The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is a series of rulers reigning from c. 1991–1802 BC (c. 190 years), 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 its valley to the south beyond the second cataract and to the east into Canaan.

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

In the view of Egyptologist Frank Yurco:

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. 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.

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, 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.

Egypt underwent various developments under the Twelfth Dynasty, including the reorganization of the kingdom's 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.

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.

Rulers +Dynasty XII Monarchs of EgyptNomen (personal name)ImagePrenomen (throne name) Horus-name Reign Pyramid Consort(s)Lifespan Amenemhat I (Ammenemes I) Sehetepibre Wehemmesu c. 1991 – c. 1962 BC Pyramid of Amenemhet I NeferitatjenenDied c. 1962 BC Senusret I (Sesostris I) Kheperkare Ankhmesut c. 1962 – c. 1926 BC Pyramid of Senusret I Neferu IIIDied c. 1926 BC Amenemhat II (Ammenemes II) Nubkhaure Hekenemmaat c. 1926 – c. 1895 BC White Pyramid Senet?Died c. 1895 BC Senusret II (Sesostris II) Khakheperre Seshemutawy c. 1895 – c. 1878 BC Pyramid of Senusret II Khenemetneferhedjet INofret IIDied c. 1878 BC Senusret III (Sesostris III) Khakaure Netjerkheperu c. 1878 – c. 1839 BC Pyramid of Senusret III NeferthenutKhenemetneferhedjet IIItakaytDied c. 1839 BC Amenemhat III (Ammenemes III) Nimaatre Aabau c. 1839 – c. 1814 BC Black Pyramid; Pyramid at Hawara AatKhenemetneferhedjet IIIDied c. 1814 BC Amenemhat IV (Ammenemes IV) Maakherure Kheperkheperu c. 1814 – c. 1806 BC Southern Mazghuna pyramid SobekneferuDied c. 1806 BC Sobekneferu (Skemiophris) Sobekkare Merytre c. 1806 – c. 1802 BC North Mazghuna pyramid N/ADied c. 1802 BC

Known rulers of the Twelfth Dynasty are as follows:Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. The American University in Cairo Press, London 2004

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. 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 possibly 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. 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 kingdom's major temples.

Amenemhat II 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.

Senusret II

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.

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 subdue Nubia, he ordered the construction of several new fortresses as well as the expansion of existing ones along the border with Nubia. 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. 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.

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. 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.Dodson, Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Egypt, 2004, p. 98. 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.Ryholt, The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period (1997), p. 15.

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.

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. The work also mentions Amenemhat I's mother being from"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 Elephantine Egyptian nome Ta-Seti."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’).","Senusret, a commoner as the father of Amenemhet, his mother, Nefert, came from the area Elephantine.""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.""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""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""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).""the fact that the mother of Ammenemes I, whose name appears to have been Nefert, was a native of the nome of Elephantine""The mother of Amenemhet was apparently named Nefert and was a native of the nome, or province, of Elephantine" Many scholars in recent years have argued that Amenemhat I's mother was of Nubian origin.

Other known works attributed to the 12th Dynasty include:

Dispute Between a Man and his Ba Complaints of Khakheperre-sonb Instructions of Amenemhat The Eloquent Peasant

During the Middle Kingdom, under Amenemhat III, textual records show that coerced laborers included conscripts (hsbw), fugitives (tsjw), and royal laborers (hmw-nsw). The Reisner Papyrus and El Lahun papyri depict prisoners being employed in state enterprises. Papyrus Brooklyn 35.1446 also shows forced labor being performed on arable state land. Slaves, from neighbouring locations including Nubia, Syria-Palestine but especially of Levantine origin were grouped in ghetto camps to perform labor for the state where they lived in harsh conditions, often including beating by their masters. The term for "male Asiatic" in ancient Egyptian language became synonymous with "slave"."During the Middle Kingdom, a large number of captives, Asiatic/Western Asiatic (Levantine) and Nubian, were taken by force to Egypt after successful campaigns as a result of the expansion of the Egyptian state over that time.111 Many of these non-acculturated groups, especially those mentioned in papyri with the ethnic label aAm.w/aAm.t (‘male/female Asiatic’),112 were transported to Egypt, organized into gangs and sent to work in ghetto camps or on estates,113 while others ended up in private ownership.114 This movement of people must have had a significant effect on the Egyptian demographic, and in particular on the urban communities which were established during the Middle Kingdom."

Comparison of regnal lists