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125-526: The Pan-Grave people first appear in the archaeological record during the late Middle Kingdom of Egypt and become more prominent during the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt , coinciding with the decentralization of Egyptian power. The archaeological tradition was first identified by Flinders Petrie at a cemetery location in Hu, south of Abydos . Many other burial sites have been found in

250-442: A logogram defines the object of which it is an image. Logograms are therefore the most frequently used common nouns; they are always accompanied by a mute vertical stroke indicating their status as a logogram (the usage of a vertical stroke is further explained below); in theory, all hieroglyphs would have the ability to be used as logograms. Logograms can be accompanied by phonetic complements. Here are some examples: In some cases,

375-559: A pintail duck is read in Egyptian as sꜣ , derived from the main consonants of the Egyptian word for this duck: 's', 'ꜣ' and 't'. (Note that ꜣ or [REDACTED] , two half-rings opening to the left, sometimes replaced by the digit '3', is the Egyptian alef . ) It is also possible to use the hieroglyph of the pintail duck without a link to its meaning in order to represent the two phonemes s and ꜣ , independently of any vowels that could accompany these consonants, and in this way write

500-608: 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

625-432: 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 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

750-466: 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

875-570: 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

1000-443: 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

1125-622: A little after Sumerian script , and, probably, [were] invented under the influence of the latter", and that it is "probable that the general idea of expressing words of a language in writing was brought to Egypt from Sumerian Mesopotamia ". Further, Egyptian writing appeared suddenly, while Mesopotamia had a long evolutionary history of the usage of signs—for agricultural and accounting purposes—in tokens dating as early back to c.  8000 BC . However, more recent scholars have held that "the evidence for such direct influence remains flimsy" and that "a very credible argument can also be made for

1250-587: 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

1375-426: 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

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1500-631: A mature writing system used for monumental inscription in the classical language of the Middle Kingdom period; during this period, the system used about 900 distinct signs. The use of this writing system continued through the New Kingdom and Late Period , and on into the Persian and Ptolemaic periods. Late survivals of hieroglyphic use are found well into the Roman period , extending into

1625-555: 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

1750-628: A noun is recorded from 1590, originally short for nominalized hieroglyphic (1580s, with a plural hieroglyphics ), from adjectival use ( hieroglyphic character ). The Nag Hammadi texts written in Sahidic Coptic call the hieroglyphs "writings of the magicians, soothsayers" ( Coptic : ϩⲉⲛⲥϩⲁⲓ̈ ⲛ̄ⲥⲁϩ ⲡⲣⲁⲛ︦ϣ︦ ). Hieroglyphs may have emerged from the preliterate artistic traditions of Egypt. For example, symbols on Gerzean pottery from c.  4000 BC have been argued to resemble hieroglyphic writing. Proto-writing systems developed in

1875-475: 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

2000-479: 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

2125-401: 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

2250-561: A strong connection between the Pan-Grave Culture and Egypt. The evidence of other typically Egyptian artwork, burial customs, and pottery in other Pan-Grave burials suggests a high level of syncretism in Pan-Grave communities. This article relating to archaeology is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Middle Kingdom of Egypt The Middle Kingdom of Egypt (also known as The Period of Reunification )

2375-415: A unique reading. For example, the symbol of "the seat" (or chair): Finally, it sometimes happens that the pronunciation of words might be changed because of their connection to Ancient Egyptian: in this case, it is not rare for writing to adopt a compromise in notation, the two readings being indicated jointly. For example, the adjective bnj , "sweet", became bnr . In Middle Egyptian, one can write: which

2500-486: Is added between consonants to aid in their pronunciation. For example, nfr "good" is typically written nefer . This does not reflect Egyptian vowels, which are obscure, but is merely a modern convention. Likewise, the ꜣ and ꜥ are commonly transliterated as a , as in Ra ( rꜥ ). Hieroglyphs are inscribed in rows of pictures arranged in horizontal lines or vertical columns. Both hieroglyph lines as well as signs contained in

2625-563: 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

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2750-442: Is discussion over the interpretation of the text; scholars believe that the text is most likely a personal name or a title. It has commonly been read as Ḳskꜣnt,   meaning ‘master of the horn’. However, scholars like Julien Cooper have suggested that the text is rather etymologically descended from an ancient Eastern African language, and thus the common interpretation is inaccurate. The Egyptian art style and script may allude to

2875-559: Is fully read as bnr , the j not being pronounced but retained in order to keep a written connection with the ancient word (in the same fashion as the English language words through , knife , or victuals , which are no longer pronounced the way they are written.) Besides a phonetic interpretation, characters can also be read for their meaning: in this instance, logograms are being spoken (or ideograms ) and semagrams (the latter are also called determinatives). A hieroglyph used as

