traits, including age-related changes. In the images of Senusret III and Amenemhat III (XIX century BC), sharp large facial features, folds on the cheeks give them a stern, almost mournful expression.

Under Senusert III, court jewelry flourished. Its magnificent specimens are found in the burial of the Pharaoh's daughter, Sithator. In a rectangular casket made of ebony, inlaid with ivory and pink carnelian, lay a bronze mirror decorated with gold, vessels for incense made of obsidian and gold,

silver saucer. The headdress of the princess in the form of a gold hoop with the image of a sacred cobra (Urey), her belt of golden shells is only a small part of the jewelry created in that era. Among the most exquisite are pectorals. They often have images scarab beetle(symbol of the sun and resurrection from the dead) and various deities. The pectoral of Senusret III, carved from leaf gold and adorned with turquoise, lapis lazuli and carnelian, is the most harmonious among many similar works of ancient Egyptian art that have survived to this day.

Jewelry:

1 - necklace;

2 - pectoral;

3 - ring;

Scarab pendant.

* Pectoral - a pectoral decoration in the form of a rectangular, slightly upwardly beveled plate, which was placed on the chest of the deceased; the pectoral was one of the obligatory subjects of the funeral cult.

THE ART OF A NEW CAPCTBA

The invasion of the Asian tribes - the Hyksos (in the language of the ancient Egyptians, their name meant "foreign rulers") - around 1700 BC. NS. for a century and a half plunged the country into the abyss of disasters. Along with the Hyksos, horses and chariots appeared in the Nile Valley, which have since been depicted on Egyptian reliefs and in wall paintings.

Expulsion of the Hyksos in the middle of the 16th century. before and. NS. marked the beginning of the era of the New Kingdom (XVI-XI centuries BC) and the revival of Egyptian statehood. The pharaohs of the XVIII dynasty established the rule of Egypt over many neighboring countries. Its increased importance forced the sovereigns of neighboring powers to send expensive gifts to the Pharaoh. To the capital of Egypt - Thebes - brought precious metals, gems and ivory from Nubia (the territory of modern Egypt is above the first threshold of the Nile and Sudan), valuable timber from Phenicia (the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea), incense, rare plants from the mysterious African country Punt (apparently, the territory modern Somalia). The chronicles and poetic hymns glorified the power of the state and its rulers. It is quite natural that the monuments of art of the New Kingdom also responded to the spirit of the times.

The history of Thebes dates back to a small settlement, known since ancient times and became the capital of the state in the era of the Middle Kingdom. During the New Kingdom, the riches flooded into Egypt turned Thebes into a prosperous city, adorned with magnificent temples and palaces. Thebes also became the center of worship for the god of all Egypt, Amun-Ra.

The Greeks called the ancient Egyptian capital "the hundred-fold Thebes". Undoubtedly, this was a legendary exaggeration and meant, apparently, a truly enormous size of the city, distinguishing it from the Greek Thebes proper, called "seven-fold". At that time, Thebes was a really large and densely populated city. In Ancient Egypt, no city could compare with them in grandeur and grandeur of architectural structures. Thebes simply called the City, as later Athens, Alexandria, Rome, Constantinople.

Thebes are located on two banks of the Nile, the channel of which is wide and full here. On the eastern shore, where the sun rose, there is a populous city of the living with the famous temple ensembles of Ipet Res and Ipet Sut, palaces, gardens and reservoirs. Here trade was in full swing, shops and workshops were located along the river, chariots raced along the embankment, crowds of people walked, solemn processions marched. On the western bank, closer to the river, in the valley were the memorial temples of the pharaohs of different dynasties, and in the rocks of the Libyan ridge, the tombs of kings and nobles were hiding.

The division of each city of Ancient Egypt by the great African river into two parts was traditional: the cult of the dead was associated with the west, from where the merciless desert came and where the sun god Ra descended into the underworld. It is difficult to imagine what the city of the dead looked like on the west bank of Thebes. Nowadays, desertion, heat and silence dominate here. The best preserved of the majestic memorial ensembles

ruins of the temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahri and Pharaoh Ramses II (the so-called Ramesseum).

In Thebes, one can be convinced that with all the losses and destruction, the ancient Egyptian monuments did not disappear without a trace, like the monuments of other civilizations. Thebes is a thousand years older than the city of New Babylon, famous in the ancient world, whose splendor is no longer really possible to judge. The ruins of Theban architecture, with its gigantic statues, beautiful reliefs and paintings, are still captivating with their extraordinary beauty. And to this day, from the right bank of the Nile, every evening for thousands of years, one can see the enchanting spectacle of the sunset flaming with colors, reflected by the brown waters of the river: the sun god Ra leaves for the kingdom of the dead.

IN DEIR EL BAHRI

The greatest structures of the New Kingdom era were temples, or "houses" of the gods. One of them is the funeral temple of Queen Hatshepsut (1525-1503 BC), dedicated to the goddess Hathor, in Deir el-Bahri in Thebes, on the western bank of the Nile (early 15th century BC). The cult of Hathor, daughter of the god Ra, goddess of love, music and dance, was deeply revered by the Egyptians.

