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66-546: The ancient Egyptian site of el-Lisht can be found on the west bank of the Nile River, around 65 km south of the city of Cairo. It is a Twelfth Dynasty necropolis, close to the city of Itj-Tawy from which the modern village assumably (given the proposed older form Al-Isht) takes name. The Eleventh Dynasty’s capital was located at the city of Thebes . The first king of the Twelfth Dynasty , Amenemhet I , moved

132-518: A 2005 study on mummified remains found that "some Theban nobles had a histology which indicated notably dark skin ". The archaeological remains of Thebes offer a striking testimony to Egyptian civilization at its height. The Greek poet Homer extolled the wealth of Thebes in the Iliad , Book 9 ( c.  8th Century BC ): "... in Egyptian Thebes the heaps of precious ingots gleam,

198-637: A celebration of the Opet Festival . In spite of his welcoming visit, Thebes became a center for dissent. Towards the end of the third century BC, Hugronaphor (Horwennefer), possibly of Nubian origin, led a revolt against the Ptolemies in Upper Egypt. His successor, Ankhmakis , held large parts of Upper Egypt until 185 BC. This revolt was supported by the Theban priesthood. After the suppression of

264-534: A courtyard, portico, and offering hall with store rooms on either side. Years later, the tombs of wives, children, and close officials began to be plotted around the temples of these kings. It turned into a honeycomb of graves for their families and servants that multiplied with each generation. After the fall of the dynasty, the necropolis was no longer thought to be in need of guarding so grave robbers and looters descended. Thebes, Egypt Thebes ( Arabic : طيبة , Ancient Greek : Θῆβαι , Thēbai ), known to

330-437: A granite altar, carved with depictions of representatives of the nomes (provinces) bringing offerings to the pharaoh. However, the pyramid itself is in a ruined state, rising approximately 20 m (66 ft) above ground level. El-Lisht is notable for its commissioners' 'cannibalization' of earlier monuments, which is thought to symbolize the restoration of Egypt to its Old Kingdom glory. The change in relief carving styles in

396-463: A hallway lined with pink granite leads to a small room at the core of the pyramid, from where a shaft connects to the burial chamber. The chamber has been filled with Nile seepage water over the years, making new discoveries difficult. Attempts have been made to keep water out but pumping has not worked. No full statues of Amenemhat I were unearthed during archaeological expeditions. However, a limestone statuette's head, thought to belong to an image of

462-724: A smooth casing of white limestone from Tureh. This technique continued to be used for much of the Middle Kingdom. The unroofed causeway leading to the pyramid was punctuated with alcoves in which stood large limestone statues of Senusret I- some of these are now on show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and at the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo. The causeway was also flanked by mudbrick buildings for

528-471: Is almost completely destroyed. The only remains of Amenemhet I funerary temple are carvings of Nile god and Nome deities. It is thought that Senusret had Amenemhet rebuilt because his name is on the foundation of the temple remains. Since there is more left of Senusret I's temple, it was easier to reconstruct the original architectural plan for it. We know it was similar to those found in Dynasty VI with

594-576: Is also located near Thebes; this valley connected Thebes to an oasis on the Western Desert. It is notable for the first Proto-Sinatic alphabet inscription, which appeared shortly after Thebes became the capital of Egypt. Nearby towns in the fourth Upper Egyptian nome were Per-Hathor , Madu , Djerty , Iuny , Sumenu and Imiotru . According to George Modelski , Thebes had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2000 BC (compared to 60,000 in Memphis ,

660-544: Is satisfied"), took the Herakleopolitans by force and reunited Egypt once again under one ruler, thereby starting the period now known as the Middle Kingdom . Mentuhotep II ruled for 51 years and built the first mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri , which most likely served as the inspiration for the later and larger temple built next to it by Hatshepsut in the 18th Dynasty. After these events, the 11th Dynasty

726-465: The interpretatio graeca , Amun was rendered as Zeus Ammon . The name was therefore translated into Greek as Diospolis, "City of Zeus". To distinguish it from the numerous other cities by this name, it was known as the "Great Diospolis" ( Διόσπολις Μεγάλη , Diospolis Megálē ; Latin : Diospolis Magna ). The Greek names came into wider use after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great , when

