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103-752: The writing consists of Middle Kingdom hieratic characters written right to left. Scholars date the EMLR to the 17th century BCE. This leather roll is an aid for computing Egyptian fractions . It contains 26 sums of unit fractions which equal another unit fraction. The sums appear in two columns, and are followed by two more columns which contain exactly the same sums. Of the 26 sums listed, ten are Eye of Horus numbers: 1/2, 1/4 (twice), 1/8 (thrice), 1/16 (twice), 1/32, 1/64 converted from Egyptian fractions. There are seven other sums having even denominators converted from Egyptian fractions: 1/6 (listed twice–but wrong once), 1/10, 1/12, 1/14, 1/20 and 1/30. By way of example,

206-476: A Prusso-Anglican bishopric as a sort of advertisement of the unity and aggressive force of Protestantism. The special mission of Bunsen to England, from June to November 1841, was completely successful, in spite of the opposition of English Tractarians and Lutheran extremists . The Jerusalem bishopric, with the consent of the British government and the active encouragement of the archbishop of Canterbury and

309-608: A certain location in Cannan from Middle Kingdom literature, although there are other references to action against Asiatics. It is not known whether Egypt wished to control Canaan like Northern Nubia, but numerous administrative seals of the period have been found there, as well as other indications of increased activity Northward in this period. As in the old kingdom, the contact was particularly strong with Byblos , known for its valuable wood. Domestically, Senusret has been given credit for an administrative reform that put more power in

412-542: A great change in Bunsen's career. Ever since their first meeting in 1828 the two men had been close friends and had exchanged ideas in an intimate correspondence, published under Ranke 's editorship in 1873. Enthusiasm for evangelical religion and admiration for the Anglican Church they held in common, and Bunsen was the instrument naturally selected for realizing the king's fantastic scheme of setting up at Jerusalem

515-466: A higher small of the back in order to keep a distinction between male and female measurements. Richard B. Parkinson and Ludwig D. Morenz write that ancient Egyptian literature—narrowly defined as belles-lettres ("beautiful writing")—were not recorded in written form until the early Twelfth Dynasty. Old Kingdom texts served mainly to maintain the divine cults, preserve souls in the afterlife, and document accounts for practical uses in daily life. It

618-570: A king, Amenemhet I, arising from the far south of Egypt to restore the kingdom after centuries of chaos. Propaganda notwithstanding, Amenemhet never held the absolute power commanded in theory by the Old Kingdom pharaohs. During the First Intermediate Period, the governors of the nomes of Egypt, nomarchs , gained considerable power. Their posts had become hereditary, and some nomarchs entered into marriage alliances with

721-443: A larger central government. Governance of the royal residence was moved into a separate division of government. The military was placed under the control of a chief general. However, it is possible that these titles and positions were much older, and simply were not recorded on funerary stelae due to religious conventions. Decentralization during the First Intermediate Period left the individual Egyptian provinces, or Nomes , under

824-587: A long coregency with his son. The reign of Amenemhat III was the height of the Middle Kingdom's economic prosperity. His reign is remarkable for the degree to which Egypt exploited its resources. Mining camps in the Sinai, which had previously been used only by intermittent expeditions, were operated on a semi-permanent basis, as evidenced by the construction of houses, walls, and even local cemeteries. There are 25 separate references to mining expeditions in

927-426: A man squatting with his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms folded on top of his knees. Often, these men are wearing a "wide cloak" that reduces the body of the figure to a simple block-like shape. The surface of the garment or "wide cloak" allowed space for inscriptions. Most of the detail is reserved for the head of the individual being depicted. In some instances, the modeling of the limbs has been retained by

1030-555: A new capital for Egypt in the north, known as Amenemhet It Tawy , or Amenemhet, Seizer of the Two Lands . The location of this capital is unknown, but is presumably near the city's necropolis, the present-day el-Lisht . Like Mentuhotep II, Amenemhet bolstered his claim to authority with propaganda. In particular, the Prophecy of Neferty dates to about this time, which purports to be an oracle of an Old Kingdom priest, who predicts

1133-531: A peerage for life. In 1858, at the special request of the regent (afterwards the emperor) William, he took his seat in the Prussian House of Lords , and, though remaining silent, supported the new ministry, of which his political and personal friends were members. Literary work was, however, his main preoccupation during all this period. Two discoveries of ancient manuscripts made during his stay in London,

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1236-475: A practice which would be used repeatedly throughout the rest of the Middle Kingdom and again during the New Kingdom. In Amenemhet's thirtieth regnal year, he was presumably murdered in a palace conspiracy. Senusret, campaigning against Libyan invaders, rushed home to Itjtawy to prevent a takeover of the government. During his reign, Senusret continued the practice of directly appointing nomarchs, and undercut

1339-479: A series of massive forts throughout the country to establish the formal boundary between Egyptian conquests and unconquered Nubia at Semna . The personnel of these forts were charged to send frequent reports to the capital on the movements and activities of the local Medjay natives, some of which survive, revealing how tightly the Egyptians intended to control the southern border. Medjay were not allowed north of