The woman-pharaoh Hatshepsut was an outstanding person. Having seized power from her stepson, the future Thutmose III, during her reign she not so much fought as built new and restored old temples. A distant sea expedition to the country of Punt is also associated with her name. Queen Hatshepsut was glorified by her numerous statues. A fragile, diminutive woman with a characteristic outline of a narrow face, a high forehead and wide-set, elongated eyes has always been depicted in a male form: with

The din of the most striking portraits of Amenemhat III is made of copper alloy, characteristic of the sculpture of the XII dynasty, with a thickness of about 1 cm.

The arms of the statue, now lost, were created separately and attached to the body using long indentations on the shoulders. The not preserved ribbon held on the head the royal headdress of Nemes, also cast using a technique in which initially all parts of the statue were made of wax.

The inlay of the eyes of the statue is made of rock crystal and wood, painted black, set in an electrum frame. Traces of silver have been preserved on the lower part of the torso, apparently from the loincloth of a statue made of this metal. Urey was cast separately and inlaid with gold.

Amenemhat III Nimaatra (1853-1806 BC) - the son of Senusret III, the sixth pharaoh of the XII dynasty. The time of his reign, undoubtedly, became the point of the highest flowering of the Egyptian civilization of the Middle Kingdom, when the military successes of the previous kings of the dynasty allowed the pharaoh to attract the rich resources of Nubia and Syria-Palestine to strengthen the economy of Egypt. In addition, supporting the policy of his father, the king is actively developing the mines of Sinai and the mines of Nubia.

The name of Amenemkhet III is traditionally associated with the creation of a unique irrigation system and numerous architectural monuments in the area of ​​the Fayum oasis. The temples of Sebek at Kiman Fares (Shedet) and the Renenutet temple at Medinet Maadi were erected here. From the grandiose temple of Sebek, only 16 fallen columns in the form of papyrus stalks, which once adorned the hypostyle hall of the temple, as well as parts of the walls and ceiling, have survived to our time. To the north of Shedet, in Biakhmu, gigantic royal colossi of quartzite were erected, once overlooking Lake Merida; today only fragments of huge pyramidal pedestals remain of them. Here, in Fayum, the king was revered as a deity, even centuries later, in Greco-Roman times, when Fayum was once again experiencing a magnificent heyday.

Under Amenemhat III, two pyramid complexes were built. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, the king was buried in the pyramid complex at Dahshur; his second pyramid complex in Hawara, which included a grandiose memorial temple that had no analogues in all of Egypt, became known thanks to ancient authors as the "Labyrinth" - a symbol of the power and prosperity of Egypt in the Middle Kingdom.

It is from Hawara that, apparently, a series of his portraits made of copper alloy originates, the best of which, undoubtedly, is a monument from the collection of George Ortiz.

Publications:

Wildung, D .: L "Age d" Or de l "Egypte. Le Moyen Empire. - Friborg, 1984, pp. 208 fig. 184, 210-211.

Secrets of the Egyptian Pharaohs Sidneva Galina

Middle Kingdom (Amenemhat III, Queen Nefrusebek)

In the first half of the XXI century BC (about 2040 BC) Theban nomarch Mentuhotep I finally defeated his rivals, the rulers of Heracleopolis, and united Ancient Egypt into the Middle Kingdom. During the Middle Kingdom, the pharaohs of the XII and XIII dynasties ruled. They did a great job - they restored the general Egyptian system of irrigation canals, dug in the era of the Old Kingdom. The XII dynasty of Amenemkhets - Senusrets ruled from about 1991 to 1783 BC. NS. Senusret III succeeded in achieving stability in the country's position. Egypt became a strong state in all respects under him. Pharaohs of the XII dynasty waged successful wars of conquest. The Egyptians continued to develop Fayyum and built a huge palace there in the marshy area, known to the Greeks as the Labyrinth. It was built during the long and fruitful reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat III, who ruled for approximately 46 years (1849 / 1839-1801 / 1797 BC).

Amenemhat III Nemaatra (in Greek sources - Lahares) was the son of Pharaoh Senusret III. During his reign, the power of the pharaoh was stronger than under any other pharaoh in the era of the Middle Kingdom. Scholars have noticed that the luxurious tombs of the nomarchs were not built under Amenemhat III. This means that he managed to create a support among the new nobility, who had emerged from the officials and the military, and significantly limit the power of the nomarchs. Military campaigns under Amenemhat III were relatively few, because the borders of Egypt were established and reliably fortified under his predecessors. But in the inscriptions relating to his reign, there are still indications of the "defeat of Nubia" and "the opening of the countries of Asia."

The reign of Amenemkhet III was marked by intense creative activity. He improved the arrangement of the Egyptian settlements in the Sinai, took care of the water supply and provided Sinai with constant guards. These measures have borne fruit soon: ore production in copper mines has increased, and the development of turquoise deposits has become more profitable.

On the Sinai Peninsula, more than fifty inscriptions were found on stone blocks and slabs, which contain a story about long expeditions between the second and forty-fifth years of the reign of Amenemkhet III. In the text relating to the second year of the reign, there is information about the delivery of turquoise and copper to Egypt.

Despite the long-term reign of Amenemhat III, very few inscriptions remained from him. But in all the records, reviews of this pharaoh are favorable. The texts carved into the stones contain long lists of officials, treasurers, artists, job managers, stone cutters and other workers that the pharaoh sent to the mines. All these people left inscriptions on the stones in memory of their stay at the mine. They called their name and position, called for help from local gods, mainly the goddess Hathor, as well as the god Horus and the deified pharaoh Sneferu from the IV dynasty, who was considered the patron saint of the Sinai Peninsula. They did not send curses on the head of the Pharaoh, who sent them to serve their duty - either they were afraid to talk about their displeasure, or their life was not so bad.