3000-647: 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

3125-443: Is not excluded, but probably reflects the reality." Hieroglyphs consist of three kinds of glyphs: phonetic glyphs, including single-consonant characters that function like an alphabet ; logographs , representing morphemes ; and determinatives , which narrow down the meaning of logographic or phonetic words. As writing developed and became more widespread among the Egyptian people, simplified glyph forms developed, resulting in

3250-679: 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 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

3375-504: The /θ/ sound was lost. A few uniliterals first appear in Middle Egyptian texts. Besides the uniliteral glyphs, there are also the biliteral and triliteral signs, to represent a specific sequence of two or three consonants, consonants and vowels, and a few as vowel combinations only, in the language. Egyptian writing is often redundant: in fact, it happens very frequently that a word is followed by several characters writing

3500-779: 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 : Egyptian hieroglyphs Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( / ˈ h aɪ r oʊ ˌ ɡ l ɪ f s / HY -roh-glifs ) were

3625-759: 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

3750-671: The Greek adjective ἱερογλυφικός ( hieroglyphikos ), a compound of ἱερός ( hierós 'sacred') and γλύφω ( glýphō '(Ι) carve, engrave'; see glyph ) meaning sacred carving. The glyphs themselves, since the Ptolemaic period , were called τὰ ἱερογλυφικὰ [γράμματα] ( tà hieroglyphikà [grámmata] ) "the sacred engraved letters", the Greek counterpart to the Egyptian expression of mdw.w-nṯr "god's words". Greek ἱερόγλυφος meant "a carver of hieroglyphs". In English, hieroglyph as

3875-527: 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

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4000-581: 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,

4125-670: The Latin and Cyrillic scripts through Greek, and possibly the Arabic and Brahmic scripts through Aramaic. The use of hieroglyphic writing arose from proto-literate symbol systems in the Early Bronze Age c.  the 33rd century BC ( Naqada III ), with the first decipherable sentence written in the Egyptian language dating to the 28th century BC ( Second Dynasty ). Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs developed into

4250-693: The Medjay and the Pan-Grave culture for two main reasons. The first being that both the Medjay and the Pan-Grave fought as mercenaries in the Second Intermediate Period, evidenced by the existence of Egyptian-style weapons in Pan-Grave burials. The second reason being that the Pan-Grave were thought to have originated from the Eastern Desert, much like the Medjay. This claim is supported by the existence of items that are associated with

4375-527: The Old and Middle Kingdoms , respectively. On the contrary, the Pan-Grave Culture has only been dated to the Second Intermediate Period. One possible theory explaining this is that the Pan-Grave culture had been present in the Nile Valley for much longer, and the decline of Egyptian central authority allowed for the culture to penetrate the archaeological record. Scholars like Maria Gatto have also argued that

4500-532: 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

4625-534: The Proto-Sinaitic script that later evolved into the Phoenician alphabet . Egyptian hieroglyphs are the ultimate ancestor of the Phoenician alphabet , the first widely adopted phonetic writing system. Moreover, owing in large part to the Greek and Aramaic scripts that descended from Phoenician, the majority of the world's living writing systems are descendants of Egyptian hieroglyphs—most prominently

4750-492: 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

4875-594: The Second Dynasty (28th or 27th century BC). Around 800 hieroglyphs are known to date back to the Old Kingdom , Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom Eras. By the Greco-Roman period, there were more than 5,000. Scholars have long debated whether hieroglyphs were "original", developed independently of any other script, or derivative. Original scripts are very rare. Previously, scholars like Geoffrey Sampson argued that Egyptian hieroglyphs "came into existence

5000-432: The hieratic (priestly) and demotic (popular) scripts. These variants were also more suited than hieroglyphs for use on papyrus . Hieroglyphic writing was not, however, eclipsed, but existed alongside the other forms, especially in monumental and other formal writing. The Rosetta Stone contains three parallel scripts – hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek. Hieroglyphs continued to be used under Persian rule (intermittent in

5125-437: The "goose" hieroglyph ( zꜣ ) representing the word for "son". A half-dozen Demotic glyphs are still in use, added to the Greek alphabet when writing Coptic . Knowledge of the hieroglyphs had been lost completely in the medieval period. Early attempts at decipherment were made by some such as Dhul-Nun al-Misri and Ibn Wahshiyya (9th and 10th century, respectively). All medieval and early modern attempts were hampered by

