Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt

The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is a series of rulers reigning from 1991–1802 BC (190 years),^{[citation needed]} at what is often considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom (Dynasties XI–XIV). The dynasty periodically expanded its territory from the Nile delta and valley South beyond the second cataract and East into Canaan.

Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt
1991 BC – 1802 BC
Fragment of a statue of Amenemhat III 12th Dynasty c. 1800 BC State Museum of Egyptian Art, Munich
Capital	Thebes, Itjtawy
Common languages	Egyptian language
Religion	ancient Egyptian religion
Government	Absolute monarchy
Historical era	Middle Kingdom of Egypt
• Established	1991 BC
• Disestablished	1802 BC
Preceded by Succeeded by Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt

The Twelfth Dynasty was marked by relative stability and development. It has a notably well recorded history for the period. Its first pharaoh was Amenemhat I and its final was Sobekneferu.

History

The chronology of the Twelfth Dynasty is the most stable of any period before the New Kingdom. The Turin Royal Canon gives 213 years (1991–1778 BC). Manetho stated that it was based in Thebes, but from contemporary records it is clear that the first king of this dynasty, Amenemhat I, moved its capital to a new city named "Amenemhat-itj-tawy" ("Amenemhat the Seizer of the Two Lands"), more simply called, Itjtawy.^[1] The location of Itjtawy has not been discovered yet, but it is thought to be near the Fayyum, probably near the royal graveyards at el-Lisht.^[2]

The order of its rulers of the Twelfth Dynasty is well known from several sources: two lists recorded at temples in Abydos and one at Saqqara, as well as lists derived from Manetho's work. A recorded date during the reign of Senusret III can be correlated to the Sothic cycle,^[3] consequently, many events during this dynasty frequently can be assigned to a specific year. However, scholars now have expressed skepticism in the usefulness of the referred date, due to the fact that location affects observation of the Sothic cycle.^[4]

Egypt underwent various developments under the Twelfth Dynasty, including the reorganization of the kingdoms administration and agricultural developments in the Fayyum. The Twelfth Dynasty was also responsible for significant expansion of Egyptian borders, with campaigns pushing into Nubia and the Levant.^{[citation needed]}

The Twelfth Dynasty is often considered the apex of Egypt's Middle Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom spans the Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth dynasties, but some scholars only consider the 11th and 12th dynasties to be part of the Middle Kingdom.^{[citation needed]}

Rulers

Dynasty XII Kings of Egypt

Nomen (personal name)	Prenomen (throne name)	Horus-name	Image	Date	Pyramid	Queen(s)
Amenemhat I	Sehetepibre	Wehemmesu		1991 – 1962 BC	Pyramid of Amenemhet I	Neferitatjenen
Senusret I (Sesostris I)	Kheperkare	Ankhmesut		1971 – 1926 BC	Pyramid of Senusret I	Neferu III
Amenemhat II	Nubkhaure	Hekenemmaat		1929 – 1895 BC	White Pyramid	Kaneferu Keminub?
Senusret II (Sesostris II)	Khakheperre	Seshemutawy		1897 – 1878 BC	Pyramid at El-Lahun	Khenemetneferhedjet I Nofret II Itaweret? Khnemet
Senusret III (Sesostris III)	Khakaure	Netjerkheperu		1878 – 1839 BC	Pyramid at Dahshur	Meretseger Neferthenut Khnemetneferhedjet II (Weret) Sithathoriunet
Amenemhat III	Nimaatre	Aabau		1860 – 1814 BC	Black Pyramid; Pyramid at Hawara	Aat Hetepi Khenemetneferhedjet III
Amenemhat IV	Maakherure	Kheperkheperu		1815 – 1806 BC	Southern Mazghuna pyramid (conjectural)
Sobekneferu	Sobekkare	Merytre		1806 – 1802 BC	Northern Mazghuna pyramid (conjectural)

Known rulers of the Twelfth Dynasty are as follows:^[5]

Amenemhat I

This dynasty was founded by Amenemhat I, who may have been vizier to the last king of Dynasty XI, Mentuhotep IV. His armies campaigned south as far as the Second Cataract of the Nile and into southern Canaan. As a part of his militaristic expansion of Egypt, Amenemhat I ordered the construction of multiple military forts in Nubia.^[6] He also reestablished diplomatic relations with the Canaanite state of Byblos and Hellenic rulers in the Aegean Sea. He was the father of Senusret I.

