Changes

When Montuhotep II (ruled c. 2055-2004 BC) won the struggle against Heracleopolis he reunified Upper and Lower Egypt, establishing the Middle Kingdom (c 2055-1650 BC) in the process. Although the Middle Kingdom is often overlooked, as it came after the great pyramid builders of the Old Kingdom and the empire builders of the New Kingdom, it was nonetheless an impressive era in terms of art, architecture, and literature. Montuhotep II made Thebes the capital of his dynasty and immediately began building in and around the city by constructing some of the first structures in the immense Karnak Temple and building a large temple across the Nile near the modern village of Deir el-Bahari. <ref> Grajetzki, p. 23</ref> Although the later Middle Kingdom kings moved the capital north to Lisht, Montuhotep II helped make Thebes a bustling city that would not lose its importance even in tough times.

[[File: ValleyoftheKings.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left| The Valley of the Kings]]

Around 1650 BC central authority collapsed again in Egypt, ushering in the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1650-1550 BC). Once more, rival power centers developed in the north and south, but in the Second Intermediate Period the northern power center was based in the Delta city of Avaris, which was ruled by a foreign people from the Levant known as the <i>Hyksos</i>. Thebes retained its cultural and political importance throughout the Second Intermediate Period, with at least one native political dynasty – the Seventeenth Dynasty – making the city their capital.