Under Amenemhat III, large irrigation works were completed in the Fayum oasis, which had begun long before his reign. Amenemkhet III erected a huge embankment (43.5 kilometers long) to drain most of the Fayum oasis and make it suitable for agriculture. From the writings of Greek authors it is known that the Egyptians built sluices and dams, with the help of which excess water from the Nile flood was diverted to the Fayum reservoir (for the Greeks - Lake Meridov). Modern calculations show that in this way it was possible to store enough water to double the flow of water in the river downstream of Fayum during a low water level in the Nile for 100 days.

On the drained land of the Fayum oasis, the city of Crocodilopolis (or Arsinoe) and a temple dedicated to the local crocodile god Sobek (or Sebek) were built. On the northern border of the drained part of the oasis, two massive pedestals in the form of truncated pyramids, more than 6 meters high, were installed. On the pedestals towered huge (11.7 meters) statues of Amenemkhet III, carved from yellow quartzite. During the flooding of the Nile, the pedestals sometimes almost completely went under the water, and the statues protruded directly from the water - unshakable, massive, majestic.

In the same place in Fayum, Amenemkhet III created an interesting stone structure that aroused admiration among the Greeks. The Greeks called this vast building with many corridors and halls the Labyrinth. The maze had really impressive dimensions: length - 305 meters, width - 244 meters. It consisted of three thousand rooms, including one and a half thousand underground rooms. The Greek geographer Strabo wrote that the ceiling of each room consisted of solid stone, and all corridors were covered with polished stone slabs of unusually large sizes, and neither wood nor other materials were used in the construction - only stone. The building, which made an indelible impression on Greek travelers, may have been built as the funeral temple of Amenemhat III.

It can be assumed that the Labyrinth had a different purpose, and in each room there should have been statues of numerous gods - common Egyptian and local, nomov. A single sanctuary for all could serve the spiritual unification of the people of all Egypt under the rule of the ruling dynasty. Only fragments of the reliefs that adorned the walls of the building have survived from the Labyrinth Temple, and several pieces of broken columns.

In the Hammamat Valley, at the site of quarries, an inscription was found on a rock, which says that in the ninth year of his reign, Amenemkhet III personally visited the rocky Rohan Valley and gave the order to prepare stone blocks for the construction of monuments in Pi-Sebek and for the statue of the pharaoh.

Amenemhat III launched extensive construction in other places in Egypt. By his order, the temple in Apollonopolis Magna was repaired, a new temple of Osiris was built in Abydos, and the temple of Harshef in Hierakonpolis was rebuilt and expanded. The ancient capital, the city of Nehebt, was surrounded by a high brick wall, which still stands today. Amenemhat III encouraged trade. It was he who introduced the basic weight unit of copper, deben, equal to 91 grams.

Egyptian merchants tried to establish permanent business ties with distant, little-known countries for the Egyptians. In the 45th year of the reign of Amenemkhet III, an Egyptian expedition led by Ptaur made its way deep into Syria - "into mysterious valleys, in a very remote area, of which no one had heard anything before."

Amenemhat III built two pyramids for himself. This happened very rarely: after the reign of Sneferu in the era of the Old Kingdom, none of the Egyptian pharaohs built two pyramids for themselves at once. One pyramid of Amenemkhet III was built in Dakhshur from adobe bricks. Granite was used only for strengthening the ceilings of the chambers and for the pyramidion - a pyramidal-shaped stone that crowned the top of the pyramid. Pharaoh ordered two entrances to be made in this pyramid. One of them was traditionally located on the northern side of the pyramid and led into a maze of corridors that ended in a dead end. The second entrance was arranged in the southeastern corner and also led into a long labyrinth, but along the corridors of this labyrinth one could get down to the burial chamber with a red sarcophagus. Amenemkhet III was not buried in this pyramid. Near it, the tomb of another pharaoh was discovered, probably from the next XIII dynasty. Why the Pharaoh did not use a pyramid that was completely ready-made, specially erected for him, remained a mystery.

The second pyramid of Amenemhat III was built in Hawara. This pyramid stood in the center of the newly founded royal necropolis, of which the famous Labyrinth may have been a part. Now only a flattened clay cone with a diameter of about 100 meters and a height of 20 meters remains of it. The entrance to the burial chamber was located on the southern side of the pyramid. The camera itself is superbly made and is a fine example of ancient Egyptian architectural traditions. The spacious burial chamber is hewn from a solid block of hard yellow quartzite and weighs over a hundred tons. The walls are 60 centimeters thick. The quartzite lid is 1.2 meters thick and weighs about 45 tons. From above, the chamber is covered with a gable roof made of two limestone blocks weighing 50 tons each. There are two sarcophagi in the chamber. Judging by the inscriptions, in one was buried Amenemhet III himself, in the other - his daughter Ptahnefru. A small pyramid next to the main one was intended for the daughter. Amenemhat III ruled for about 45 years and, like his father, left behind a series of wonderful sculptural portraits of excellent work.

