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The Hyksos (/ˈhɪksɒs/; Egyptian ḥqꜣ(w)-ḫꜣswt, Egyptological pronunciation: heqau khasut, "ruler(s) of foreign lands"), in modern Egyptology, are the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt (fl. c. 1650–1550 BC). 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. While Manetho portrayed the Hyksos as invaders and oppressors, this interpretation is questioned in modern Egyptology. 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.

The Hyksos period marks the first in which foreign rulers ruled Egypt. 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. 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.

The Hyksos did not control all of Egypt. They coexisted with the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties, which were based in Thebes. 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. In the following centuries, the Egyptians would portray the Hyksos as bloodthirsty and oppressive foreign rulers.

Name

Etymology

Hyksos in hieroglyphs
ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣsw / ḥqꜣw-ḫꜣswt, "heqau khasut" "Hyksos" Ruler(s) of the foreign countries
Greek	Hyksos (Ὑκσώς) Hykussos (Ὑκουσσώς)
Standard characters for "Hyksos" in the label for "Abisha the Hyksos" in the tomb of Khnumhotep II, c. 1900 BC. The crook (𓋾, ḥqꜣ) means "ruler", the hill (𓈎) is a phonetic complement q/ḳ to 𓋾 while 𓈉 stands for (foreign) "country", pronounced ḫꜣst, plural ḫꜣswt. The sign 𓏥 marks the plural.

The term "Hyksos" is derived, via the Greek Ὑκσώς (Hyksôs), from the Egyptian expression 𓋾𓈎𓈉 (ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣswt or ḥqꜣw-ḫꜣswt, "heqau khasut"), meaning "rulers foreign lands". The Greek form is likely a textual corruption of an earlier Ὑκουσσώς (Hykoussôs).

The first century Jewish historian Josephus gives the name as meaning "shepherd kings" or "captive shepherds" in his Contra Apion (Against Apion), where he describes the Hyksos as Jews as they appeared in the Hellenistic Egyptian historian Manetho. "Their race bore the generic name of Hycsos, which means 'king-shepherds'. For hyc in the sacred language denotes 'king' and sos in the common dialect means 'shepherd' or 'shepherds'; the combined words form Hycsos. Some say that they were Arabians."

Josephus's rendition may arise from a later Egyptian pronunciation of ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣswt as ḥqꜣ-šꜣsw, which was then understood to mean "lord of shepherds." It is unclear if this translation was found in Manetho; an Armenian translation of an epitome of Manetho given by the late antique historian Eusebius gives the correct translation of "foreign kings".

Use

"It is now commonly accepted in academic publications that the term Ḥqꜣ-Ḫꜣswt refers only to the individual foreign rulers of the late Second Intermediate Period," especially of the Fifteenth Dynasty, rather than a people. However, Josephus used it as an ethnic term. Its use to refer to the population persists in some academic papers.

In Ancient Egypt, the term "Hyksos" (ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣswt) was also used to refer to various Nubian and especially Asiatic rulers both before and after the Fifteenth Dynasty. It was used at least since the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt (c. 2345–2181 BC) to designate chieftains from the Syro-Palestine area. One of its earliest recorded uses is found c. 1900 BC in the tomb of Khnumhotep II of the Twelfth Dynasty to label a nomad or Canaanite ruler named "Abisha the Hyksos" (using the standard 𓋾𓈎𓈉, ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣswt, "Heqa-kasut" for "Hyksos").

Based on the use of the name in a Hyksos inscription of Sakir-Har from Avaris, the name was used by the Hyksos as a title for themselves. However, Kim Ryholt argues that "Hyksos" was not an official title of the rulers of the Fifteenth Dynasty, and is never encountered together with royal titulary, only appearing as the title in the case of Sakir-Har. According to Ryholt, "Hyksos" was a generic term encountered separately from royal titulary, and in regnal lists after the end of the Fifteenth Dynasty itself. However, Vera Müller writes: "Considering that S-k-r-h-r is also mentioned with three names of the traditional Egyptian titulary (Horus name, Golden Falcon name and Two Ladies name) on the same monument, this argument is somehow strange." Danielle Candelora and Manfred Bietak also argue that the Hyksos used the title officially. All other texts in the Egyptian language do not call the Hyksos by this name, instead referring to them as Asiatics (ꜥꜣmw), with the possible exception of the Turin King List in a hypothetical reconstruction from a fragment. The title is not attested for the Hyksos king Apepi, possibly indicating an "increased adoption of Egyptian decorum". The names of Hyksos rulers in the Turin list are without the royal cartouche and have the throwstick "foreigners" determinative.

Scarabs also attest the use of this title for pharaohs usually assigned to the Fourteenth or Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt, who are sometimes called "'lesser' Hyksos." The Theban Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt is also given the title in some versions of Manetho, a fact which Bietak attributes to textual corruption. In the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and during the Ptolemaic Period, the term Hyksos was adopted as a personal title and epithet by several pharaohs or high Egyptian officials, including the Theban official Mentuemhat, Philip III of Macedon, and Ptolemy XIII. It was also used on the tomb of Egyptian grand priest Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel in 300 BC to designate the Persian ruler Artaxerxes III, although it is unknown if Artaxerxes adopted this title for himself.

Origins

Ancient historians

In his epitome of Manetho, Josephus connected the Hyksos with the Jews, but he also calls them Arabs. In their own epitomes of Manetho, the Late antique historians Sextus Julius Africanus and Eusebius say that the Hyksos came from Phoenicia. Until the excavation and discovery of Tell El-Dab'a (the site of the Hyksos capital Avaris) in 1966, historians relied on these accounts for the Hyksos period.

Modern historians

Material finds at Tell El-Dab'a indicate that the Hyksos originated in the Levant. The Hyksos' personal names indicate that they spoke a Western Semitic language and "may be called for convenience sake Canaanites."