1442-401: A squared grid, a new guide system. Since this system contained a greater number of lines, it allowed more body parts to be marked. Standing figures were composed of eighteen squares from the feet to the hairline. Seated figures were made of fourteen squares between their feet and hairline, accounting for the horizontal thigh and knee. The black granite seated statue of the king Amenemhat III to

1545-582: A vast system of kindred studies, including Semitic and Sanskrit philology. He studied the religion, laws, language, and literature of the Teutonic races, perfecting his knowledge of the Scandinavian languages on a visit to Denmark and Sweden. He had read Hebrew when a boy, and now worked at Arabic at Munich , Persian at Leiden , and Norse at Copenhagen . At Vienna he met Friedrich von Schlegel ; at Munich, Schelling and Thiersch ; and he joined

1648-603: A work, Die Zeichen der Zeit: Briefe , etc., which exercised an immense influence in reviving the Liberal movement which the failure of the revolution had crushed. In September 1857 Bunsen attended, as the king's guest, a meeting of the Evangelical Alliance at Berlin ; and one of the last papers signed by Frederick William, before his mind gave way in October, was that which conferred upon him the title of baron and

1751-700: Is attested from a few inscriptions in Wadi Hammamat that record expeditions to the Red Sea coast and to quarry stone for the royal monuments. The leader of this expedition was his vizier Amenemhat, who is widely assumed to be the future pharaoh Amenemhet I , the first king of the Twelfth Dynasty . Mentuhotep IV's absence from the king lists has prompted the theory that Amenemhet I usurped his throne. While there are no contemporary accounts of this struggle, certain circumstantial evidence may point to

1854-563: Is certain is that, however he came to power, Amenemhet I was not of royal birth. From the Twelfth Dynasty onwards, pharaohs often kept well-trained standing armies, which included Nubian contingents. These formed the basis of larger forces that were raised for defense against invasion, or expeditions up the Nile or across the Sinai. However, the Middle Kingdom was basically defensive in its military strategy, with fortifications built at

1957-647: Is non-existent. Senusret instead appears to have focused on domestic issues, particularly the irrigation of the Faiyum . This multi-generational project aimed to convert the Faiyum oasis into a productive swath of farmland. Senusret eventually placed his pyramid at the site of el-Lahun , near the junction of the Nile and the Fayuum's major irrigation canal, the Bahr Yussef . He reigned only fifteen years, which explains

2060-593: The Court of St. James's . In this post he remained for thirteen years. His tenure of the office coincided with the critical period in Prussian and European affairs which culminated in the revolutions of 1848 . Bunsen had realized the significance of the signs that heralded these revolutions, and tried in vain to move Frederick William to a policy which would have placed him at the head of a Germany united and free. In Berlin in 1844, he had been asked to set forth his views on

2163-836: The Dispute between a man and his Ba where an unhappy man converses with his soul, The Satire of the Trades in which the role of the scribe is praised above all other jobs, and the magic tales supposedly told to the Old Kingdom pharaoh Khufu in the Westcar Papyrus . Pharaohs of the Twelfth through Eighteenth Dynasty are credited with preserving some of the most interesting of Egyptian papyri : Christian Charles Josias von Bunsen Christian Charles Josias, Baron von Bunsen ( German : Christian Karl Josias Freiherr von Bunsen ; 25 August 1791 – 28 November 1860),

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2266-759: The First Cataract of the Nile, in the Delta and across the Sinai Isthmus. Early in his reign, Amenemhet I was compelled to campaign in the Delta region, which had not received as much attention as Upper Egypt during the 11th Dynasty. Also, he strengthened defenses between Egypt and Asia, building the Walls of the Ruler in the East Delta region. Perhaps in response to this perpetual unrest, Amenemhat I built

2369-527: The Instructions of Amenemhat Throughout the history of ancient Egypt, the annual inundation of the Nile River was relied upon to fertilize the land surrounding it. This was essential for agriculture and food production. There is evidence that the collapse of the previous Old Kingdom may have been due in part to low flood levels, resulting in famine. This trend appears to have been reversed during

2472-648: The Instructions of Amenemhat , where the king tells his son how agriculture prospered under his reign. After the reunification of Egypt in the Middle Kingdom, the kings of the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties were able to turn their focus back to art. In the Eleventh Dynasty, the kings had their monuments made in a style influenced by the Memphite models of the Fifth and early Sixth Dynasties. During this time,

2575-532: The Old Kingdom , these were made of stone bricks, but the Middle Kingdom kings chose to have theirs made of mud bricks and finished with a casing of Tura limestone. Private tombs, such as those found in Thebes, usually consisted of a long passage cut into rock, with a small chamber at the end. These tended to have little or no decoration. Stone box sarcophagi with both flat and vaulted lids were manufactured in