After Amenemhat III, his son Amenemhet IV ascended the throne, who ruled for less than ten years. He did not become famous for his conquests, did not leave behind a long memory of good deeds, but, incidentally, evil ones too. For some time he was probably a co-ruler of his father and supervised the construction of temples.

According to the Turin papyrus, Amenemhat IV ruled for 9 years, 3 months and 27 days, including the first seven years he ruled with his father. Probably, Amenemhat IV died without leaving an heir, and Queen Nefrusebek ascended the throne.

From the Turin papyrus it follows that at the end of the XII dynasty the country was ruled solely for 3 years, 10 months and 24 days (presumably in 1799-1796 / 1795 BC) Queen Nefrusebek (Sebeknefrura) - a female pharaoh. She is the second queen (after Nitokris, the last ruler of the VI dynasty and the entire Old Kingdom), who became the full ruler of Egypt.

Nitocris (about 2152-2150 BC) was mentioned by Manetho and told in his "History" by the Greek historian Herodotus.

According to Herodotus, the brother of Nitokris, who was a pharaoh, was killed by the conspirators in the time of troubles, and then the sister of the pharaoh seized power in the country. The vengeful queen lured the assassins into the inner chambers of the palace, which were deep underground. Nitokris invited them to a feast, and she left the hall and ordered to lock the guests and move the shutter on the secret underground channel that connected the river with the palace dungeons. Water gushed into the chambers, and the hated enemies drowned. Herodotus concluded a short story about Queen Nitokris with a story about her suicide: a distraught woman rushed into the burning room and burned to death.

In addition to the mention of the priest Manetho, in other ancient Egyptian sources nothing is said about the last ruler of the Old Kingdom. But, despite the extremely scarce and inaccurate information, Nitocris is still considered a historical figure and the first woman on the throne of the Egyptian pharaohs.

The name Nefrusebek means "Most Beautiful for Sebek." She is usually considered the daughter of Amenemhat III, but the priest Manetho calls her the sister of Amenemhat IV.

There is practically no written evidence from the reign of Queen Nefrusebek, but several headless statues have been found in the Labyrinth of Senusret III and Amenhotep III. It is believed that the statues depicted Nefrusebek and were decapitated after her death. On the walls of the fortress in Kumma, a message was found about the rise of water in the Nile by 1.83 meters, referring to the third year of the reign of this queen.

The High Priestess Nefrusebek was an extraordinary woman - strong-willed, decisive, domineering. She, presumably, even made a victorious campaign to Nubia. Nefrusebek was the ruler of one of the twelve nomes, enjoyed great authority and support throughout Egypt. She ruled the country with a minor heir to the throne, but the heir died. Nefrusebek rejected all claims to the throne of the next heir, declared herself a pharaoh and at the same time became the wife of an influential nomarch. The energetic ruler at that time was supported by priests, military leaders, provincial nobility and the whole people - they actually elevated a woman of royal blood to the Egyptian throne. Among the numerous representatives of the dynasty, there was no male person who could push her away from the throne of the pharaohs.

Nefrusebek ordered to depict her in the traditional attire of the pharaohs, with small details of women's clothing. The Pharaoh woman achieved absolute power, but not for long - she died. According to legend, the queen was killed during a hunt by hired assassins sent by her husband. The ambitious nomarch did not want to play the role of a puppet under the sovereign mistress of the country - he wanted to become a pharaoh himself.

Nefrusebek held on to the throne for about four years. For what purpose she was striving for power, what she wanted to do, what plans this amazing woman was building to rule Egypt, one can only guess.

The tomb of Nefrusebek has not been found so far. Perhaps the unfinished pyramid complex at Mazgun, similar to the pyramids built for Amenhotep III, was intended specifically for her.

The end of her reign is usually attributed to a large uprising of the unfree Egyptians ("royal hemuu", that is, the entire working population of Egypt) with the participation of a small number of slaves, as evidenced by the papyrus with the teachings of Ipuver. The uprising led to a general decline, impoverishment and, ultimately, to the fall of the XII dynasty and the entire Middle Kingdom.

During the period of the Middle Kingdom, a significant stratum of wealthy Egyptians arose, but contradictions accumulated in society, resulting in a terrible rebellion (c. 1783 BC). Egypt suffered the calamity of anarchy and decay. The enemies did not sleep and hastened to take advantage of the time of troubles. They attacked a rich and vast country, where there was something to profit from. The era of the Middle Kingdom ended, and the period of the domination of the Hyksos began, the so-called Second Transitional Period, or the Second Period of Decay (about 1783-1552 BC).

When the uprising died down and the people, tired of anarchy, calmed down and resigned themselves, the XIII and XIV dynasties came to power, but they no longer possessed real power over the entire vast country. The Hyksos nomads came from the territory of Syria and defeated the Egyptian army, in which there were no war chariots at that time.

The word "Hyksos" is Egyptian in origin: "hekashasu" - "king of the shepherds." Initially, it meant only the Hyksos pharaohs, and then it spread to the entire tribe. The self-name of the Hyksos is unknown. Most scientists, based on the analysis of the names of the Hyksos (Jacobher, Salitis), which are contained in quotations from the writings of Manetho by Josephus, attribute the Hyksos to the Semitic tribes. The Hyksos formed a strong tribal alliance in Palestine and Northern Arabia.

