Third Intermediate Period of Egypt

Third Intermediate Period of Egypt
c. 1077 BC – c. 664 BC
Political factions fractured ancient Egypt during the Third Intermediate Period. The boundaries above show the political situation during the mid-8th century BC.
Capital	Tanis (c. 1077–943 BC, Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt) Bubastis (c. 943–716 BC, Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt) Heracleopolis Magna (c. 837–728 BC, Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt) Sais (c. 732–720 BC, Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt) Napata (c. 744–656 BC, Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt)
Common languages	Ancient Egyptian
Religion	Ancient Egyptian religion
Government	Monarchy
Pharaoh
• c. 1077–1052 BC	Smendes (first)
• c. 664–656 BC	Tantamani (last)
History
• Began	c. 1077 BC
• Ended	c. 664 BC
Preceded by Succeeded by New Kingdom of Egypt Late Period of ancient Egypt
Today part of	Egypt Sudan

The Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1077 BC, which ended the New Kingdom, and was eventually followed by the Late Period. Various points are offered as the beginning for the latter era, though it is most often regarded as dating from the foundation of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty by Psamtik I in 664 BC, following the departure of the Nubian Kushite rulers of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty after they were driven out by the Assyrians under King Ashurbanipal. The use of the term "Third Intermediate Period",^[1] based on the analogy of the well-known First and Second Intermediate Periods, was popular by 1978, when British Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen used the term for the title of his book on the period. While Kitchen argued that the period was 'far from being chaotic' and hoped that his work would lead to the abolishment of the term, with his own preference being the 'Post-Imperial epoch', his use of the term as a title seems only to have entrenched the use of the term.^[2]

The period was ruled by non-native Egyptians and is viewed as one of decline and political instability including division of the state, coinciding with the Late Bronze Age collapse of civilizations in the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean (including the Greek Dark Ages).