation (Source: Medinet Maadi Tourism/Excavation Website).

One of the letters written by Heqa-nakht. Written in hieratic, a cursive script of hieroglyphics (Source: the Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Bibliography

Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006.

Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2010.

Josef Wegner, "A Group of Miniature Royal Sarcophagi from South Abydos," in Millions of Jubilees: Studies in Honor of David P. Silverman, 2010 (Read online free at Academia.edu).

UCL Website - Amenemhat III.

SLU Website - Amenemhat III.

The Approaching End of Dynasty XII.

Ny-ma'at-Re Amenemhat III is the last all-powerful ruler of Dynasty 12. In his 46 years of rule (1845-1798 BCE) there are notable expeditions and settlements in the Sinai, monumental construction projects in Dahshur, Hawara and Biahmu. Wealth and power belong to the king.

But all is not well within the kingdom. Amenemhat III is a self-centred ruler, contributing little to the overall social or economic health of his kingdom.

Meanwhile, foreign populations are beginning to appear more and more in Egyptian records, suggesting the growing influence of a non-Egyptian social group. The results of this remain to be seen...

Major sites of the Sinai Peninsula and Red Sea in the Middle Kingdom (Source: British Museum).

The Faiyum region, with notable locations of the episode (larger resolution).

Amenemhat III and a companion, from his Labyrinth at Hawara (Source: Wikipedia).

Entrance to the Hathor chapel at Serabit al-Khadim, Sinai Peninsula (Source: discoversinai.net).

The name of Hathor (Hwt-Hr), a Hwt enclosure surrounding the Horus bird.

The Hathor temple of Serabit al-Khadim in the 19th Dynasty after numerous extensions (Source: bibleorigins.net).

A fallen column of Hathor, with the goddess' distinctive forward-facing head at left. 

The ships which took turquoise from Sinai to Egypt (source: touregypt.net).

A pedestal at Biahmu, one of two holding seated statues of Amenemhat III (Source: fayoumegypt.com).

Sketch of the colossi pedestals, by Karl Richard Lepsius, 1800s.

The Hawara pyramid of Amenemhat III. Considering it is built of mud-brick, it holds up well.

Beneath the pyramid at Hawara (full resolution).

The failed pyramid at Dahshur, showing the incredibly complex subterranean chambers. These, along with the extreme angle of the slopes, weakened the structure and the pyramid was abandoned c. 1825 BCE (source: ancientegypt.org).

A digital reconstruction of the Hawara Pyramid and the Labyrinth, by the University College London (more here).

The foreign delegation in the tomb of Khnumhotep II, reign of Senuseret II.

Bibliography

Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2010.

Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006.

Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, 1994.

Gregory D. Mumford and Sarah Parcak, "Pharaonic Ventures into the South Sinai," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 89 (2003). JSTOR.

Alan B. Lloyd (editor), A Companion to Ancient Egypt, 2010. Google Books preview.

Kerry Muhlstein, "Levantine Thinking in Egypt," Egypt, Canaan and Israel: History, Imperialism, Ideology and Literature, 2009. Google Books preview.

James P. Allen, "The Historical Inscription of Khnumhotep at Dahshur," Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 352 (2008). JSTOR.

R. Neil Hewison, The Fayoum: History and Guide, 2008. Google Books preview.

University College London wesbite:

• Satire of the Trades.
• The Labyrinth of Hawara.

Chris Kirby's Reconstruction of Biahmu. Youtube.

From Byblos to Nubia

The nine-year reign of Maacheru-Re Amenemhat IV are unremarkable, but Egypt is entering into a fascinating period of international visibility. Foreigners from Canaan are moving into the country in larger and larger numbers, and will eventually cause enormous disruptions in the political world. We explore their origins and their culture...

Click here for larger resolution.

A gold plaque of Maacherure, discovered at Beirut (Lebanon), near Byblos. Maacherure Amenemhat IV offers oils to Atum, the Creator.

A scarab of Amenemhat III and Maacherure.

Scarabs from Canaan, showing the Egyptian hieroglyphs and tropes which filtered into the country over time. (Source: Lippke, 2011).

Amethyst items produced during the Middle Kingdom.

Top: a hippopotamus.

Below: a scarab.

For full resolution, click here. 

Bibliography

Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2010.

Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006.

Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, 1994.

Florian Lippke, "The Southern Levant in context. A brief sketch of important figures considering the religious symbol system in the Bronze Ages," in Egypt and the Near East - the Crossroads. Jana Mynárov, 2011.

Ian Shaw, "Amethyst Mining in the Eastern Desert: A Preliminary Survey at Wadi el-Hudi," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 79 (1993): 81-97.

Jacke Phillips, "Egyptian Amethyst in the Bronze Age Aegean," Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 1.2 (2009): 9-25.

Political and Personal Crisis in 1776

Dynasty 12 ends with Egypt's first fully-fledged female King. Neferu-Sobek rules three years, ten months and twenty-four days, dying in 1776 BCE.

