Ritual Marriage Alliances and Consolidation of Power in Middle Egypt during the Middle Kingdom

• Authors: Kanawati Naguib
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Middle Egypt is the most fertile region in the country and its provincial governors were the richest and most powerful. Intermarriages between members of neighbouring nomarchic families created a strong power base, resulting in most governors gradually representing themselves in such forms and using formulae which are strictly royal. While there is no evidence that any of the governors actually challenged the authority of the king, it seems doubtful if the latter would have been pleased with the grand claims made by some of his top administrators and the royal prerogatives they attributed to themselves. The almost simultaneous end of Middle Kingdom nobility in different provinces, under Senwosret III, even though presumably not everywhere at exactly the same time, appears to have been the result of a planned central policy, although each province was dealt with differently and as the opportunity presented itself.

Keywords

EN

Middle Kingdom Egypt; Twelfth Dynasty; provincial administration; administration, marriage and politics; crown and officials; usurpation of power

• Publisher: Instytut Kultur Śródziemnomorskich i Orientalnych PAN
• Journal: Études et Travaux (Institut des Cultures Méditerranéennes et Orientales de l’Académie Polonaise des Sciences)
• Year: 2017
• Volume: XXX
• Pages: 267–288

Dates

published

2017

Contributors

author

Kanawati Naguib

• Australian Centre for Egyptology, Macquarie University, Sydney

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Identifiers

DOI

10.12775/EtudTrav.30.013