Already in the New Kingdom (about 1550-1069 BC) the administrative centre of the country was in the North. After the New Kingdom the kings of the 21st Dynasty had their capital at Tanis in the Delta. In Thebes there ruled the family of the high priests of Amun, related to the ruling family at Tanis. Many members of this family were buried in a tomb, together with the mummies of New Kingdom kings ('royal cache'). The tombs of these kings had been emptied under state control. The treasures were used for the state; the mummies were saved as part of this 'royal cache' and in a second cache in the tomb of Amenhotep II.

• Jansen-Winkeln 2001 (summary on the 21st Dynasty at Thebes, with some new conclusions: the 21st Dynasty is mainly Libyan)

• Niwinski 1988 (on the coffins of the 21st Dynasty)
• Niwinski 1989 (on the funerary papyri of the Third Intermediate Period)