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54-636: Very little monumental evidence survives from this period, especially from the beginning of the era. The First Intermediate Period was a dynamic time in which rule of Egypt was roughly equally divided between two competing power bases. One of the bases was at Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt , a city just south of the Faiyum region, and the other was at Thebes , in Upper Egypt . It is believed that during that time, temples were pillaged and violated, artwork

108-568: A distinctive Upper Egyptian style of art different from the Old Kingdom canon. Reliefs from the Pre-Unification Theban style of art consist primarily of either high raised relief or deep sunk relief with incised details. Figures depicted have narrow shoulders and a high small of the back, with rounded limbs and a lack of musculature in males; males also sometimes are shown with rolls of fat (a characteristic that originated in

162-532: A jar of sacred oils in his left hand, and the text surrounding him references other figures from his life, such as the treasurer Bebi and the ancestor of the ruling Intef family , demonstrating the close bonds that tie together rulers and followers in Theban society during the First Intermediate Period. Strong facial features and the round modeling of limbs is also seen in statues, as seen in

216-498: A king who caused much harm to the inhabitants of Egypt, was seized with madness, and was eventually killed by a crocodile . This may have been a fanciful tale, but Wahkare is listed as a king in the Turin Canon . Kheti I was succeeded by Kheti II , also known as Meryibre. Little is certain of his reign, but a few artifacts bearing his name survive. It may have been his successor, Kheti III , who would bring some degree of order to

270-532: A name harking back to the site's period of Roman occupation) had much left to be unearthed. Petrie discovered a great deal that Naville had not believed existed. He completed the excavation of the temple of Heryshef, and attempted to find other remains in an area around the temple. In so doing, he succeeded in discovering such previously unknown features. such as a house's remains from the Roman period of occupation. He also identified another temple that he attributed to

324-420: A previously unknown tomb with several false doors dating to the First Intermediate Period, as well as funeral offerings, all of which had not been vandalized. Other finds include the funeral chapel of senior official Neferjau and his wife Sat-Bahetep, and the remains of tomb H.1 belonging to a late-11th Dynasty officier named Khety. Wahkare Khety I Wahkare Khety was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of

378-595: Is known about the rulers of these two periods. Manetho , a historian and priest from the Ptolemaic era , describes 70 kings who ruled for 70 days. This is almost certainly an exaggeration meant to describe the disorganization of the kingship during this time period. The Seventh Dynasty may have been an oligarchy comprising powerful officials of the Sixth Dynasty based in Memphis who attempted to retain control of

432-603: Is mentioned to be somewhere at Saqqara . Also, private tombs that were built during the time pale in comparison to the Old Kingdom monuments, in quality and size. There are still relief scenes of servants making provisions for the deceased as well as the traditional offering scenes which mirror those of the Old Kingdom Memphite tombs. However, they are of a lower quality and are much simpler than their Old Kingdom parallels. Wooden rectangular coffins were still being used, but their decorations became more elaborate during

486-796: Is not much known about the style of art from the North (centered in Heracleopolis) because not much is known about the Heracleopolitan kings: little information is provided detailing their rule on monuments from the North. However, much is known about the Pre-Unification Theban Style, as the Theban kings of the Pre-Unification Eleventh Dynasty used art to reinforce the legitimacy of their rule, and many royal workshops were created, forming

540-775: Is the Roman name of the capital of the 20th nome of ancient Upper Egypt , known in Ancient Egyptian as nn nswt . The site is located approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) west of the modern city of Beni Suef , in the Beni Suef Governorate of Egypt. In Ancient Egypt , Heracleopolis Magna was called nn nswt , meaning Child of the King (appearing as hnn nswt or hwt nn nswt ; also transcribed Henen-Nesut or Hut-Nen-Nesut ). This later developed into Coptic : Ϩⲛⲏⲥ or ϩⲛⲉⲥ ( /ǝhnes/ ), which

594-679: Is the last Herakleopolitan king bearing the name Khety , and the cruel Achthoês founder of the 9th Dynasty is identified with Meryibre Khety , and the House of Khety must refer to him instead. From the Instructions , it is known that Wahkare Khety, in alliance with the nomarchs of Lower Egypt, managed to repel the nomad "Asiatics" who for generations roamed in the Nile Delta . Those nomarchs, although recognizing Wahkare's authority, ruled de facto more or less independently. The expulsion of

