The Old Kingdom was full of peace and prosperity (success and riches)

However,  chaos and war erupted when rival Egyptian groups began to fight for power

Around 2200 B.C. Building monumental tombs bankrupt the royal treasury 

Water shortages and famines made the people doubt the pharaoh’s power as a living god

 A long period of conflicts erupted within its borders

Around 2040 B.C., a king named Mentuhotep II reunited the kingdom

A new era of peace and prosperity began and the Middle Kingdom arrived

This period lasted until about 1650 B.C. 

During the Middle Kingdom, power was restored to the central government by the pharaohs

Farmers expanded agriculture into new regions

Great monuments, including pyramids, resumed

Pharaohs pursued an active foreign policy to increase Egypt’s wealth

 Trade expanded greatly

 Egypt’s trade network spread far to nearby lands and possibly as far as East Africa

The pharaohs expanded the military to support expansion and trade

In the northeast, they conquered lands along the eastern Mediterranean

Egypt’s southern border was also expanded

Successful attacks against the kingdom of Nubia expanded the Egyptian Kingdom further up the Nile River

Egypt had become very wealthy

Egypt’s wealth made it a tempting target for outsiders

 One foreign group was the Hyksos

The Hyksos came to live in Egypt and rose to power in Lower Egypt

 The Hyksos brought an end to the Middle Kingdom

Hyksos means "ruler of foreign lands"

These new rulers adopted the Egyptain ways and ruled for about 100 years

Ahmose (an Egyptian King) rebelled and kicked out the Hyksos