During the Old and Middle Kingdoms, it was very uncommon for women to participate in the Egyptian priesthood. The notable exception to this was the cult of Hathor. Hathor is one of the more important Goddesses in the ancient Egyptian pantheon. She is associated with motherhood, femininity, and love.

Tomb raiding was common throughout ancient Egyptian history. Seeing as tomb raiding involved the desecration of a former ruler’s remains and the theft of this property, it is reasonable to infer that religious worship and adherence to social norms must not have been uniform in Egyptian society. After all, conventional Egyptian wisdom declared that a Pharaoh lived forever, as a God after his death, and therefore desecrating his tomb would naturally seem to incur divine retribution. For some people to have done this, means they must not have feared the consequences of their actions.

In ancient Egyptian society, property was generally passed down to the surviving members of the family after someone had died. An individual could specify, in their will, to whom they wished to leave their possessions. Women were more equal in Egyptian society than elsewhere and could both pass down and inherit property. Both sons and daughters expected an equal share of their parent’s wealth unless otherwise stipulated.

According to ancient Egyptian belief, a Pharaoh acquired divinity upon coronation. This reflects how the ancient Egyptians recognized the divinity of the office of the Pharaoh, but conceded that the ruler himself was still a human man. Some Egyptologists disagree with this contention and argue that Pharaohs only acquired divinity after their death. There is some debate about this matter, but general consensus is that the Pharaoh became a living deity when he was crowned.

Rock-throwing slings, bow and arrows, and spears were all common weapons from the Pre-Dynastic Period onwards. There is no archaeological record of constructed, rope wound weapons like cross bows.

The Hyksos are primarily notable for invading Egypt and bringing to an end the rule of the Middle Kingdom. In the mid-seventeenth century BCE, the Hyksos invaded the fractured and weak ruling dynasties in Egypt and swiftly conquered them. The Hyksos ruled over Egypt for approximately a century before they were overthrown.

Nubia was a notable rival civilization that existed to the south of Egypt throughout much of the history of ancient Egypt. Like Egypt, Nubia emerged along the banks of the Nile River. The relationship between Nubia and Egypt varied widely throughout the long period of ancient Egyptian history. For many years they were important trading partners; then, during the Middle and New Kingdoms, Nubia was essentially an Egyptian tributary state; but, during the Third Intermediate Period, Nubia actually ruled Egypt as the 24th Dynasty.

During the Middle Kingdom period, the Egyptians constructed several forts along the border with Nubia. These fortresses were often ineffective and hard to defend. Iken, for example, was built on flat ground and so was not well-equipped to resist a sustained invasion. Because of this ineffectiveness, many Egyptologists believe that these forts were intended to instill fear and awe so as to discourage invasion, rather than to actually withstand invasion.

Accounts of the Pharaoh’s frequent military campaigns are legion. These accounts almost always convey that the Pharaoh had won a great victory, even if he did not. This demonstrates how the Egyptian government used propaganda to reinforce the notion of the Pharaoh’s absolute power and authority.

Iken was a fortress built during the reigns of Senusret II and III, during the height of the Middle Kingdom. Iken was the largest fortress built during this period. It was built in southern Egypt, along the border with Nubia, to protect against Nubian invasion.