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648-410: The 6th Dynasty . He ruled from his childhood until he was very elderly, possibly in his 90s, but the length of his reign is uncertain. He outlived many of his anticipated heirs, thereby creating problems with succession. Thus, the regime of the Old Kingdom disintegrated amidst this disorganization. Another major problem was the rise in power of the provincial nomarchs . Towards the end of the Old Kingdom

702-613: The 9th or 10th Dynasty during the First Intermediate Period . The identity of Wahkare Khety is controversial. While some scholars believe that he was the founder of the 9th Dynasty, many others place him in the subsequent 10th Dynasty. If Wahkare Khety was the founder of the 9th Dynasty , he may be identified with the hellenized king Achthoês , the founder of this dynasty according to Manetho . Manetho reports: The first of these [kings], Achthoês, behaving more cruel than his predecessors, wrought woes for

756-569: The Lamentations or Admonitions of Ipuwer , which although not dated to this period by modern scholarship may refer to the First Intermediate Period and record a decline in international relations and a general impoverishment in Egypt. The First Intermediate Period in Egypt was generally divided into two main geographical and political regions, one centered at Memphis and the other at Thebes. The Memphite kings, although weak in power, held on to

810-548: The Limestone Statue of the Steward Mery, from the 11th Dynasty of the First Intermediate Period, also under the reign of Mentuhotep II. Males with pronounced, angular breasts portrayed with rolls of fat, as well as females with angular or pointed breasts are seen in the collection of Limestone Reliefs of High Official Tjetji. The Limestone Relief of High Official Tjetji contains 14 horizontal lines of text at

864-471: The Old Kingdom is often described as a period of chaos and disorder by some literature in the First Intermediate Period, but mostly by the literature of successive eras of ancient Egyptian history. The causes that brought about the downfall of the Old Kingdom are numerous, but some are merely hypothetical. One reason that is often quoted is the extremely long reign of Pepi II , the last major pharaoh of

918-608: The Thebans led by Intef II ; however, the troops of Herakleopolis sacked the sacred necropolis of Thinis, a serious crime which was reported by Wahkare himself. This crime caused the immediate reaction of the Thebans, who later finally captured the Thinite nomos . After those events Wahkare Khety decided to abandon this bellicose policy and begin a phase of peaceful coexistence with the southern kingdom, which endured until part of

972-638: The Third Intermediate Period (1069–664 BC), Herakleopolis again rose in importance. There were many renovations and new constructions of the temple and mortuary centers that existed in the city, and it again became an important religious and political center. By the Ptolemaic Kingdom (332–30 BC), Herakleopolis was still an important religious and cultural center in Egypt. The Greek rulers of this period, in an attempt to find connections and comparisons between their own gods and

1026-426: The sacred lake of Heryshef at Nenj-neswt , the ancient name of the city, suggests that it was already in existence by the mid First Dynasty , c. 2970 BC. Herakleopolis first came to prominence and reached its apogee of power during the First Intermediate Period , between 2181 and 2055 BC. Eventually after the collapse of the Old Kingdom , Egypt was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt . Herakleopolis became

1080-476: The "Asiatics" allowed the establishment of new settlements and defense structures on the northeastern borders, as well as the reprise of trades with the Levantine coast. Wahkare, however, warned Merikare not to neglect guarding these borders, as the "Asiatics" still were considered a danger. In the south, Wahkare and the faithful nomarch of Asyut Tefibi retook the city of Thinis , previously captured by

1134-414: The 11th Dynasty. From the later Roman periods, Petrie found numerous objects associated with many of the mortuary sites that he unearthed, including iron tools, pottery, and icons. While other excavations are not numerous and are naturally overshadowed by that of Flinders Petrie and his famous expedition, there have been several more recent excavations that have also increased knowledge of the site. During

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1188-632: The 1980s, a Spanish team conducted excavations and uncovered such artefacts as a libation altar and a pair of decorated eyes, presumably from a statue, all attributed to a temple dated to the Third Intermediate Period. A Spanish team also conducted excavations as recently as 2008, under the direction of María del Carmen Pérez-Die of the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid, Spain. Their efforts revealed

