Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt

conscripts raided the lands and the natural resources of
much of southern Palestine.
During the First Intermediate Period (2134–2040
B.C.E.), Egyptians held onto limited powers until Middle
Kingdom (2040–1640 B.C.E.) pharaohs secured Egypt’s
borders again and established a firm rule. The Mon-
tuhoteps, Amenemhets, and Senwosrets were warrior
pharaohs who conquered entire city-states, establishing
vassals and trade partners while controlling the people of
Nubia. This relationship with other states lasted until the
Second Intermediate Period (1640–1550 B.C.E.), at which
time vast hordes of Asiatics entered the Nile region with
ease. In this era it appears as if no border existed on the
eastern side of the nation, and many peoples in southern
Palestine viewed themselves as Egyptians and lived under
the rule of the HYKSOSkings of the eastern Delta. The

Eighteenth Dynasty changed that condition abruptly.

’AHMOSE(r. 1550–1525 B.C.E.) chased the Asiatics from

Egypt and sealed its borders, reestablishing the series of

fortresses called the WALL OF THE PRINCEerected during

the Middle Kingdom period.

AMENHOTEP I(r. 1525–1504 B.C.E.) maintained this

firm rule, but it was his successor, TUTHMOSIS I (r.

1504–1492 B.C.E.), who defeated the MITANNIS, once

Egypt’s principal Asiatic enemies, and marched to the

Euphrates River with a large army. The Mitannis

remained firm allies of Egypt from that time onward, and

many treaties and pacts maintained the partitioning of

vast territories between them. Mitanni princesses also

entered Egypt as wives of the pharaohs. The Mitanni peo-

ple flowered as an empire, having started their invasion

of neighboring lands during Tuthmosis I’s era. In time

124 Egypt and the East

KH

AB

IR

’I

Ancient coastline

Egyptian Asiatic Empire

N

0 200 Kilometers

0 200 Miles

Egyptian Asiatic Empire under Tuthmosis III, 1450 B.C.E.

Washuka nni

Cap ita lofth e

ki ngdomofMitanni.

Destr oyedbyth e

Hi tt ite s,c. 1330 BCE

AMO

RITE

S

Caspian

Sea

Pe

rs

ia

n

Gu

lf

Mediterranean

Sea

R e d S e a

A S

I A

M I N O R E G Y P T

ARABIA

CA

NA

AN

AMO

RITE

S

KINGDOM OF THE HITTITES

Ur

Babylon

Major power in the

Amarna period

Carchemish

Washukanni

Capital of the

kingdom of Mitanni.

Destroyed by the

Hittites, c. 1330 B.C.E.

Ty r e

Megiddo

Kythera

Messenia

Mycenae

Kadesh

Memphis

Elephantine

Buhen

Nineveh

Assur

Kingdom of Assyria. Gained power

with the decline of Mitanni in

the 14th century B.C.E.

Thebes

Eu

ph

rate

sR

.

TigrisR

.

Ni

le

R.

UPPER

NUBIA

LOWER

NUBIA

Crete

(Keftiu) Cyprus