Kamose, the last king of the Theban Seventeenth Dynasty, refers to Apepi as a "Chieftain of Retjenu" in a stela that implies a Levantine background for this Hyksos king. According to Anna-Latifa Mourad, the Egyptian application of the term ꜥꜣmw to the Hyksos could indicate a range of backgrounds, including newly arrived Levantines or people of mixed Levantine-Egyptian origin.

Due to the work of Manfred Bietak, which found similarities in architecture, ceramics and burial practices, scholars currently favor a northern Levantine origin of the Hyksos. Based particularly on temple architecture, Bietak argues for strong parallels between the religious practices of the Hyksos at Avaris with those of the area around Byblos, Ugarit, Alalakh and Tell Brak, defining the "spiritual home" of the Hyksos as "in northernmost Syria and northern Mesopotamia". The connection of the Hyksos to Retjenu also suggests a northern Levantine origin: "Theoretically, it is feasible to deduce that the early Hyksos, as the later Apophis, were of elite ancestry from Rṯnw, a toponym cautiously linked with the Northern Levant and the northern region of the Southern Levant."

Earlier arguments that the Hyksos names might be Hurrian have been rejected, while early-twentieth-century proposals that the Hyksos were Indo-Europeans "fitted European dreams of Indo-European supremacy, now discredited." Some have suggested that Hyksos or a part of them was of Maryannu origins as evident by their use and introduction of chariots and horses into Egypt. However, this theory has been too rejected by modern scholarship.

A study of dental traits by Nina Maaranen and Sonia Zakrzewski in 2021 on 90 people of Avaris indicated that individuals defined as locals and non-locals were not ancestrally different from one another. The results were in line with the archaeological evidence, suggesting Avaris was an important hub in the Middle Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean trade network, welcoming people from beyond its borders.

History

Early contacts between Egypt and the Levant

Historical records suggest that Semitic people and Egyptians had contacts at all periods of Egypt's history. The MacGregor plaque, an early Egyptian tablet dating to 3000 BC records "The first occasion of striking the East", with the picture of Pharaoh Den smiting a Western Asiatic enemy.

During the reign of Senusret II, c. 1890 BC, parties of Western Asiatic foreigners visiting the Pharaoh with gifts are recorded, as in the tomb paintings of 12th-dynasty official Khnumhotep II. These foreigners, possibly Canaanites or nomads, are labelled as Aamu (ꜥꜣmw), including the leading man with a Nubian ibex labelled as Abisha the Hyksos (𓋾𓈎𓈉 ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣsw, Heqa-kasut for "Hyksos"), the first known instance of the name "Hyksos".

Soon after, the Sebek-khu Stele, dated to the reign of Senusret III (reign: 1878–1839 BC), records the earliest known Egyptian military campaign in the Levant. The text reads "His Majesty proceeded northward to overthrow the Asiatics. His Majesty reached a foreign country of which the name was Sekmem (...) Then Sekmem fell, together with the wretched Retenu", where Sekmem (s-k-m-m) is thought to be Shechem and "Retenu" or "Retjenu" are associated with ancient Syria.

Background and arrival in Egypt

The only ancient account of the whole Hyksos period is by the Hellenistic Egyptian historian Manetho, who exists only as quoted by others. As recorded by Josephus, Manetho describes the beginning of Hyksos rule thus:

A people of ignoble origin from the east, whose coming was unforeseen, had the audacity to invade the country, which they mastered by main force without difficulty or even battle. Having overpowered the chiefs, they then savagely burnt the cities, razed the temples of the gods to the ground, and treated the whole native population with the utmost cruelty, massacring some, and carrying off the wives and children of others into slavery (Contra Apion I.75-77).

Manetho's invasion narrative is "nowadays rejected by most scholars." It is likely that more recent foreign invasions of Egypt influenced him. Instead, it appears that the establishment of Hyksos rule was mostly peaceful and did not involve an invasion of an entirely foreign population. Archaeology shows a continuous Asiatic presence at Avaris for over 150 years before the beginning of Hyksos rule, with gradual Canaanite settlement beginning there c. 1800 BC during the Twelfth Dynasty. Strontium isotope analysis of the inhabitants of Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period Avaris also dismissed the invasion model in favor of a migration one. Contrary to the model of a foreign invasion, the study didn't find more males moving into the region, but instead found a sex bias towards females, with a high proportion of 77% of females being non-locals.

Manfred Bietak argues that Hyksos "should be understood within a repetitive pattern of the attraction of Egypt for western Asiatic population groups that came in search of a living in the country, especially the Delta, since prehistoric times." He notes that Egypt had long depended on the Levant for expertise in areas of shipbuilding and seafaring, with possible depictions of Asiatic shipbuilders being found from reliefs from the Sixth Dynasty ruler Sahure. The Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt is known to have had many Asiatic immigrants serving as soldiers, household or temple serfs, and various other jobs. Avaris in the Nile Delta attracted many Asiatic immigrants in its role as a hub of international trade and seafaring.

The final powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Thirteenth Dynasty was Sobekhotep IV, who died around 1725 BC, after which Egypt appears to have splintered into various kingdoms, including one based at Avaris ruled by the Fourteenth Dynasty. Based on their names, this dynasty was already primarily of West Asian origin. After an event in which their palace was burned, the Fourteenth Dynasty would be replaced by the Hyksos Fifteenth Dynasty, which would establish "loose control over northern Egypt by intimidation or force," thus greatly expanding the area under Avaris's control.

Kim Ryholt argues that the Fifteenth Dynasty invaded and displaced the Fourteenth. However, Alexander Ilin-Tomich argues that this is "not sufficiently substantiated." Bietak interprets a stela of Neferhotep III to indicate that Egypt was overrun by roving mercenaries around the time of the Hyksos ascension to power.

Kingdom

The length of time the Hyksos ruled is unclear. The fragmentary Turin King List says that there were six Hyksos kings who collectively ruled 108 years, however in 2018 Kim Ryholt proposed a new reading of as many as 149 years, while Thomas Schneider proposed a length between 160 and 180 years. The rule of the Hyksos overlaps with that of the native Egyptian pharaohs of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties, better known as the Second Intermediate Period.

