1878-1843 B.C.

Pharaoh of twelfth-dynasty Egypt who reigned from 1836 to 1818 B.C. Sesostris strengthened the central government and secured Egypt's southern border by building a series of forts on the Nubian frontier. He divided Egypt into administrative districts, each controlled by a vizier, a reform so effective that this form of central government functioned effectively for over a century. The 11 forts he had built in Nubia were strategically placed to protect the border and regulate trade.