1242-633: The 19th Dynasty, as well as the aforementioned additions to the Temple of Heryshef associated with Ramesses the Great . Other than archaeological features, the artefacts found by Petrie during his excavation are numerous, and span the entire chronological range of settlement. Relating specifically to artefacts found from the end of the First Intermediate Period and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, Petrie uncovered numerous pot sherds he associated with

1296-503: The Delta, though the power and influence of these Ninth Dynasty kings was seemingly insignificant compared to the Old Kingdom pharaohs. A distinguished line of nomarchs arose in Siut (or Asyut), a powerful and wealthy province in the south of the Heracleopolitan kingdom. These warrior princes maintained a close relationship with the kings of the Heracleopolitan royal household, as evidenced by

1350-815: The Eighth Dynasty. Also, a small pyramid believed to have been constructed by King Ibi of the Eighth Dynasty has been identified at Saqqara . Several kings, such as Iytjenu , are only attested once and their position remains unknown. Sometime after the obscure reign of the Seventh and Eighth Dynasty kings a group of rulers arose in Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt. These kings comprise the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties, each with nineteen listed rulers. The Heracleopolitan kings are conjectured to have overwhelmed

1404-593: The Heracleopolitan kings around 2033 BC and unify the country to continue the Eleventh Dynasty, bringing Egypt into the Middle Kingdom. The emergence of what is considered literature by modern standards seems to have occurred during the First Intermediate Period, with a flowering of new literary genres in the Middle Kingdom . A particularly important piece is the Ipuwer Papyrus , often called

1458-625: The Memphite artistic traditions that had been in place throughout the Old Kingdom. This was a symbolic way for the weakened Memphite state to hold on to the vestiges of glory in which the Old Kingdom had reveled. On the other hand, the Theban kings, physically isolated from Memphis (the capital of Egypt in the Old Kingdom) and the Memphite center of art, were forced to develop their own "Pre-Unification Theban Style" of art to fulfill their kingly duty of creating order out of chaos through art. There

1512-444: The Old Kingdom to portray mature males) and have angular breasts and, while the female breast is more angular or pointed or is shown through a long gentle curve with no nipple (in other periods, the female breast is depicted as curved). Facial features characteristic of this style include a large eye, which is outlined with a band of relief meant to represent eye paint. The band meets the outer eye corner and this line usually runs back to

1566-402: The brunt of the attacks from the Theban kings. The South was dominated by warlords , the best-known of whom is Ankhtifi , whose tomb was discovered in 1928 at Mo’alla, 30 km south of Luxor. He was a nomarch or provincial governor of the nome based at Hierakonpolis, but he then expanded to the south and conquered a second nome centred on Edfu. He then tried to expand to the north to conquer

1620-536: The country. The Eighth dynasty rulers, claiming to be the descendants of the Sixth Dynasty kings, also ruled from Memphis. Little is known about these two dynasties since very little textual or architectural evidence survives to describe the period. However, a few artifacts have been found, including scarabs that have been attributed to king Neferkare II of the Seventh Dynasty, as well as a green jasper cylinder of Syrian influence which has been credited to

1674-408: The de facto capital of Upper Egypt, ancient Thebes . Between the latter part of the First Intermediate Period and the early Middle Kingdom , the city became the religious center of the cult of Heryshaf , and the Temple of Heryshaf was constructed. Heracleopolis Magna and its dynasty was defeated by Mentuhotep II in c. 2055–2004 BC, which ushered in the Middle Kingdom period. By the time of

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1728-577: The death of Alexander the Great . The Roman Empire used a Latinised form of the Greek name. Some Egyptologists and Biblical scholars connect the biblical city of Hanes ( Hebrew : חָנֵס Ḥānês ) mentioned in Isaiah 30:4 with Heracleopolis Magna. The date of the earliest settlements on the site of Herakleopolis is not known, but an entry on the Palermo Stone reporting king Den 's visit to