Unfortunately, there are no written Egyptian documents of that time about the conquests of the Hyksos and their rule in Egypt. Nevertheless, some data on the Hyksos have come down to us thanks to later documents and archaeological finds.

The Hyksos invaded the Nile Delta and continued their conquests with the obvious goal of settling in fertile and well-maintained lands, conquering the Egyptian people and rule over Egypt. The Hyksos never actually ruled the entire country, they captured only Lower Egypt, and in Thebes the pharaohs of Upper Egypt continued to rule in their lands up to Aswan on the southern border.

At first, the foreigners fortified themselves in Memphis and from there ruled over the entire captured territory, but then they built a large, well-fortified city - Avaris. It was located, in all likelihood, in the northern part of the Nile Delta, where the city of Tell el-Daba is now located. The Hyksos were a warlike people and had an undeniable military superiority over the Egyptians. The speed and strength of riders and chariots, the advantage of armor and new types of weapons, especially composite bows, gave them a clear advantage over the enemy and gave them confidence in the final victory.

Archaeological remains attesting to the presence of the Hyksos have been found in Egypt and Palestine. These are rectangular fortified camps, simple jewelry and peculiarly shaped pottery. Separate items marked with the name of the Hyksos king Kian were found outside of Egypt, which means that the Hyksos had some kind of trade connections.

The Hyksos leaders, who established themselves in the captured Nile delta, took the title of pharaohs (XV-XVI dynasties). However, they failed to subjugate the entire Nile Valley. They ruled only Lower Egypt. Part of the nomarchs and nobles of Upper Egypt recognized the power of the Hyksos pharaohs, they prudently paid tribute to the Hyksos and ruled in their nomes according to their own laws. At the beginning of the 17th century. BC NS. The Hyksos Pharaoh Kian for a short time established his power in Upper Egypt and actually united the whole country in his hands. But after the death of Chian, Thebes regained their independence, and the Theban rulers proclaimed themselves pharaohs (XVII dynasty). The last pharaoh of this dynasty, Kamos, subdued the rest of the nomes of Upper Egypt.

The invasion of the Hyksos left an indelible mark on the life of the Egyptians. For the first time in the centuries-old history of Ancient Egypt, the country was ruled by foreigners. Several generations of Egyptians were forced to endure foreign rulers, submit to their will, and carry out their orders. The people accumulated hatred for foreigners. According to the stories of the priest Manetho, the Hyksos ruled Egypt for two - XV and XVI - dynasties. The last ruling dynasty of the Hyksos coincides in time with the 17th dynasty of the pharaohs of Thebes. The pyramids of these pharaohs are located west of Thebes.

About a hundred years after the founding of the Theban dynasty, the Egyptians were ripe to fight foreign oppressors. The earliest evidence of this war is the mummy of Pharaoh Seknenra, who, in all likelihood, died in battle with the Hyksos. The son of Pharaoh Seknenra Kamos, despite the opposition of the nomarchs and the nobility, continued the armed struggle started by his father against the invaders. It was a brutal and implacable popular war, as evidenced by the Carnarvon table.

During excavations in the Theban necropolis, carried out by archaeologist G. Carter at the expense of Lord G. Carnarvon in 1907-1912, an interesting tablet was found. On it, a text is written in cursive writing from which, apparently, the inscriptions on the steles installed by Pharaoh Kamos (early 16th century BC) were copied. The fragments of these steles were discovered in 1936.

In all likelihood, the cursive on the tablet is a copy of an official document made by a student at the scribe's school. There are omissions and errors in the text. The table is engraved with text that described important events of that time. The Theban Pharaoh Kamos fought with the "damned Asians" and announced his victory: " … I spent the night on my ship with a joyful heart. When dawn broke, I settled on him like a falcon. When it was time for breakfast, I attacked him. I destroyed his wall, killed his people, and forced his wife to descend on the coastal dam. My soldiers were like lions with their prey, with slaves, cattle, fat and honey, sharing their wealth with a joyful heart ..."(Translation of Petrovsky N. S. made according to the publication: Gardiner A. N. The Defeat of the Hykos by Kamose: The Carnarvon Tablet no. 1. - Journal of Egyptian Archeology, 1916, vol. 3, p. 95-110) ...

Two steles during the reign of Pharaoh Kamos confirm his military triumph, although it was probably not final: Kamos conquered only part of the territory of Central Egypt. But this was the first major victory in the war with the Hyksos, which later ended in the complete defeat of the enemy. After Kamos in southern Egypt, his brother Ahmose I entered the historical arena.

The Hyksos ruled in Egypt for more than a century and a half and, although they called their rulers the pharaohs of Egypt, did not adopt the agricultural Egyptian culture. The Hyksos believed in their gods, spoke their own language and never became Egyptians. They were strangers on Egyptian soil, like the Tatar-Mongols in Russia. The Period of Decay ended with the expulsion of the Hyksos. The reign of Pharaoh Ahmose I in Egyptology is considered to be the beginning of the period New kingdom.

Ahmose I Nebpentira ("Born by the Moon") is also known as Ahmes, Ahmose or Amasis I. He ruled in the middle of the 16th century BC. NS. and is considered the founder of the XVIII Dynasty and the New Kingdom.

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EGYPT

XII dynasty

Amenemhat III(Greek. Lahares) - Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who ruled approximately in 1853 - 1806 BC. e., from the XII dynasty. Son of Senusert III. His throne name was Ni-Maat-Ra ("In Truth Ra".).