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792-856: The 12th Dynasty king Senusret may have been usurped and re-used, since the statue bears a cartouche of Nyuserre on its belt. Since seven rulers of the 4th to 6th Dynasties appear on the Karnak king list, perhaps at the least there was a temple in the Theban area that dated to the Old Kingdom. By 2160 BC, a new line of pharaohs (the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties) consolidated control over Lower Egypt and northern parts of Upper Egypt from their capital in Herakleopolis Magna . A rival line (the Eleventh Dynasty ), based at Thebes, ruled

858-789: The 16th Dynasty ) stood firmly over their immediate region as the Hyksos advanced from the Delta southwards to Middle Egypt . The Thebans resisted the Hyksos' further advance by making an agreement for a peaceful concurrent rule between them. The Hyksos were able to sail upstream past Thebes to trade with the Nubians and the Thebans brought their herds to the Delta without adversaries. The status quo continued until Hyksos ruler Apophis ( 15th Dynasty ) insulted Seqenenre Tao ( 17th Dynasty ) of Thebes. Soon

924-553: The 18th Dynasty ( New Kingdom ). It also became the center for a newly established professional civil service , where there was a greater demand for scribes and the literate as the royal archives began to fill with accounts and reports. At the city the favored few of Nubia were reeducated with Egyptian culture, to serve as administrators of the colony. With Egypt stabilized again, religion and religious centers flourished and none more so than Thebes. For instance, Amenhotep III poured much of his vast wealth from foreign tribute into

990-609: The Delta . Thebes maintained its revenues and prestige through the reigns of Seti I (1290–1279 BC) and Ramesses II (1279–1213 BC), who still resided for part of every year in Thebes. Ramesses II carried out extensive building projects in the city, such as statues and obelisks, the third enclosure wall of Karnak temple, additions to the Luxor temple , and the Ramesseum , his grand mortuary temple . The constructions were bankrolled by

1056-574: The Eastern Desert , with its valuable mineral resources and trade routes. It was a religious center and the most venerated city during many periods of ancient Egyptian history. The site of Thebes includes areas on both the eastern bank of the Nile, where the temples of Karnak and Luxor stand and where the city was situated; and the western bank, where a necropolis of large private and royal cemeteries and funerary complexes can be found. In 1979,

1122-587: The Late Period . By around 750 BC, the Kushites (Nubians) were growing their influence over Thebes and Upper Egypt. In 721 BC, King Shabaka of the Kushites defeated the combined forces of Osorkon IV ( 22nd Dynasty ), Peftjauawybast ( 23rd Dynasty ) Bakenranef ( 24th Dynasty ) and reunified Egypt yet again. His reign saw a significant amount of building work undertaken throughout Egypt, especially at

1188-905: The New Kingdom ". Arnold worked for the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo during excavations in Dahshur , Deir el-Bahari and El-Tarif . From 1979 to 1984 he was a professor at the University of Vienna and then a curator at the Egyptian Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York . Arnold's specialty is the architecture of Ancient Egypt . As an employee of

1254-638: The Roman occupation (30 BC–641 AD), the remaining communities clustered around the pylon of the Luxor temple. Thebes became part of the Roman province of Thebais , which later split into Thebais Superior , centered at the city, and Thebais Inferior , centered at Ptolemais Hermiou . A Roman legion was headquartered in Luxor temple at the time of Roman campaigns in Nubia . Building did not come to an abrupt stop, but

1320-568: The Tanakh as the "Nōʼ ʼĀmôn" ( נא אמון ) in the Book of Nahum and also as "No" ( נא ) mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel and Jeremiah . "Thebes" is sometimes claimed to be the Latinised form of Ancient Greek : Θῆβαι , the hellenized form of Demotic Egyptian tꜣ jpt ("the temple"), referring to jpt-swt . Today, the temple is known as Karnak , and is located on the northeast bank of

1386-532: The ancient Egyptians as Waset , was an ancient Egyptian city located along the Nile about 800 kilometers (500 mi) south of the Mediterranean . Its ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor . Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome (Sceptre nome) and was the capital of Egypt for long periods during the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom eras. It was close to Nubia and

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1452-547: The Canaanite center of power at Avaris, starting the 15th Dynasty there. The Hyksos kings gained the upper hand over Lower Egypt early into the Second Intermediate Period (1657–1549 BC). When the Hyksos took Memphis during or shortly after Merneferre Ay 's reign ( c.  1700 BC ), the rulers of the 13th Dynasty fled south to Thebes, which was restored as capital. Theban princes (now known as