The area under direct control of the Hyksos was probably limited to the eastern Nile delta. Their capital city was Avaris at a fork on the now-dry Pelusiac branch of the Nile. Memphis may have also been an important administrative center, although the nature of any Hyksos presence there remains unclear.

According to Anna-Latifa Mourad, other sites with likely Levantine populations or strong Levantine connections in the Delta include Tell Farasha and Tell el-Maghud, located between Tell Basta and Avaris, El-Khata'na, southwest of Avaris, and Inshas. The increased prosperity of Avaris may have attracted more Levantines to settle in the eastern Delta. Kom el-Hisn, at the edge of the Western Delta, shows Near Eastern goods but individuals mostly buried in an Egyptian style, which Mourad takes to mean that they were most likely Egyptians heavily influenced by Levantine traditions or, more likely, Egyptianized Levantines. The site of Tell Basta (Bubastis), at the confluence of the Pelusiac and Tanitic branches of the Nile, contains monuments to the Hyksos kings Khyan and Apepi, but little other evidence of Levantine habitation. Tell el-Habwa (Tjaru), located on a branch of the Nile near the Sinai, also shows evidence of non-Egyptian presence. However, most of the population appears to have been Egyptian or Egyptianized Levantines. Tell El-Habwa would have provided Avaris with grain and trade goods.

In the Wadi Tumilat, Tell el-Maskhuta shows a great deal of Levantine pottery and an occupation history closely correlated to the Fifteenth Dynasty, nearby Tell el-Rataba and Tell el-Sahaba show possible Hyksos-style burials and occupation, Tell el-Yahudiyah, located between Memphis and the Wadi Tumilat, contains a large earthwork that the Hyksos may have built, as well as evidence of Levantine burials from as early as the Thirteenth Dynasty, as well as characteristic Hyksos-era pottery known as Tell el-Yahudiyeh Ware The Hyksos settlements in the Wadi Tumilat would have provided access to Sinai, the southern Levant, and possibly the Red Sea.

The sites Tell el-Kabir, Tell Yehud, Tell Fawziya, and Tell Geziret el-Faras are noted by scholars other than Mourad to contain "elements of 'Hyksos culture'", but there is no published archaeological material for them.

The Hyksos claimed to be rulers of both Lower and Upper Egypt; however, their southern border was marked at Hermopolis and Cusae. Some objects might suggest a Hyksos presence in Upper Egypt, but they may have been Theban war booty or attest simply to short-term raids, trade, or diplomatic contact. The nature of Hyksos control over the region of Thebes remains unclear. Most likely Hyksos rule covered the area from Middle Egypt to southern Palestine. Older scholarship believed, due to the distribution of Hyksos goods with the names of Hyksos rulers in places such as Baghdad and Knossos, that Hyksos had ruled a vast empire, but it seems more likely to have been the result of diplomatic gift exchange and far-flung trade networks.

Wars with the Seventeenth Dynasty

The conflict between Thebes and the Hyksos is known exclusively from pro-Theban sources, and it is not easy to construct a chronology. These sources propagandistically portray the conflict as a war of national liberation. This perspective was formerly taken by scholars as well but is no longer thought to be accurate.

Hostilities between the Hyksos and the Theban Seventeenth Dynasty appear to have begun during the reign of Theban king Seqenenra Taa. Seqenenra Taa's mummy shows that he was killed by several blows of an axe to the head, apparently in battle with the Hyksos. It is unclear why hostilities may have started. The much later fragmentary New Kingdom tale The Quarrel of Apophis and Seqenenre blames the Hyksos ruler Apepi/Apophis for initiating the conflict by demanding that Seqenenre Tao remove a pool of hippopotamuses near Thebes. However, this is a satire on the Egyptian story-telling genre of the "king's novel" rather than a historical text. A contemporary inscription at Wadi el Hôl may also refer to hostilities between Seqenenra and Apepi.

Three years later, c. 1542 BC, Seqenenre Tao's successor Kamose initiated a campaign against several cities loyal to the Hyksos, the account of which is preserved on three monumental stelae set up at Karnak. The first of the three, Carnarvon Tablet includes a complaint by Kamose about the divided and occupied state of Egypt:

To what effect do I perceive it, my might, while a ruler is in Avaris and another in Kush, I sitting joined with an Asiatic and a Nubian, each man having his (own) portion of this Egypt, sharing the land with me. There is no passing him as far as Memphis, the water of Egypt. He has possession of Hermopolis, and no man can rest, being deprived by the levies of the Setiu. I shall engage in battle with him and I shall slit his body, for my intention is to save Egypt, striking the Asiatics.

Following a common literary device, Kamose's advisors are portrayed as trying to dissuade the king, who attacks anyway. He recounts his destruction of the city of Nefrusy as well as several other cities loyal to the Hyksos. On a second stele, Kamose claims to have captured Avaris, but returned to Thebes after capturing a messenger between Apepi and the king of Kush. Kamose appears to have died soon afterward (c. 1540 BC).

Ahmose I continued the war against the Hyksos, most likely conquering Memphis, Tjaru, and Heliopolis early in his reign, the latter two of which are mentioned in an entry of the Rhind mathematical papyrus. Knowledge of Ahmose I's campaigns against the Hyksos mostly comes from the tomb of Ahmose, son of Ebana, who gives a first-person account claiming that Ahmose I sacked Avaris: "Then there was fighting in Egypt to the south of this town , and I carried off a man as a living captive. I went down into the water—for he was captured on the city side—and crossed the water carrying him. Then Avaris was despoiled, and I brought spoil from there.