The head of the statue of Amenemhat III in the headscarf. Egyptian Museum. Berlin

Statue of Amenemkhet III in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Board certificates

During the reign of Amenemkhet, royal power reached its climax in the era of the Middle Kingdom. It is important to note that with the accession of Amenemhat III, the chain of tombs of the nomarchs, which had been continuous until then, was suddenly stopped. Apparently, Amenemhat, with the help of drastic measures and relying on ordinary service people who made up the backbone of the army, managed to significantly limit the power of the nomarchs. The boundaries of the kingdom were largely measured by its predecessors, therefore military campaigns at Amenemhat were insignificant and they were undertaken quite rarely. Only occasionally in the inscriptions there are indications of "the defeat of Nubia and the opening of the countries of Asia."
The rule of Amenemkhet was accompanied by intensive construction activities. He improved the organization of the colonies on the Sinai Peninsula, providing them with water and constant protection, which allowed him to carry out more work in the local copper mines and turquoise deposits. More than 50 inscriptions about long expeditions between the 2nd and 45th years of the reign of Amenemkhet III were found on the stones here. An inscription from the second year of his reign speaks of the delivery of turquoise and copper to Egypt. Quite an unusual fact is that, despite its long reign, very few inscriptions from Amenemhat III have survived. They nonetheless praise his reign and contain long lists of officials, treasurers, artists, chiefs of stonecutters and workers whom the pharaoh sent to the mines. All these people left inscriptions on the stones in memory of their stay. They called their name and position, called for help from local gods, mainly the goddess Hathor, "the lady of the land Mafkat" (turquoise), as well as the god Supt-Horus, "lord of the east" and the deified king Sneferu (IV dynasty), who was considered the patron saint of Sinai peninsula.
Under him, large irrigation works were completed in the Fayum oasis, begun by his predecessors. Amenemkhet erected a huge embankment (43.5 km long), thanks to which a huge area of ​​the Fayum oasis, suitable for crops, was drained. Greek writers report that the Egyptians built sluices and dams, with the help of which the excess water of the Nile flood was directed to the Fayum reservoir (Greek. Meridovo lake). At different times the lake was called: She - "lake", She-ur - "great lake", Mi-ur - "great sea". By the name of the lake "She" the whole region was also called - Ta-She - "Land of the lake", from which the Arabian Fayum originated. The place where the Nile canal leaves to go deeper into the Fayum basin was called Ape-Tash, that is, "the gorge of the lake land". Here was the Ra-hunt, or La-hunt, that is, the "water drainage hole" - the canal locks. Probably, both the Arabic name of the area El-Lahun and the name “Labyrinth” given by the Greeks (the distorted Egyptian word Lapero-hunt - “sanctuary at the canal locks”) originated from La junta. Modern calculations show that in this way it was possible to store enough water to double the amount of water in the river, down from Fayum for 100 days of low standing of the Nile.
On the drained territory of the Fayum oasis, a new flourishing city of Crocodilopolis was built with a temple in honor of the crocodile god Sebek. At the northern point of these lands were installed two massive pedestals in the form of truncated pyramids, more than 6 m high. Colossal monolithic statues of Amenemkhet III were placed on them. They were carved from yellow quartzite. Their height was 11.7 m. During the spill, the pedestals were partially covered with water, and then the statues seemed to be sitting in the middle of the lake.
In Fayyum, Amenemkhet erected a majestic stone building, which was admired by the Greeks, who called this huge structure, with countless halls and passages - the Labyrinth. The labyrinth measured 244 × 305 m and consisted of 3000 rooms (of which 1500 were underground and 1500 aboveground). Strabo says that the ceiling of each room of this building consisted of a single stone, and also that the aisles are covered, equally, with solid slabs of extraordinary dimensions; moreover, neither wood nor other materials were used during the construction. Probably the Labyrinth was the funeral temple of Amenemhat. It is also possible that the construction of this temple, each of the separate rooms, which was intended, apparently, for the sculptures of numerous local nome and general Egyptian deities, served the purpose of a more lasting unification of the country under the leadership of the ruling dynasty. Nowadays, only a few fragments of fluted columns and fragments of reliefs that once adorned the walls have remained from the temple.
Under Amenemhat, stone mining continued in the Hammamat Valley. One of the inscriptions on the rocks says that in the 9th year of the reign of Amenemkhet III personally went to the rocky valley of Rohan to give orders to break stone for the construction of monuments in Pi-Sebek (Fayum) and for a statue of the pharaoh five cubits in height.
In addition to Fayum, Amenemkhet conducted extensive construction also in other places of Egypt. He renovated the temple in Apollonopolis Magna (modern Edfu), built a new temple of Osiris in Abydos, expanded the temple of Harshef in Hierakonpolis. He enclosed the ancient capital, the city of Neheb (present-day El-Kab), with a large brick wall that still stands today. Trade flourished under Amenemhat. Amenemhat introduced the basic copper unit deben, equal to 91 grams. Attempts were made to establish trade links with remote little-known areas. So, in the 45th year of the reign of Amenemkhet (c. 1798), an Egyptian expedition led by Ptaur penetrated deep into Syria - “into mysterious valleys, in very remote areas, of which no one had heard anything before”.