1518-656: The French government but later he went on to found the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology. This group further excavated the site from 1884 until 1885. From 1906 to 1934 the Egyptian Expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York, continued to work on el-Lisht. In this time period Egyptologists were able to excavate for fourteen seasons. The Metropolitan Museum of Art returned to el-Lisht between 1984 and 1991. The Pyramid of Amenemhet I

1584-467: The Metropolitan Museum, he leads the museum's annual expeditions to el-Lisht and Dahshur. In 1981 he published a proposal for the construction of the Great Pyramid . The ramp runs first outside and then in a corridor inside the pyramid. Arnold was aware that the construction method could not be explained purely archaeologically due to the lack of finds: " It is no longer possible to determine how

1650-603: The Theban Hills in the west that culminates at the sacred 420-meter (1,380-foot) al-Qurn . In the east lies the mountainous Eastern Desert with its wadis draining into the valley. Significant among these wadis is Wadi Hammamat near Thebes. It was used as an overland trade route going to the Red Sea coast. Wadi Hammamat was the primary trade route linking Egypt to the Red Sea since Pre-Dynastic times. Uruk civilization

1716-407: The Theban economy flourish by renewing trade networks, primarily the Red Sea trade between Thebes' Red Sea port of Al-Qusayr , Elat and the land of Punt . Her successor Thutmose III brought to Thebes a great deal of his war booty that originated from as far away as Mittani . The 18th Dynasty reached its peak during his great-grandson Amenhotep III 's reign (1388–1350 BC). Aside from embellishing

1782-560: The Twelfth Dynasty is also apparent in the two pyramids at this site. El-Lisht was first excavated in 1882 by the French Egyptologist Gaston Maspero . Maspero was from Paris but had an interest in the history of Egypt so went on to study under Auguste Mariette . When Mariette died Maspero took on the archeological mission. His interest in ancient Egypt originally took him there to excavate for

1848-487: The adoption of his own daughter, Nitocris I , as heiress to God's Wife of Amun there. In 525 BC, Persian Cambyses II invaded Egypt and became pharaoh, subordinating the kingdom as a satrapy to the greater Achaemenid Empire . The good relationship of the Thebans with the central power in the North ended when the native Egyptian pharaohs were finally replaced by Greeks, led by Alexander the Great . He visited Thebes during

1914-433: The area it is believed to be in. However, Twelfth Dynasty rulers built pyramids at el-Lisht which are known to researchers. El-Lisht is the necropolis of the first two rulers of Dynasty XII, Amenemhet I and his son and successor Senusret I . These pyramids would have been visible to those traveling to Itj-Tawy from the south. The more famous of the two monumental complexes, that of Amenemhat I, featured an offering hall with

1980-567: The armies of Thebes marched on the Hyksos-ruled lands. Tao died in battle and his son Kamose took charge of the campaign. After Kamose's death, his brother Ahmose I continued until he captured Avaris , the Hyksos capital. Ahmose I drove the Hyksos out of Egypt and the Levant and reclaimed the lands formerly ruled by them. Ahmose I founded a new age for a unified Egypt with Thebes as its capital. The city remained as capital during most of

2046-489: The capital from Thebes to a city near el-Lisht called Itj-tawy , because it was close to the mouth of the Fayyum , and well situated to control the 'Two Lands' of Upper and Lower Egypt. Another motive suggested is land reclamation and desire to increase the agricultural output for the region. The ruins of Itj-Tawy have never been conclusively identified, and the only locational evidence discovered consists of pieces of pottery in

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2112-571: The city continued to decline. In the first century AD, Strabo described Thebes as having been relegated to a mere village. Eastern Thebes: Western Thebes: The two great temples — Luxor Temple and Karnak —and the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens are among the greatest achievements of ancient Egypt. From 25 October 2018 to 27 January 2019, the Museum of Grenoble organized with

2178-874: The city of Thebes, which he made the capital of his kingdom. In Karnak he erected a pink granite statue of himself wearing the Pschent (the double crown of Egypt). Taharqa accomplished many notable projects at Thebes (i.e. the Kiosk in Karnak) and Nubia before the Assyrians started to wage war against Egypt. In 667 BC, attacked by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal 's army, Taharqa abandoned Lower Egypt and fled to Thebes. After his death three years later his nephew (or cousin) Tantamani seized Thebes, invaded Lower Egypt and laid siege to Memphis, but abandoned his attempts to conquer

