ABSTRACT
Shortly before 2000 bc, a dynasty of provincial governors in Thebes (the eleventh) restored unity in Egypt and made Thebes the capital of the new unified realm. The most powerful kings of the Middle Kingdom were those of the twelfth dynasty. They led military campaigns into the Levant without, however, succeeding in gaining permanent control over that area. In texts from this period we find the earliest mention of the towns of Jerusalem and Shechem. In their campaigns in the south the Egyptians were more successful: there they managed to extend their sway over Nubia (the Sudan) up to the Third Cataract. The kings of the twelfth dynasty are also renowned for their exploits in their home country: they brought the Fayyûm Oasis into cultivation and made that area fit to become the centre of their government. During their reigns, pyramids and temples for the dead arose in the Fayyûm. The kings of the twelfth dynasty also put an end to succession problems by choosing one of their sons as their successors and appointing him co-regent during their lives; that son then succeeded his father after the latter’s death.