Senusret I

For the first ten years of his reign, Senusret I ruled as a coregent alongside his father, Amenemhat I. He continued his fathers campaigns into Nubia, expanding Egyptian control to the Third Cataract of the Nile.^[6] In addition to pursuing militaristic expansion, Senusret I was also responsible for internal growth within Egypt. As king, he initiated a considerable amount of building projects across Egypt, including pyramids in Lisht, a temple at Karnak and oversaw the renovation of the kingdoms major temples.^[4]

Amenemhat II

A figure wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt and whose face appears to reflect the features of the reigning king, most probably Amenemhat II or Senwosret II. It functioned as a divine guardian for the imiut, and it is wearing a divine kilt, which suggests that the statuette was not merely a representation of the living ruler.^[7]

Unlike his predecessors, Amenemhat II was king during a time of peace. Under his reign, trade boomed with other states in Asia, the Mediterranean, and Africa. He built his mortuary complex near Memphis at Dahshur.^[6]

Senusret II

A map showing the north of Egypt, with the Fayyum highlighted in the black square.

Senusret II also reigned during a time of peace. He was the first king to develop the Fayyum Basin for agricultural production. This development was complex, requiring the digging of several canals and the draining of a lake in order to maximize the Fayyum’s agricultural output. The Middle Kingdom development of the Fayyum later became the basis for the Ptolemaic and Roman efforts that turned the region into the bread basket of the Mediterranean.^[6]

Head of Senusret III with youthful features, 12th Dynasty, c. 1870 BC, State Museum of Egyptian Art, Munich

Sobekneferu was the last ruler of the 12th Dynasty

Stele of Abkau dates to the 12th Dynasty

Senusret III

Finding Nubia had grown restive under the previous rulers, Senusret sent punitive expeditions into that land. As a part of his effort to suubdue Nubia, he ordered the construction of several new fortresses as well as the expansion of existing ones along the border with Nubia.^[8] He also sent an expedition into the Levant. Senusret III's military career contributed to his prestige during the New Kingdom, as he was regarded as a warrior king and even revered as a god in Nubia.^[4] One of Senusret III’s significant internal developments was the centralization of administrative power in the kingdom, which replaced the nome system with three large administrative districts that encompassed all of Egypt.^[6]

Amenemhat III

Senusret's successor Amenemhat III reaffirmed his predecessor's foreign policy. However, after Amenemhat, the energies of this dynasty were largely spent, and the growing troubles of government were left to the dynasty's last ruler, Sobekneferu, to resolve. Amenemhat was remembered for the mortuary temple at Hawara that he built.

Amenemhat IV

Amenemhat IV succeeded his father, Amenemhat III, and ruled for approximately nine years. At the time of his death, Amenemhat IV had no apparent heir, leading to Sobekneferu’s ascension to the throne.

Sobekneferu

Sobekneferu, a daughter of Amenemhat III, was the first known woman to become king of Egypt.^[4] She was left with the unresolved governmental issues that are noted as arising during her father's reign when she succeeded Amenemhat IV, thought to be her brother, half brother, or step brother.^[9] Upon his death, she became the heir to the throne because her older sister, Neferuptah, who would have been the next in line to rule, died at an early age. Sobekneferu was the last king of the twelfth dynasty. There is no record of her having an heir. She also had a relatively short nearly four year reign and the next dynasty began with a shift in succession, possibly to unrelated heirs of Amenemhat IV.^[10]

Ancient Egyptian literature refined

Several famous works of Egyptian literature originated from the 12th Dynasty. Perhaps the best known work from this period is The Story of Sinuhe, of which papyrus copies dating as late as the New Kingdom have been recovered.^[11]

Some of the existing literature pertaining to the 12th Dynasty are propagandistic in nature. The Prophecy of Neferti establishes a revisionist account of history that legitimizes Amenemhat I’s rule. Written during the reign of Amenemhat I, described a sage’s prophecy given to the 4th Dynasty King Snefru that predicted a destructive civil war. It writes that the sage, Neferti, prophesied that a great king named Ameny (Amenemhat I) would lead a united Egypt out of this tumultuous period.^[11] The work also mentions Amenemhat I's mother being from^[12] the Elephantine Egyptian nome Ta-Seti.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]} Many scholars in recent years have argued that Amenemhat I's mother was of Nubian origin.^{[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]}

Other known works attributed to the 12th Dynasty include:

• Dispute Between a Man and his Ba^[11]
• Complaints of Khakheperre-sonb^[11]
• Instructions of Amenemhat^[11]
• The Eloquent Peasant^[11]

See also

• Execration texts
• History of Ancient Egypt
• Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt family tree

