Ancient Egypt – The 12th Dynasty
- dwworldhistory
- Jul 5
- 17 min read
Updated: Aug 22
DW | Ancient Egypt
11 – The 12th Dynasty
Welcome to the DW World History Series. In the last episode, we discussed the First Intermediate Period and the rise of the Middle Kingdom. We ended with the last king of the 11th Dynasty, Mentuhotep IV. His vizier, Amenemhet I, with the backing of 10,000 soldiers, appeared to have overthrown his rule. Establishing the 12th Dynasty, Amenemhet would lay the foundations for a golden age of Egypt that would last for over 200 years.
11.1 – Pharaoh Amenemhet I (1991-1962 BC)
Amenemhet was the son of Senusret and Nefret, who were not of the royal family. As vizier of Egypt under Mentuhotep IV, Amenemhet succeeded him, most likely by force, and established the 12th Dynasty. Ruling from 1991-1962 B.C., he would be considered the first Pharaoh to establish a co-regency with his son, Senusret I.
Following his enthronement, Amenemhet's first move was to cruise the Nile with his fleet, crushing rebel nomarchs, Asiatics, and Nubians on the southern border. He then established a capital, at Itjtawy, in the Faiyum, away from both Thebes and Herakelopolis. This was a prominent location to keep eyes on both Upper and Lower Egypt. Itjtawy means 'Binder of Two Lands', stressing the ordeal of unification. It is from this period that the god Amun begins to rise in dominance over the previous god, Montu.
During this time we also see large tombs of high officials being constructed at Beni Hassan in Middle Egypt. On the walls of these tombs are brightly painted representations of everyday life. These officials were called nomarchs. At this time, Egypt was divided into 42 nomes, basically states, and these nomarchs acted as the governors for each of these locations. Their job was to collect the taxes for each nome and send the pharaoh his share in the capital, which was now in the Faiyum.
The royal burial ground was again moved from Deir el- Bahari to Lisht, at the entrance of the Faiyum. Here Amenemhet built a pyramid, similar to those built during the Old Kingdom, only smaller. This pyramid was made of mud-brick that topped at 180 feet. The inner core was constructed with small limestone blocks, many of these taken from ruined Old Kingdom monuments at Giza and Abusir. The exterior was faced with white tura limestone. The entrance was located on the north side, traditionally located while pointing to the North Star.
Why the North Star? All the other stars move, but the North Star appears to remain in place and was looked upon by the Egyptians as representing stability – something forever. Remember that the Egyptians hated chaos and that 'change for Egypt was usually bad'. This North Star represented peace and stability. By building his entrance on the north, Amenemhet I was proclaiming that tradition had now been re-established.
Little is known of the internal arrangements of the pyramid since access has been denied by ground water. The mortuary temple on the east face has been largely destroyed.
Amenemhet's most significant act was the introduction of co-regency, an institution that was to last throughout the 12th Dynasty. Pharaoh Amenemhet likely created a co-regency to secure the rule of his son in case anything happened to him. This decision was probably influenced by the previous turbulent Intermediate Period. Considering that Amenemhet I originally came from a common background, he aimed to ensure the continuation of his dynasty through his son, thus establishing a pattern that future dynasties would successfully adopt.
In year 20 of his reign, he began this co-regency and they shared the throne for another 10-years. During this period, Prince Senusret was placed in charge of the military and sent on expeditions to control the borders. It was on one such expedition, against the Libyans in the Western Desert, when Amenemhet was murdered. Senusret hurried back to the capital and took out the attempted coup.
Two of the greatest texts of Egyptian literature were composed at this time. They both provide evidence for Amenemhet's murder. The first composition, called 'The Instructions of Amenemhet' describe how the ghost of the deceased king reveals himself to his son, and provides advice.
Amenemhet tells Senusret not to trust the people and describes how he was killed by the palace guard while sleeping in his bed after dinner. This is a very cynical piece and was most likely written by Amenemhet's son, Senusret. It says specifically:
'Beware of the subjects who are nobodys. Beware of those who are plotting
that you're not aware of. Don't trust your brother, don't have friends.
I gave to the beggars, I helped the poor and look what happened to me.
I gave myrrh to the people and they didn't help me. But he who ate my
food raised opposition. He whom I trusted plotted against me.'
Then he goes on to how he was killed...
'It was after supper, during the night. Weapons for my protection were
turned against me.'
It was obviously an internal plot, most likely carried out by the palace guard. He continues:
'I had assigned order to everything and look what happened!'