2678-499: The 19th and 20th centuries. Some scholars also include the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt wholly into this period, in which case the Middle Kingdom would end around 1650 BC, while others only include it until Merneferre Ay around 1700 BC, last king of this dynasty to be attested in both Upper and Lower Egypt. During the Middle Kingdom period, Osiris became the most important deity in popular religion . The Middle Kingdom

2781-610: The Asiatic rulers of Avaris being the Hyksos of the Fifteenth Dynasty. According to Manetho , this latter revolt occurred during the reign of Neferhotep's successor, Sobekhotep IV , though there is no archaeological evidence. Sobekhotep IV was succeeded by the short reign of Sobekhotep V , who was followed by Wahibre Ibiau , then Merneferre Ai . Wahibre Ibiau ruled ten years, and Merneferre Ai ruled for twenty-three years,

2884-712: The Bible was first suggested to Bunsen by his young wife. Cornelius , Overbeck , Brandis , and Platner were the inseparable companions of the Bunsens. The Bunsens' lodgings in the Palazzo Caffarelli on the Capitoline Hill , where they lived 22 years, became a resort of many distinguished persons. As secretary to Niebuhr, Bunsen was brought into contact with the Vatican movement for the establishment of

2987-541: The Delta, with the possible exceptions of Xois and Avaris . Neferhotep I was even recognized as the suzerain of the ruler of Byblos, indicating that the Thirteenth Dynasty was able to retain much of the power of the Twelfth Dynasty, at least up to his reign. At some point during the 13th Dynasty, Xois, and Avaris began governing themselves, the rulers of Xois being the Fourteenth Dynasty, and

3090-531: The Egyptologist Champollion to Rome formed an epoch in Bunsen's antiquarian studies. However, his argument in support of Champollion's priority over Young was based upon an insufficient knowledge of Young's publication dates. He became himself a zealous auditor of Champollion, and also encouraged Lepsius in the study of hieroglyphics. The Archaeological Institute, established in 1829, found in Bunsen its most active supporter. Bunsen founded

3193-444: The Middle Kingdom, as a continuation of the Old Kingdom tradition. The motifs on these were more varied and of higher artistic quality than that of any sarcophagi produced before and after the Middle Kingdom. Additionally, funerary stelae developed in regard to images and iconography. They continued to show the deceased seated in front of a table of offerings, and began to include the deceased's wife and other family members. Towards

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3296-400: The Middle Kingdom, though there is some evidence of a major reform of the central government under Senusret III. Records from his reign indicate that Upper and Lower Egypt were divided into separate waret and governed by separate administrators. Administrative documents and private stelae indicate a proliferation of new bureaucratic titles around this time, which have been taken as evidence of

3399-482: The Nile flood levels indicate that the end of the reign of Amenemhet III was dry, and crop failures may have helped to destabilize the dynasty. Further, Amenemhet III had an inordinately long reign, which tends to create succession problems. The latter argument perhaps explains why Amenemhet IV was succeeded by Sobekneferu , the first historically attested female pharaoh of Egypt. Sobekneferu ruled no more than four years, and as she apparently had no heirs, when she died

3502-710: The Old Kingdom. It is also thought that the growth of the middle class and growth in the number of scribes needed for the expanded bureaucracy under Senusret II helped spur the development of Middle Kingdom literature. Later ancient Egyptians considered the literature from this time as "classic". Stories such as the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor and the Story of Sinuhe were composed during this period, and were popular enough to be widely copied afterwards. Many philosophical works were also created at this time, including

3605-553: The Protestant hospital on the Tarpeian Rock in 1835. Owing partly to the wise statesmanship of Count Spiegel , archbishop of Cologne, an arrangement was made by which the thorny question of "mixed" marriages (i.e., between Catholic and Protestant ) would have been happily solved; but the archbishop died in 1835, the arrangement was never ratified, and the Prussian king was foolish enough to appoint as Spiegel's successor

3708-432: The Sinai region, which had been lost to Egypt since the end of the Old Kingdom. To consolidate his authority, he restored the cult of the ruler, depicting himself as a god in his own lifetime, wearing the headdresses of Amun and Min . He died after a reign of 51 years and passed the throne to his son, Mentuhotep III . Mentuhotep III reigned for only twelve years, during which he continued consolidating Theban rule over

3811-568: The Sinai, and four to expeditions in Wadi Hammamat, one of which had over two thousand workers. Amenemhet reinforced his father's defenses in Nubia and continued the Faiyum land reclamation project. After a reign of 45 years, Amenemhet III was succeeded by Amenemhet IV , whose nine-year reign is poorly attested. Clearly by this time, dynastic power had begun to weaken, for which several explanations have been proposed. Contemporary records of

3914-575: The Twelfth Dynasty came to a sudden end as did the Golden Age of the Middle Kingdom. After the death of Sobeknefru, the throne may have passed to Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep , though in older studies Wegaf , who had previously been the Great Overseer of Troops, was thought to have reigned next. Beginning with this reign, Egypt was ruled by a series of ephemeral kings for about ten to fifteen years. Ancient Egyptian sources regard these as

