Upper Egypt before the New Kingdom

Abstract

The time between the Middle and the New Kingdoms is less well-defined than the preceding and succeeding periods of ancient Egypt in terms of its political, administrative, and economic structure. After the decline of the Middle Kingdom central state, the so-called Second Intermediate Period is characterized by a parceling of Egypt’s territory into a number of local or regional centers of power. This decentralization also resulted in an apparent reduction of textual and other sources. The chapter focuses on political and historical developments during the later phase of the Second Intermediate Period, corresponding to the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties (ca. 1650–1550 BC) of Upper Egypt, namely the southern region between Abydos and Aswan. The chapter includes a reconstruction of the sequence of rulers of the Seventeenth Dynasty, as this forms an essential prerequisite for the interpretation of the historical developments immediately preceding the New Kingdom. King and court did not rule over their territory from one permanent royal residence, but rather from temporarily occupied “palaces” constructed for that purpose throughout the country; military personnel seemingly gained importance in the state organization toward the end of the Second Intermediate Period. The emergence of the New Kingdom is marked by the military actions of the Upper Egyptian rulers against their adversaries in the north, the “Hyksos.” The chapter argues that these actions did not represent a “war of liberation” against oppressive foreign rule, but instead a vigorous territorial expansion of the southern polity.