Second, they fostered a new pantheon of gods, the star of which was Amun, which means hidden. So, here's a little lesson from history. Hidden gods tend to do well because they're omnipresent. So, Amun eventually merged with Ra to form the god Amun-Ra, who was like the best god ever, and all the Middle Kingdom pharaohs made temples for him and devoted all of their surplus to his glory. The Middle Kingdom also developed an interest in conquering, specifically the new pharaoh's homeland of Nubia, and they developed a side interest in getting conquered, specifically by the Semitic peoples from the Levant. They were able to conquer much of Egypt using superior military technology, like bronze weapons and compound bows and chariots of fire. What?