Thomas Schneider places the conquest in year 18 of Ahmose's reign. However, excavations of Tell El-Dab'a (Avaris) show no widespread destruction of the city, which instead seems to have been abandoned by the Hyksos. Manetho, as recorded in Josephus, states that the Hyksos were allowed to leave after concluding a treaty:

Thoumosis ... invested the walls with an army of 480,000 men, and endeavoured to reduce to submission by siege. Despairing of achieving his object, he concluded a treaty, under which were all to evacuate Egypt and go whither they would unmolested. Upon these terms no fewer than two hundred and forty thousand, entire households with their possessions, left Egypt and traversed the desert to Syria. (Contra Apion I.88-89)

Although Manetho indicates that the Hyksos population was expelled to the Levant, there is no archaeological evidence for this, and Manfred Bietak argues based on archaeological finds throughout Egypt that it is likely that numerous Asiatics were resettled in other locations in Egypt as artisans and craftsmen. Many may have remained at Avaris, as pottery and scarabs with typical "Hyksos" forms continued to be produced uninterrupted throughout the Eastern Delta. Canaanite cults also continued to be worshiped at Avaris.

Following the capture of Avaris, Ahmose, son of Ebana, records that Ahmose I captured Sharuhen (possibly Tell el-Ajjul), which some scholars argue was a city in Canaan under Hyksos control.

Rule and administration

Administration

The Hyksos show a mix of Egyptian and Levantine cultural traits. Their rulers adopted the full ancient Egyptian royal titulary and employed Egyptian scribes and officials. They also used Near-Eastern forms of administration, such as employing a chancellor (imy-r khetemet) as the head of their administration.

Rulers

The names, the order, length of rule, and even the number of Fifteenth Dynasty rulers are not known with complete certainty. After the end of their rule, the Hyksos kings were not considered legitimate rulers of Egypt and were omitted from most king lists. The fragmentary Turin King List included six Hyksos kings, however only the name of the last, Khamudi, is preserved. Six names are also preserved in the various epitomes of Manetho, however, it is difficult to reconcile the Turin King List and other sources with names known from Manetho, mainly due to the "corrupted name forms" in Manetho. The name Apepi/Apophis appears in multiple sources, however.

Various other archaeological sources also provide names of rulers with the Hyksos title, however, the majority of kings from the second intermediate period are attested once on a single object, with only three exceptions. Ryholt associates two other rulers known from inscriptions with the dynasty, Khyan and Sakir-Har. The name of Khyan's son, Yanassi, is also preserved from Tell El-Dab'a. The two best attested kings are Khyan and Apepi. Scholars generally agree that Apepi and Khamudi are the last two kings of the dynasty, and Apepi is attested as a contemporary of Seventeenth-Dynasty pharaohs Kamose and Ahmose I. Ryholt has proposed that Yanassi did not rule and that Khyan directly preceded Apepi, but most scholars agree that the order of kings is: Khyan, Yanassi, Apepi, Khamudi. There is less agreement on the early rulers. Sakir-Har is proposed by Schneider, Ryholt, and Bietak to have been the first king.

Recently, archaeological finds have suggested that Khyan may have been a contemporary of the Thirteenth Dynasty pharaoh Sobekhotep IV, potentially making him an early rather than a late Hyksos ruler. This has prompted attempts to reconsider the entire chronology of the Hyksos period, which as of 2018 had not yet reached any consensus.

Some kings are attested from either fragments of the Turin King List or from other sources who may have been Hyksos rulers. According to Ryholt, kings Semqen and Aperanat, known from the Turin King List, may have been early Hyksos rulers, however Jürgen von Beckerath assigns these kings to the Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Another king known from scarabs, Sheshi, is believed by many scholars to be a Hyksos king, however Ryholt assigns this king to the Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Manfred Bietak proposes that a king recorded as Yaqub-Har may also have been a Hyksos king of the Fifteenth Dynasty. Bietak suggests that many of the other kings attested on scarabs may have been vassal kings of the Hyksos.

None of the proposed identifications besides of Apepi and Apophis is considered certain.

In Sextus Julius Africanus's epitome of Manetho, the rulers of Sixteenth Dynasty are also identified as "shepherds" (i.e. Hyksos) rulers. Following the work of Ryholt in 1997, most but not all scholars now identify the Sixteenth Dynasty as a native Egyptian dynasty based in Thebes, following Eusebius's epitome of Manetho; this dynasty would be contemporary to the Hyksos.

Diplomacy

The Hyksos engagement in long-distance diplomacy is confirmed by a cuneiform letter discovered in the ruins of Avaris. Hyksos diplomacy with Crete and ancient Near East is also confirmed by the presence of gifts from the Hyksos court in those places. Khyan, one of the Hyksos rulers, is known for his wide-ranging contacts, as objects in his name have been found at Knossos and Hattusha indicating diplomatic contacts with Crete and the Hittites, and a sphinx with his name was bought on the art market at Baghdad and might demonstrate diplomatic contacts with Babylon, possibly with the first Kassites ruler Gandash.

The Theban rulers of the Seventeenth Dynasty are known to have imitated the Hyksos both in their architecture and regnal names. There is evidence of friendly relations between the Hyksos and Thebes, including possibly a marriage alliance, before the reign of the Theban pharaoh Seqenenra Tao.

An intercepted letter between Apepi and the King of Kingdom of Kerma, also called Kush, to the south of Egypt recorded on the Carnarvon Tablet has been interpreted as evidence of an alliance between the Hyksos and Kermans. Intensive contacts between Kerma and the Hyksos are further attested by seals with the names of Asiatic rulers or with designs known from Avaris at Kerma. The troops of Kerma are known to have raided as far north as Elkab according to an inscription of Sobeknakht II. According to his second stele, Kamose was effectively caught between the campaign for the siege of Avaris in the north and the offensive of Kerma in the south; it is unknown whether or not the Kermans and Hyksos were able to combine forces against him. Kamose reports returning "in triumph" to Thebes. Lutz Popko suggests that this "was perhaps a mere tactical retreat to prevent a war on two fronts". Ahmose I was also forced to confront a threat from the Nubians during his siege of Avaris: he was able to stop the forces of Kerma by sending a strong fleet, killing their ruler named A'ata. Ahmose I boasts about these successes on his tomb at Thebes. The Kermans also appear to have provided mercenaries to the Hyksos.

