古埃及的三段中間期皆為王國與王國之間的過渡期，它們的歷史通常較模糊不清，因此有不少歷史學家和埃及學學者稱之為「黑暗時代」（Dark Age）。事實上，隨著大量文獻資料的解讀和考古挖掘的物品出土，20 世紀初以來，學者們將其拼湊，已著手重建這三段中間期的歷史過程，雖未百分之百精準，但已能看清大致樣貌。本文首先概述三段中間期的歷史發展，其次研究它們的起因，最後探究它們的相同與相異之處。透過以上探索方向來反思三段中間期的歷史，藉以打破前人對古埃及中間期之「黑暗」的刻板印象。

This article examines the history of the three Intermediate Periods of ancient Egypt, as well as their similarities and differences. An Intermediate Period is a transition time between the periods called Kingdoms. In general, their histories are relatively unclear and difficult to grasp. Therefore, some historians or Egyptologists regarded these Intermediate Periods as “dark ages”. However, since the beginning of 20th Century, new archaeological discoveries have been made and more inscriptions related to these Intermediate Periods have been studied. Scholars have tried to reconstruct the records of these three Intermediate Periods. This article is divided into three parts: The first part gives a historical overview of these three Intermediate Periods; the second part examines the reasons for their existence, and the third part compares their similarities and differences. Through this tripartite study, we would like to break the stereotype of “dark age” in reference to these Intermediate Periods of ancient Egypt, and present more knowledge about them.