References

1. Arnold, Dorothea (1991). "Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes". Metropolitan Museum Journal. 26. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 5–48. doi:10.2307/1512902. JSTOR 1512902. S2CID 191398579.
2. Shaw, Ian, ed. (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-19-280458-7.
3. Parker, Richard A. (1977). "The Sothic Dating of the Twelfth and Eighteenth Dynasties" (PDF). Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes.
4. Van de Mieroop, Marc (2011). A history of ancient Egypt. Blackwell history of the ancient world (1. publ ed.). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4051-6071-1.
5. Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. The American University in Cairo Press, London 2004
6. Hornung, Erik (1999). History of Ancient Egypt: Translated by David Lorton. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-7486-1342-7. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctvxcrcpd. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
7. "Guardian Figure". www.metmuseum.org. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
8. Lloyd, Alan B., ed. (2014). A companion to ancient Egypt. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World (Paperback ed.). Malden, Mass.: Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-118-78514-0.
9. Dodson, Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Egypt, 2004, p. 98.
10. Ryholt, The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period (1997), p. 15.
11. Litchteim, Miriam (March 18, 2024). Ancient Egyptian Literature. University of California Press. p. 872. doi:10.2307/j.ctvqc6j1s. ISBN 978-0-520-97361-9.
12. "Then a king will come from the South, Ameny, the justified, by name, son of a woman of Ta-seti, child of Upper Egypt""The Beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty". Kingship, Power, and Legitimacy in Ancient Egypt: From the Old Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom. Cambridge University Press: 138–160. 2020. doi:10.1017/9781108914529.006. ISBN 9781108914529. S2CID 242213167.
13. "Ammenemes himself was not a Theban but the son of a woman from Elephantine called Nofret and a priest called Sesostris (‘The man of the Great Goddess’).",Grimal, Nicolas (1994). A History of Ancient Egypt. Wiley-Blackwell (July 19, 1994). p. 159.
14. "Senusret, a commoner as the father of Amenemhet, his mother, Nefert, came from the area Elephantine."A. Clayton, Peter (2006). Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. p. 78.
15. "Amenemhet I was a commoner, the son of one Sen- wosret and a woman named NEFRET, listed as prominent members of a family from ELEPHANTINE Island."Bunson, Margaret (2002). Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (Facts on File Library of World History). Facts on File. p. 25.
16. "In a literary source, The Prophecy of Neferty, the origin of the king from the common people of Upper Egypt with a mother from the very south of Egypt"Arnold, Dorothea (1991). "Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes". Metropolitan Museum Journal. 26: 18. doi:10.2307/1512902. JSTOR 1512902.
17. "This opens up several questions about the role of the elite families of Elephantine at the end of the First Intermediate Period and the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty, especially taking into account that Amenemhat I’s mother came from that region, according to the Prophecy of Neferti"Jiménez Serrano, Alejandro; Sánchez León, Juan Carlos (2015). "A Forgotten Governor Of Elephantine During The Twelfth Dynasty: Ameny". Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 101. The Egypt Exploration Society: 129.
18. "but also openly admitted the king’s humble origin. Without mentioning her name, Neferti simply stated that the king’s mother was a woman from the first Upper Egyptian nome (tA-sty)."A. Josephson, Jack (2009). Offerings to the Discerning Eye. Brill. p. 201.
19. "the fact that the mother of Ammenemes I, whose name appears to have been Nefert, was a native of the nome of Elephantine"C. Hayes, William (1961). The Middle Kingdom in Egypt. Internal History from the Rise of the Heracleopolitans to the Death of Ammenemes III. Cambridge University Press. p. 34.
20. "The mother of Amenemhet was apparently named Nefert and was a native of the nome, or province, of Elephantine""Amenemhet I". encyclopedia.com.
21. General History of Africa Volume II - Ancient civilizations of Africa (ed. G Moktar). UNESCO. p. 152.
22. Crawford, Keith W. (1 December 2021). "Critique of the "Black Pharaohs" Theme: Racist Perspectives of Egyptian and Kushite/Nubian Interactions in Popular Media". African Archaeological Review. 38 (4): 695–712. doi:10.1007/s10437-021-09453-7. ISSN 1572-9842. S2CID 238718279.
23. Lobban, Richard A. Jr. (10 April 2021). Historical Dictionary of Ancient Nubia. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538133392.
24. Morris, Ellen (6 August 2018). Ancient Egyptian Imperialism. John Wiley & Sons. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-4051-3677-8.
25. Van de Mieroop, Marc (2021). A history of ancient Egypt (Second ed.). Chichester: Wiley. p. 99. ISBN 978-1119620877.
26. Fletcher, Joann (2017). The story of Egypt : the civilization that shaped the world (First paperback ed.). New York: Pegasus Books. pp. Chapter 12. ISBN 978-1681774565.
27. Smith, Stuart Tyson (8 October 2018). "Ethnicity: Constructions of Self and Other in Ancient Egypt". Journal of Egyptian History. 11 (1–2): 113–146. doi:10.1163/18741665-12340045. ISSN 1874-1665. S2CID 203315839.

Preceded by Eleventh Dynasty

Dynasty of Egypt 1991 − 1802 BC

Succeeded by Thirteenth Dynasty