4017-564: The Vatican and from Frederick William III , who put him in charge of the legation on Niebuhr's resignation, he received unqualified approbation. Though not within the scope of the great plan of his life, Bunsen contributed largely to the Beschreibung der Stadt Rom (3 vols., 1830–43) the greater part of the topographical communications on ancient Rome, and all the investigations into the early history of Christian Rome. The first visit of

4120-429: The ancient Egyptian ideal of beauty; the same ideal required small breasts, and also in this respect the sculpture is no exception. Whereas the natural curve of the eyebrows dips towards the root of the nose, the artificial eyebrows in low relief are absolutely straight above the inner corners of the eyes, a feature which places the bust early in the Twelfth Dynasty. Around 1900 BC these artificial eyebrows began to follow

4223-648: The autonomy of local priesthoods by building at cult centers throughout Egypt. Under his rule, Egyptian armies pushed south into Nubia as far as the Second Cataract, building a border fort at Buhen and incorporating all of Lower Nubia as an Egyptian colony. Senusret I also exercised control over the land of Kush, from the Second to the Third Cataract, including the island of Sai. The southernmost inscription containing Sesostris I's name has been found on

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4326-477: The bishop of London, was duly established, endowed with Prussian and English money, and remained for some forty years an isolated symbol of Protestant unity and a rock of stumbling to Anglican Catholics . During his stay in England Bunsen had made himself very popular among all classes of society, and he was selected by Queen Victoria , out of three names proposed by the king of Prussia, as ambassador to

4429-418: The border by ship, nor could they enter by land with their flocks, but they were permitted to travel to local forts to trade. After this, Senusret sent one more campaign in his 19th year but turned back due to abnormally low Nile levels, which endangered his ships. To the north, One of Senusret's soldiers records a campaign into Canaan, perhaps against Shechem , the only reference to a military campaign against

4532-489: The boundary between Egypt and Nubia. Because of the prosperity of this period, the lower elite were able to commission statues and stelae for themselves, although these were of poorer artistic quality. Those who commissioned non-royal stelae had the ultimate goal of eternal existence. This goal was communicated with the specific placement of information on the stone slabs similar to royal stelae (the owner's image, offering formula, inscriptions of names, lineage and titles). In

4635-454: The city, not the nome, the center of administration, and only the haty-a , or mayor, of the larger cities, would be permitted to carry the title of nomarch. The title of nomarch continued to be used until the reign of Senusret III, as did the elaborate tombs indicative of their power, after which they suddenly disappeared. This has been interpreted several ways. Traditionally, it has been believed that Senusret III took some action to suppress

4738-460: The control of powerful families who held the hereditary title of Great Chief of the Nome , or Nomarch . This position developed during the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, when the various powers of Old Kingdom provincial officials began to be exercised by a single individual. At roughly this time, the provincial aristocracy began building elaborate tombs for themselves, which have been taken as evidence of

4841-399: The conversion of measuring units. It has been noted that there are groups of unit fraction decompositions in the EMLR which are very similar. For instance lines 5 and 6 easily combine into the equation 1/3 + 1/6 = 1/2. It is easy to derive lines 11, 13, 24, 20, 21, 19, 23, 22, 25 and 26 by dividing this equation by 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 15, 16 and 32 respectively. Some of

4944-411: The early years of the Middle Kingdom, with relatively high water levels recorded for much of this era, with an average inundation of 19 meters above its non-flood levels. The years of repeated high inundation levels correspond to the most prosperous period of the Middle Kingdom, which occurred during the reign of Amenemhat III. This seems to be confirmed in some of the literature of the period, such as in

5047-416: The end of the Middle Kingdom, there was a change to the art pieces placed in non-royal tombs. The amount of wooden tomb models decreased drastically, and they were replaced by small faience models of food. Magic wands and rods, models of protective animals, and fertility figures began to be buried with the dead. Additionally, the number of statues and funerary stelae increased, but their quality decreased. In

5150-671: The entire country. The Theban Eleventh Dynasty only ruled southern Egypt from the First Cataract to the Tenth Nome of Upper Egypt. To the north, Lower Egypt was ruled by the rival Tenth Dynasty from Herakleopolis . The struggle was to be concluded by Mentuhotep II , who ascended the Theban throne in 2055 BC. During Mentuhotep II's fourteenth regnal year, he took advantage of a revolt in the Thinite Nome to launch an attack on Herakleopolis, which met little resistance. After toppling

5253-425: The equivalent unit fraction series were computed. Equivalent unit fraction series are associated with fractions 1/3, 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16. There was a trivial error associated with the final 1/15 unit fraction series. The 1/15 series was listed as equal to 1/6. Another serious error was associated with 1/13, an issue that the examiners of 1927 did not attempt to resolve. The original mathematical texts never explain where

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5356-557: The existence of a civil war at the end of the 11th Dynasty. Inscriptions left by one Nehry, the Haty-a of Hermopolis , suggest that he was attacked at a place called Shedyet-sha by the forces of the reigning king, but his forces prevailed. Khnumhotep I , an official under Amenemhet I, claims to have participated in a flotilla of twenty ships sent to pacify Upper Egypt. Donald Redford has suggested these events should be interpreted as evidence of open war between two dynastic claimants. What

