Guided
Tour of Ancient Egypt
by Darlene Bishop, Kent
School District, WA
Original Text
© Darlene Bishop
Middle Kingdon, 2080-1640
BCE
Order returned to
the Egypt during the Middle Kingdom. Farming was rejuvinated,
trade grew and the arts thrived. The pharaohs moved the capital
from Memphis, in Lower Egypt, to Thebes, in Upper Egypt. Along
with this move two massive temples were built.
The pharaohs of this
time seemed to care about the welfare of the common people. Transportation
and trade was made easier due to the canal that was dug from
the NIle to the Red Sea. With the expansion in trade came increased
wealth with which other public projects could be funded.
Huge dikes were built
to improve farming. Water from the dikes was channeled to the
farmland for irrigation. The swamps of Lower Egypt was drained
creating even more farmland.
During the Middle
Kingdom new religious beliefs showed the increased significance
of the common people. The Old Kingdom belief was such that only
pharaohs experienced after life. During the Middle Kingdom this
belief in an afterlife was expanded to include ordinary people.
People of all classes began planning for their burials, to ensure
their place in the after life.
The prosperity of
the Middle Kingdom did not last. Egypt's deserts were no longer
an effective border against invasion. Libyans came from the west.
Hyksos, horse-borne nomads, came from Asia. The Hyskos dominated
the Valley of the Nile from 1640 B.C. to 1570 B.C. Although the
Egyptians were not happy with their new rulers, they did learn
several new skills from the Hyksos. Making bronze, waging war
from horse-drawn chariots, powerful new bows and arrows, and
spinning and weaving are all skills the Egyptians adopted from
the Hyksos. The Theban king, Ahmose, vowed not only to reunite
Egypt, but to pursue the vile new rulers and destroy them. This
vow became the theme of the New Kingdom.