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5250-618: The "myth of allegorical hieroglyphs" was ascendant. Monumental use of hieroglyphs ceased after the closing of all non-Christian temples in 391 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I ; the last known inscription is from Philae , known as the Graffito of Esmet-Akhom , from 394. The Hieroglyphica of Horapollo (c. 5th century) appears to retain some genuine knowledge about the writing system. It offers an explanation of close to 200 signs. Some are identified correctly, such as

5375-787: The 1820s by Jean-François Champollion , with the help of the Rosetta Stone . The entire Ancient Egyptian corpus , including both hieroglyphic and hieratic texts, is approximately 5 million words in length; if counting duplicates (such as the Book of the Dead and the Coffin Texts ) as separate, this figure is closer to 10 million. The most complete compendium of Ancient Egyptian, the Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache , contains 1.5–1.7 million words. The word hieroglyph comes from

5500-459: The 4th century AD. During the 5th century, the permanent closing of pagan temples across Roman Egypt ultimately resulted in the ability to read and write hieroglyphs being forgotten. Despite attempts at decipherment, the nature of the script remained unknown throughout the Middle Ages and the early modern period . The decipherment of hieroglyphic writing was finally accomplished in

5625-473: The 6th and 5th centuries BCE), and after Alexander the Great 's conquest of Egypt, during the ensuing Ptolemaic and Roman periods. It appears that the misleading quality of comments from Greek and Roman writers about hieroglyphs came about, at least in part, as a response to the changed political situation. Some believed that hieroglyphs may have functioned as a way to distinguish 'true Egyptians ' from some of

5750-610: 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,

5875-541: 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

6000-551: The Eastern Desert being found in their burials. There are, however, some inconsistencies with definitively linking the Medjay and the Pan-Grave Culture. For example, no archaeological evidence of the Pan-Grave Culture has been found in the Eastern Desert, where the Medjay originated from.  Furthermore, the Medjay appeared in Egyptian texts such as the Autobiography of Weni and the Semna Dispatches , dating to

6125-532: The Lower Nubia region, with particularly large cemeteries being found at Mostagedda, north of Abydos, and Debeira and Ashkeit, near the Second Cataract . The Pan-Grave Culture gets its name from the pan-shaped graves they were buried in. Typically speaking, the body is buried in a crouched position on its right side with handmade bowls, animal skulls, and Egyptian-style weapons. Scholars have linked

6250-428: The Middle Kingdom period, Osiris became the most important deity in popular religion . The Middle Kingdom 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

6375-444: 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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6500-400: 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

6625-588: 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 is attested from a few inscriptions in Wadi Hammamat that record expeditions to

6750-482: 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

6875-710: 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

7000-420: The Pan-Grave culture evolved. Sand graves are the pan-shaped graves that give the Pan-Grave culture its name. (2.1.1) The graves are dug into the soft sand and are typically round and shallow. Pottery, animal hides, and baskets can be found in these types of graves. These are the newest types of Pan-Grave burials. Circular graves are the oldest and most common type of Pan-Grave burial. They were bowl-shaped, and

7125-410: The Pan-Grave were instead pastoral nomads that migrated to the Nile Valley during the Second Intermediate Period. Despite the name, not all Pan-Grave burial sites are pan-shaped. Pan-Grave burials came in many different forms; there are five main classifications: sand graves, oval graves, rectangular graves, and tumuli graves. Scholars like Aaron de Souza believe that the types of burials used changed as

7250-568: 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

7375-584: 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 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

7500-575: 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

7625-611: 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 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

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7750-429: 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

7875-648: 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

8000-418: 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

8125-489: 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

8250-454: 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

8375-415: The classical notion that the Mesopotamian symbol system predates the Egyptian one. A date of c.  3400 BCE for the earliest Abydos glyphs challenges the hypothesis of diffusion from Mesopotamia to Egypt, pointing to an independent development of writing in Egypt. Rosalie David has argued that the debate is moot since "If Egypt did adopt the idea of writing from elsewhere, it was presumably only

8500-444: The concept which was taken over, since the forms of the hieroglyphs are entirely Egyptian in origin and reflect the distinctive flora, fauna and images of Egypt's own landscape." Egyptian scholar Gamal Mokhtar argued further that the inventory of hieroglyphic symbols derived from "fauna and flora used in the signs [which] are essentially African" and in "regards to writing, we have seen that a purely Nilotic, hence African origin not only

8625-409: 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

8750-411: 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

8875-416: 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

9000-571: The end of this period, two rival dynasties, known in Egyptology as the Tenth and Eleventh, fought for control of 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

