First Intermediate Period

(noun)

A period of political conflict and instability lasting approximately 100 years and spanning the Seventh to Eleventh Dynasties.

Related Terms

Examples of First Intermediate Period in the following topics:

  • The First Intermediate Period

    • The First Intermediate Period, the Seventh to Eleventh dynasties, spanned approximately one hundred years (2181-2055 BCE), and was characterized by political instability and conflict between the Heracleopolitan and Theban Kings.
    • The First Intermediate Period (c. 2181-2055 BCE), often described as a "dark period" in ancient Egyptian history after the end of the Old Kingdom, spanned approximately 100 years.
    • The First Intermediate Period was a dynamic time in history when rule of Egypt was roughly divided between two competing power bases: Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt, and Thebes in Upper Egypt.
    • The first three kings of the Eleventh Dynasty (all named Intef) were, therefore, also the last three kings of the First Intermediate Period.
    • Describe the processes by which the First Intermediate Period occurred, and then transitioned into the Middle Kingdom

  • The Middle Kingdom

    • The Middle Kingdom, also known as the Period of Reunification, is a period in the history of Ancient Egypt stretching from the end of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Twelfth Dynasty, roughly between 2000-1700 BCE.
    • Toward the end of the First Intermediate Period, Mentuhotep II and his successors unified Egypt under a single rule, and commanded such faraway locations as Nubia and the Sinai.
    • During the First Intermediate Period, the governors of the nomes of Egypt— nomarchs—gained considerable power.
    • Ancient Egyptian sources regard these as the first kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty.
    • Thus began the final portion of the Thirteenth Dynasty, when southern kings continued to reign over Upper Egypt; when the unity of Egypt fully disintegrated, however, the Middle Kingdom gave way to the Second Intermediate Period.

  • The Third Intermediate Period

    • The Third Intermediate Period (c. 1069 - 664 BCE), which spanned the Twenty-First to Twenty-Sixth Dynasties, was marked by internal divisions within Egypt, along with conquest and rule by foreigners.
    • The Third Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt began with the death of the last pharaoh of the New Kingdom, Ramesses XI in 1070 BCE, and ended with the start of the Postdynastic Period.
    • The Third Intermediate Period was one of decline and political instability, and was marked by a division of the state for much of the period and conquest and rule by foreigners.
    • The period of the Twenty-First Dynasty was characterized by the country's fracturing kingship.
    • Describe the general landscape of the political chaos during Third Intermediate Period

  • The Second Intermediate Period

    • The Second Intermediate Period (c. 1650-1550 BCE) spanned the Fourteenth to Seventeenth Dynasties, and was a period in which decentralized rule split Egypt between the Theban-based Seventeenth Dynasty in Upper Egypt and the Sixteenth Dynasty under the Hyksos in the north.
    • The Second Intermediate Period (c. 1782-1550 BCE) marks a time when Ancient Egypt once again fell into disarray between the end of the Middle Kingdom, and the start of the New Kingdom.
    • The Hyksos made their first appearance in 1650 BCE and took control of the town of Avaris.
    • With the creation of the Eighteenth Dynasty around 1550 BCE, the New Kingdom period of Egyptian history began with Ahmose I, its first pharaoh, who completed the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt and placed the country, once again, under centralized administrative control.
    • Explain the dynamics between the various groups of people vying for power during the Second Intermediate Period

  • The Decline of Ancient Egypt

    • Ancient Egypt went through a series of occupations and suffered a slow decline over a long period of time.
    • First occupied by the Assyrians, then Persians, then Macedonians and Romans, Egyptians would never again reach the glorious heights of self-rule during previous periods.
    • Ancient Egypt went through a series of occupations and suffered a slow decline over a long period of time.
    • First occupied by the Assyrians, then Persians, then Macedonians and Romans, Egyptians would never again reach the glorious heights of self-rule during previous periods.

  • The New Kingdom

    • The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period, and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period.
    • The Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties (1292-1069 BCE) are also known as the Ramesside period, after the eleven pharaohs that took the name of Ramesses.
    • This was possibly a result of the foreign rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period
    • The city of Kadesh was a flashpoint, captured first by Seti I and then used as a peace bargain with the Hatti, and later attacked again by Ramesses II.
    • Menes eventually founded the Twenty-first Dynasty at Tanis.

  • The Eastern Zhou Period

    • The Eastern Zhou period was divided into two halves.
    • The first period of Zhou rule, which lasted from 1046 - 771 BCE and was referred to as the Western Zhou period, had been characterized mostly by unified, peaceful rule.
    • Thus, the assassination marked the end of the Western Zhou period and the beginning of the Eastern Zhou period
    • The first part of the Eastern Zhou period is known as the Spring and Autumn period, named after the Spring and Autumn Annals, a text that narrated events on a year-by-year basis and that marked the beginning of China's deliberately recorded history.
    • This period lasted from about 771 - 476 BCE.

  • France's Fiscal Woes

    • Direct taxes passed through the hands of many intermediate officials; indirect taxes were collected by private individuals called tax farmers who made a substantial profit.
    • Louis was willing to tax the nobles but unwilling to fall under their control, and only towards the close of his reign, under extreme stress of war, was he able, for the first time in French history, to impose direct taxes on the aristocratic elements of the population.
    • Fleury's rule was in fact the most peaceful and prosperous period of the reign of Louis XV.
    • After the financial and social disruptions suffered at the end of the reign of Louis XIV, the rule of Fleury is seen by historians as a period of "recovery."

  • The Chimu

    • This focus on large-scale irrigation persisted until the Late Intermediate period.
    • These inland areas began raising llamas as a supplemental source of meat, but by the Late Intermediate period and Late Horizon, inland sites started to rely on llamas as an essential transportation and food resource.

  • The Rise of Egyptian Civilization

    • The prehistory of Egypt spans from early human settlements to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt (c. 3100 BCE), which started with the first Pharoah Narmer (also known as Menes).
    • Weaving occurred for the first time in this period, and people buried their dead close to or within their settlements.
    • Mud-brick buildings were first seen in this period in small numbers.
    • The first Egyptian-style tombs were built.
    • Hieroglyphs may have first been used in this period, along with irrigation.