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Social Studies – Ancient Egypt: The Middle Kingdom
For about 500 years, during the period of the Old Kingdom, the
Ancient Egyptians lived peacefully, but eventually there were signs
that the peace would not last.
Around 2200 B.C. changes in the
environment created hardship for the people of Egypt. Some years
the Nile didn't flood, while other years brought heavy rains that
caused extreme flooding, destroying dikes and canals. Egypt began to
face starvation. People began to lose faith in their pharaohs (kings)
and looked toward the priests to be their voice to the gods. The
pharaohs started to lose power and people began to argue over who
should rule. From 2200 to 2050 B.C. the kingdom split apart into
separate provinces, each under the leadership of a prince. With no
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strong central government Egypt was open to raids and attacks from neighbouring tribes.
All of these factors combined doomed the Old Kingdom. A translated hieroglyphic tablet
discovered from this period reads:
The wrongdoer is everywhere. A man takes his shield when he goes to plow. A man smites
his brother. The robber has riches. He who possessed no property is now a man of wealth.
He who had no yoke of oxen is now in possession of a herd. The owners of robes are now in
rags. The children of princes are dashed against the walls.
Some of the princes wanted Egypt to return to the way things had been during the Old
Kingdom. One of these princes, Akhtoy III began to re-conquer the south and push out
the invaders who had taken over.
His successor, Menthuhotep, finished the task of
reconquering Lower Egypt, and by 2050 Egypt was once again under the rule of one king.
This new era of rule is referred to as the Middle Kingdom, and lasted from approximately
2050 to 1800 BCE.
The pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom had less power than those of the Old Kingdom.
They still controlled mining and trade, but the priests refused to give up the power they
had gained during the decline of the Old Kingdom and the new pharaohs didn't have a large
enough army to force the issue. The priests still recognized the pharaoh as their leader,
though, because a leading figurehead offered stability and they needed peace in the land in
order to prosper and live a good life.
Much of Egypt's economic growth during the Old Kingdom was owed to people coming from
other areas, such as Mesopotamia, and bringing their ideas with them. During the Middle
Kingdom, however, few newcomers enter Egypt so there is not much economic growth or
change because there are no new ideas coming in. Farming was still the most important
industry during the Middle Kingdom.
Socially
and economically very little changed during the
period of the Middle Kingdom, but trade routes
were extended and expeditions were sent
south along the Nile as far as Punt on the east
coast of Africa. These trips meant leaving the
Nile and travelling overland for several days by
donkey caravans to the shores of the Red Sea
© Keith Wheatley - Fotolia.com
where ships would be loaded to transport goods
down to Punt.
The gold that came from the
deserts continued to make Egypt a rich country, and to protect the mines forts were built
south of the first cataract and troops sent in to keep order.
With the decline of the power of the pharaohs some Egyptians started to believe that
people other than the pharaoh had an afterlife. During the Old Kingdom it was believed
that after death the king’s soul would continue to live in the afterlife, but that the body
had to be preserved to protect the soul. To preserve the body the Ancient Egyptians
developed a complex and expensive mummification ritual that was only available to
pharaohs. The Princes and priests of the Middle Kingdom began to have their own tombs
built and filled with food and riches to carry them to the afterlife, believing that they too
could live with the gods after death.
In order to fool grave robbers many of these people
began to make intricate underground tombs with ornate gardens and temples on top. Even
commoners started to believe they could continue to live after death and began burying
their dead in the desert where the desert sands would naturally preserve their bodies for
the afterlife by dehydrating them. Ancient Egyptians believed that the west was the land
of the dead because the sun set in the west, so all of the tombs and cemeteries were on
the west side of the Nile River. Many people were afraid to wander there after dark
because they thought the dark belonged to the dead.
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Ancient Egypt: The Middle Kingdom Activity -
/7 Marks
Name: _______________________
Answer the following.
1) What caused the decline of the Old Kingdom?
2) Why was the king of Egypt not able to retake the power he had lost to the priests?
3) If the priests were so powerful, during the Middle Kingdom, why did they continue to
recognize the king as a leader?
4) What was the basis of the economy during the Middle Kingdom?
5) Why did the Ancient Egyptians try to preserve the body after death?
6) What did the Ancient Egyptians do too try and protect their tombs from grave
robbers?
7) Where did the Ancient Egyptians place their dead? Why?