The first inscriptions of Assyrian rulers appear…

Egypt’s Pharaoh Amenemhat II, now aged, establishes a coregency with his son Senusret II in his thirty-third Regnal Year (about 1896 BCE) in order to secure the continuity of the royal succession.

This brief coregency is to be the last certain one of the Middle Kingdom.

Senusret II, Pharaoh of Egypt (Twelfth Dynasty), who started his rule in about 1897 BCE, founds the town of Kahun near his pyramid tomb complex at el-Lahun.

The "Pectoral of Senusret II", from the tomb of princess Sithathoryunet at el-Lahun, is made around 1895–1878 BCE.

It bears the name 'Khakheperre' which was the prenomen or royal name of this Egyptian king.

Now located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, this jewelry is made of cloisonné inlays on gold of carnelian, feldspar, garnet, turquoise, lapis lazuli.

Seruset II is succeeded in 1878 by Senusret III.

The next few rulers after Senuset I are content to live in peace and enjoy the trade and tribute brought to them.

The reliefs of the Punt expedition under Hatshepsut, depicting seagoing vessels carrying the expeditionary force returning from Punt, the location of which remains a matter of speculation, have given rise to the theory that, at the time, a navigable link existed between the Red Sea and the Nile.

Pharaoh Senusret III (1878 BCE–1839 BCE) of Egypt’s Twelfth Dynasty may have had a west-east river dug through the Wadi Tumilat, joining the Nile with the Red Sea (which at this time reaches north to the Bitter Lakes), allowing direct naval trade with Punt in its presumed East African locale, and, indirectly, linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

However, numerous geological surveys conducted since the mid-1960s have found no physical evidence of any ancient man-made canal (as opposed to natural tributaries) existing in the region and extending from the Nile to the Red Sea.

Senusret II, the fourth pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt, has taken great interest in the Faiyum oasis region.

With the intention of increasing the amount of cultivable land here, he has begun work on an extensive irrigation system from the Bahr Yusuf through to Lake Moeris by means the construction of a dike at Al-Lahun and the addition of a network of drainage canals.

The importance of this project is emphasized by the pharaoh’s decision to move the royal necropolis from Dahshur to Al-Lahun where he builds his pyramid.

This location will remain the political capital of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasties of Egypt.

The king also establishes the first known worker's village in the town of nearby town of Kahun whose New Kingdom prototype will be Deir El Medina.

Ruling from 1897 BC to 1878 BCE, he is succeeded by his son, Senusret III.

Egypt began expanding into Nubia during the Middle Kingdom to gain more control over the trade routes in Northern Nubia and direct access to trade with Southern Nubia.

Senusret III, having cleared a navigable canal through the first cataract, relentlessly pushes his kingdom's expansion into Nubia (from 1866 to 1863 BCE) where he erects massive river forts including Buhen, Semna and Toshka at Uronarti.

He carries out at least four major campaigns into Nubia in his Year 8, 10, 16 and 19 respectively.

His Year 8 stela at Semna documents his victories against the Nubians through which he is thought to have made safe the southern frontier, preventing further incursions into Egypt.

Another great stela from Semna dated to the third month of Year 16 of his reign mentions his military activities against both Nubia and Canaan.

In it, he admonishes his future successors to maintain the new border which he has created.

His final Nubian campaign, which is in Year 19, is less successful because the king's forces are caught by the Nile being lower than normal and they have to retreat and abandon their campaign to avoid being trapped in hostile Nubian territory.

Twelfth dynasty ruler Senusret III (1878 to 1839 BCE) further consolidates royal authority by suppressing the provincial rulers and aiding the rise of a bureaucratic and trading middle class.

Gungunum's two successors, Abisare (circa 1905 BCE) and Sumu-el (circa 1894 BCE), both take steps to cut Isin completely off from access to canals.

Isin will quickly lose political and economical force after this period.

Sippar comes under the control of the Babylonian ruling house in 1838.

Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria, another Amorite, is he most powerful ruler in Mesopotamia immediately preceding the rise of Hammurabi of Babylon.

His father Ila-kabkabu ruled a kingdom on the borders of Mari and was an Amorite.

Upon his father's death, the kingdom was inherited by another brother, leaving Shamshi-Adad to build his own from scratch.

He first conquers Shekhna and renames the city Shubat-Enlil.

The modern name of the site is Tell Leilan.

He then seizes the fortress Ekallatum on the left bank of the Tigris.

This is accomplished only on the second try: a first attempt failed, after which Shamshi-Adad fled to Babylon.

He returned eventually and was successful.

This conquest makes it possible for him to control the city-state of Assur, which is a flourishing city that trades heavily with Anatolia.

He puts his first son, Ishme-Dagan I, on the throne of Ekallatum and continues his expansion.