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Third Intermediate Period
Also called: Late Dynastic Period
Period of Ancient Egypt, 1069-664 BCE, 405 years, covering the 21st through the 25th Dynasty.
As is the case with Egypt's other intermediate periods, the third involves conflicts, instability and a divided Egypt, but stability was most common. For long periods, the country was even united.
While not up to the same cultural achievements as in earlier periods, Egypt was still a civilized region in many respects.
This period saw several changes that would survive the intermediate period.
Reconstructing this period involves certain challenges, like the whole period being ommitted from any king-list. There is some scant information from Manetho, but not even archeaoligical material is of much aid. Except Tanis in Lower Egypt, very little survives.
There are variations to the reconstructed length of this period. Its beginning is estimated between 1075 and 1069; its transition in the so-called Late Period is usually firmly set to 656, when using the establishment of the 26th Dynasty as the end.
Many historical accounts place the 26th Dynasty into the Third Intermediate Period, which ends in 525. With this reconstruction, the Third Intermediate Period lasts 544 years.
This period was very much dominated by foreign peoples. Already towards the end of the New Kingdom, most of the Egyptian army consisted of Libyan mercenaries. In the north, two Libyan peoples would establish themselves. The Meshwesh came to dominate in the East, eventually making Tanis their capital (21st Dynasty). In the West, the Libu dominated, and when establishing themselves as rulers of Egypt with the 24th and the 26th Dynasty, Sais became new capital. The Libyans were largely Egyptianized, but kept some original cultural elements, like their names and their chiefs wore a feather in the hair.
In the south, the Nubians acted not as an Egyptian people, but exerciesed control over Upper Egypt before and during their 25th Dynasty. The Assyrians was the fourth people to have great impact on Egyptian society, but treated Egypt as a vassal state, sending military expeditions deep into Egypt in the 7th century BCE.
With the great Libyan immigration to the north over the preceding centuries, a few interesting cultural differences emerged. In Lower Egypt, demotic script was used for business documents, while hieratic was used in Thebes. There was also differnences in the use of language, more archaic in the south than the north.
This period begins with the death of Ramses 11 in 1070, but in reality, Egypt was divided long before this. Civil wars had ravaged the country for years, his main opponent had been the High Priest of Amon in Thebes.
The beginning of this period was less dramatic than it seems, since the High Priest of Amon at Thebes and the King Smendes in Tanis in the north were both from the same family.
More importance to Egypt was the loss of Nubia, with its gold mines and lucrative trade with African lands further south. State revenues were seriously affected by this.
Egypt was united for generations during the 22nd Dynasty, 945-ca. 870, and ca. 860-818. The power struggle between 870 and 860 affected all of Egypt, but the main power centres were Sais and Thebes, and eventually, in 818, a new dynasty emerged from Thebes, the 23rd.
Most information suggest that Egypt's economic weakness persisted throughout the Third Intermediate Period. Cases like Osorkon 1 dedicating 391 tons of gold Egyptian temples is not a clear reflection of a rich state; most of the precious materials were robbed from New Kingdom tombs and booty from the military campaign to Palestine by Shoshenq 1 around 925 BCE.
It was when Cushite control over Upper Egypt came to an end in 664, that Egyptian dynastic unity is defined to reemerge. But this is a very misleading division. Not only did the Cushites exercise full control over Egypt for a period of 54 years, they were also great patrons of Egyptian culture.
The new dynasty from 664, the 26th Dynasty began as client kings established by the Assyrians, but would enable themselves to the extent that Egyptian independence was restablished.
Strangely, the Persian periods 525-404 and 343-332 are not defined as intermediate periods, although Egypt during this periods was merely a Persian province.
For a few decades, dynasties apparently as far in between in years as the 22nd (Lower Egypt) and 25th (Upper Egypt) ruled parallel.
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By: Tore Kjeilen
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