2244-411: The city was abandoned by the court, and the worship of Amun was proscribed. The capital was moved to the new city of Akhetaten (Amarna in modern Egypt), midway between Thebes and Memphis. After his death, his son Tutankhamun returned the capital to Memphis, but renewed building projects at Thebes produced even more glorious temples and shrines. With the 19th Dynasty the seat of government moved to

2310-682: The city. Since Homer refers to the metropolis by this name, and since Demotic script did not appear until a later date, the etymology is doubtful. As early as Homer 's Iliad , the Greeks distinguished the Egyptian Thebes as "Thebes of the Hundred Gates" ( Θῆβαι ἑκατόμπυλοι , Thēbai hekatómpyloi ) or "Hundred-Gated Thebes", as opposed to the " Thebes of the Seven Gates " ( Θῆβαι ἑπτάπυλοι , Thēbai heptápyloi ) in Boeotia , Greece. In

2376-695: The country came to be ruled by the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty . Thebes was located along the banks of the Nile River in the middle part of Upper Egypt about 800 km south of the Delta . It was built largely on the alluvial plains of the Nile Valley, which follows a great bend of the Nile. As a natural consequence, the city was laid in a northeast–southwest axis parallel to the contemporary river channel. Thebes had an area of 93 km (36 sq mi), which included parts of

2442-473: The country in 663 BC and retreated southwards. The Assyrians pursued him and took Thebes , whose name was added to a long list of cities plundered and destroyed by the Assyrians, as Ashurbanipal wrote: This city, the whole of it, I conquered it with the help of Ashur and Ishtar. Silver, gold, precious stones, all the wealth of the palace, rich cloth, precious linen, great horses, supervising men and women, two obelisks of splendid electrum, weighing 2,500 talents,

2508-446: The doors of temples I tore from their bases and carried them off to Assyria. With this weighty booty I left Thebes. Against Egypt and Kush I have lifted my spear and shown my power. With full hands I have returned to Nineveh, in good health. Thebes never regained its former political significance, but it remained an important religious centre. Assyrians installed Psamtik I (664–610 BC), who ascended to Thebes in 656 BC and brought about

2574-546: The eastern Nile Delta. They eventually founded the 14th Dynasty at Avaris in c.  1805 BC or c.  1710 BC . By doing so, the Asiatics established hegemony over the majority of the Delta region, subtracting these territories from the influence of the 13th Dynasty that had meanwhile succeeded the 12th. A second wave of Asiatics called Hyksos (from Heqa-khasut , "rulers of foreign lands" as Egyptians called their leaders) immigrated into Egypt and overran

2640-426: The executions of many conspirators, including Theban officials and women. Under the later Ramessids, Thebes began to decline as the government fell into grave economic difficulties. During the reign of Ramesses IX (1129–1111 BC), about 1114 BC, a series of investigations into the plundering of royal tombs in the necropolis of western Thebes uncovered proof of corruption in high places, following an accusation made by

2706-755: The hands of the High Priests of Amun , so that during the Third Intermediate Period , the High Priest of Amun exerted absolute power over the South, a counterbalance to the 21st and 22nd Dynasty kings who ruled from the Delta. Intermarriage and adoption strengthened the ties between them, daughters of the Tanite kings being installed as God's Wife of Amun at Thebes, where they wielded greater power. Theban political influence receded only in

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2772-652: The hundred-gated Thebes." More than sixty annual festivals were celebrated in Thebes. The major festivals among these, according to the Edfu Geographical Text, were: the Beautiful Feast of Opet , the Khoiak (Festival), Festival of I Shemu , and Festival of II Shemu. Another popular festivity was the halloween-like Beautiful Festival of the Valley . Thebes was inhabited from around 3200 BC. It

2838-645: The large granaries (built around the Ramesseum) that concentrated the taxes collected from Upper Egypt; and by the gold from expeditions to Nubia and the Eastern Desert. During Ramesses' long 66-year reign, Egypt and Thebes reached an overwhelming state of prosperity that equaled or even surpassed the earlier peak under Amenhotep III. The city continued to be well kept in the early 20th Dynasty . The Great Harris Papyrus states that Ramesses III (reigned 1187–56) donated 86,486 slaves and vast estates to

