Egypt's Third Intermediate Period

Timeline

1. c. -1070Tanis · Nile DeltaAfter Ramesses XI's death, Smendes I established the Twenty-First Dynasty at Tanis, shifting the northern political center from Thebes; royal authority nominally continued but its real control was greatly weakened.
2. c. -1050–-950Thebes · Upper EgyptThe high priests of Amun at Thebes in the south formed a semi-independent theocratic polity parallel to the pharaonic regime in the north; Egypt remained factually divided for a long period and provincial governors grew powerful.
3. c. -945–-715Bubastis · Nile DeltaThe Libyan-descended military leader Shoshenq I founded the Twenty-Second Dynasty; Libyan-descended nobles gradually took control of key military and political posts, further localizing royal power and laying the foundation for later Libyan dynastic rule.