HistoryThe First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom

Senusret III and Nubia

Senusret III built a chain of forts at the Second Cataract, fixed the southern border, and reduced the power of provincial governors.

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Among the 12th Dynasty kings, Senusret III (c. 1870–1831 BC) left one of the deepest marks. Later Egyptians remembered him as a great conqueror and honored him as a god in Nubia. His statues show a careworn, heavy-lidded face, unlike the calm, youthful faces of earlier kings.

Key idea

Senusret III built a chain of forts at the Second Cataract, fixed the southern border at Semna with an inscribed stela, and his reign saw the great provincial governors lose their old independence.
The First Cataract at Aswan and, far to the south, the Second Cataract with the forts of Buhen and Semna. Kerma lay beyond, in Kush.

The forts

Middle Kingdom builders lined the rocky Second Cataract with massive mud-brick forts: Buhen, Mirgissa, Semna, Kumma and others, with thick walls, towers, ditches and gates. Some were begun earlier, under Senusret I; Senusret III added more and fixed the frontier. The forts guarded the river, watched the desert and controlled trade with Kush, whose kingdom was centered at Kerma. Most of these forts now lie under Lake Nasser.

Why it works

The Second Cataract is a natural choke point: boats must slow down and be hauled through, so a few forts could control everything that moved on the river. Gold, ivory, ebony and incense came from the south, and holding the cataract let Egypt control that trade.

The Semna stela

In his Year 8, Senusret III set up a boundary stela at Semna. It says no Nubian may pass north by water or by land, except to trade or on official business. A second stela, of his Year 16, praises any son of his who holds the border and tells of a statue of the king set up there, so the border was guarded by his image as well as his soldiers.

The provinces

Around his reign, the great tombs of provincial governors, like those at Beni Hasan, stop being built, and the government seems to have been reorganized into large departments run from the capital. Many historians think Senusret III curbed the governors' power; others think the change was more gradual. Either way, the court was stronger at the end.

Worked example: Where was the border?

In the Old Kingdom, Egypt's usual southern border was at the First Cataract (Aswan). Where was it under Senusret III?
  1. The forts and the boundary stela stand at the Second Cataract.
  2. The Second Cataract is more than 300 km south of the First.
  3. So the border had moved far south, deep into Lower Nubia.

Answer: At Semna, by the Second Cataract.

Common mistake

Placing Egypt's border at Aswan for all of history. In the Middle Kingdom Egypt pushed south to the Second Cataract, and in the New Kingdom farther still. The border moved with Egypt's power.

Practice

Pass with 3 right answers, the last 2 in a row. Each right answer earns 2 XP.

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Sources and further reading

  • Ian Shaw, ed., The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford, 2000), ch. 7
  • James Henry Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, vol. 1 (Chicago, 1906), the Semna stelae of Senusret III
  • Wikipedia, "Senusret III"
  • Wikipedia, "Semna (Nubia)"
  • Wikipedia, "Buhen"
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