2060 BC – 2050 BCs

Events in 2060 BC – 2050 BC 2

• 2181 BC – 2055 BC First Intermediate Period -- collapse and fragmentation The First Intermediate Period (c.2181-2055 BC) is the first great collapse in Egyptian history -- a period of political fragmentation, famine, civil war and cultural disruption following the end of the Old Kingdom. The causes are debated: a prolonged drought (evidenced by low Nile floods in tree-ring and cave records), the overextension of royal resources on pyramid building, and the growing power of provincial governors (nomarchs) who resist central control. Egypt splits into competing kingdoms based in Herakleopolis (north) and Thebes (south). The collapse is traumatic enough to produce a literature of lamentation -- the Admonitions of Ipuwer, the Dialogue of a Man with his Soul -- reflecting on social chaos.
• 2055 BC – 1650 BC The Middle Kingdom -- classical Egypt The Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BC) is the classical age of Egyptian literature, art and administration -- the period when Egyptian culture reaches its most refined expression. Mentuhotep II reunifies Egypt after the First Intermediate Period (c.2055 BC). The Twelfth Dynasty (1985-1795 BC) under the Amenemhat and Senusret pharaohs builds a powerful centralised state, conquers Nubia, trades with the Levant and Punt, and produces the masterpieces of Egyptian literature. The Middle Kingdom ends with the Hyksos invasion (c.1650 BC), which introduces the horse and chariot to Egypt.