Middle Kingdom

also: Middle Kingdom of Egypt · Egyptian Middle Kingdom

movement c. 2040-1782 BC Egypt North Africa

The Middle Kingdom - Egypt's reunification after the First Intermediate Period, from Mentuhotep II's Theban reconquest to the end of the Twelfth Dynasty around 1782 BC - is the classical age of Egyptian art. Where Old Kingdom grandeur had fragmented into provincial styles, the new dynasties returned to royal craft with a quieter, more inward temper: portraiture that records maturity and weariness in the face of the king, calm block and standing sculpture, and minor arts of astonishing refinement in gold, faience and inlay. The Twelfth Dynasty kings built pyramid complexes and, under Amenemhat III, developed the Faiyum. Tomb painting and relief at sites like Beni Hasan observe people, animals and foreign visitors with fresh curiosity, and the period's literature - Sinuhe, The Eloquent Peasant - matches its visual poise. Confidence ebbed by the Thirteenth Dynasty, opening the Second Intermediate Period.

All Giza Pyramids in one shot.
All Giza Pyramids in one shot.CC BY-SA 2.0 (credit: Ricardo Liberato) · source

Defining characteristics

  • Calm, formal sculpture with a new psychological depth: lined, introspective royal portrait heads
  • Block statues and poised standing figures - composure over Old Kingdom swagger
  • Refined minor arts: gold jewellery, faience and inlaid detail from elite tombs
  • Neatly ordered relief and painting registers with columns of hieroglyphs
  • Observed natural detail in tomb painting: hunting scenes, flora, fauna and foreign delegations

Key figures

  • Mentuhotep II (d. c. 2009 BC) — Theban king who reunified Egypt and opened the Middle Kingdom (11th Dynasty)
  • Senusret I (d. c. 1926 BC) — Builder-king of the 12th Dynasty: pyramid at el-Lisht and the White Chapel at Karnak
  • Senusret III (d. c. 1839 BC) — Warrior-king whose portrait sculpture is the period's masterpiece; Nubian campaigns

Example works

Sources

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