With her death, a 205-year legacy comes to an end, and Egypt's ruling household is now held by a new family. 

In a departure from our recent political narrative, we explore this period thematically, through a text called the Man Who Was Tired of Life. 

Note: the translation is not my own, but the interpretation is. For translations and commentaries, see below. While I diverge from some of these commentaries, their overall value is certainly worthwhile.

Neferu-Sobek, Egypt's first Woman King.

Bibliography

Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2010.

Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006.

Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, 1994.

Sources for The Man Who Was Tired of Life:

Ramond O. Faulkner, "The Man Who Was Tired of Life," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 1956.

Reshafim.org

Sofiatopia.org

TourEgypt.net

Invisible Kings of Dynasty 13

The 13th Dynasty begins in 1786 BCE, with the reign of Sobek-Hotep I. This king, like the fifty who follow him, is nearly invisible in the archaeological record.

Why?

We meet Sobek-Hotep and his successors, the great crocodile god Sobek after whom the king named himself, and visit with an excellent philosophical tale, the Tale of the Eloquent Peasant.

The smiling face of King Amenemhat V, one of the fifty short-lived kings of Dynasty XIII (Image: Wikipedia).

The crocodile god Sobek, in his human-bodied form (Image: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University).

Sobek on the walls of Kom Ombo, a temple of the Greek-Roman period (Image: Wilkinson, 2003).

Bibliography

Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2010.

Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006.

Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, 1994.

W.K. Simpson (editor), The Literature of Ancient Egypt, 2006. PDF Copy at Archive.org.

Canaanites in the North, Egyptians in the South.

In 1700 BCE, Egypt is suddenly riven in two. The Delta, populated by a mixture of native Egyptians and second/third-generation Canaanite immigrants is afflicted with a catastrophic famine and plague.

Unable to gain aid from the Kings of Dynasty 13, they rebel and establish their own kingdom. We follow the consequences of this, and how the new state responded to its situation and mixed population.

Plague pit discovered at Avaris (Source: Gregory Mumford).

The hypothesised bordes of the two kingdoms (Larger Resolution).

The digitally reconstructed palace of Avaris, capital of the Delta kingdom c.1700-1550 BCE (Source: Gregory Mumford).

The wonderful funerary statue of 13th Dynasty king Aw-ib-Re Hor, otherwise anonymous (Source: Global Egyptian Museum).

Bibliography

Manfred Bietak, "Egypt and Canaan During the Middle Bronze Age," Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research, 1991.

Janine Bourriau, "The Second Intermediate Period" in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 2004.

Auaris.at - Official Website of the Austrian Expedition to Avaris (Tell el-Dabaa): General History of the Region; the Avaris Temple.

Irene Forstner-Muller, "Tombs and Burial Customs..." in The Second Intermediate Period: Current Research, Future Prospects, 2010.

Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, 1994.

Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2010.

Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006.

Gregory D. Mumford, "Dynasties 13-17: The Second Intermediate Period," Lecture Series.

The Hyksos - Invaders

c.1650 BCE, Egypt is invaded from the East. They come from an unknown region of Arabia/Palestine/Syria, and have overthrown the Canaanites of the Delta.

They subjugate the lands from Memphis to the Mediterranean.

They capture the necropolis and tombs of the sacred cities.

And they compel the Kings of Upper Egypt to pay them tribute.

They are the Hyksos, and their coming is a watershed in the history of the country. 

The territory of the Hyksos; border in red (Full Resolution).

Bibliography

Daphna Ben-Tor, "Can Scarabs Argue for the Origin of the Hyksos?" Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 1 (2009). FREE on Academia.edu.

Nadine Moeller, et al., "Discussion of Late Middle Kingdom and Early Second Intermediate Period History and Chronology in Relation to the Khayan Sealings From Edfu." Egypt and the Levant, XXI (2011). FREE on Academia.edu.

Wolfram Grajetzki, "Notes on Administration in the Second Intermediate Period," The Second Intermediate Period, 2010.

Charlotte Booth, The Hyksos Period in Egypt, 2008.

A Game of Chess

The Hyksos remain supreme over Egypt, along with their allies the Nubians of Kerma.

In Thebes, the Kings of Dynasty Sixteen are struggling to resist the invaders and reclaim their ancestral kingdom. But there will be hard fights, and dreadful losses, before the war is won.

The tomb of Senebkay (Near Eastern Archaeology Magazine, 2015: Full Resolution).

A King of Kerma, represented with the White Crown of Upper Egypt, a mace, and a bow. Discovered in the fortresses re-occupied around 1600 BCE.

The shattered head of Seqenenre Tao (c.1560 BCE), found in a cache at Thebes (Image Source: Wikipedia - Full Resolution).

Bibliography

Anthony J. Spalinger, War in Ancient Egypt, 2005

Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, 1994.

Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2004 & 2010.

Lazlo Torok, Between Two Worlds: The Frontier Region Between Ancient Nubia and Egypt 3700 BC - AD 500, 2009.