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[[File: SenusretIII.jpg|300px250px|thumbnail|left| Statue of Senusret III in the Louvre Museum, Paris]]__NOTOC__
Ancient Egypt produced many powerful and able kings who built many great monuments, commissioned enduring works of literature, and expanded Egypt’s borders through numerous military campaigns. Djoser, Snefru, and Khufu are remembered as great pyramid builders and for having not only the best built and most enduring pyramids, but also for producing the first examples in the world of monumental architecture made in stone. Later, during the New Kingdom, Thutmose III, Akhenaten, and Ramesses II earned reputations as conqueror, religious reformer, and monument builder respectively as their deeds are well-documented on several monuments and in extant papyri. Situated between the better known Old and New Kingdoms was Egypt’s Middle Kingdom (ca. 1975-1640 BC), which produced one of pharaonic Egypt’s most important but lesser known kings – Senusret III (ruled ca. 1837-1818 BC).
===Senusret III Comes to Power===
[[File: Semna.jpg|300px250px|thumbnail|left| Modern Depiction of the Egyptian Fort at Semna, Nubia]]
Egyptian culture and power continued to grow until it reached its Middle Kingdom zenith during the middle of the Twelfth Dynasty. When Senusret III came to power, he was the beneficiary of several successful kingships that provided him with a template upon which he based his rule. Despite following the examples of his predecessors, Senusret III eventually eclipsed what they had done, especially in regards to military endeavors.
The military campaigns of Senusret III – referred to by the Greeks as “Sesostris” or “Sesoosis” – are well-documented in both Egyptian and Greek texts and can be further corroborated by archeological evidence. According to the Egyptian sources, Senusret III led four campaigns into Nubia during his sixth, eighth, tenth, and sixteenth years of rule. <ref> Callender, Gae. “The Middle Kingdom Renaissance (c. 2055-1650 BC). In <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt.</i> Edited by Ian Shaw. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 166</ref> Senusret III demonstrated great patience and martial acumen, moving slowly up the river building forts at choke points along the way instead of leading an all-out blitz into the region. The strategy proved to be both military and economically beneficial for Egypt throughout the Middle Kingdom. The greatest of all the Middle Kingdom Nubian forts was at Semna, which is where many of the inscriptions commemorating the campaigns were discovered in the modern period. The Semna inscriptions paint a picture of a complex relationship between the Egyptians and Nubians – for example, Nubians were explicitly forbidden from entering Egypt, but trade and social interaction was allowed and even encouraged to some extent at the forts. <ref> Breasted, Henry, ed. and trans. <i>Ancient Records of Egypt.</i> Volume 1, The First to the Seventeenth Dynasties (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2001), pgs. 293-4</ref> Although Senusret III was probably motivated by economic reasons to colonize Nubia, the king was clear that he was willing to destroy most of the Nubian population in order to rule their land. An inscription documenting Senusret III’s year sixteen campaign demonstrates just how brutal things were:
“Year 16, third month of the second season, (occurred) his majesty’s making the southern boundary as far as Heh. I have made my boundary beyond (that) of my fathers; I have increased that which was bequeathed to me. I am a king who speaks and executes. . . I captured their women, I carried off their subjects, went forth to their wells, smote their bulls; I reaped their grain, and set fire thereto. (I swear) as my father lives for me, I speak in truth, without a lie therein, coming out of my mouth.” <ref>Breasted, pgs. 295-9</ref>
===Senusret III’s Building Projects===
[[File: pryamide-sesostris3.jpg|300px250px|thumbnail|left| The Ruins of Senusret III’s Pyramid near Dashur]]
Every Egyptian king yearned to be remembered for eternity and the greatest of all the kings did this by constructing a number of building projects. The Old Kingdom pharaohs are remembered for the pyramids and those of the New Kingdom have the many temples of Upper Egypt as a testament to their greatness and although the monuments of the Middle Kingdom have not withstood the test of time as well as their predecessors and successors did, Senusret III certainly did his part. In particular, Senusret III is remembered for constructing numerous canals throughout Egypt that connected Egypt to its Nubian colonies and eventually the Red Sea. The king’s priority was building a canal that bypassed the first cataract just south of Abu/Elephantine (modern Aswan), which marked the traditional boundary between Egypt and Nubia. The cataracts are so named because they are narrow, rocky sections of the Nile River that are impassable by boats, which meant that in ancient times a military or trade expedition would have to disembark, portage the cataract, and then reembark and continue up river. Since the first cataract canal had such high military and economic importance, Senusret III made sure that it was regularly maintained. A year eight inscription details some of the maintenance work done on the canal as well as its name and size:
===Conclusion===
Senusret III was perhaps the greatest king of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom and rightfully deserves to be considered along with some of the other more well-known pharaohs. Senusret III was the first Egyptian king to make Egypt into a true empire by colonizing Nubia, which provided incredible economic benefits that he was then able to use for his many ambitious building projects. Because of his deeds of conquest and construction, Senusret III was immortalized in the writings of several Greek historians, ensuring that he would never be forgotten.
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===References===
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[[Category: Ancient Egyptian History]] [[Category: Middle Kingdom Egypt]] [[Category: Ancient History]]