5459-400: The first half of the Twelfth Dynasty, proportions of the human figure returned to the traditional Memphite style of the Fifth and early Sixth Dynasties. Male figures had broad shoulders, a low small of the back, and thick muscular limbs. Females had slender figures, a higher small of the back and no musculature. In this period, sketches for the production of statues and reliefs were laid out on

5562-654: The first kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty , though the term dynasty is misleading, as most kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty were not related. The names of these short-lived kings are attested on a few monuments and graffiti , and their succession order is only known from the Turin Canon , although even this is not fully trusted. After the initial dynastic chaos, a series of longer-reigning, better-attested kings ruled for about fifty to eighty years. The strongest king of this period, Neferhotep I , ruled for eleven years and maintained effective control of Upper Egypt, Nubia, and

5665-858: The grand center-point to which all his literary and intellectual energies were to be devoted, but he died before he could finish it. Three volumes of the Bibelwerk were published at his death. The work was completed in the same spirit with the aid of manuscripts under the editorship of Hollzmann and Kamphausen. In 1858 Bunsen's health began to fail; visits to Cannes in 1858 and 1859 brought no improvement, and he died on 28 November 1860, in Bonn . One of his last requests having been that his wife would write down recollections of their common life, she published his Memoirs in 1868, which contain much of his private correspondence. The German translation of these Memoirs has added extracts from unpublished documents, throwing

5768-596: The hands of appointees of the central government, instead of regional authorities. Egypt was divided into three water , or administrative divisions: North, South, and Head of the South (perhaps Lower Egypt , most of Upper Egypt , and the nomes of the original Theban kingdom during the war with Herakleopolis , respectively). Each region was administered by a Reporter , Second Reporter , some kind of council (the Djadjat ), and staff of minor officials and scribes. The power of

5871-492: The incomplete nature of many of his constructions. His son Senusret III succeeded him. Senusret III was a warrior-king, often taking to the field himself. In his sixth year, he re-dredged an Old Kingdom canal around the First Cataract to facilitate travel to Upper Nubia . He used this to launch a series of brutal campaigns in Nubia in his sixth, eighth, tenth, and sixteenth years. After his victories, Senusret built

5974-735: The island of Argo, north of modern Dongola. To the west, he consolidated his power over the Oases, and extended commercial contacts into Syria-Canaan as far as Ugarit . In his 43rd regnal year, Senusret appointed Amenemhet II as junior coregent, before dying in his 46th. The reign of Amenemhat II has been often characterized as largely peaceful, but records of his genut , or daybooks, have cast doubt on that assessment. Among these records, preserved on temple walls at Tod and Memphis, are descriptions of peace treaties with certain Syrio-Canaanian cities, and military conflict with others. To

6077-628: The last rulers of the Tenth Dynasty, Mentuhotep began consolidating his power over all of Egypt, a process that he finished by his 39th regnal year. For this reason, Mentuhotep II is regarded as the founder of the Middle Kingdom. Mentuhotep II commanded petty campaigns as far south as the Second Cataract in Nubia , which had gained its independence during the First Intermediate Period . He also restored Egyptian hegemony over

6180-457: The late Twelfth Dynasty, coffins with interior decorations became rare, and the decorations on the outside became more elaborate. The rishi -coffin made its first appearance during this time. Made of wood or cartonnage , the coffin was in the shape of a body wrapped in linen, wearing a beaded collar and a funerary mask. There were also changes to the art form of stelae in the Middle Kingdom. During this time, round-topped stelae developed out of

6283-424: The latter in studying Persian, and read law with Feuerbach . Historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr 's work and character had aroused Bunsen's enthusiasm, and at the close of 1815 he went to Berlin , to show Niebuhr the plan of research which he had mapped out. He remained some months in the company of the historian. Niebuhr was so impressed with Bunsen's ability that, two years later, when he became Prussian envoy to

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6386-425: The longest of any Thirteenth Dynasty king, but neither of these two kings left as many attestations as either Neferhotep of Sobekhotep IV. Despite this, they both seem to have held at least parts of Lower Egypt. After Merneferre Ai, however, no king left his name on any object found outside the south. This begins the final portion of the Thirteenth Dynasty when southern kings continue to reign over Upper Egypt. But when

6489-455: The medieval Empire, Bunsen found himself increasingly out of sympathy. He felt bitterly the humiliation of Prussia by Austria after the victory of the reaction; and in 1852 he set his signature reluctantly to the treaty which, in his view, surrendered the "constitutional rights of Schleswig and Holstein ". His whole influence was now directed to withdrawing Prussia from the blighting influence of Austria and Russia, and attempting to draw closer

6592-454: The monument count of those in these positions. Besides this, many Old Kingdom posts which had lost their original meaning and become mere honorifics were brought back into the central government. Only high-ranking officials could claim the title Member of the Elite , which had been applied liberally during the First Intermediate Period. This basic form of administration continued throughout

