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 Civil wars during the First Intermediate period
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ausar Moderator Posts: 2782 |
posted 07 April 2004 10:09 PM
  
7 The First Intermediate Period,an interval of approximatley 140 years,was a time of state decentralization as the nomarchs of Herakleopolis[Dyansties 9-10] vied for control of the country with the remnants of the Old Kingdom rulers at Men-Nefer[Dyansties 7-8],who were supported by ''kings'' at Geb-ti. The contrasts of this era to the Old Kingdom was recognized by the ancient Egyptians themselves who,in later times,reffered to it as a time of distress. The ''Lamentations of Ipuwer'',a text which has been dated to the First Intermediate Period,relates :''The land is full of gangs and a man goes to plow with his sheild.....All is in ruin,a man smites his brother,plague is throughout the land,blood is everywhere.......The land is diminished,its rulers are multiplied.....''[Lichtheim 1973:150-151]. The main sources for modern scholars are literary texts like that quoted above,brief autobiographical inscriptions,the Rameseside king lists,and Manetho,the latter two sources being far removed frok the time of the actual events. Although reasons for this breakdown of central authority and social order are not completely understood,the decentralization of the country was due to the rising independence of the nomarchs,escpially those at Beni hassan,Coptos,and Herakleopolis. The Akhtoy,or Khety,lineage of Herakleopolis was recognized by Manetho as Dyansties 9-10. In spite of the political fragmentation,there was little interests in changing the social of ritual makeup of the country,for the ephemeral kings of Herakleopolis sought legitimacy by being buried near the tombs of the kings of Dyansty 6 at Saqqara. By about 2100 B.C. the Akhtoys of Dyansty 10 controlled the northern part of Egypt while the south was held by the Inyotef and Mentuhotep families of Thebes[Dyansty 11],who were aided by a system of shifting alliances with other nomarchs.Although there were areas of peace and stability [e.g.,Hatnub and Sheikh Said],fierece battles raged between the Thebans and the Herakleopolitans throughout much of Egypt,as reported in the ''Teachings of Merikare'': Troops will fight troops; As the ancestors foretold; Egypot fought in the graveyard, Destoying tombs in vengeful destruction............ I attacked This[a city north of Thebes] to its southern border...... I engulfed it like a flood..... I breached their strongholds, I captured their inhabitants, I seized their cattle.........[Lichtheim 1973:102,104] Battles raged through Middle Egypt ,while autonomous nomarchs like Ankhtyfy of Moalla bragged of capturing Edufu behind the lines of the Thebans. The destruction of the necropolis at Abutu by the troops of Akhtoy III was an evil act that was believed to have brought the retribution of the gods against Herakleopolis. By the accesion of the Theban Mentuhotep II,the battles were won,and he installed his own officals in Herakleopolis,thereby reunifying the land and ushering in the Middle Kingdom Period. page 36-37 Egypt and the Egyptians Cambridge University Press IP: Logged |
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GiggleGirl Member Posts: 293 |
posted 19 April 2004 12:24 PM
quote: Does it metion anywhere what the symptoms of this plague were? IP: Logged |
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ausar Moderator Posts: 2782 |
posted 11 December 2004 07:27 PM
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