Third Intermediate Period of Egypt
The Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1077 BC, which ended the New Kingdom, and was eventually followed by the Late Period. Various points are offered as the beginning for the latter era, though it is most often regarded as dating from the foundation of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty by Psamtik I in 664 BC, following the departure of the Nubian Kushite rulers of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty after they were driven out by the Assyrians under King Ashurbanipal. The use of the term "Third Intermediate Period",[1] based on the analogy of the well-known First and Second Intermediate Periods, was popular by 1978, when British Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen used the term for the title of his book on the period. While Kitchen argued that the period was 'far from being chaotic' and hoped that his work would lead to the abolishment of the term, with his own preference being the 'Post-Imperial epoch', his use of the term as a title seems only to have entrenched the use of the term.[2]
Third Intermediate Period of Egypt
- Tanis
(c. 1077–943 BC, Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt) - Bubastis
(c. 943–716 BC, Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt) - Heracleopolis Magna
(c. 837–728 BC, Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt) - Sais
(c. 732–720 BC, Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt) - Napata
(c. 744–656 BC, Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt)
Monarchy
Smendes (first)
Tantamani (last)
c. 1077 BC
c. 664 BC
The period was ruled by non-native Egyptians and is viewed as one of decline and political instability including division of the state, coinciding with the Late Bronze Age collapse of civilizations in the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean (including the Greek Dark Ages).
Historiography[edit]
The historiography of this period is disputed for a variety of reasons. Firstly, there is a dispute about the utility of a very artificial term that covers an extremely long and complicated period of Egyptian history. The Third Intermediate Period includes long periods of stability as well as chronic instability and civil conflict: its very name rather clouds this fact. Secondly, there are significant problems of chronology stemming from several areas, there are the difficulties in dating that are common to all of Egyptian chronology and are compounded by synchronisms with Biblical archaeology that also contain heavily disputed dates.
Fringe theories[edit]
Peter James, along with several other academics, argued contra Kitchen that the period lasted less than 200 years, starting later than 850 BC but ending at the conventional date, as the five dynasties had many years of overlap.[12] Some theorists such as David Rohl have controversial theories about the family relationships of the dynasties comprising the period.