6695-474: The narrow-minded partisan Baron Droste . The pope gladly accepted the appointment, and in two years the forward policy of the Jesuits had brought about the strife which Bunsen and Spiegel had tried to prevent. Bunsen rashly recommended that Droste should be seized, but the coup was so clumsily attempted, that the incriminating documents were, it is said, destroyed in advance. The government, in this impasse, took

6798-509: The natural curve and dip toward the nose. In the later Twelfth Dynasty, the proportions of the human figure changed. These changes survived through the Thirteenth to Seventeenth Dynasties. Male figures had smaller heads in proportion to the rest of the body, narrow shoulders and waists, a high small of the back, and no muscled limbs. Female figures had these proportions more to an extreme with narrower shoulders and waists, slender limbs, and

6901-408: The nomarch families during his reign. Recently, other interpretations have been proposed. Detlef Franke has argued that Senusret II adopted a policy of educating the sons of nomarchs in the capital and appointing them to government posts. In this way, many provincial families may have been bled dry of scions. Also, while the title of Great Overlord of the Nome disappeared, other distinctive titles of

7004-490: The nomarchs of neighboring nomes. To strengthen his position, Amenemhet required registration of land, modified nome borders, and appointed nomarchs directly when offices became vacant, but acquiesced to the nomarch system, probably to placate the nomarchs who supported his rule. This gave the Middle Kingdom a more feudal organization than Egypt had before or would have afterward. In his twentieth regnal year, Amenemhat established his son Senusret I as his coregent, beginning

7107-406: The nomarchs remained. During the First Intermediate Period, individuals holding the title of Great Overlord also often held the title of Overseer of Priests. In the late Middle Kingdom, there existed families holding the titles of mayor and overseer of priests as hereditary possessions. Therefore, it has been argued that the great nomarch families were never subdued, but were simply absorbed into

7210-470: The nomarchs seems to drop off permanently during his reign, which has been taken to indicate that the central government had finally suppressed them, though there is no record that Senusret ever took direct action against them. Senusret III left a lasting legacy as a warrior pharaoh. His name was Hellenized by later Greek historians as Sesostris, a name which was then given to a conflation of Senusret and several New Kingdom warrior pharaohs. In Nubia, Senusret

7313-684: The one containing a shorter text of the Epistles of St Ignatius , and the other an unknown work On All the Heresies , by Bishop Hippolytus, had already led him to write his Hippolytus and his Age: Doctrine and Practice of Rome under Commodus and Severus (1852). He now concentrated all his efforts upon a translation of the Bible with commentaries, the Bibelwerk . While this was in preparation he published his God in History , in which he contends that

7416-484: The papal church in the Prussian dominions, to provide for the largely increased Catholic population. He was among the first to realize the importance of this new vitality on the part of the Vatican, and he made it his duty to provide against its possible dangers by urging upon the Prussian court the wisdom of fair and impartial treatment of its Catholic subjects. In this object he was at first successful, and both from

7519-846: The papal court, he made the young scholar his secretary. The intervening years Bunsen spent in assiduous labour among the libraries and collections of Paris and Florence , where he again joined Astor. When Astor returned to the United States, Bunsen became the French teacher of a Mr. Cathcart, an English gentleman. In 1816, he continued his studies of Persian and Arabic in Paris under Sylvestre de Sacy . In July 1817 he married Frances Waddington , eldest daughter and co-heiress of Benjamin Waddington of Llanover , Monmouthshire , an English clergyman. The plan of an improved German translation of

7622-579: The pharaonic administration of the country. While it is true that the large tombs indicative of nomarchs disappeared at the end of the Twelfth Dynasty, grand royal tombs also ceased being built soon thereafter due to general instability surrounding the decline of the Middle Kingdom. It was I who brought forth grain, the grain god loved me, the Nile adored me from his every source; One did not hunger during my years, did not thirst; they sat content with all my deeds, remembering me fondly; and I set each thing firmly in its place. extract from

7725-405: The pre-unification Theban relief style all but disappeared. These changes had an ideological purpose, as the Eleventh Dynasty kings were establishing a centralized state after the First Intermediate Period, and returning to the political ideals of the Old Kingdom. In the early Twelfth Dynasty, the artwork had a uniformity of style due to the influence of the royal workshops. It was at this point that

7828-404: The problems would lend themselves to a solution via an algorithm which involves multiplying both the numerator and the denominator by the same term and then further reducing the resulting equation: This method leads to a solution for the fraction 1/8 as appears in the EMLR when using N=25 (using modern mathematical notation): The EMLR has been considered a student scribe test document since 1927,

7931-560: The procedures and formulas came from. This holds true for the EMLR as well. Scholars have attempted to deduce what techniques the ancient Egyptians may have used to construct both the unit fraction tables of the EMLR and the 2/n tables known from the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus and the Lahun Mathematical Papyri . Both types of tables were used to aid in computations dealing with fractions, and for

