Middle Kingdom Forts

Egypt was reunited under a king of Thebes about 2040 BCE. From then until about 1700 BCE Egypt was again strong. This period is known as the Middle Kingdom, and includes Dynasties 11, 12 and 13.

The Egyptian pharaohs of Dynasty 12 (ca. 1990-1780 BCE) built eleven forts on the Nile along the Second Cataract, which divided Lower from Upper Nubia. A cataract is a stretch of river full of rocks and rapids that made shipping very difficult. The Egyptians built the forts to help protect ships going up or down the most dangerous rapids and to defend Egypt from attacks by Kush. Each fort had thick mud brick walls and towers, much like medieval castles. They were also built within signaling distance of each other. Since many of the troops lived at the forts with their families, each fort became a small Egyptian town. When these forts were excavated in the 1920s-30s (some as late as the 1960s), archaeologists found many Egyptian inscriptions, objects of daily life, housing remains and Egyptian cemeteries.

Computer model of the Egyptian fortress at Buhen, at the northern approach to the Second Cataract, nineteenth century BCE.

Model by William Riseman.