by Tammyjo Eckhart

Created on: April 21, 2009

Exactly like the First and Second Intermediate Periods of ancient Egyptian history, the Third grew from a decaying 20th Dynasty. However, unlike those earlier periods, it was also caused by a general upheaval in the Mediterranean that had very little to do with the Nile delta and valley itself and it would last for over three centuries from approximately the 11th through the 8th centuries bce.

Near the end of the 19th Dynasty, approximately around the end of the 13th century or 1200 bce, waves of pirates invaded large parts of the eastern side of the ancient Mediterranean. One by one the great kingdoms and empires of that world crumbled as the "Sea Peoples" as written and visual documents describe them, invaded, destroyed and eventually settled down. Our written evidence and our artifacts are meagre for this period because of the wide-scale destruction that occurred for a few centuries. In Egypt, the 19th Dynasty managed to hold off the invaders and the 20th continued that work but while it struggled to maintain stability in an unstable world, it was weakened until a new family and a brotherhood of priests were able to claim power during a 300+ year span.

The power of religious official had been growing for two dynasties, indeed some scholars think this was the real reason for Akhenaten's religious changes, and the instability of the entire region provided the priests with the means to claim political power as well in part of Upper Egypt. Not nobility himself, Smendes, the founder of the 21st Dynasty used the Chief Theban Priest PInudjem to legitimate his authority and in turn offered this same recognition for the southern region to the religious officials. Over time, the Thebans would control about 1/3 of the Nile Valley.

At the same time, external forces were consolidating their power, with both old and new kingdoms beginning inluding the NeoAssyrian and Babylonians, Israel and Judah, the Phoenicians, and the Greeks. Meanwhile within Africa itself, both the Nubians and the Libyans were vying for control over parts of Egypt; the Libyans in the north and the Nubians or Kushites from Napata in the south. By the 9th century bce, the situation had detoriated and as many as three separate dynasties claimed power in just the Delta itself while foreigners established bases as well.

Internally, artifacts show that this time period was one of economic decline. While the Chief Priests and the competing political powers did continue to do religious monuments, tombs and other public buildings attest to less use of rare materials, less grave goods, and goods of poorer quality. This was true for the entire Mediterranean though and not merely Egyptian problems. Oddly the number of "royal cities" increased as administrative powers were extended to family members both among the Priesthood and the Secular rulers. Traditional gods and symbols continued to be used but as in previous intermediate periods, foreign influences can be seen in art and technology though none rival the importance of those introduced during the Second Intermediate period.

Under Piankhy, the king of Napata, the Nubians began to push northward and this seems to have created a need for unity among these competing native and foreign rulers. This led to the rise of the Saite Dynasty which marks the beginning of the "Late Period" where two political powers controlled Egypt before the Persians conquered it.

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