Pyramids

Pyramid in Hawar near Crocodilopolis

"Dark Pyramid" in Dahshur

It was unusual that Amenemhat built two pyramids for himself. This has not happened since the reign of Sneferu in the era of the Old Kingdom. One pyramid (the so-called "Dark Pyramid") (104 × 104 m) of Amenemkhet was erected in Dakhshur from adobe bricks. Granite was used only for strengthening the chambers and for the pyramidion. In this pyramid, he ordered 2 entrances: one, on the traditional north side, led into a maze of corridors ending in a dead end. Through another, in the southeastern corner, you can go down the same labyrinth to the burial chamber with a red sarcophagus. However, Amenemhet was not buried in this pyramid. In the area of ​​this pyramid is the tomb of King Evet-ib-Ra, probably the king of the next XIII dynasty.
The second pyramid (102 × 102 m) was built in Hawara. The Khavarian pyramid was the center of the newly founded royal necropolis, to which the famous Labyrinth may have belonged. Now only a flattened clay cone with a diameter of about 100 m and a height of 20 m remains of it. The entrance to the pyramid is located on the south side. The burial chamber is a miracle of ancient Egyptian technology. The huge tomb (6.71 x 2.4 x 1.83 m) is hewn from a single block of extraordinary hard yellow quartzite and weighs over 100 tons. The walls are 60 cm thick. The quartzite cover is 1.2 m thick and weighs about 45 tons. From above, the chamber is covered with a gable roof made of two limestone blocks weighing 50 tons each. There are two sarcophagi in the chamber. Judging by the inscriptions, in one was buried Amenemkhet himself, in the other - the daughter of Amenemkhet Ptahnefru, who, however, also owned the nearby small pyramid.
The reign of Amenemhat III is estimated at 45 to 48 years. The last lifetime source known to us is dated by the 46th year of Amenemkhet III. He, like his father, left behind a series of wonderful sculptural portraits of excellent work

Amenemhat IV- Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who ruled approximately in 1807 - 1798 BC. e., from the XII dynasty.

Amenemhat IV was for a short time co-ruler of his father Amenemhat III.

During this time, he was engaged in the construction of temples in Medinet Maadi and in Fayyum.

Amenemhat IV

Under Amenemhat IV, expeditions continued to Sinai and Wadi el-Khudi. Pharaoh himself left behind very few monuments. The northern of the two pyramids at Mazgun (52.5 × 52.5 m) is attributed to him, but no inscriptions confirming this have been found. Nowadays, only the underground part has been preserved from it.

A small sphinx from gneiss inscribed with the name of Amenemhat IV. British museum. London

Amenemkhet IV died without leaving a male heir, so his half-sister Nefrusebek (Sebeknefrura) succeeded him.

According to the Turin papyrus, Amenemhet IV ruled for 9 years, 3 months and 27 days, which is confirmed by the largest date of his reign attested by monuments (9 years).

Nefrusebek(Sebeknefrura, Kasebekra) - a female pharaoh who ruled Egypt alone, according to the Turin papyrus, at the end of the Twelfth Dynasty for 3 years, 10 months and 24 days (presumably 1799-1796 / 1795, 1792-1788, 1789-1785 BC . NS.). She is the second, after Nitokris of the Sixth Dynasty, the queen to become the ruler of Egypt. Her name means "The most beautiful for Sebek (god-crocodile)". Usually Nefrusebek is considered the daughter of Amenemhat III, Manetho calls her the sister of Amenemhat IV.

The torso of the statue of the Queen Nefrubeek. Louvre. Paris

Probably, Amenemhat IV died without leaving an heir, and Nefrusebek ascended the throne. From the time of Nefrusebek practically no written evidence has survived, however, in the "Labyrinth" of Senusret III and Amenhotep III, a number of statues were found that did not have a head and which are considered to be images of this particular queen. On the walls of the fortress in Kumma, evidence was found, referring to the third year of this queen's reign, of a flood, during which the Nile rose 1.83 m. community members, "royal hemuu", with the participation of a small number of slaves), which is evidenced by the papyrus with the teachings of Ipuver. The uprising led to the collapse of the Twelfth Dynasty and the Middle Kingdom.
The tomb of Nefrusebek has not been found so far. Perhaps the unfinished complex of pyramids in Mazgun, similar to the one built for Amenhotep III, was intended specifically for Nefrusebek. Nowadays it is attributed to it, the southern of the two pyramids in Mazgun (52.5 × 52.5 m). Nowadays, only the underground part has been preserved from it. Probably, Sobeknofrura began to build the pyramid, but did not have time to finish it.

XIII dynasty

Ugaf Hu-taui-Ra- Egyptian pharaoh (c. 1779 - 1776 BC). According to the Turin papyrus, 1st pharaoh of the XIII dynasty.

According to a number of Egyptologists, the first pharaoh of the XIII dynasty was Sekhem-Ra-Hui-taui Sebekhotep I, and Ugaf was the successor of Amenemkhet VII. Apparently, Ugaf was of non-royal origin and, possibly, was a senior military leader before ascending to the throne. Five monuments have survived from the time of his reign.

Ugaf ruled for 2 years and almost 4 months.

Amenemhat III- Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who ruled approximately in 1853 - 1806 BC. e., from the XII dynasty (Middle Kingdom). Son of Senusert III. His throne name was Ni-Maat-Ra ("In the Truth of Ra").