It is a very cynical document, but also kind of sensitive politically... It didn't proclaim outright that the pharaoh was murdered. That was not something the Egyptians did. The pharaoh was divine and it was conflictive to their religion whenever a pharaoh was assassinated. It was not usually talked about in open forum. You'll see this again throughout Egyptian history, especially with Ramesses III.
The other text, called 'The Story of Sinuhe', follows a young man who is brought up in the palace. Sinuhe is a palace official and is out of the country with the pharaoh's son when word reaches them that the pharaoh, Amenemhet I has been killed. Now the son rushes back to Egypt, but Sinuhe remains outside the border. He becomes afraid of the anarchy and chaos and remembers back to the Intermediate Period, not wanting to go through that again. As a result, he flees to Palestine where his lives his life, much of it, outside the borders of Egypt. Now this story does have a happy ending. The son, who is now pharaoh, sends a messenger to Sinuhe, who is now an old man, and begs him to return to Egypt. He does so and is cared for during the rest of his life. This is one of the great stories of Ancient Egyptian Literature.
11.2 – Pharaoh Senusret I (1971-1926 BC)
Pharaoh Senusret I, also known as Sesostris I, ruled from c. 1971-1926 BC. This was a prosperous time for Egypt. He continued his father's aggressive expansionist policies against Nubia by initiating two expeditions into this region in his 10th and 18th years and established Egypt's formal southern border near the second cataract where he placed a garrison and a victory stele.
Pharaoh Senusret I also organized an expedition to a Western Desert oasis. Senusret I established diplomatic relations with some rulers of towns in Syria and Canaan. He also tried to centralize the country's political structure by supporting nomarchs who were loyal to him.
At Heliopolis, he erected a pair of 66-foot red granite obelisks, each weighing 121 tons. One of the pair still stands and is the oldest standing obelisk in Egypt.
Senusret built a pyramid one mile south of his father's monument, at el-Lisht. This pyramid used a method of construction never before seen in an Egyptian pyramid; four stone walls radiated from the center built of rough-hewn blocks that decreased in size the higher their placement. The eight sections formed by these walls were then subdivided by three more walls, splitting the pyramid into 32 different units which were then filled with slabs of stone as well as debris. An exoskeleton of fine limestone then covered the structure.
This new method of construction was not particularly efficient, and the completed pyramid suffered from stability problems. Unusual for Egyptian archaeology, clear evidence for ramps used to construct the pyramid remain. The burial chamber, like his father's, is inaccessible due to ground water.
Surrounding the actual structure was a comparatively large complex, which consisted of a mortuary temple, a rectangular structure with a courtyard in the center, and nine smaller pyramids for Senusret's queens. From the mortuary, a limestone causeway with carved statues set every 10 cubits ran to a public temple outside the perimeter wall of the compound. Little of this is visible today, however, because later Roman buildings were built over the complex.
Unlike the 11th Dynasty, the artwork during this period becomes refined and artistic skill returns to the royal workshops. There are two statues of the king that were discovered in the tomb of the high priest of Heliopolis, Imhotep, which was located on the east side of Senusret's pyramid. Each statue is about 23-inches tall and shows the king holding a tall crook-topped staff while wearing the red and white crowns.
The two figures were probably used as part of a dramatic funerary ceremony and then ritually buried. In spite of its small size, the statue has great presence. In Egyptian art, the essential purpose of any formal representation of a man (whether god, king, or lesser mortal) was to embody the essence of masculine strength and virility. The power expressed in the simple pose of this striding figure admirably achieves this goal, and it is easy to understand why Egyptian artists continued to use many of the same uniquely expressive forms for nearly thirty centuries.
11.3 – Military Architecture of the Middle Kingdom
Nubia is the equivalent of the Sudan. They did not have firm borders. Egypt's border ended in the south at a place called Aswan. Its a natural border with huge boulders in the Nile that obstruct river transportation. These obstructions are called cataracts and serve as a great location for military control. Egypt embarked on a program of military expansion into Nubia, bolstering their position with a long chain of fortresses between modern Aswan and the region of the Second Cataract. These were heavily fortified settlements, located at the most vulnerable points in the trade route from the south and were simultaneously both military outposts and customs stations.
