Hyksos

Hyksos
A man described as "Abisha the Hyksos"
(𓋾𓈎𓈉 ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣswt, Heqa-kasut for "Hyksos"), leading a group of Aamu.
Tomb of Khnumhotep II (circa 1900 BC).[1][2]
This is one of the earliest known uses of the term "Hyksos".[3]
Periods and dynasties of ancient Egypt
All years are BC
Early
Pre-dynastic period
First Dynasty I c. 3150–2890
Second Dynasty II 2890–2686
Old Kingdom
Third Dynasty III 2686–2613
Fourth Dynasty IV 2613–2498
Fifth Dynasty V 2498–2345
Sixth Dynasty VI 2345–2181
First Intermediate
Seventh Dynasty VII spurious
Eighth Dynasty VIII 2181–2160
Ninth Dynasty IX 2160–2130
Tenth Dynasty X 2130–2040
Early Eleventh Dynasty XI 2134–2061
Middle Kingdom
Late Eleventh Dynasty XI 2061–1991
Twelfth Dynasty XII 1991–1803
Thirteenth Dynasty XIII 1803–1649
Second Intermediate
Fourteenth Dynasty XIV 1705–1690
Fifteenth Dynasty (Hyksos) XV 1674–1535
Sixteenth Dynasty XVI 1660–1600
Abydos Dynasty 1650–1600
Seventeenth Dynasty XVII 1580–1549
New Kingdom
Eighteenth Dynasty XVIII 1549–1292
Nineteenth Dynasty XIX 1292–1189
Twentieth Dynasty XX 1189–1077
Third Intermediate
Twenty-first Dynasty XXI 1069–945
Twenty-second Dynasty XXII 945–720
Twenty-third Dynasty XXIII 837–728
Twenty-fourth Dynasty XXIV 732–720
Twenty-fifth Dynasty (Nubian) XXV 732–653
Late Period
Twenty-sixth Dynasty XXVI 672–525
XXVII 525–404
Twenty-eighth Dynasty XXVIII 404–398
Twenty-ninth Dynasty XXIX 398–380
Thirtieth Dynasty XXX 380–343
XXXI 343–332
Hellenistic Egypt
Thirty-second Dynasty XXXII 332–305
Thirty-third Dynasty XXXIII 305–30
Roman Egypt
XXXIV 30 BC – 313 AD
Byzantine Egypt
XXXV 379 AD – 641 AD

The Hyksos (/ˈhɪksɒs/; Egyptian ḥqꜣ(w)-ḫꜣswt, Egyptological pronunciation: heqau khasut,[4] "ruler(s) of foreign lands"), in modern Egyptology, are the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt[5] (fl. c. 1650–1550 BC).[a] Their seat of power was the city of Avaris in the Nile Delta, from where they ruled over Lower Egypt and Middle Egypt up to Cusae.

In the Aegyptiaca, a history of Egypt written by the Greco-Egyptian priest and historian Manetho in the 3rd century BC, the term Hyksos is used ethnically to designate people of probable West Semitic, Levantine origin.[1][9] While Manetho portrayed the Hyksos as invaders and oppressors, this interpretation is questioned in modern Egyptology.[10] Instead, Hyksos rule might have been preceded by groups of Canaanite peoples who gradually settled in the Nile Delta from the end of the Twelfth Dynasty onwards and who may have seceded from the crumbling and unstable Egyptian control at some point during the Thirteenth Dynasty.[11]

The Hyksos period marks the first in which foreign rulers ruled Egypt.[12] Many details of their rule, such as the true extent of their kingdom and even the names and order of their kings, remain uncertain. The Hyksos practiced many Levantine or Canaanite customs alongside Egyptian ones.[13] They have been credited with introducing several technological innovations to Egypt, such as the horse and chariot, as well as the khopesh (sickle sword) and the composite bow, a theory which is disputed.[14]

The Hyksos did not control all of Egypt. They coexisted with the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties, which were based in Thebes.[15] Warfare between the Hyksos and the pharaohs of the late Seventeenth Dynasty eventually culminated in the defeat of the Hyksos by Ahmose I, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt.[16] In the following centuries, the Egyptians would portray the Hyksos as bloodthirsty and oppressive foreign rulers.

  1. ^ a b Van de Mieroop 2011, p. 131.
  2. ^ Bard 2015, p. 188.
  3. ^ Willems 2010, p. 96.
  4. ^ Bourriau 2000, p. 174.
  5. ^ Bietak 2001, p. 136.
  6. ^ Bietak 2012, p. 1.
  7. ^ Schneider 2006, p. 196.
  8. ^ Stiebing 2009, p. 197.
  9. ^ Mourad 2015, p. 10.
  10. ^ Ilin-Tomich 2016, p. 5.
  11. ^ Bourriau 2000, pp. 177–178.
  12. ^ Morenz & Popko 2010, p. 104.
  13. ^ Bourriau 2000, p. 182.
  14. ^ Ilin-Tomich 2016, p. 12.
  15. ^ Ilin-Tomich 2016, p. 7.
  16. ^ Morenz & Popko 2010, pp. 108–109.


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