During the reign of Amenemkhet, royal power reached its climax in the era of the Middle Kingdom. It is important to note that with the accession of Amenemhat III, the chain of tombs of the nomarchs, which had been continuous until then, was suddenly stopped. Apparently, Amenemhat, with the help of drastic measures and relying on ordinary service people who made up the backbone of the army, managed to significantly limit the power of the nomarchs. The boundaries of the kingdom were largely measured by its predecessors, therefore military campaigns at Amenemhat were insignificant and they were undertaken quite rarely. Only occasionally in the inscriptions there are indications of "the defeat of Nubia and the opening of the countries of Asia."

The rule of Amenemkhet was accompanied by intensive construction activities. He improved the organization of the colonies on the Sinai Peninsula, providing them with water and constant protection, which allowed him to carry out more work in the local copper mines and turquoise deposits. More than 50 inscriptions about long expeditions between the 2nd and 45th years of the reign of Amenemkhet III were found on the stones here. An inscription from the second year of his reign speaks of the delivery of turquoise and copper to Egypt. Quite an unusual fact is that, despite its long reign, very few inscriptions from Amenemhat III have survived. They nonetheless praise his reign and contain long lists of officials, treasurers, artists, chiefs of stonecutters and workers whom the pharaoh sent to the mines. All these people left inscriptions on the stones in memory of their stay. They called their name and position, called for help from local gods, mainly the goddess Hathor, "the lady of the land Mafkat" (turquoise), as well as the god Supt-Horus, "lord of the east" and the deified king Sneferu (IV dynasty), who was considered the patron saint of Sinai peninsula.

Under him, large irrigation works were completed in the Fayum oasis, begun by his predecessors. Amenemkhet erected a huge embankment (43.5 km long), thanks to which a huge area of ​​the Fayum oasis, suitable for crops, was drained. Greek writers report that the Egyptians built sluices and dams, with the help of which the excess water of the Nile flood was directed to the Fayum reservoir (Greek. Meridovo lake). At different times the lake was called: She - "lake", She-ur - "great lake", Mi-ur - "great sea". By the name of the lake "She" the whole region was called - Ta-She - "Land of the lake", from which the Arabian Fayum came from. The place where the Nile canal leaves to go deeper into the Fayum basin was called Ape-Tash, that is, "the gorge of the lake land". Here was the Ra-hunt, or La-hunt, that is, the "water drainage hole" - the canal locks. Probably, both the Arabic name of the area El-Lahun and the name "Labyrinth" given by the Greeks (a distorted Egyptian word Lapero-hunt - "sanctuary at the canal locks") originated from La junta. Modern calculations show that in this way it was possible to store enough water to double the amount of water in the river, down from Fayum for 100 days of low standing of the Nile.

On the drained territory of the Fayum oasis, a new flourishing city of Crocodilopolis was built with a temple in honor of the crocodile god Sebek. At the northern point of these lands were installed two massive pedestals in the form of truncated pyramids, more than 6 m high. Colossal monolithic statues of Amenemkhet III were placed on them. They were carved from yellow quartzite. Their height was 11.7 m. During the spill, the pedestals were partially covered with water, and then the statues seemed to be sitting in the middle of the lake.

In Fayyum, Amenemkhet erected a majestic stone building, which was admired by the Greeks, who called this huge structure, with countless halls and passages - the Labyrinth. The labyrinth measured 244 x 305 m and consisted of 3000 rooms (of which 1500 were underground and 1500 were aboveground). Strabo says that the ceiling of each room of this building consisted of a single stone, and also that the aisles are covered, equally, with solid slabs of extraordinary dimensions; moreover, neither wood nor other materials were used during the construction. Probably the Labyrinth was the funeral temple of Amenemhat. It is also possible that the construction of this temple, each of the separate rooms, which was intended, apparently, for the sculptures of numerous local nome and general Egyptian deities, served the purpose of a more lasting unification of the country under the leadership of the ruling dynasty. Nowadays, only a few fragments of fluted columns and fragments of reliefs that once adorned the walls have remained from the temple.

Under Amenemhat, stone mining continued in the Hammamat Valley. One of the inscriptions on the rocks says that in the 9th year of the reign of Amenemkhet III personally went to the rocky valley of Rohan to give orders to break stone for the construction of monuments in Pi-Sebek (Fayum) and for a statue of the pharaoh five cubits in height.

In addition to Fayum, Amenemkhet conducted extensive construction also in other places of Egypt. He renovated the temple in Apollonopolis Magna (modern Edfu), built a new temple of Osiris in Abydos, expanded the temple of Harshef in Hierakonpolis. He enclosed the ancient capital, the city of Neheb (present-day El-Kab), with a large brick wall that still stands today. Trade flourished under Amenemhat. Amenemhat introduced the basic copper unit deben, equal to 91 grams. Attempts were made to establish trade links with remote little-known areas. So, in the 45th year of the reign of Amenemkhet (c. 1798), an Egyptian expedition led by Ptaur penetrated deep into Syria - "into mysterious valleys, in very remote areas, of which no one had heard anything before."

The reign of Amenemhat III is estimated at 45 to 48 years. The last lifetime source known to us is dated by the 46th year of Amenemkhet III. He, like his father, left behind a series of wonderful sculptural portraits of excellent work.