Vassalage

Many scholars have described the Egyptian dynasties contemporary to the Hyksos as "vassal" dynasties, an idea partially derived from the Nineteenth-Dynasty literary text The Quarrel of Apophis and Seqenenre, in which it is said "the entire land paid tribute to him , delivering their taxes in full as well as bringing all good produce of Egypt." The belief in Hyksos vassalage was challenged by Ryholt as "a baseless assumption." Roxana Flammini suggests instead that Hyksos exerted influence through (sometimes imposed) personal relationships and gift-giving. Manfred Bietak continues to refer to Hyksos vassals, including minor dynasties of West Semitic rulers in Egypt.

Society and culture

Royal construction and patronage

The Hyksos do not appear to have produced any court art, instead appropriating monuments from earlier dynasties by writing their names on them. Many of these are inscribed with the name of King Khyan. A large palace at Avaris has been uncovered, built in the Levantine rather than the Egyptian style, most likely by Khyan. King Apepi is known to have patronized Egyptian scribal culture, commissioning the copying of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. The stories preserved in the Westcar Papyrus may also date from his reign.

The so-called "Hyksos sphinxes" or "Tanite sphinxes" are a group of royal sphinxes depicting the earlier pharaoh Amenemhat III (Twelfth Dynasty) with some unusual traits compared to conventional statuary, for example prominent cheekbones and the thick mane of a lion, instead of the traditional nemes headcloth. The name "Hyksos sphinxes" was given due to the fact that these were later reinscribed by several of the Hyksos kings, and were initially thought to represent the Hyksos kings themselves. Nineteenth-century scholars attempted to use the statues' features to assign a racial origin to the Hyksos. These Sphinxes were seized by the Hyksos from cities of the Middle Kingdom and then transported to their capital Avaris where they were reinscribed with the names of their new owners and adorned their palace. Seven of those sphinxes are known, all from Tanis, and now mostly located in the Cairo Museum. Other statues of Amenehat III were found in Tanis and are associated with the Hyksos in the same manner.

Burial practices

Evidence for distinct Hyksos burial practices in the archaeological record include burying their dead within settlements rather than outside them like the Egyptians. While some of the tombs include Egyptian-style chapels, they also include burials of young females, probably sacrifices, placed in front of the tomb chamber. There are also no surviving Hyksos funeral monuments in the desert in the Egyptian style, though these may have been destroyed. The Hyksos also interred infants who died in imported Canaanite amphorae. The Hyksos also practiced the burial of horses and other equids, likely a composite custom of the Egyptian association of the god Set with the donkey and near-eastern notions of equids as representing status.

Technology

The Hyksos use of horse burials suggest that the Hyksos introduced both the horse and the chariot to Egypt, however no archaeological, pictorial, or textual evidence exists that the Hyksos possessed chariots, which are first mentioned as ridden by the Egyptians in warfare against them by Ahmose, son of Ebana, at the close of Hyksos rule. In any case, it does not appear that chariots played any large role in the Hyksos rise to power or their expulsion. Josef Wegner further argues that horse-riding may have been present in Egypt as early as the late Middle Kingdom, prior to the adoption of chariot technology.

Traditionally, the Hyksos have also been credited with introducing a number of other military innovations, such as the sickle-sword and composite bow; however, "o what extent the kingdom of Avaris should be credited for these innovations is debatable," with scholarly opinion currently divided. It is also possible that the Hyksos introduced more advanced bronze working techniques, though this is inconclusive. They may have worn full-body armor, whereas the Egyptians did not wear armor or helmets until the New Kingdom.

The Hyksos also introduced better weaving techniques and new musical instruments to Egypt. They introduced improvements in viniculture as well.

• Egyptian duckbill-shaped axe blade of Syro-Palestinian type, a lethal technology probably introduced by the Hyksos (1981–1550 BC).
• A bronze Hyksos-period spearhead, found in Lachish (1780–1580 BC).
• The horse was probably introduced to Egypt by the Hyksos, and became a favourite subject of Egyptian art, as in this whip handle from the reign of Amenhotep III (1390–1353 BC).
• The two-wheeled horse chariot, here found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, may have been introduced to Egypt by the Hyksos.

Trade and economy

The early period of Hyksos presence established their capital of Avaris "as the commercial capital of the Delta". The trading relations of the Hyksos were mainly with Canaan and Cyprus. Trade with Canaan is said to have been "intensive", especially with many imports of Canaanite wares, and may have reflected the Canaanite origins of the dynasty. Trade was mostly with the cities of the northern Levant, but connections with the southern Levant also developed. Additionally, trade was conducted with Faiyum, Memphis, oases in Egypt, Nubia, and Mesopotamia. Trade relations with Cyprus were also very important, particularly at the end of the Hyksos period. Aaron Burke has interpreted the equid burials in Avaris of evidence that the people buried with them were involved in the caravan trade. Anna-Latifa Mourad argues that "Hyksos were particularly interested in opening new avenues of trade, securing strategic posts in the eastern Delta that could give access to land-based and sea-based trade routes." These include the apparent Hyksos settlements of Tell el-Habwa I and Tell el-Maskhuta in the eastern Delta.

According to the Kamose stelae, the Hyksos imported "chariots and horses, ships, timber, gold, lapis lazuli, silver, turquoise, bronze, axes without number, oil, incense, fat and honey". The Hyksos also exported large quantities of material looted from southern Egypt, especially Egyptian sculptures, to the areas of Canaan and Syria. These transfers of Egyptian artifacts to the Near East may especially be attributed to king Apepi. The Hyksos also produced local, Levantine-influenced industries, such as Tell el-Yahudiyeh Ware.

