Statue of the Lady Tjerty

Following the divisive incursions of the Hyksos in the Delta and the Kerma Nubians in southern Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, Egypt was reunited by the Theban pharaohs who founded the 18th Dynasty and the New Kingdom (1539-1077 BC). As Egypt expanded militarily to secure its borders, the country experienced a flowering of the arts. Wealth and artistic influence flowed into the country from its conquests in the Levant. The art of the early 18th Dynasty evoked the glorious days of the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Queen Hatshepsut went so far as to build her mortuary temple next to, and in imitation of, that of the illustrious Middle Kingdom pharaoh Nebhepetre Mentuhotep. Private sculpture, as well, copied many of the forms and details of Middle Kingdom antecedents.