1782-571: The dissolution of centralized kingship that is mentioned was the low levels of the Nile inundation which may have been caused by a drier climate , resulting in lower crop yields bringing about famine across ancient Egypt; see 4.2 kiloyear event . There is however no consensus on this subject. According to Manning, there is no relationship with low Nile floods. "State collapse was complicated, but unrelated to Nile flooding history." The Seventh and Eighth Dynasties are often overlooked because very little

1836-524: The ear. The eyebrow above the eye is mostly flat; it does not mimic the shape of the eyelid. A deep incision is used in the creation of the broad nose, and the ear is both large and oblique. An example of Pre-Unification Theban reliefs is the Stela of the Gatekeeper Maati, a limestone stela from the reign of Mentuhotep II , ca. 2051-2030 BCE. In this stela, Maati is seated at an offering table with

1890-527: The gods of the land that they were now ruling, associated Haryshef with Heracles in the interpretatio graeca , thus the name often used by modern scholars for Herakleopolis. The site of Herakleopolis was occupied even into Roman times . Near the Necropolis of Sedmet el-Gebel , houses dating to this period were found, which in and of itself implies a continued occupation of the area. The first person to undertake an extensive excavation at Herakleopolis

1944-487: The governor of Nekhen , allowing further expansion south, toward Elephantine . His successor, Intef III , completed the conquest of Abydos, moving into Middle Egypt against the Heracleopolitan kings. The first three kings of the Eleventh Dynasty (all named Intef) were, therefore, also the last three kings of the First Intermediate Period and would be succeeded by a line of kings who were all called Mentuhotep . Mentuhotep II , also known as Nebhepetra, would eventually defeat

1998-452: The inscriptions in their tombs. These inscriptions provide a glimpse at the political situation that was present during their reigns. They describe the Siut nomarchs digging canals , reducing taxation , reaping rich harvests, raising cattle herds, and maintaining an army and fleet. The Siut province acted as a buffer state between the northern and southern rulers, and the Siut princes would bear

2052-520: The left are more youthful and wear shorter kilts, symbolizing that they are less mature and active. The depiction of the female figure specific to the First Intermediate Period is also seen in the Limestone Relief of High Official Tjetji; in the image provided, the angular breast can be seen. The building projects of the Heracleopolitan kings in the North were very limited. Only one pyramid believed to belong to King Merikare (2065–2045 BC)

2106-522: The nome centred on Thebes, but was unsuccessful, as they refused to come out and fight. His tomb is highly decorated and contains an extremely informative autobiography in which he paints a picture of Egypt riven by hunger and famine from which he, the great Ankhtifi, had rescued them. ‘I gave bread to the hungry and did not allow anyone to die’. This economic disaster is much debated by modern commentators: it seems that every ruler made similar claims. But it seems clear that for all practical purposes, Ankhtifi

2160-505: The northern, Herakleopolitan kingdom as the House of Khety , although that only proves that the founder of the 9th Dynasty was a Khety, but not necessarily Wahkare Khety. Many scholars believe instead that Wahkare Khety was a king of the 10th Dynasty , identifying him with the Khety, who was the alleged author of the famous Teaching for King Merykare , thus placing him between Neferkare VIII and Merikare . In this reconstruction, Wahkare

2214-521: The people of all of Egypt, but afterwards he was smitten with madness and killed by a crocodile . If this hypothesis is correct, Wahkare Khety may have been a Herakleopolitan prince who profited from the weakness of the Memphite rulers of the Eighth Dynasty to seize the throne of Middle and Lower Egypt around 2150 BC. This hypothesis is supported by contemporary inscriptions referring to

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2268-484: The positions of the nomarchs had become hereditary , so families often held onto the position of power in their respective provinces. As these nomarchs grew increasingly powerful and influential, they became more independent from the king. They erected tombs in their own domains and often raised armies. The rise of these numerous nomarchs inevitably created conflicts between neighboring provinces, often resulting in intense rivalries and warfare between them. A third reason for

2322-479: The principal city of Lower Egypt and was able to exercise its control over much of the region. Herakleopolis exerted such great control over Lower Egypt during this time that Egyptologists and Egyptian archaeologists sometimes refer to the period between the 9th and 10th Dynasties (2160–2025 BC) as the Herakleopolitan Period. During this period, Herakleopolis often found itself in conflict with