9125-557: 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

9250-400: 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

9375-654: 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

9500-477: The first person pronoun I . Phonograms formed with one consonant are called uniliteral signs; with two consonants, biliteral signs; with three, triliteral signs. Twenty-four uniliteral signs make up the so-called hieroglyphic alphabet. Egyptian hieroglyphic writing does not normally indicate vowels, unlike cuneiform , and for that reason has been labelled by some as an abjad , i.e., an alphabet without vowels. Thus, hieroglyphic writing representing

9625-454: The foreign conquerors. Another reason may be the refusal to tackle a foreign culture on its own terms, which characterized Greco-Roman approaches to Egyptian culture generally. Having learned that hieroglyphs were sacred writing, Greco-Roman authors imagined the complex but rational system as an allegorical, even magical, system transmitting secret, mystical knowledge. By the 4th century CE, few Egyptians were capable of reading hieroglyphs, and

9750-464: The formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language . Hieroglyphs combined ideographic , logographic , syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters. Cursive hieroglyphs were used for religious literature on papyrus and wood. The later hieratic and demotic Egyptian scripts were derived from hieroglyphic writing, as was

9875-458: 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 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

10000-425: The fundamental assumption that hieroglyphs recorded ideas and not the sounds of the language. As no bilingual texts were available, any such symbolic 'translation' could be proposed without the possibility of verification. It was not until Athanasius Kircher in the mid 17th century that scholars began to think the hieroglyphs might also represent sounds. Kircher was familiar with Coptic, and thought that it might be

10125-596: 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

10250-492: 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

10375-474: The independent development of writing in Egypt..." While there are many instances of early Egypt-Mesopotamia relations , the lack of direct evidence for the transfer of writing means that "no definitive determination has been made as to the origin of hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt". Since the 1990s, the above-mentioned discoveries of glyphs at Abydos , dated to between 3400 and 3200 BCE, have shed further doubt on

10500-481: The influence Egyptian culture had on the Pan-Grave people. Tumuli are graves that have stones, sand, and other things stacked on top of them in a mound shape. Pan-grave tumuli were typically covered with sand. (2.2.2) The major connection between the Pan-grave gravesites is the commonality of artifacts. Common grave artifacts include axes, armbands, bovine skulls, and, most importantly, pottery. A majority of

10625-735: 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

10750-442: The key to deciphering the hieroglyphs, but was held back by a belief in the mystical nature of the symbols. The breakthrough in decipherment came only with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone by Napoleon 's troops in 1799 (during Napoleon's Egyptian invasion ). As the stone presented a hieroglyphic and a demotic version of the same text in parallel with a Greek translation, plenty of material for falsifiable studies in translation

10875-457: 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

11000-550: The left, they almost always must be read from left to right, and vice versa. As in many ancient writing systems, words are not separated by blanks or punctuation marks. However, certain hieroglyphs appear particularly common only at the end of words, making it possible to readily distinguish words. The Egyptian hieroglyphic script contained 24 uniliterals (symbols that stood for single consonants, much like letters in English). It would have been possible to write all Egyptian words in

11125-572: The lines are read with upper content having precedence over content below. The lines or columns, and the individual inscriptions within them, read from left to right in rare instances only and for particular reasons at that; ordinarily however, they read from right to left–the Egyptians' preferred direction of writing (although, for convenience, modern texts are often normalized into left-to-right order). The direction toward which asymmetrical hieroglyphs face indicate their proper reading order. For example, when human and animal hieroglyphs face or look toward

11250-499: The little vertical stroke will be explained further on under Logograms:  – the character sꜣ as used in the word sꜣw , "keep, watch" As in the Arabic script, not all vowels were written in Egyptian hieroglyphs; it is debatable whether vowels were written at all. Possibly, as with Arabic, the semivowels /w/ and /j/ (as in English W and Y) could double as the vowels /u/ and /i/ . In modern transcriptions, an e

11375-425: 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

11500-436: The manner of these signs, but the Egyptians never did so and never simplified their complex writing into a true alphabet. Each uniliteral glyph once had a unique reading, but several of these fell together as Old Egyptian developed into Middle Egyptian . For example, the folded-cloth glyph (𓋴) seems to have been originally an /s/ and the door-bolt glyph (𓊃) a /θ/ sound, but these both came to be pronounced /s/ , as

11625-454: 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

11750-509: 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

11875-459: 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

12000-490: 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

12125-406: 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

12250-470: 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

12375-448: The order of signs if this would result in a more aesthetically pleasing appearance (good scribes attended to the artistic, and even religious, aspects of the hieroglyphs, and would not simply view them as a communication tool). Various examples of the use of phonetic complements can be seen below: Notably, phonetic complements were also used to allow the reader to differentiate between signs that are homophones , or which do not always have