Most of these fortifications were built of mudbrick over a period of some 130 years, between the reigns of Senusret I to his great grandson, Senusret III. Of about seventeen fortresses, eleven fortresses were clustered in the area of the Second Cataract alone, each positioned so that they could control the flow of traffic northwards at points where the Nile was difficult to navigate. The fortification walls were 30 feet high and 15 feet wide. These forts were impressive. Nubians traveling along the roadway would have to go through these forts, due to the difficult terrain. You couldn't just go around them and they were constructed on the cataracts, so river navigation was also difficult.
The principal reason for these fortresses was apparently not the protection of Egypt's southern border, for they could have been easily outflanked by desert invaders on either side of the Nile. They also appear not to have been designed simply to subjugate the Lower (Northern) Nubians, since the local population does not seem to have been considered much of a threat.
These forts were where the Egyptians collected the taxes. If you were a Nubian traveling through the area, you would be required to pay a tax in order to continue on the road. These forts were also heavily manned. As a result, they served as excellent sources of revenue and very good positions to stage the army in case of uprisings. The southernmost of these fortresses, at Semna, Kumma, Uronarti and Semna South, were about 30 miles south of the Second Cataract, around the narrowest gorge in the whole course of the Nile, and these marked the final frontier during the 12th Dynasty.
11.4 – The Karnak Temple of Amun
Senusret was the first pharaoh to build at Karnak in Thebes. Construction at the complex would continue into the Ptolemaic Period, although most of the buildings date from the New Kingdom. The area around Karnak was the main place of worship of the 18th Dynasty Theban Triad with the god, Amun, at its head. It is part of the monumental city of Thebes and gives its name from the nearby modern village of el-Karnak, 1.6 miles north of Luxor.
Approximately 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity, and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the individual features of Karnak are unique, but the size and number of features are overwhelming. The deities represented range from some of the earliest worshiped to those worshiped much later in the history of the Ancient Egyptian culture. Major construction work in the Precinct of Amun-Ra take place during the 18th Dynasty when Thebes became the capital of Ancient Egypt.
11.5 – Pharaoh Amenemhet II (1929-1895 BC)
Senusret took Amenemhet II, his son by his chief wife Queen Nefru, as co-regent for three years before his death. Ruling about 35 years, from c. 1929–1895 BC, he greatly expanded Egypt's foreign relations when he became king.
Across the Mediterranean, 'The Great Green', as the Egyptians called it, trade was established with Crete at Knossos. Egypt began importing Minoan pottery while exporting statues and other goods. Amenemhet II sent an expedition to the Red Sea and to the Land of Punt. Trade was also prevalent at Byblos in Lebanon. It is interesting to note that silver was more valuable than gold in Egypt at this time.
Amenemhet II widened and deepened the Great Bahr Yusuf Canal that fed the Faiyum from the Nile. This rendered the irrigation system more effective. It was also at this time that the Faiyum region became popular for hunting and fishing.
Amenemhet II built his pyramid just east of the pyramids of Sneferu at Dahshur. His location choice may have been connected with the building projects close by in the Faiyum. His pyramid, known as the White Pyramid, is poorly preserved and excavated and is now nothing more than a pile of rubble, having been heavily quarried for stone.
11.6 – Pharaoh Senusret II (1897-1878 BC)
Continuing the family tradition of alternating names, Senusret II became king after a 3-year co- regency with his father, Amenemhet II. Ruling about 19 years, from c. 1897–1878 BC, he continued the expansion of cultivation in the Faiyum region and established a good rapport with the provincial elites during a peaceful reign.
Senusret II built his mud-brick pyramid at Lahun. Instead of the typical north side entrance, he constructed his on the south side under the paving stones in an attempt to deter the tomb robbers. Even this failed, but Flinders Petrie in 1889 did find a beautiful gold and inlaid royal uraeus in the flooded burial chamber that must have come from the king's despoiled mummy. The pyramid was built around a framework of limestone radial arms, similar to the framework used by Senusret I. Instead of using an infill of stones, Senusret II used an infill of mud brick before cladding the structure with a layer of limestone veneer. The outer cladding stones were locked together using dovetail inserts, some of which still remain. A trench was dug around the central core that was filled with stones to act as a French Drain. The limestone cladding stood in this drain, indicating that Senusret II was concerned with water damage.
There were eight mastabas and one small pyramid to the north of Senusret's complex and all were within the enclosure wall. The wall had been encased in limestone that was decorated with niches, perhaps as a copy of Djoser's complex at Saqqara. The mastabas were solid and no chambers have been found within or beneath, indicating that they were cenotaphs and possibly symbolic in nature. Inside the pyramid, the builder's vertical access shaft had been filled in after construction and the chamber was made to look like a burial chamber. This was no doubt an attempt to convince tomb robbers to look no further.
