| | History
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DYNASTIES
: First Intermediate Period (2213 - 1991 BC)
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The
years following the death of Pepi II are most obscure.
The only person from this era to have left an impression
on posterity is a woman called Nitokris who appears to
have acted as king. There are no contemporary records
but Herodotus wrote of her:
"She killed hundreds of Egyptians to avenge the king,
her brother, whom his subjects had killed, and had forced
her to succeed. She did this by constructing a huge underground
chamber. Then invited to a banquet all those she knew
to be responsible for her brother's death. When the banquet
was underway, she let the river in on them, through a
concealed pipe. After this fearful revenge, she flung
herself into a room filled with embers, to escape her
punishment."
For a time petty warlords ruled the provinces. Then from
the city of Herakleopolis there emerged a ruling family
led by one Khety who for a time held sway over the whole
country. However, this was short lived and the country
split into two, the north ruled from Herakleopolis and
the south ruled from Thebes.
Whereas the Theban dynasty was stable, kings succeeded
one another rapidly at Herakleopolis. There was continual
conflict between the two lands which was resolved in the
11th dynasty.
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Intef I
Intef II
Intef III
Mentuhotep I Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep III |
The
Middle Kingdom begins with the reunification of the Egypt
under Mentuhotep I who ousted the kings of Herakleopolis.
He assumed the Horus name Divine of the White Crown, implicitly
claiming all of Upper Egypt. This was later changed to
Uniter of the Two Lands. His remarkable mortuary complex
at Dayr al-Bahri was the architectural inspiration for
Hatshepsut's temple which was built alongside some 500
years later |
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Credit
Mark
Millmore
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