The First Intermediate Period

The First Intermediate Period, also known as the "black period" in Egyptian history, lasted around 125 years after the end of the Old Kingdom, from around 2181 to 2055 BC. It includes the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Dynasties, as well as a portion of the Eleventh. Egyptologists Georg Steindorff and Henri Frankfort developed the name "First Intermediate Period" in 1926.

Local rulers began contending for territorial control and political influence after they were free of their allegiances to the king. By 2160 BC, monarchs in Herakleopolis dominated Lower Egypt in the north, while the Intef family, located in Thebes, controlled Upper Egypt in the south. As the Intefs' influence grew and their control expanded northward, a battle between the two opposing dynasties became unavoidable.

There is very little monumental evidence from this period, particularly from the beginning of the era. The First Intermediate Period was a turbulent time when Egypt's rule was largely divided between two rival power bases. One of the bases was located in Lower Egypt, in the Faiyum region, and the other in Upper Egypt, near Thebes. As a result of the alleged political upheaval, temples are said to have been pillaged and assaulted, the artwork was defaced, and royal statues were smashed or destroyed. The two kingdoms would eventually clash, leading to the Theban kings' conquest of the north and the reunification of Egypt under a single ruler, Mentuhotep II, during the second half of the Eleventh Dynasty. The northern Theban army led by Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II finally overcame the Herakleopolitan monarchs around 2055 BC, reuniting the Two Lands. They ushered in the Middle Kingdom, a period of an economic and cultural renaissance.

Period: 2181–2055 BC