Lisht in the context of Mastaba

The Middle Kingdom of Egypt (also known as The Period of Reunification) is the period in the history of ancient Egypt following a period of political division known as the First Intermediate Period. The Middle Kingdom lasted from approximately 2040 to 1782 BC, stretching from the reunification of Egypt under the reign of Mentuhotep II in the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Twelfth Dynasty. The kings of the Eleventh Dynasty ruled from Thebes and the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty ruled from el-Lisht.

The concept of the Middle Kingdom as one of three golden ages was coined in 1845 by German Egyptologist Baron von Bunsen, and its definition evolved significantly throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Some scholars also include the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt wholly into this period, in which case the Middle Kingdom would end around 1650 BC, while others only include it until Merneferre Ay around 1700 BC, last king of this dynasty to be attested in both Upper and Lower Egypt. During the Middle Kingdom period, Osiris became the most important deity in popular religion. The Middle Kingdom was followed by the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt, another period of division that involved foreign rule of Lower Egypt by the Hyksos of West Asia.

Senebtisi was an ancient Egyptian woman who lived at the end of the 12th Dynasty, around 1800 BC. She is only known from her undisturbed burial found at Lisht.

Very little is known about Senebtisi. On the objects found in her tomb she has the second name Zathapy (daughter of Apis). She bears the common title lady of the house. Her husband or parents are not mentioned in her tomb.

Sesenebnef was an ancient Egyptian chief lector priest of the Thirteenth Dynasty, around 1750 BC. He is mainly known from his tomb at Lisht, which was excavated around 1900. The tomb was found looted but still contained the remains of two wooden coffins, one placed inside the other. The remains of the coffins were found in a poor state of preservation. Therefore, the inscriptions on the coffin were copied and the coffins were left on the site. These texts belong to the longest religious texts of the late Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. Many spells on the coffins are only known from the Book of the Dead which dates several hundred years later.

Itjtawy or It-Towy ("Seizer of the Two Lands"), also known by its full name Amenemhat-itjtawy ("Amenemhat seizes the Two Lands"), was an ancient Egyptian royal city established by pharaoh Amenemhat I.

As yet, Itjtawy’s exact location remains unidentified. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the site lies beneath cultivated fields east of the pyramids of Amenemhat I and Senusret I at Lisht.
There is evidence that Amenemhat, the founder of the 12th Dynasty who ruled approximately 1991 to 1962 BC, established Itjtawy during his regnal year 20, replacing Thebes as the capital of Egypt. However, the earliest known mention of Itjtawy is dated to the pharaoh’s regnal year 30 (ten years later than its presumed foundation), and is represented by the double-dated stela CG 20516 now in Cairo Museum.

The Pyramid of Amenemhat I is an Egyptian burial structure built at Lisht by the founder of the 12th Dynasty of Egypt, Amenemhat I.

This structure returned to the approximate size and form of Old Kingdom pyramids. It also, however, established a new tradition of giving each component structure in the pyramid complex its own unique name. The structures together were known as "The places of the appearances of Amenemhat".