empires and dynasties: Egypt The Greek historians mention a Seventh Dynasty, perhaps dominated by the northern city of Memphis, or Mit Rahina Most modern historians believe that there was no Seventh Dynasty, noting the unlikely description that it had 70 kings in 70 days The Eighth Dynasty may have lasted from about 2150 to 2134 b.c.e., with 18 or more kings FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (CA 2134-CA 2040 B.C.E.) The Greeks erred in identifying two separate Ninth and Tenth Dynasties by duplicating the kings in their lists, though the Greek historians may have found the dynasties listed this way in Egyptian sources The Ninth and Tenth were only one dynasty, lasting from ca 2134–ca 2040 b.c.e Later Egyptian writings characterize this period as one of chaos, with people forsaking their old gods and proper worship These accounts may have been written more to justify contemporary kings’ absolute power rather than to provide an accurate commentary of the First Intermediate Period However, it is known that a civil war began between the Tenth Dynasty kings of Lower Egypt and the Eleventh Dynasty kings of Upper Egypt, with an army of the Tenth Dynasty looting and desecrating tombs at the town of Abydos, north of Thebes Th is attack would have been regarded as a terrible offense against religion and morality Modern historians are uncertain about the exact events that occurred during this civil war Because the battles were between two different dynasties, most historians classify the first half of the Eleventh Dynasty as overlapping with the end of the Tenth Dynasty There is also some consensus that the Theban king Mentuhotep (or Montjuhotep) II (r ca 2061–ca 2010 b.c.e.) defeated the northern kings of Heracleopolis in about 2040 b.c.e., thereby reunifying Upper and Lower Egypt and establishing the relative calm of the Middle Kingdom Other historians identify Mentuhotep I, the Theban governor Wast, as the founder of the Eleventh Dynasty, followed by Intef (or Inyotef) I, II, and III Some believe Mentuhotep I and Mentuhotep II were the same person MIDDLE KINGDOM (CA 2040–CA 1640 B.C.E.) After defeating the northern kings, Mentuhotep II spent the remainder of his reign strengthening the reunification of Egypt He kept most government officials in their posts, replacing some who were not loyal to him, and his administration worked to reintegrate provinces into a single government Mentuhotep II proved to be an exceptional administrator, and by the time of his death he had succeeded in bringing war-torn Egypt together as one nation The Twelft h Dynasty (ca 1991–ca 1783 b.c.e.) began when Mentuhotep IV (r ca 1998–ca 1991 b.c.e.) was succeeded by his vizier Amenemhet I (r ca 1991–ca 1962 b.c.e.) The transfer of power was peaceful Amenemhet I was a reformer who tried to restore Egyptian government to the form it had during the Old Kingdom He moved his residence from Thebes to the town of Itjtawy, near Saqqara, where sacred 393 pyramids such as that of Djoser were located Amenemhet I became an absolute ruler, and all government authority came from him During the Middle Kingdom, beginning with Amenemhet I, eldest sons sat beside their fathers on the throne, sharing in royal authority, and wives and daughters of kings also were considered divine The Twelft h Dynasty was a period of great prosperity The government pursued large public works projects, including building great tombs for kings and impressive tombs for regional governors Beginning with Mentuhotep II, the Twelft h Dynasty’s army extended Egyptian dominance in Nubia, reaching its fullest extent under Senusret III (r ca 1878–ca 1841 b.c.e.), securing major trade routes into southern Africa that brought much wealth to Egypt The last ruler of the Twelft h Dynasty was Sobeknefru (r ca 1787–ca 1783 b.c.e.), a female king Her reign was followed by the Thirteenth Dynasty (ca 1783–ca 1641 b.c.e.), which was composed of a series of perhaps 33 kings, most of them with unknown names and dates The early king Neferhotep I and others were powerful rulers of a central government, but during the middle of the Thirteenth Dynasty the kings’ power waned In the Nile Delta many small principalities became independent; their governors often called themselves kings SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (CA 1641–CA 1550 B.C.E.) The Second Intermediate Period is a confusion of dynasties that overlapped because they ruled different parts of Egypt There was the Fourteenth Dynasty, Fifteenth Dynasty, Sixteenth Dynasty, and Seventeenth Dynasty (ca 1641–ca 1550 b.c.e.) Of these dynasties, only the Seventeenth Dynasty has a coherent history of kings, all ruling Upper Egypt The Fourteenth Dynasty had 76 kings, possibly more, and the Sixteenth Dynasty had 32 or more kings These kings probably not represent family lineages, as Egyptian historians of the 1200s b.c.e may have included the kings of even small territories in these dynasties The Fifteenth Dynasty consisted of six kings of the city of Avaris, located in the northeastern Nile Delta They were prosperous because of trade with the Near East, and Avaris was a well-defended fortress city These kings are known as Hyksos, and historians still debate their origins According to Egyptian records, they were Asiatic kings from the Near East who were remembered as cruel overlords The kings of the Seventeenth Dynasty ruled from Thebes They saw themselves, not the Hyksos, as the true inheritors of the Thirteenth Dynasty kings and believed that Egypt should be one country They focused on boosting the economy by freeing up trade routes that were blocked both to the north and south The last king of the Seventeenth Dynasty, Kamose (r ca 1555–ca 1550 b.c.e.), succeeded in recovering southern territory all the way to Elephantine, then known as Abu This was just north of the region of Wawat, which was the focus of trade routes Kamose attacked Avaris in about 1540 b.c.e but did not breach its walls