The Egyptian Middle Kingdom at Megiddo

An extreme simplification of the history of ancient Egypt might confine itself to action and counteraction in the play of forces between Egypt and its neighbors. Thus the late predynastic age showed strong Asiatic influences coming into the land of the Nile. Then the Old Kingdom exploited Sinai, Phoenicia, and perhaps Palestine economically. In the First Intermediate Period Asiatics "invaded" the Egyptian Delta. The Middle Kingdom moved again into Asia in some measure and with some authority. The Second Intermediate Period saw the Hyksos invasion of Egypt. The New Kingdom set up an Egyptian empire in Asia. The balance swung again with attempted invasions of Egypt in the thirteenth and twelfth centuries B.C., etc. The scheme of things becomes clearer in these later phases; the nature of the empire under the New Kingdom is fairly well known. We know less about the outreaching of the Old and Middle kingdoms into the areas beyond their normal frontiers. What was the nature of Egyptian "imperialism" under the Middle Kingdom? The Middle Kingdom did not spring into being fully armored. It took time for the pharaohs of the Eleventh and Twelfth dynasties to establish their authority within Egypt. When that was accomplished they were ready to reach out toward regions beyond the frontiers. Sesostris III established his authority solidly at the Second Cataract, and trading-posts reached as far south as Kerma near the Third Cataract. Was there a similar situation in Syria-Palestine?