There is little evidence of trade between Upper and Lower Egypt during the Hyksos period, and Manfred Bietak proposes that there was "a mutual trade boycott". Bietak proposes that this decreased the Hyksos ability to trade with the Mediterranean and weakened their economy.

Religion

Temples in Avaris existed both in Egyptian and Levantine style, the latter presumably for Levantine gods. The Hyksos are known to have worshiped the Canaanite storm god Baal, who was associated with the Egyptian god Set. Set appears to have been the patron god of Avaris as early as the Fourteenth Dynasty. Hyksos iconography of their kings on some scarabs shows a mixture of Egyptian pharaonic dress with a raised club, the iconography of Baal. Despite later sources claiming the Hyksos were opposed to the worship of other gods, votive objects given by Hyksos rulers to gods such as Ra, Hathor, Sobek, and Wadjet have also survived.

Potential biblical connections

In the Manethonian–Josephus tradition

Josephus, and most of the writers of antiquity, associated the Hyksos with the Jews. Quoting from Manetho's Aegyptiaca, Josephus states that when the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt, they founded Jerusalem (Contra Apion I.90). It is unclear if this is original to Manetho or Josephus's own addition, as Manetho does not mention "Jews" or "Hebrews" in his preserved account of the expulsion. Josephus's account of Manetho connects the expulsion of the Hyksos to another event two hundred years later, in which a group of lepers led by the priest Osarseph were expelled from Egypt to the abandoned Avaris. There they ally with the Hyksos and rule over Egypt for thirteen years before being driven out, during which time they oppress the Egyptians and destroy their temples. After the expulsion, Osarseph changes his name to Moses (Contra Apion I.227-250). Assmann argues that this second account is largely a mixture of the experiences of the later Amarna period with the Hyksos invasion, with Osarseph likely standing in for Akhenaten. The final mention of Osarseph, in which he changes his name to Moses, may be a later interpolation. The second account is sometimes held not to have been written by Manetho at all.

In modern scholarship

The majority of modern scholars do not believe that the Egyptian story elements in the Bible can be demonstrated with historical methods. However, some scholars have attempted to tie the narratives of the Hyksos period to the exodus period.

Scholars such as Jan Assmann and Donald Redford, for instance, have suggested that the story of the biblical exodus may have been wholly or partially inspired by the expulsion of the Hyksos. Archaeologists Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman argue that the exodus narrative perhaps evolved from vague memories of the Hyksos expulsion, spun to encourage resistance to the 7th century domination of Judah by Egypt. An identification with the Hyksos would only depart minimally from accepted biblical chronology, and their expulsion is the only known large-scale expulsion of Asiatics from Egypt. Other scholars, such with Manfred Bietak, have pointed out several problems with such theories, including the conflict between the portrayal of the Hyksos as a ruling elite with a background in trade and seafaring and the biblical portrayal of the Israelites as oppressed in Egypt.

John Bright states that Egyptian and Biblical records both suggest that Semitic people maintained access to Egypt at all periods of Egypt's history, and he suggested that it is tempting to suppose that Joseph who, according to the Old Testament (Genesis 39:50), was in favour at the Egyptian court and held high administrative positions next to the ruler of the land, was associated to the Hyksos rule in Egypt during the Fifteenth Dynasty. Such a connection might have been facilitated by their shared Semitic ethnicity. He also wrote that there is no proof for these events. Howard Vos has suggested that the "coat of many colors" said to have been worn by Joseph could be similar to the colorful garments seen in the painting of foreigners in the tomb of Khnumhotep II.

Ronald B. Geobey notes a number of problems with identifying the narrative of Joseph with events either prior to or during the Hyksos' rule, such as the detail that the Egyptians abhorred Joseph's people ("shepherds"; Gen. 46:31) and numerous anachronisms. Manfred Bietak suggests that the story fits better with the ambience of the later Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt, in particular with the xenophobic policy of pharaoh Setnakhte (1189–1186 BC). And Donald Redford argues that "to read as history is quite wrongheaded," while Megan Bishop Moore and Brad E. Kelle note the lack of any extra-biblical evidence for the events of Genesis, including the Joseph story, or Exodus.

A number of scholars do not believe that the exodus has any historical basis at all, while only scholars "on the fundamentalist fringe" accept the entire biblical account "unless can be absolutely disproved". The current consensus among archaeologists is that, if an Israelite exodus from Egypt occurred, it must have happened instead in the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (13th century BC), given the first appearance of a distinctive Israelite culture in the archaeological record. The potential connection of the Hyksos to the exodus is no longer a central focus of scholarly study of the Hyksos, but this supposed connection to the Exodus has continued to inspire popular interest.

Legacy

The Hyksos' rule continued to be condemned by New Kingdom pharaohs such as Hatshepsut, who, 80 years after their defeat, claimed to rebuild many shrines and temples which they had neglected.

Ramses II moved Egypt's capital to the Delta, building Pi-Ramesses on the site of Avaris, where he set up a stela marking the 400th anniversary of the cult of Set. Scholars used to suggest that this marked 400 years since the Hyksos had established their rule, however the lists of Ramesses' ancestors continued to omit the Hyksos and there is no evidence that they were honored during his reign. The Turin King List, which includes the Hyksos and all other disputed or disgraced former rulers of Egypt, appears to date from the reign of Ramesses or one of his successors. The Hyksos are marked as foreign kings via a throw-stick determinative rather than a divine determinative after their names, and the use of the title ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣswt rather than the usual royal title. Kim Ryholt notes that these measures are unique to the Hyksos rulers and "may therefore have been a direct result of what seems to have been deliberate attempt to obliterate the memory of their kingship after their defeat."