2904-482: The largest city in the world at the time). By 1800 BC, the population of Memphis was down to about 30,000, making Thebes the largest city in Egypt at the time. Historian Ian Morris has estimated that by 1500 BC, Thebes may have grown to be the largest city in the world, with a population of about 75,000, a position it held until about 900 BC, when it was surpassed by Nimrud (among others). Shomarka Keita reported that

2970-532: The mayor of the east bank against his colleague on the west. The plundered royal mummies were moved from place to place and at last deposited by the priests of Amun in a tomb-shaft in Deir el-Bahri and in the tomb of Amenhotep II . (The finding of these two hiding places in 1881 and 1898, respectively, was one of the great events of modern archaeological discovery.) Such maladministration in Thebes led to unrest. Control of local affairs tended to come more and more into

3036-424: The pharaoh's health could have been declining and he did not think he would live to see it finished in time, yet did not want to be buried in an unfinished tomb. A third theory holds that Amenemhat I had already died after designing the tomb, and his son and successor rushed through his father's memorial so that he could start construction on his own. The pyramid's true entrance is found on its north side. From here,

3102-426: The pharaoh, has been discovered. Senusret I built his pyramid on the southern side of el-Lisht, around a mile south of his father's funerary complex. This pyramid, named 'Senusret Looks Down on Both Lands' was also discovered by Gaston Maspero in 1882. He was able to identify the owner from objects in the pyramid marked with the pharaoh's name. The excavation team found relief blocks, fragments, and small shrines on

3168-406: The pyramid led to a burial chamber containing sculpted lion heads that would sprout water out which would flow away through a drain. While some of the inner framework of Senusret's pyramid has been preserved, the pyramid itself is almost all rubble. The burial chamber is flooded by Nile seepage water, and many of the pyramid's treasures were stolen in antiquity. According to the excavations, the tomb

3234-425: The reign of Senusret I . Thebes was already, in the Middle Kingdom, a town of considerable size. Excavations around the Karnak temple show that the Middle Kingdom town had a layout with a grid pattern . The city was at least one kilometre long and 50 hectares in area. Remains of two palatial buildings were also detected. Starting in the later part of the 12th Dynasty, a group of Canaanite people began settling in

3300-451: The remaining part of Upper Egypt. The Theban rulers were apparently descendants of the prince of Thebes, Intef the Elder . His probable grandson Intef I was the first of the family to claim in life a partial pharaonic titulary , though his power did not extend much further than the general Theban region. Finally by c.  2050 BC , Intef III 's son Mentuhotep II (meaning "Montu

3366-471: The revolt in 185 BC, Ptolemy V , in need of the support of the priesthood, pardoned them. Half a century later the Thebans rose again, elevating a certain Harsiesi to the throne in 132 BC. Harsiesi, having helped himself to the funds of the royal bank at Thebes, fled the following year. In 91 BC, another revolt broke out. In the following years, Thebes was subdued, and the city turned into rubble. During

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3432-466: The ruins of ancient Thebes were classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site . The Egyptian name for Thebes was wꜣs.t , "City of the wꜣs ", the sceptre of the pharaohs , a long staff with an animal's head and a forked base. From the end of the New Kingdom , Thebes was known in Egyptian as njw.t-jmn , the "City of Amun ", the chief of the Theban Triad of deities whose other members were Mut and Khonsu . This name of Thebes appears in

3498-407: The site that were consistent with Middle Kingdom art. Then in 1894, the site was excavated by archeologists J.E. Gautier and G. Jequier who worked there until 1895. From 1906 until 1943 a team from the Metropolitan Museum of Art excavated it. Later, from 1984 to 1987, further excavation was carried out by Dieter Arnold . The pyramid of Senusret I was much larger than that of Amenemhet I. Its base

3564-451: The story in the modern setting some 3000 years later. In "The Egyptian" by the author Mika Waltari, there are elaborate descriptions on how Thebes looked during the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Dieter Arnold Dieter Arnold (born 1936 in Heidelberg ) is a German archaeologist . He received his doctorate on 31 January 1961 from the University of Munich with the thesis "Wall relief and spatial function in Egyptian temples of

3630-439: The support of the Louvre and the British Museum , a three-month exhibition on the city of Thebes and the role of women in the city at that time. In popular culture, Thebes is a setting in the films The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001). It is said to be the "Land of the Living". (In real history, there was no such name given to it.) The films feature scenes taking place in ancient Egypt in its prime, which affect

