The political situation in Egypt during the second intermediate period c. 1800-1550 B.C.

The Second Intermediate Period designates the 250 year period (1800-1550 BC) which separates the two glorious periods of the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom. During the 19th century BC, an invasion by Caanite tribes into the Delta took place. Around 1800 BC these people proclaimed their own king and the Delta thus became independent from the rest of Egypt. Egypt remained split between the Canaanitic rulers in North and the native Egyptian Kings in the South for the rest of the Second Intermediate Period. The division of Egypt brought about an economic decline, and the entire period is characterized by a lack of royal monuments. This circumstance has greatly hampered any attempts to establish a chronology of the period, and as a consequence it has been very difficult to date many sources which are relevant for the social and political situation of the period. The Second Intermediate Period has therefore remained one of the most obscure periods of Egypt´s ancient history.

The dissertation is a new attempt to establish a chronology for the Second Intermediate Period and define the different kingdoms, their territories and political relations. The study consists of four main chapters, three appendixes, a catalogue of sources, bibliography and indices.

Included is a catalogue of all the historical sources, about 1500, known to certify the names of the Egyptian kings of the Second Intermediate Period. Each source is described in terms of type, origin and present location, followed by bibliographical references.

Kim Ryholt, PhD, is a senior lecturer in Demotic at The Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern Studies, University of Copenhagen. He is the author of The Story of Petese Son of Petetum and Seventy other Good and Bad Stories and the editor of Acts of the Seventh International Conference of Demotic Studies.