The History of Egypt

Senuseret I (Part 1): Sinuhe's Fear and Flight. Around 1962 BCE, conspirators broke into the royal bedchamber and attacked King Amenemhat in his bed. The result was panic. The king's son Senuseret was far from home, and the situation was incredibly perilous. In the midst of this, a minor official named Sinuhe got caught up in the storm, and decided to flee for his life. Thereby hangs a tale... Date c. 1960 BCE. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Other podcasts: The Tale of Sinuhe, discussed on BBC Radio 4 "In Our Time" with Melvyn Bragg. A nice (and very British) discussion of the tale. Enjoy! A new reading! Barbara Ewing (actress) and Richard M. Parkinson (Professor of Egyptology, Oxford) have produced a new version of Sinuhe’s tale. Select Bibliography: Miriam Lichtheimm Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2006. W.K. Simpson (editor), The Literature of Ancient Egypt, 2003. Reshafim.org – The Tale of Sinuhe. Scott Morschauser, “What made Sinuhe run?” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 37 (2000). Hans Goedicke, “Sinuhe’s Duel.” JARCE 21 (1984): 197-201. Anthony Spalinger, “Orientations on Sinuhe,” Studien zur Altägypischen Kultur 25 (1998). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amenemhat I (Part 2): Father and Son. Around 1985 BCE, King Amenemhat I ruled with skill and sense. His reign was a time of new developments, epitomised in the foundation of a new capital city. Strangely, the King decided to name his new capital "Seizing the Two Lands." Date c. 1985 BCE. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Dorothea Arnold, “Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes,” Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal, 1991. Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006. Wolfram Grajetzki. Court Officials of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom. 2009. Gay Robins. The Art of Ancient Egypt. 2008. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amenemhat I (Part 1): A Self-Made King. Around 1990 BCE, a new King took power. His name was Amun-em-Hat ("Amun in the Forefront"). First things first, he had to justify his unusual accession... Date c.1990 BCE. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Dorothea Arnold, “Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes,” Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal, 1991. Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006. Wolfram Grajetzki. Court Officials of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom. 2009. Gay Robins. The Art of Ancient Egypt. 2008. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Montuhotep IV: A Forgotten King. At the end of Dynasty 11, there is a "gap" in the royal king list. The Turin Canon records the seven years of Montuhotep IV as a time when "no king reigned." On top of this, no royal images or records survive from his reign. Who is this man, and why is he lost?... Date c.1995 BCE. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Dorothea Arnold, “Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes,” Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal, 1991. Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006. Nicolas Grimal, A History of Egypt, 1994. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Montuhotep III: A short but successful reign. Around 2010 BCE the great king Montu-Hotep II died. His son and heir, Montuhotep III, now came to power. This new king only ruled a few years but he achieved some noteworthy things, including a return to Punt... Date c. 2010 BCE. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Pierre Tallet, “Ayn Sukhna and Wadi al-Jarf: Two Newly Discovered Pharaonic Harbours on the Suez Gulf,” British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan, 2012. Dorothea Arnold, “Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes,” Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal, 1991. Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006. Nicolas Grimal, A History of Egypt, 1994. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Montuhotep II (Part 3): Victorious Lords. Around 2020 BCE, King Montuhotep II was secure in his power. He could now lead military campaigns in Wawat and Kush, the region historians call Nubia or Sudan. He also went east into the deserts, and north to Canaan, pushing Egyptian authority abroad... Date c. 2020 BCE. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Dorothea Arnold, “Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes,” Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal, 1991. Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006. Edouard Naville, The Eleventh Dynasty Temple at Deir el-Bahari, 1907. Lazlo Török, Between Two Worlds, 2009. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Montuhotep II (Part 2): A King and His Court. By 2020 BCE, Montu-Hotep II had established himself as King of Upper and Lower Egypt. But, would he be able to keep his power, in the wake of challenges? Date c. 2020 BCE. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Herbert Winlock, “The Theban Necropolis in the Middle Kingdom,” American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, 1915 (JSTOR). Dorothea Arnold, “Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes,” Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal, 1991. Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006. Wolfram Grajetzki, Court Officials of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, 2009. Gay Robins, The Art of Ancient Egypt, 1997/2008. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Montuhotep II (Part 1): Mighty in Thebes. Around 2040 BCE, a new King unified Egypt and brought the country some stability. His name was Neb-hepet-Re Montu-Hotep ("Montu is Satisfied"), and he would be a mighty ruler indeed. To celebrate his victory, the new ruler commissioned beautiful monuments, in the city of his ancestors... Date c.2020 BCE. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Dorothea Arnold, “Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes,” Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal, 1991. Darrell D. Baker: The Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs: Volume I – Predynastic to the Twentieth Dynasty 3300–1069 BC, 2008. Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006. Nicolas Grimal, A History of Egypt, 1994. PETER JÁNOSI, “Montuhotep-Nebtawyre and Amenemhat I: Observations on the Early Twelfth Dynasty in Egypt.” Metropolitan Museum Journal 45 (2010): 7–20. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41558050. Edouard Naville, The XIth Dynasty Temple at Deir el-Bahari, 3 vols, via Internet Archive (vol. 1), (vol. 2), (vol. 3). Gay Robins, The Art of Ancient Egypt, 1997/2008. Ian Shaw (editor), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 2004. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historical Phase number 2... A quick primer for the Middle Kingdom, the period which saw prosperity return to Egypt and cultural achievements reach some amazing heights. Let me introduce the new phase, and what our story will involve... Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.  Follow us on social media www.facebook.com/egyptpodcast and www.twitter.com/egyptianpodcast. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A tomb revisited. In 1923 CE, excavations at Luxor revealed the graves of ancient Egyptian soldiers. They bore scars of battle on their bones and flesh; and their story may belong to one of several major conflicts within the Nile Valley, around 2000—1900 BCE. In this episode, we revisit an old topic, and describe the tale anew…Note: This episode has an extended version on Patreon (link below). Dates: 1923—1926 CE (excavation); c. 2000—1900 BCE (ancient burial). Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net. Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com. Select Bibliography: H. E. Winlock, The Slain Soldiers of Neb-Hepet-Re Mentu-Hotpe (1945). Available in Open Access via MMA. C. Vogel, ‘Fallen Heroes? Winlock’s “Slain Soldiers” Reconsidered’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 89 (2003), 239—245. Access via Academia.edu and JSTOR.org. P. Chudzik, ‘Middle Kingdom tombs in the North Asasif Necropolis: Field Seasons 2018/2019 and 2020’, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (2020), 177—202. Open Access via Academia.edu. Wikipedia, ‘MMA 507,’ https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MMA_507&oldid=1151562120. J. Heath, ‘The Slain Soldiers of Tomb 507: An Egyptological Mystery’, Ancient Egypt: The History, People and Culture of the Nile Valley 118 (2020), 28-33. Note: I became aware of this article after publication of this episode, but I include it here as the author reaches similar conclusions to mine. Artefacts from the tomb at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Archers’ wrist guard. Folded linen with hieratic text of Sobekhotep Son-of-Imeny. Additional pieces at MMA Collections (objects dated .1961 – 1917 BC). Skull fragment with arrow in eye (images restricted). Model weapons of the early Middle Kingdom: shield, spear, quiver. The tomb of Queen Neferu at Deir el-Bahari: Wikipedia, photos at Flickr.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices