The Middle Kingdom was a time of political unity and during the 11th Dynasty Egypt was ruled from Thebes but later moved to Lisht, which was south of Memphis. There appears to have been some power-sharing and co-regency during this time as various stellae give an overlap of dates recounting the feats is various kings which makes dating their reigns difficult.

Montuhotep II was one of Egypt’s greatest kings. He re-unified the two lands after the divisions which followed the end of the Old Kingdom. He was revered well into the 20th dynasty where paintings of him appeared in 20th dynasty tombs. While there was great artistic development in tomb building during the period there appears to have been a decline in building large-scale monuments.

In religion, a marked growth occurred in the cult of Osiris and he became of the Great God of all the necropolises. One of the reasons for this rise was the patronage which rulers of the 12th Dynasty lavished on him in Abydos. Funerary rites then spread from being reserved for royalty to becoming available to common individuals and in an effort to enter the afterlife, mummification became widespread but it was not very effective. A further innovation was the introduction of the Shabti figure. These were small statuettes made from various materials which simulated retainers and workers of the king. It was believed that they would magically come to life in the Underworld and do the bidding of the deceased king who had become the Osiris.

Under the rulers of the Middle Kingdom, Egypt became more active in Nubia, Asia and the Aegean and benefited from increased trade in various materials, products and ideas. It was an age of prosperity, invention and vision. Unfortunately, it was not to last as Egypt once again fragmented and lapsed into a period of recession and chaos, known as the Second Intermediate Period.

By the start of the 17th Dynasty Egypt had been essentially divided between the Hyksos to the north (15th dynasty) and the native Egyptian kings to the south (16th/17th dynasties) for over half a century. The native line abandoned Lisht and once again made their Capital Thebes. Original hostilities seem to have died down and the two sides seemed to co-operate with one another.

However, King Kamose towards the end of the 17th Dynasty seems to have engaged in hostilities with the Hyksos and appears to have forced them back to their stronghold at Avaris. Kamos failed to expel the Hyksos, but his brother Ahmose some years later succeeded in driving them out of Egypt and inaugurated the 18th dynasty. Thus began the New Kingdom period, one of Egypts most glorious and illustrious times.