8034-608: The progress of mankind marches parallel to the conception of God formed within each nation by the highest exponents of its thought. At the same time he carried through the press, assisted by Samuel Birch, the concluding volumes of his work (published in English as well as in German) Egypt's Place in Universal History . This work contained a reconstruction of Egyptian chronology, together with an attempt to determine

8137-688: The provincial form of government at Thebes used by the Eleventh Dynasty before the reunification of Egypt. The Overseer of Sealed Goods became the country's treasurer, and the Overseer of the Estate became the King's chief steward. These three positions and the Scribe of the Royal Document, probably the king's personal scribe, appear to be the most important posts of the central government, judging by

8240-418: The quality of artistic production for the elite members of society reached a high point that was never surpassed, although it was equaled in other periods. Egypt prospered in the late Twelfth Dynasty, and this was reflected in the quality of the materials used for royal and private monuments. The kings of the Twelfth Dynasty were buried in pyramid complexes based on those of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties. In

8343-530: The question of granting a constitution to Prussia, and he had presented a series of memorials representing the need of a deliberative assembly, and had also made a plan of a constitution modeled on that of England. With the visionary schemes of Frederick William, whether that of setting up a strict episcopal organization in the Evangelical Church in Prussia , or that of reviving the defunct ideal of

8446-526: The recent progress toward reporting a clearer understanding of the EMLR's contents, related to the RMP 2/ n table. Egyptian mathematical texts: Other: Middle Kingdom of Egypt The Middle Kingdom of Egypt (also known as The Period of Reunification ) is the period in the history of ancient Egypt following a period of political division known as the First Intermediate Period . The Middle Kingdom lasted from approximately 2040 to 1782 BC, stretching from

8549-455: The rectangular form of previous periods. Many examples of both of these types come from this period; excavation at Abydos yielded over 2000 private stelae, ranging from excellent works to crude objects, although very few belonged to the elite. Additionally, classic royal commemorative stelae were first found in this period. These took the form of round-topped stelae, and they were used to mark boundaries. For example, Senusret III used them to mark

8652-456: The relation in which the language and the religion of that country stand to the development of each among the more ancient non-Aryan and Aryan races. His ideas on this subject were most fully developed in two volumes published in London before he left England. His greatest work, Bibelwerk für die Gemeinde , the first part of which was published in 1858, was intended to be completed in 1862. It had occupied his attention for nearly 30 years, as

8755-484: The reunification of Egypt under the reign of Mentuhotep II in the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Twelfth Dynasty . The kings of the Eleventh Dynasty ruled from Thebes and the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty ruled from el-Lisht . The concept of the Middle Kingdom as one of three golden ages was coined in 1845 by German Egyptologist Baron von Bunsen , and its definition evolved significantly throughout

8858-416: The right, above is a perfect example of male proportions and the squared grid system of this period. Most royal statues, such as this one, would serve as representations of the king's power. The quality of Egyptian statuary reached its peak in the Middle Kingdom. Royal statues combined both elegance and strength in a manner that was seldom seen after this period. A popular form of statuary during this time

8961-515: The safest course, refused to support Bunsen, and accepted his resignation in April 1838. After leaving Rome , where he had become intimate with all that was most interesting in the cosmopolitan society of the papal capital, Bunsen went to England, where, except for a short term as Prussian ambassador to Switzerland (1839–1841), he spent the rest of his official life. The accession to the throne of Prussia of Frederick William IV , on 7 June 1840, made

9064-436: The sculptor. There are two basic types of block statues: ones with the feet completely covered by the cloak and ones with the feet uncovered. This statue to the right represents a woman from the top echelon of society and demonstrates characteristics of Middle Kingdom art. The heavy tripartite wig frames the broad face and passes behind the ears, thus giving the impression of forcing them forward. They are large in keeping with

9167-403: The south, Amenemhet sent a campaign through lower Nubia to inspect Wawat . It does not appear that Amenemhet continued his predecessors' policy of appointing nomarchs, but let it become hereditary again. Another expedition to Punt dates to his reign. In his 33rd regnal year, he appointed his son Senusret II coregent. Evidence for military activity of any kind during the reign of Senusret II

9270-545: The three 1/8 conversions followed one or two scaling factors as alternatives: 1. 1/8 x 3/3 = 3/24 = (2 + 1)/24 = 1/12 + 1/24 2. 1/8 x 5/5 = 5/40 = (4 + 1)/40 = 1/10 + 1/40 3. 1/8 x 25/25 = 25/200 = (8 + 17)/200 = 1/25 + (17/200 x 6/6) = 1/25 + 102/1200 = 1/25 + (80 + 16 + 6)/1200 = 1/25 + 1/15 + 1/75 + 1/200 Finally, there were nine sums, having odd denominators, converted from Egyptian fractions: 2/3, 1/3 (twice), 1/5, 1/7, 1/9, 1/11, 1/13 and 1/15. The British Museum examiners found no introduction or description to how or why

