ubled times that the kingdom had passed through taught the long-lived
monarchs the precaution of associating a competent successor on the
throne. The nomarchs and the other feudal chiefs were inclined to
strengthen themselves at the expense of their neighbours; a firm hand
was required to hold them in check and distribute the honours as they
were earned by faithful service. The tombs of the most favoured and
wealthy princes are magnificent, particularly those of certain families
in Middle Egypt at Beni Hasan, El Bersha, Assiut and Deir Rifa, and it
is probable that each had a court and organization within his nome like
that of the royal palace in miniature. Eventually, in the reigns of
Senwosri III. and Amenemhe III., the succession of strong kings appears
to have centralized all authority very completely. The names in the
dynasty are Amenemhe (Ammenemes) and Senwosri (formerly read Usertesen
or Senusert). The latter seems to be the origin of the Sesostris (q.v.)
and Sesoosis of the legends. Amenemhe I., the first king, whose
connexion with the previous dynasty is not known, reigned for thirty
years, ten of them being in partnership with his son Senwosri I. He had
to fight for his throne and then reorganize the country, removing his
capital or residence from Thebes to a central situation near Lisht about
25 m. south of Memphis. His monuments are widespread in Egypt, the
quarries and mines in the desert as far as Sinai bear witness to his
great activity, and we know of an expedition which he made against the
Nubians. The "Instructions of Amenemhe to his son Senwosri," whether
really his own or a later composition, refer to these things, to his
care for his subjects, and to the ingratitude with which he was
rewarded, an attempt on his life having been made by the trusted
servants in his own palace. The story of Sinuhi is the true or realistic
history of a soldier who, having overheard the secret intelligence of
Amenemhe's death, fled in fear to Palestine or Syria and there became
rich in the favour of the prince of the land; growing old, however, he
successfully sued for pardon from Senwosri and permission to return and
die in Egypt.

Senwosri I. was already the executive partner in the time of the
co-regency, warring with the Libyans and probably in the Sudan. After
Amenemhe's death he fully upheld the greatness of the dynasty in his
long reign of forty-five years. The obelisk of Heliopolis is amongst his
best-known monu