26a: Intef the Great, Part 1 - The First Intermediate Period (Part 5a)

The History of Egypt Podcast

Dominic Perry

History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2014

⏱️ 28 minutes

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Summary

Newly researched and updated in 2024. Intef the Great (c.2050—2000 BCE), Part 1. The reign of Intef II, ruler of Waset (Thebes) shows a sudden surge in expansion and conflict. Seeking absolute power over the south, Intef brought major districts like Abu (Elephantine) into his territory. He made alliances with the rulers of Wawat (Nubia). Then, he sent his armies north to seize a sacred city… Episode details: Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net. Music and interludes by Jeffrey Goodman www.jeffreygoodman.com. Interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com. Select Bibligraphy: M. D. Adams, ‘Community and Society in Egypt in the First Intermediate Period: An Archaeological Investigation of the Abydos Settlement Site’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Michigan (2005). D. Arnold, Gräber des Alten und Mittleren Reiches in El-Tarif (Mainz, 1976). D. D. Baker, Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs Volume I: Predynastic to the Twentieth Dynasty 3300 - 1069 BC (Cairo, 2008). H. Brunner, Die Texte aus den Gräbern der Herakleopolitenzeit von Siut mit Übersetzung und Erläuterungen (Glückstadt, 1937). J. J. Clère and J. Vandier, Textes de la Première Période Intermédiare et de la XIeme Dynastie (Brussels, 1948). J. C. Darnell and D. Darnell, ‘New Inscriptions of the Late First Intermediate Period from the Theban Western Desert and the Beginnings of the Northern Expansion of the Eleventh Dynasty’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 56 (1997), 241--258. W. Ejsmond, ‘The Nubian Mercenaries of Gebelein in Light of Recent Field Research’, Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 14 (2017), 11--13. N. Fields, Soldier of the Pharaoh: Middle Kingdom Egypt 2055--1650 BC (2007). H. G. Fischer, Inscriptions from the Coptite Nome: Dynasties VI-XI (Analecta orientalia 40; Rome, 1964). H. G. Fischer, ‘Provincial Inscriptions of the Heracleopolitan Period’, Varia Nova, Egyptian Studies 3 (New York, 1996), 79--90. G. P. Gilbert, Weapons, Warriors, and Warfare in Early Egypt (Oxford, 2004). H. Goedicke, ‘The Inscription of Dmi’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 19 (1960), 288--291. W. Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt (London, 2006 & 2024). R. Landgráfová, It Is My Good Name That You Should Remember: Egyptian Biographical Texts on Middle Kingdom Stelae (Prague, 2011). M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms (Los Angeles, 1973). M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Autobiographies Chiefly of the Middle Kingdom: A Study and an Anthology (Freiburg, 1988). D. O’Connor, Abydos: Egypt’s First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris (London, 2009). S. Seidlmayer, ‘The First Intermediate Period (c. 2160--2055 BC)’, in I. Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford, 2000), 108--136. I. Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Warfare (Oxford, 2019). J. Wegner, ‘The Stela of Idudju-Iker, Foremost-One of the Chiefs of Wawat: New Evidence on the Conquest of Thinis Under Wahankh Antef II’, Revue d’égyptologie 68 (2018), 153--209. T. Wilkinson, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt: The History of a Civilisation from 3000 BC to Cleopatra (London, 2010). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The year was 2050 BCE, approximately.
0:13.0	In southern Egypt, King Intef I was dead.
0:17.6	His reign had been short, just five years or so. But he was accomplished. Under Intef's
0:24.4	leadership, the soldiers of Wasset, Thebes or Luxor, had pushed northward against their
0:30.3	neighbours. They had fought the servants of the royal kingdom, and brought major towns like
0:36.0	Iyunet or Dendera into the fold.
0:39.6	They had seized control of the desert roads, leaving inscriptions on cliffs to mark their
0:45.1	attack.
0:46.3	And finally, they had defeated their neighbours, the overlords of Gebtu, or Koptos.
0:53.2	The Thebans had surrounded Gebtu, seizing land and towns to the north
0:57.7	and south, isolating their enemy. Then, they had moved in for the kill, possibly destroying
1:04.6	the town called Yushen-Shen, modern Khosam, and expelling the enemy from this region. As the dust settled on these conflicts
1:14.4	and on Intif's reign, the southern kingdom, quote-unquote, had doubled its territory. However,
1:22.5	they still had a long way to go before achieving ultimate victory. The captor of Gebtu and Eunet meant that the
1:30.5	Thebans controlled half of the Kenna Bend, the great eastward extension of the Nile River. But
1:37.4	the other half of the bend still belonged mostly to the Northern Kingdom, the House of Keti.
1:44.8	The northern defences were now precarious, because the Thebans also controlled the desert
1:50.5	roads.
1:51.9	That gave them multiple avenues to move against their foe and threaten northern towns.
1:57.9	They would do that very shortly. But the assault would take time, and it wouldn't be easy.
2:04.6	At this point, I think we can say that Egypt was in a state of civil war. At least two kingdoms claimed authority over the Nile Valley.
2:14.6	The old two lands, or Tawi, which make up a unified Egypt, those were
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