A secondary access shaft led to a vaulted chamber and a deep well shaft. This may have been an aspect of the cult of Osiris, although it may also have been to find the water table. A passage led northwards, past another lateral chamber that turned west. This led to an antechamber and a vaulted burial chamber, with a side chamber to the south. The burial chamber was encircled by a unique series of passages that may have referenced the birth of Osiris.
A large sarcophagus was found within the burial chamber that was larger than the doorway and the tunnels, showing that it was put in position when the chamber was being constructed. The limestone outer cladding of the pyramid was removed by Ramesses II so he could re-use the stone for his own use. He left inscriptions that he had done so.
Returning in 1913, Petrie discovered four shaft tombs on the south side of the pyramid that belonged to the royal family. The tomb of princess Sit-Hathor-Yunet, had been robbed, but a niche in the burial site escaped the looters' attention. In this niche were remains of several boxes filled with jewelry and cosmetic objects, including a crown and necklace. This discovered jewelry is considered to be among the highest quality examples ever found in Ancient Egyptian tombs.
Also found were two pectorals, one with the name of Senusret II, the other with the name of Amenemhet III. There was also a crown and several bracelets inscribed with the name of Amenemhet III. Most of the objects are made of gold with inlays of precious stone.
It was also here that Petrie found the pyramid town Kahun which yielded fascinating new information about the social and economic life of the ancient Egyptian pyramid workers. Kahun had been considered the Egyptian Pompeii, since it was suddenly abandoned, with many possessions left behind. Dozens of papyri have been found that reveal the administration and logistics of a multi-racial and disciplined work force. The difference in prosperity within the community is also revealed through the varying sizes and quality of houses.
11.7 – Pharaoh Senusret III (1878-1860 BC)
Senusret III came to the throne, ruling from 1878 to 1860 BC, and ended the alternation of names. The Greaco-Roman priest Manetho described Senusret III as a great warrior and over 6-ft-6-inches in height. His military campaigns gave rise to an era of peace and economic prosperity that reduced the power of regional rulers and led to a revival in craftwork, trade, and urban development. Senusret III was among the few Egyptian kings who were deified and honored with a cult during their own lifetime.
In the beginning of his reign, he divided the country into three administrative sections: the North, the South, and the Head of the South, which was Elephantine and Lower Nubia. Each area was headed by a council of senior staff that reported to a vizier. This new system of government curtailed the activities of the local nomarchs that had once again risen to challenge the monarchy.
After securing the internal stability, Senusret III initiated a series of devastating campaigns in Nubia in order to safeguard access to the trade routes. He strengthened the forts and dug a canal around the First Cataract at Aswan in order to better serve his fleet. A great stele from Elephantine records how he crushed the Nubians:
“I carried off their women, I carried off their subjects, went forth to their wells, smote their bulls. I reaped their grain, and set fire thereto.”
Senusret III pushed Egypt's southern boundary farther than any of his predecessors and left an admonition for future kings in another stele at Semna which states:
“Now, as for every son of mine who shall maintain this boundary, which my majesty has made, he is my son, he is born of my majesty, the likeness of a son who is the champion of his father, who maintains the boundary of him that begat him. Now, as for him who shall relax it, and shall not fight for it; he is not my son, he is not born to me.” -Translated by Peter Clayton
For the following twenty years, Senusret III and Amenemhet III shared the throne, with Amenemhet III taking the active role as king. He would eventually be worshiped as a god in Nubia and later generations would strive to keep this inheritance.
Senusret III built the largest of the 12th Dynasty pyramids at Dahshur, and, like his father, also attempted to conceal the entrance by placing it under the paving of the surrounding court on the west side. This, too, was ineffective against tomb robbers.
The pyramid was built of a core of mud bricks. They were not made a consistent size implying that standardized molds weren't used. The burial chamber was lined with granite. Above the vaulted burial chamber was a second relieving chamber that was roofed with five pairs of limestone beams each weighing 30 tons. Above this was a third mudbrick vault.
The pyramid complex included a small mortuary temple and seven smaller pyramids for his queens. There was also an underground gallery with further burials for royal women. Senusret III is probably the best known, visually, of all the Middle Kingdom pharaohs. His statues have more realistic features and depart from the tradition of appearing god-like and serene. He is easily identifiable by his hooded eyes and world-weary features.