2376-618: The reign of his successor Merikare, who succeeded the long reign – five decades – of Wahkare. There is no contemporary evidence bearing his name. His cartouches appears on a 12th Dynasty wooden coffin inscribed with Coffin Texts and originally made for a steward named Nefri, was found in Deir el-Bersha and now is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (CG 28088). On it, Wahkare Khety's name

2430-485: The rule of the Heracleopolitan kings. New Coffin Texts were painted on the interiors, providing spells and maps for the deceased to use in the afterlife. Artworks that survived from the Theban Period show that the artisans took on new interpretations of traditional scenes. They employed the use of bright colors in their paintings and changed and distorted the proportions of the human figure. This distinctive style

2484-427: The top of the relief, with an account of Tjetji's life. Five vertical columns on the right of the relief dictate an elaborate offering formula particular to the First Intermediate Period. Tjetji faces right with two smaller males on the left that are most likely official staff. Tjetji himself is depicted as a mature official with a pronounced breast, rolls of fat on his torso, and a calf-length kilt. The officials shown on

2538-455: The walls facing the central courtyard where the deceased were buried, allowing for multiple people to be buried in one tomb. The undecorated burial chambers may have been due to the lack of skilled artists in the Theban kingdom. Herakleopolis Magna Heracleopolis Magna ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Μεγάλη Ἡρακλέους πόλις , Megálē Herakléous pólis ), Heracleopolis ( Ἡρακλεόπολις , Herakleópolis ) or Herakleoupolis ( Ἡρακλεούπολις )

2592-586: The weak Memphite rulers to create the Ninth Dynasty, but there is virtually no archaeology elucidating the transition, which seems to have involved a drastic reduction in population in the Nile Valley. The founder of the Ninth Dynasty, Akhthoes or Akhtoy, is often described as an evil and violent ruler, most notably in Manetho's writing. Possibly the same as Wahkare Khety I , Akhthoes was described as

2646-483: Was borrowed into early Egyptian Arabic : اهناس Ahnās . The site is now known as Ihnasiyyah Umm al-Kimam "Ihnasiyyah, Mother of the Shards" and as Ihnasiyyah al-Madinah "The City of Ihnasiyyah". The Greek name meant "City of Heracles ", with the epithet "great" being added to distinguish it from other towns with that name . The Greek form became more common during the Ptolemaic Kingdom , which came to power after

2700-402: Was especially evident in the rectangular slab stelae found in the tombs at Naga el-Deir . In terms of royal architecture, the Theban kings of the early eleventh dynasty constructed rock cut tombs called saff tombs at El-Tarif on the west bank of the Nile . This new style of mortuary architecture consisted of a large courtyard with a rock-cut colonnade at the far wall. Rooms were carved into

2754-497: Was the Swiss Egyptologist Edouard Naville . After excavating what he believed to be the entirety of the Temple of Heryshef, Naville came to the conclusion that he had found all that Herakleopolis had to offer. His friend Sir Flinders Petrie , on the other hand, “...in 1879 suspected that the region already cleared was only a part of the temple,” and thus Herakleopolis (or Ehnasya as he called it,

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2808-618: Was the nomarch of Thebes, often called the "keeper of the Door of the South". He is credited for organizing Upper Egypt into an independent ruling body in the south, although he himself did not appear to have tried to claim the title of king. However, his successors in the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties would later do so for him. One of them, Intef II , begins the assault on the north, particularly at Abydos . By around 2060 BC, Intef II had defeated

2862-411: Was the ruler and there was no higher power to whom he owed allegiance. The unity of Egypt had broken down. It has been suggested that an invasion of Upper Egypt occurred contemporaneously with the founding of the Heracleopolitan kingdom, which would establish the Theban line of kings, constituting the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties. This line of kings is believed to have been descendants of Intef , who

2916-433: Was vandalized, and the statues of kings were broken or destroyed as a result of the postulated political chaos. The two kingdoms would eventually come into conflict, which would lead to the conquest of the north by the Theban kings and to the reunification of Egypt under a single ruler, Mentuhotep II , during the second part of the Eleventh Dynasty. This event marked the beginning of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt . The fall of

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