12500-579: 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

12625-434: The pottery found in Pan-Grave burials was not made by them. They were likely the result of trade with other cultures. The materials used were from all over the world. (3.1). There were intricate hand-made pots that were made by the Pan-Grave people. The bovine skulls, from deer or other antlered animals, were painted with scenes of battle. For ceremonial and practical reasons, most of the burials included axes and arm bands. This

12750-405: 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

12875-688: 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

13000-418: 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

13125-413: The rarest type of Pan-Grave burial and date back to the late Seventeenth and early Eighteenth dynasties of Egypt. They were usually one or two meters in length and one meter deep. The graves had sharp corners and often had a mud-brick wall. (2.1.4) Typically, the body was laid straight, and the head was aligned with the spine. These types of graves also featured coffins. Rectangular graves are evidence of

13250-455: 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

13375-416: 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

13500-401: The same sounds, in order to guide the reader. For example, the word nfr , "beautiful, good, perfect", was written with a unique triliteral that was read as nfr : However, it is considerably more common to add to that triliteral, the uniliterals for f and r . The word can thus be written as nfr+f+r , but one still reads it as merely nfr . The two alphabetic characters are adding clarity to

13625-480: The same text, the same phrase, I would almost say in the same word. Visually, hieroglyphs are all more or less figurative: they represent real or abstract elements, sometimes stylized and simplified, but all generally perfectly recognizable in form. However, the same sign can, according to context, be interpreted in diverse ways: as a phonogram ( phonetic reading), as a logogram , or as an ideogram ( semagram ; " determinative ") ( semantic reading). The determinative

13750-436: 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

13875-513: The second half of the 4th millennium BC, such as the clay labels of a Predynastic ruler called " Scorpion I " ( Naqada IIIA period, c.  33rd century BC ) recovered at Abydos (modern Umm el-Qa'ab ) in 1998 or the Narmer Palette ( c.  31st century BC ). The first full sentence written in mature hieroglyphs so far discovered was found on a seal impression in the tomb of Seth-Peribsen at Umm el-Qa'ab, which dates from

14000-423: The semantic connection is indirect ( metonymic or metaphoric ): Determinatives or semagrams (semantic symbols specifying meaning) are placed at the end of a word. These mute characters serve to clarify what the word is about, as homophonic glyphs are common. If a similar procedure existed in English, words with the same spelling would be followed by an indicator that would not be read, but which would fine-tune

14125-403: 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

14250-485: The spelling of the preceding triliteral hieroglyph. Redundant characters accompanying biliteral or triliteral signs are called phonetic complements (or complementaries). They can be placed in front of the sign (rarely), after the sign (as a general rule), or even framing it (appearing both before and after). Ancient Egyptian scribes consistently avoided leaving large areas of blank space in their writing and might add additional phonetic complements or sometimes even invert

14375-422: 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

14500-428: The walls of the grave were more round in shape. (2.1.2) They were often built on a more solid foundation. The body was positioned with their knees to their chest, with burial artifacts placed around it in the center of the grave. Oval graves were egg-shaped. Some records show that shelves were built into the walls of the grave. (2.1.3) This is around the intermediate time for the Pan-Grave people. Rectangular graves are

14625-490: 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

14750-399: The word: sꜣ , "son"; or when complemented by other signs detailed below sꜣ , "keep, watch"; and sꜣṯ.w , "hard ground". For example:  – the characters sꜣ ;  – the same character used only in order to signify, according to the context, "pintail duck" or, with the appropriate determinative, "son", two words having the same or similar consonants; the meaning of

14875-509: Was not a rite for just the men either; women and young children, who were no older than a few weeks or years old, were buried with wood axes as well . The only textual evidence that has been definitively associated with the Pan-Grave culture was found in a grave at a large cemetery in Mostagedda. The text consists of six Egyptian hieroglyphs painted on an ox skull, and the grave itself only consisted of buried goat and cow remains. There

15000-431: Was not read as a phonetic constituent, but facilitated understanding by differentiating the word from its homophones. Most non- determinative hieroglyphic signs are phonograms , whose meaning is determined by pronunciation, independent of visual characteristics. This follows the rebus principle where, for example, the picture of an eye could stand not only for the English word eye , but also for its phonetic equivalent,

15125-419: 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

15250-421: Was suddenly available. In the early 19th century, scholars such as Silvestre de Sacy , Johan David Åkerblad , and Thomas Young studied the inscriptions on the stone, and were able to make some headway. Finally, Jean-François Champollion made the complete decipherment by the 1820s. In his Lettre à M. Dacier (1822), he wrote: It is a complex system, writing figurative, symbolic, and phonetic all at once, in

15375-491: 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

15500-440: 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

15625-403: 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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