empires and dynasties: Egypt Colossi of Ramses II and his wife at entrance to Karnak Temple; Ramses II completed this complex of temples and monuments, which was begun and developed by rulers of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ca 1550–ca 1307 b.c.e.) to glorify the god Amun-Re (© Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System) or so years, during the reign of Ramses XI (r ca 1100–ca 1070 b.c.e.) In about 1087 b.c.e the governor of Nubia rebelled and attacked Upper Egypt, driving all the way to Thebes Ramses XI and his army made a vigorous counteroffensive, driving the rebel army back south of Elephantine, perhaps to the town of Miam in Wawat Even so, Egypt did not regain control of Nubia, a land that had been part of Egypt for about 500 years, and the loss of access to southern trade routes seriously damaged Egypt’s economy THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (CA 1070–CA 712 B.C.E.) Ramses XI died without an heir, resulting in the founding of the Twenty-first Dynasty (ca 1070–ca 945 b.c.e.) The first pharaoh of the new dynasty, Smendes (r ca 1070–ca 1044 b.c.e.), was a vigorous ruler, and he led military campaigns in the Near East to enforce Egyptian dominance in that re- 395 gion His successors found it increasingly difficult to hold the nation together The Twenty-second Dynasty (ca 945–ca 712 b.c.e.) was founded by a man of Libyan descent, Shoshenq I (r ca 945–ca 924 b.c.e.), who peacefully succeeded to the throne The Twenty-second Dynasty saw the development of conflicts among governors of different regions, and some governors disputed the authority of the central government Shoshenq III (r ca 835–ca 783 b.c.e.) tried to maintain control of the country by appointing members of his family to be governors and giving each of them the title of king Thereafter the family members bickered with one another and the country continued to fragment The last pharaoh of the Twenty-second Dynasty was Osorkon IV (r ca 735–ca 712 b.c.e.), who ruled from the city of Tanis, in the Nile Delta By this time Egypt had broken apart The Twenty-third Dynasty (ca 828–ca 712 b.c.e.) ruled from the city of Leontopolis, which was at that time called Taremu, and the 24th Dynasty (ca 724–ca 712 b.c.e.) ruled from the city of Sais, both in the Nile Delta For a short time Egypt was reunited by the Twentyfift h Dynasty (ca 780–ca 657 b.c.e.), which was composed of kings from Kush, the Nubian kingdom to Egypt’s south These kings followed Egyptian traditions of religion and government, and they saw themselves as Egypt’s only rightful remaining royal line The dynasty probably was established by Alura (r ca 780–ca 770 b.c.e.) in the Nubian city of Napata His successor, Kashta (r ca 770–ca 750 b.c.e.), began the Nubian takeover of Egypt Kashta’s son Piye (r 750–712 b.c.e.) led an army into Egypt to secure Thebes so that the Nubian kings could worship there Piye continued beyond Thebes to Hermopolis, then known as Wenu, where he met the army of the Twenty-fourth Dynasty pharaoh Tefnakht (r ca 724–ca 717 b.c.e.) and defeated it Tefnakht withdrew to Sais in the Nile Delta, and Piye secured his dominance all the way north to Heliopolis, then known as On, northeast of Memphis Local rulers swore fealty to him and he took on all the regal trappings, duties, and titles of an Egyptian pharaoh LATE PERIOD (712–332 B.C.E.) The Late Period traditionally starts with the reign of Piye’s successor, Shabaka (r ca 712–ca 698 b.c.e.), a dynamic pharaoh who united the Nile Delta with the rest of Egypt He and his successors tried to rule Egypt as traditional pharaohs They defended the country’s interests in the Near East, built a great fleet to patrol the Mediterranean, and constructed great public works When Assyria became a formidable military power, the Twenty-fift h Dynasty tried to find ways to oppose it In about 674 b.c.e Assyria attacked Egypt and was defeated by the forces of Taharqa (r ca 690–664 b.c.e.), but around 671 b.c.e Assyria attacked again, driving its way into Memphis Taharqa withdrew into Nubia The last pharaoh of the Twenty-fift h Dynasty was Taharqa’s heir, Tantamani (r ca 664–ca 657 b.c.e.), who recaptured all of Egypt before being soundly defeated by the Assyrians, who exacted cruel reprisals all the way to Thebes