Middle Kingdom

Reunification of the Egyptian lands

The Middle Kingdom began with the reunification of Egypt and was a time of economic growth and national projects. Kings still built pyramids to hold their mummies and funerary equipment; the mud-brick pyramids of this period have been found mainly at El-Lisht and Hawara.

Although a Theban king (Montohotep Nebhebetre) founded the kingdom, the capital moved during the 12th Dynasty to Itj-Tawy in the Faiyum, a region that received special attention and prospered through agricultural projects. Middle Kingdom rulers also held Egypt’s borders, which reached as far as Semna (South Nubia).

Key rulers and events

• Mentuhotep II reunited Egypt from Thebes and built a terraced tomb-temple at Deir El-Bahari.
• Amenemhat I founded the 12th Dynasty and moved the capital north to Itj-Tawy, near El-Lisht.
• Senusret I built widely, and his small White Chapel at Karnak is one of the finest buildings of the period.
• Senusret III strengthened the southern border with a chain of fortresses in Nubia. His statues, with their tired, lined faces, are some of the most striking portraits in Egyptian art.
• Amenemhat III developed the Faiyum and built pyramids at Dahshur and Hawara.

Later Egyptians looked back on this as a classical age of language and literature. Well-known texts such as the Story of Sinuhe date from this time.

Where to see this era today

• Karnak, Luxor: the White Chapel of Senusret I, rebuilt in the open-air museum.
• Deir El-Bahari, Luxor: the remains of the temple of Mentuhotep II beside Hatshepsut’s temple.
• Dahshur, El-Lisht, El-Lahun and Hawara: the mud-brick pyramids of the 12th Dynasty kings.
• Beni Hassan, Minya: painted rock tombs of local governors, with lively scenes of daily life.
• The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir and the Grand Egyptian Museum: between them they hold the great sculpture of the period, including statues of Mentuhotep II, Senusret III and Amenemhat III, and the painted wooden models from the tomb of Meketre.