The king is depicted at different ages and, in particular, on the aged ones, he appears more of a somber king: his eyes appear tired and worn, the mouth and lips have a grimace of bitterness, and the ears are big and protruding forward. In sharp contrast with the realism of the head and, regardless of his age, the rest of the body depicts the more classical pharaonic fashion as being strong and invincible.
11.8 – Pharaoh Amenemhet III (1860-1815 BC)
Senusret III's son and successor, Amenemhet III, came to the throne after serving as a co-regent for 20 years. He had another long reign, ruling from c. 1860–1815 BC. Like his father, Amenemhet III left a series of portraits that were remarkable for their individuality and fine work. He would be the last great pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom and his reign would be the climax of economic growth for the country.
The aggressive military and domestic policies of Senusret III, which re-subjugated Nubia and wrested power from the nomarchs, allowed Amenemhet III to inherit a stable and peaceful Egypt. He directed his efforts towards an extensive building program with particular focus in the Faiyum region. He built for himself two pyramids at Dahshur and Hawara, becoming the first pharaoh since Sneferu in the Fourth Dynasty to build more than one.
The first pyramid was constructed at Dahshur and was known as the Black Pyramid. It was used as a burial ground for several royal women. The pyramid was abandoned after it began to crush the underground chambers. The builders had hastily installed supporting beams and mud brick walls to stop the sinking, but it was too little, too late, and the pyramid was abandoned. The 'King's section' contained a burial chamber containing a large sarcophagus that was carved to imitate the outer wall of Djoser's Pyramid complex at Saqqara, possibly another attempt to reinforce the legitimacy of his rule.
The second pyramid was built at Hawara and featured dead-end passages, concealed trap doors, and sliding panels in passage roofs, very similar to what is seen in curse-of-the-mummy-type films. The entrance to the pyramid was once more removed for concealment to the pyramid's south face. In the burial chamber, two sarcophagi were discovered: one for him and one for his daughter, Neferu-Ptah. The pyramid had been built over this chamber and the leading passageway had been back-filled to remove all traces of location. This pyramid should have been impenetrable, but robbers still managed to gain entry, ravage the bodies, and burn the wooden coffins.
Amenemhet III's most famous feature of this pyramid complex was his mortuary temple, located on the south side of the pyramid. Its floorplan covered an estimated 28,000 m2 (300,000 sq ft). In the mid-fifth century BC, Herodotus visited this structure and hailed it as a veritable Labyrinth to be compared with the fabled structure at Knossos in Crete. Strabo would also visit and describe its many rooms and corridors in minute detail. But Petrie, when excavating the site in 1888, would find only a devastated site. The cause of this ancient destruction is unknown and can only be partially reconstructed.
11.9 – Pharaoh Amenemhet IV & Queen Sobekneferu
Toward the end of Amenemhet III's reign, he established a co-regency with his son, Amenemhet IV in 1815 BC, but little is known about him and no pyramid has been found. During his 9-year reign which would last until 1807 BC, he undertook expeditions into the Sinai and to the Land of Punt. He also maintained trade relations with Byblos and Nubia. It is at this time that Asiatic immigrants, known as the Hyksos, began to arrive in the Nile Delta. They would later establish the 15th Dynasty and establish an independent kingdom at Avaris.
Amenemhet IV died without an heir and the throne was left to Amenemhet III's daughter, Sobekneferu. She would have a brief reign and would end the dynasty with little information known about her. No pyramid has been found. She adopted the full royal titulary, distinguishing herself from prior female rulers. Sobekneferu was also the first ruler to have a name associated with the crocodile god Sobek.
Less than ten years after Amenemhet IV's death, the Twelfth Dynasty came to an end and was replaced by the much weaker Thirteenth Dynasty. Although the first two rulers of this new dynasty may have been sons of Amenemhet IV, political instability quickly became prevalent and kings rarely ruled beyond a couple of years. The influx of Asiatic immigrants in the Nile Delta that had started during the reigns of Amenemhet IV's predecessor accelerated under his own reign, becoming completely unchecked.
Under the 13th Dynasty, the Asiatic population of the Delta founded an independent kingdom ruled by kings of Canaanite descent, forming the Fourteenth Dynasty that reigned from Avaris. Approximately 80 years after the reign of Amenemhet IV, the administration of the Egyptian state seems to have completely collapsed, marking the start of the Second Intermediate Period. We will focus on Egypt's second chaotic dark age in the next episode.
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