3696-424: The temples of Amun . The Theban god Amun became a principal state deity and every building project sought to outdo the last in proclaiming the glory of Amun and the pharaohs themselves. Thutmose I (reigned 1506–1493 BC) began the first great expansion of the Karnak temple. After this, colossal enlargements of the temple became the norm throughout the New Kingdom. Queen Hatshepsut (reigned 1479–1458 BC) helped

3762-447: The temples of Amun, Amenhotep increased construction in Thebes to unprecedented levels. On the west bank, he built the enormous mortuary temple and the equally massive Malkata palace-city, which fronted a 364-hectare artificial lake. In the city proper he built the Luxor temple and the Avenue of the Sphinxes leading to Karnak. For a brief period in the reign of Amenhotep III's son Akhenaten (1351–1334 BC), Thebes fell on hard times;

3828-451: The temples of Amun. Ramesses III received tributes from all subject peoples including the Sea Peoples and Meshwesh Libyans. The whole of Egypt was experiencing financial problems, however, exemplified in the events at Thebes' village of Deir el-Medina . In the 25th year of his reign, workers in Deir el-Medina began striking for pay and there arose a general unrest of all social classes. Subsequently, an unsuccessful Harem conspiracy led to

3894-423: The use of the priests who would perform rituals for the deceased monarch. The north side of the pyramid was fronted by a small chapel with an alabaster false door stela , decorated with pictures of offerings being presented. The funerary temple lay to the east, at the head of the valley causeway leading to the pyramid, and was similar in style to that of Pepi II , a Sixth Dynasty pharaoh. The central passage within

3960-402: Was transmitted to Egypt along this corridor. It is the likely that Thinis , the capital of the First Dynasty, was located in the same region as Thebes for this reason. Both cities were at a crossroad region in Upper Egypt between the Nile in the north to south direction and Saharan caravan routes connecting to Red Sea maritime routes via Wadi Hammamat in the East West direction. The Wadi el-Hol

4026-420: Was 105 meters wide, with a height that once reached 61.25 meters tall. Although he followed a similar plan to that of his father, architects used a new technique. In theory, this new technique was supposed to make the pyramid stronger. The architects built outward from a core of coarse limestone blocks filled in with mudbrick and debris, then revetted the central structure with heavy blocks and surrounded it with

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4092-407: Was about 55 meters tall when originally built but because of poor construction, quarrying, and tomb robberies, it now stands at approximately 20m in height. Apart from poor construction, the material used to build the pyramid was not durable. Studies show it was made from unfired mudbrick and stones from other monuments. The mudbrick, sand, and debris would have been the material of choice since each

4158-469: Was readily available, and mudbrick proved cheap since the city was so close to the Fayyum. Specifically, stones from the monuments of Khufu , Khafre , Unas , and Pepy have been found at Amenemhat's funerary complex. Subsequent excavations uncovered plans for a pyramid much larger than the building constructed. One theory is that the terrain of the site was unsuitable for the structure due to poor sloping topography. Alternatively, it has been suggested that

4224-447: Was robbed shortly after being sealed. Besides the central tomb passage, another tunnel has been found, its use being to transport funerary materials to the chambers. Maspero concluded that the transporting tunnel was used by thieves to rob the pyramid because this is where funerary goods from the king’s chambers were found. Both Amenemhet I and Senusret I had funerary temples, but archeologists know more about Senusret because his father's

4290-418: Was short-lived, as less than twenty years had elapsed between the death of Mentuhotep II and that of Mentuhotep IV , in mysterious circumstances. During the 12th Dynasty , Amenemhat I moved the seat of power North to Itjtawy . Thebes continued to thrive as a religious center as the local god Amun was becoming increasingly prominent throughout Egypt. The oldest remains of a temple dedicated to Amun date to

4356-450: Was the eponymous capital of Waset, the fourth Upper Egyptian nome . At this time it was still a small trading post, while Memphis served as the royal residence of the Old Kingdom pharaohs. Although no buildings survive in Thebes older than portions of the Karnak temple complex that may date from the Middle Kingdom , the lower part of a statue of Pharaoh Nyuserre of the 5th Dynasty has been found in Karnak. Another statue dedicated by

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