9373-465: The ties that bound her to Britain. On the outbreak of the Crimean War he urged Frederick William to throw in his lot with the western powers, and create a diversion in the north-east which would have forced Russia at once to terms. The rejection of his advice, and the proclamation of Prussia's attitude of "benevolent neutrality", led him in April 1854 to offer his resignation, which was accepted. He

9476-553: The unity of Egypt fully disintegrated, the Middle Kingdom gave way to the Second Intermediate Period . When the Eleventh Dynasty reunified Egypt it had to create a centralized administration such as had not existed in Egypt since the downfall of the Old Kingdom government. To do this, it appointed people to positions that had fallen out of use in the decentralized First Intermediate Period. The highest among these

9579-549: The university prize essay of the year 1812 with his treatise, De Iure Atheniensium Hœreditario (“Athenian Law of Inheritance”), and a few months later the University of Jena granted him the honorary degree of doctor of philosophy. During 1813 he traveled extensively with Astor in Germany and Italy. On his return to Göttingen, he and his friends formed the nucleus of a philological and philosophical society, and he pursued

9682-490: The wealth and power that these rulers had acquired as nomarchs. By the end of the First Intermediate Period, some nomarchs ruled their nomes as minor potentates, such as the nomarch Nehry of Hermopolis, who dated inscriptions by his own regnal year. When the Eleventh Dynasty came to power, it was necessary to subdue the power of the nomarchs if Egypt were to be reunified under a central government. The first major steps towards that end took place under Amenemhet I. Amenemhet made

9785-612: The whole of Egypt, building a series of forts in the eastern Delta region to secure Egypt against threats from Asia. He also sent the first expedition to Punt during the Middle Kingdom, using ships constructed at the end of Wadi Hammamat, on the Red Sea. Mentuhotep III was succeeded by Mentuhotep IV , whose name, significantly, is omitted from all ancient Egyptian king lists. The Turin King List claims that after Mentuhotep III came "seven kingless years". Despite this absence, his reign

9888-552: The year that the text was unrolled at the British Museum. The scribe practiced conversions of rational numbers 1/p and 1/pq to alternative unit fraction series. Reading available Middle Kingdom math records, RMP 2/n table being one, modern students of Egyptian arithmetic may see that trained scribes improved conversions of 2/n and n/p to concise unit fraction series by applying algorithmic and non-algorithmic methods. The following chronology shows several milestones that marked

9991-820: Was a German diplomat and scholar. He worked in the Papal States and England for a large part of his career. Bunsen was born at Korbach , an old town in the German principality of Waldeck . His father was a farmer driven by poverty to become a soldier. Having studied at the Korbach gymnasium (a type of superior state grammar school) and Marburg University , Bunsen went in his nineteenth year to Göttingen , where he studied philosophy under Christian Gottlob Heyne , and supported himself by teaching and later by acting as tutor to William Backhouse Astor , John Jacob's son. Bunsen had been recommended to Astor by Heyne. He won

10094-602: Was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1853. Bunsen's life as a public man was now practically at an end. He retired first to a villa on the Neckar near Heidelberg and later to Bonn. He refused to stand for a seat, in the Liberal interest, in the Lower House of the Prussian diet, but continued to take an active interest in politics, and in 1855 published in two volumes

10197-542: Was followed by the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt , another period of division that involved foreign rule of Lower Egypt by the Hyksos of West Asia. After the collapse of the Old Kingdom , Egypt entered a period of weak pharaonic power and decentralization called the First Intermediate Period . Towards the end of this period, two rival dynasties, known in Egyptology as the Tenth and Eleventh, fought for control of

10300-419: Was not until the Middle Kingdom that texts were written for the purpose of entertainment and intellectual curiosity. Parkinson and Morenz also speculate that written works of the Middle Kingdom were transcriptions of the oral literature of the Old Kingdom. It is known that some oral poetry was preserved in later writing; for example, litter-bearers' songs were preserved as written verses in tomb inscriptions of

10403-491: Was that of the sphinx . During this period, sphinxes appeared in pairs, and were recumbent, with human faces, and a lion's mane and ears. An example would be the diorite sphinx of Senusret III . One of the innovations in sculpture that occurred during the Middle Kingdom was the block statue , which would continue to be popular through to the Ptolemaic Kingdom almost 2,000 years later. Block statues consist of

10506-440: Was the vizier. The vizier was the chief minister for the king, handling all the day-to-day business of government in the king's place. This was a monumental task, therefore it would often be split into two positions, a vizier of the north, and a vizier of the south. It is uncertain how often this occurred during the Middle Kingdom, but Senusret I clearly had two simultaneously functioning viziers. Other positions were inherited from

10609-403: Was worshiped as a patron God by Egyptian settlers. The duration of his reign remains something of an open question. His son Amenemhet III began reigning after Senusret's 19th regnal year, which has been widely considered Senusret's highest attested date. However, a reference to a year 39 on a fragment found in the construction debris of Senusret's mortuary temple has suggested the possibility of

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