The New Kingdom

The New Kingdom, one of the famous Ancient Egyptian periods, often known as the Egyptian Empire, was the time in ancient Egyptian history between the sixteenth and eleventh centuries BC, encompassing Egypt's Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties. The Second Intermediate Period was followed by the New Kingdom, which was followed by the Third Intermediate Period. It was Egypt's most prosperous period and the pinnacle of its power.

The term "New Kingdom" was coined in 1845 by German Egyptologist Baron von Bunsen as one of three "golden ages," and its definition evolved dramatically over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Ramesside period refers to the last part of this period, which was ruled by the Nineteenth and Twentieth dynasties (1292-1069 BC). It is called after Ramesses I, the founder of the Nineteenth Dynasty, and the eleven pharaohs who bore the name Ramesses.

The New Kingdom saw Egypt grow in the Levant, possibly as a result of the Hyksos' foreign control during the Second Intermediate Period, and it was at this time that Egypt gained its greatest territorial extent. Similarly, in reaction to Kushite incursions in the seventeenth century BC during the Second Intermediate Period, the rulers of the New Kingdom felt obligated to expand far south into Nubia and hold vast areas in the Near East.

Following Ramesses III's death, his successors fought for years. Three of his sons succeeded him Ramesses IV, Ramesses VI, and Ramesses VIII. Egypt was increasingly plagued by droughts, below-normal Nile flow, starvation, public unrest, and state corruption. The power of the dynasty's last pharaoh, Ramesses XI, weakened to the point where the High Priests of Amun at Thebes became de facto rulers of Upper Egypt in the south, while Smendes governed Lower Egypt in the north, even before Ramesses XI's death. At Tanis, Smendes established the twenty-first dynasty.

Period: 1549–1069 BC