Egyptian presence in the Levant

It is "often accepted" that Egypt established an empire in Canaan at the end of the wars against the Hyksos. Campaigns against locations in Canaan and Syria were conducted by Ahmose I and Thutmose I at the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty, as recorded in the tombs of Ahmose, son of Ebana and Ahmose pen-Nekhebet; Thutmose I is also mentioned as having hunted elephants in Syria in inscriptions at the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. Thutmose III is known to have campaigned widely, conquering the "Shasu" Bedouins of northern Canaan, and the land of Retjenu, as far as Syria and Mittani in numerous military campaigns circa 1450 BC. However, Felix Höflmayer argues that there is little evidence of other campaigns and that "there is no evidence that would suggest such a scenario" as an Egyptian empire during the Eighteenth Dynasty. As regards claims that the campaigns in the Near East were spurred on by Hyksos rule, Thomas Schneider argues that "the empire building started with a delay of two generations and seeing a direct nexus may be as much a historical fallacy as it would be to link the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 to the end of the Second World War in 1945, two generations earlier."

Later accounts

The Nineteenth-Dynasty story The Quarrel of Apophis and Seqenenre claimed that the Hyksos worshiped no god but Set, making the conflict into one between Ra, the patron of Thebes, and Set as patron of Avaris. Furthermore, the battle with the Hyksos was interpreted in light of the mythical battle between the gods Horus and Set, transforming Set into an Asiatic deity while also allowing for the integration of Asiatics into Egyptian society.

Manetho's portrayal of the Hyksos, written nearly 1300 years after the end of Hyksos rule and found in Josephus, is even more negative than the New Kingdom sources. This account portrayed the Hyksos "as violent conquerors and oppressors of Egypt" has been highly influential for perceptions of the Hyksos until modern times. Marc van de Mieroop argues that Josephus's portrayal of the initial Hyksos invasion is no more trustworthy than his later claims that they were related to the Exodus, supposedly portrayed in Manetho as performed by a band of lepers.

Early modern depictions

The discovery of the Hyksos in the 19th century, and their study following the decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts, led to various theories about their history, origin, ethnicity and appearance, often illustrated with picturesque and imaginative details.

• Hyksos invasion as imagined in the 19th century by Hermann Vogel (19th century)
• The Expulsion of the Hyksos (1906)

See also

• Mitanni
• Kassites
• Sea peoples
• Philistines
• Maryannu
• Sino-Babylonianism § Later theories
• Anra scarab (artifact)

Notes

1. Approximate dates vary by source. Bietak gives c. 1640–1532 BC, Schneider gives c. 1639–1521 BC, and Stiebing gives c. 1630–1530 BC.
2. Spelling of the hieroglyphs in sources describing the archaeological record of the historical Hyksos: first set of characters is the singular, as appearing in Abisha the Hyksos in the tomb of Khnumhotep II, c.1900 BC. The second set is in the plural, as appears in the inscriptions of known Hyksos rulers Sakir-Har, Semqen, Khyan and Aperanat.
3. "Two separate misconceptions persist, both in the scholarship and more popular works, surrounding the word "Hyksos." The first is that this term is the name of a defined and relatively large population group (see below), when in fact it is only a royal title held exclusively by individual rulers. Any standalone use of the word "Hyksos" in the following article refers specifically to the foreign kings of the 15th Dynasty." " also misrepresents the Hyksos as a population group (ethnos) as opposed to a dynasty." "Flavius Josephus used the designation "Hyksos" incorrectly as a kind of ethnic term for people of foreign origin who seized power in Egypt for a certain period. In this sense, for the sake of convenience, it is also used in the title and section headings of the present article. One should never forget, however, that, strictly spoken, the "Hyksos" were only the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty, and of simultaneous minor dynasties, who took the title ḥqꜣw-ḫꜣswt."
4. While Schneider identifies each of the names in Menatho with a pharaoh, he does not hold to Manetho's order of the reigns. So, for instance, he identifies Sakir-Har with Archles/Assis, the sixth king in Manetho, but proposes he reigned first.
5. Identified with Salitis by Bietak.
6. This name appears as a separate individual preceding Apepi, but it appears to mean "brave ass" and may be a disparaging reference to Apepi.
7. In Eusebius and Africanus's epitomes of Manetho, "Apopis" appears in final position, while Archles appears as the fifth ruler. In Josephus, Assis is the final ruler and Apophis the fifth ruler. The association of the names Archles and Assis with one another is a modern reconstruction.
8. Redford argues that the name "suits neither Assis nor Apophis".
9. In the epitome of Manetho by Eusebius, the total instead comes to 284 years.
10. This reading is based on a partially damaged section of the papyrus. Reconstructions of the damaged Turin King List proposed in 2018 would change the reading of years to up to 149 years (Ryholt) or between 160 and 180 years (Schneider).

