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Circa. 2125 BCE an overlord known as Intef I rose to power at Thebes in Upper Egypt and inspired his community to rebel against the kings of Memphis. His actions would inspire those who succeeded him and finally result in the victory of Mentuhotep II. Mentuhotep II reigned from Thebes. Thebes, also, was the necropolis in the Valley of the Kings where the kings and nobles were entombed in great splendour in crypts cut into the cliffs on the Nile's west bank.
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Starting as the ruler of southernmost Egypt in about 2008 BCE, Mentuhotep reunified the country by defeating his rivals and ushered in the period known as the Middle Kingdom (1938–c. 1630 BCE).He inherited a realm that had already spent some 60 years in intermittent warfare with the Heracleopolitan kingdom (the north), which ruled Middle and Lower Egypt, as each state sought to control the whole country. By 1968, Mentuhotep (the south) had captured Heracleopolis and reunited Egypt.
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The Middle Kingdom saw Egyptian power expand beyond its borders. The anarchy of the First Intermediate Period saw the rulers of the Middle Kingdom extended Egypt's power southward into Nubia. Nubia was important to Egypt as its primary source of gold, the pharaohs built a string of massive fortresses along the Nile in Nubia to secure their hold over it. Egypt's influence was also felt to the northeast in Palestine. This period also saw trade with the outside world increase.
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During the Middle Kingdom the Pharaoh would occasionally appoint his successor (often one of his sons) as co regent, or "joint king" to ensure a smooth succession. The Pharaoh would also do this when he was elderly or unable to rule his country on his own. This occurred in kings such as Thutmose III and Amenhotep II and Amenemhat I and Senusret I.
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The middle kingdom was considered the golden age of art and poetry in ancient Egypt. It is believed that the poetry at the time was used as propaganda and spouted Egyptian Ideologies. Also in art the frequently depicted images of the king ‘smiting the foes’ and hunting wild animals are key components of the royal propaganda portraying the king as the defender and extender of the nation’s borders against the chaotic world and as a deity.
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In an effort which curbed the power of the nomarchs, Amenemhet I created the first standing army in Egypt directly under the king's control. Prior to this, armies were raised by conscription in the different districts and the nomarch then sent his men to the king. This gave the nomarchs a great degree of power as the men's loyalties lay with their community and regional ruler. A standing army, loyal first to the king, encouraged nationalism and a stronger unity.
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Amenemhet I was the first ruler of the twelfth Dynasty.
Amenemhet, an experienced administrator, moved the capital from Thebes and founded a more central residence at Itj-tawy. Shifting the capital from Thebes there may have been an attempt at further unifying Egypt by centering the government in the middle of the country instead of toward the south. -
Senusret III ruled the country for perhaps as long as 37 years as the 5th pharaoh of Egypt's 12th Dynasty from around 1878 until 1841 BC. In Sensuret's statues we see a shift away from the king as god, and more towards the king as leader. He was described as a great warrior and was said to be 6 ft 6 tall. He initiated a series of devastating campaigns in Nubia very early in his reign in order to secure his southern borders and protect the trading routes and mineral resources.
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During the Thirteenth Dynasty the pharaoh's control of Egypt began to weaken. Eventually the Fourteenth Dynasty, split from southern Egypt. As the country fell into disarray, the Middle Kingdom collapsed and the Second Intermediate Period began.The Second Intermediate Period brought the rule of foreign invaders - the Hyksos. The Hyksos ruled northern Egypt from the capital city of Avaris until around 1550 BC. Before this Avaris had been a fortified camp of immigrants from Palestine.
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The Valley was part of the ancient city of Thebes and was the burial site of almost all the kings of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties. The pyramid tombs of the Old and Middle Kingdom kings are the most readily recognised monuments of ancient Egypt. It was this visibility, however, that made rulers of the New Kingdom to adopt a new form of tomb, hidden in the remote cliffs of western Thebes, to avoid tomb raiders.
