UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

Pharaonic Egypt
certain other gods whose cults survived no longer than the kings whose
accession had prompted them. Late in Egyptian history the cult of Osiris
and Isis became more widespread than ever, extending to the Greek islands,
Rome and even the forests of Germany. 22 In Egypt itself there was no
temple to any deity which did not reserve some shrine to the cult of the
great God of the Dead, and some rites at feast days to his resurrection.
The Middle Kingdom (—2060 to —1785) 23
Although the Egyptian glimpsed democratic values, the vision did not
endure. It seemed clear in times of trouble, yet dimmed with the return of
prosperity and discipline in the Middle Kingdom, which was the second
great period of national development. Egypt was once more reunited by
force of arms. Thebes, previously an unknown and unimportant name, put
an end to the rule of Heracleopolis and laid claim to the entire state of
Egypt and in winning the war reunited the Two Lands under a single
rule.
King Menthuhotep stands out as the dominant personality of the
eleventh dynasty. His great task was the reorganization of the country's
administration. All resistance to the royal house had been crushed but
there may have been occasional minor uprisings. However, the political
atmosphere of the Middle Kingdom differed from that of earlier times in
that the peaceful security of the Old Kingdom was a thing of the past.
Menthuhotep II, who had a long reign, built the funerary temple at
Deir el Bahari which is the greatest monument of the period at Thebes.
His architect there created a new and effective architectural form. This was
a terraced structure with colonnades, surmounted by a pyramid set in the
midst of a columned hall on the upper level. 24
Following Menthuhotep IPs rule, the family began to decline. Under
the last king of the eleventh dynasty, a certain Amenemhet, vizier to the king
who also bore other titles, is probably identical with the founder of the
twelfth dynasty, King Amenemhet, and the first of a succession of powerful
rulers.
Amenemhet I adopted three important measures which were strictly
adhered to by his successors. He established a new capital called Ithet-Tawi
(Holder-of-the-Two Lands) not far south of Memphis, from which he
could better control Lower Egypt; he initiated the custom of placing his
son beside him on the throne as co-regent, probably considered expedient
22. The fullest account we have of the legend of Osiris is that gathered together and
published by Plutarch in his De hide et Osiride. See in English J. G. Griffith, and in
French J. Hani.
23. See E. Drioton and J. Vandier, 1962, ch. 7, pp. 239-81; W . C. Hayes, 1971;
H. E. Winlock, 1947.
24. E. Naville.
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