Citations

1. ^ 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.
17. ^ Flammini 2015, p. 240.
18. ^ Ben-Tor 2007, p. 1.
19. Kamrin 2009.
20. "The Sakir-Har door jamb inscription (slide 12)" (PDF). The Second Intermediate Period: The Hyksos. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2019.
21. ^ Schneider 2008, p. 305.
22. ^ Kamrin 2009, p. 25.
23. ^ Mourad 2015, p. 9.
24. Loprieno 2003, p. 144.
25. Josephus 1926, p. 195.
26. Morenz & Popko 2010, pp. 103–104.
27. Verbrugghe & Wickersham 1996, p. 99.
28. Candelora 2018, p. 53.
29. Candelora 2018, pp. 46–47.
30. Bietak 2010, p. 139.
31. Candelora 2018, p. 65.
32. Candelora 2017, pp. 208–209.
33. Ryholt 1997, pp. 123–124.
34. ^ Curry 2018.
35. Candelora 2017, p. 211.
36. Candelora 2017, p. 204.
37. Ryholt 1997, p. 123–125.
38. ^ Müller 2018, p. 211.
39. Candelora 2017, p. 216.
40. Candelora 2017, pp. 206–208.
41. ^ Bietak 2012, p. 2.
42. Ryholt 2004.
43. Hölbl 2001, p. 79.
44. ^ Candelora 2017, p. 209.
45. Assmann 2003, p. 198.
46. ^ Flammini 2015, p. 236.
47. Bietak 2016, pp. 267–268.
48. ^ Ryholt 1997, p. 128.
49. ^ Mourad 2015, p. 216.
50. Mourad 2015, p. 11.
51. Bietak 2019, p. 61.
52. ^ Ilin-Tomich 2016, p. 6.
53. ^ Van de Mieroop 2011, p. 166.
54. Woudhuizen 2006, p. 30.
55. Glassman 2017, p. 479–480.
56. Stantis, Chris; Maaranen, Nina (1 January 2021). "The people of Avaris: Intra-regional biodistance analysis using dental non-metric traits". Bioarchaeology of the Near East.
57. ^ Bright 2000, p. 97.
58. Russmann & James 2001, pp. 67–68.
59. Pritchard 2016, p. 230.
60. Steiner & Killebrew 2014, p. 73.
61. Raspe 1998, p. 126–128.
62. Josephus 1926, p. 196.
63. O'Connor 2009, pp. 116–117.
64. Wilkinson 2013a, p. 96.
65. Daressy 1906, pp. 115–120.
66. ^ Mourad 2015, p. 130.
67. ^ Bietak 2006, p. 285.
68. Stantis, Chris; Kharobi, Arwa; Maaranen, Nina; Nowell, Geoff M.; Bietak, Manfred; Prell, Silvia; Schutkowski, Holger (15 July 2020). "Who were the Hyksos? Challenging traditional narratives using strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analysis of human remains from ancient Egypt". PLOS ONE. 15 (7): e0235414. Bibcode:2020PLoSO..1535414S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0235414. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 7363063. PMID 32667937.
69. Stantis, Chris; Kharobi, Arwa; Maaranen, Nina; Macpherson, Colin; Bietak, Manfred; Prell, Silvia; Schutkowski, Holger (1 June 2021). "Multi-isotopic study of diet and mobility in the northeastern Nile Delta". Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 13 (6): 105. Bibcode:2021ArAnS..13..105S. doi:10.1007/s12520-021-01344-x. ISSN 1866-9565. S2CID 235271929.
70. ^ Bietak 2012, p. 4.
71. ^ Bietak 2019, p. 47.
72. Bietak 1999, p. 377.
73. ^ Bourriau 2000, p. 180.
74. ^ Bietak 2012, p. 5.
75. Ryholt 1997, p. 186.
76. ^ Aston 2018, pp. 31–32.
77. ^ Bourriau 2000, p. 183.
78. Mourad 2015, pp. 43–44.
79. Mourad 2015, p. 48.
80. Mourad 2015, p. 49–50.
81. Mourad 2015, p. 21.
82. Mourad 2015, pp. 44–48.
83. ^ Mourad 2015, pp. 129–130.
84. O'Connor 2009, pp. 115–116.
85. Kopetzky & Bietak 2016, p. 362.
86. "Hyksos headband". www.metmuseum.org.
87. Mourad 2015, pp. 51–55.
88. Mourad 2015, pp. 56–57.
89. Mourad 2015, pp. 57–61.
90. Mourad 2015, p. 19.
91. Popko 2013, p. 3.
92. Popko 2013, p. 2.
93. Morenz & Popko 2010, p. 105.
94. Morenz & Popko 2010, p. 109.
95. Popko 2013, pp. 1–2.
96. ^ Popko 2013, p. 4.
97. ^ Van de Mieroop 2011, p. 160.
98. ^ Stiebing 2009, p. 200.
99. ^ Van de Mieroop 2011, p. 161.
100. Wilkinson 2013, p. 547.
101. Ritner et al. 2003, p. 346.
102. Van de Mieroop 2011, p. 177.
103. Lichthelm 2019, p. 321.
104. Daressy 1906, p. 117.
105. Montet 1968, p. 80. "Others were later added to them, things which came from the pharaoh Ahmose, like the axe decorated with a griffin and a likeness of the king slaying a Hyksos, with other axes and daggers."
106. Morgan 2010, p. 308. A color photograph.
107. Baker & Baker 2001, p. 86.
108. Schneider 2006, p. 195.
109. Bourriau 2000, pp. 201–202.
110. Josephus 1926, pp. 197–199.
111. Bietak 2010, pp. 170–171.
112. Bietak 2012, p. 6.
113. ^ Stiebing 2009, p. 168.
114. Candelora, Danielle. "The Hyksos". www.arce.org. American Research Center in Egypt.
115. Roy 2011, pp. 291–292.
116. Curry 2018, p. 3. "A head from a statue of an official dating to the 12th or 13th Dynasty (1802–1640 B.C.) sports the mushroom-shaped hairstyle commonly worn by non-Egyptian immigrants from western Asia such as the Hyksos."
117. Potts 2012, p. 841.
118. Bietak 2012, p. 3.
119. Bietak 2012, pp. 3–4.
120. Ben-Tor 2007, p. 2.
121. Ryholt 1997, p. 118.
122. ^ Bietak 1999, p. 378.
123. Ilin-Tomich 2016, pp. 7–8.
124. ^ Bourriau 2000, p. 179.
125. Ryholt 2018, p. 235.
126. Ryholt 1997, pp. 119–120.
127. Aston 2018, p. 18.
128. Ilin-Tomich 2016, pp. 6–7.
129. Aston 2018, p. 16.
130. Ryholt 1997, p. 256.
131. Aston 2018, pp. 15–17.
132. ^ Schneider 2006, p. 194.
133. Ryholt 1997, p. 201.
134. Aston 2018, p. 15.
135. Polz 2018, p. 217.
136. Ryholt 1997, pp. 121–122.
137. von Beckerath 1999, pp. 120–121.
138. Müller 2018, p. 210.
139. Ryholt 1997, p. 409.
140. Bietak 2012, pp. 2–3.
141. ^ Aston 2018, p. 17.
142. ^ Redford 1992, p. 107.
143. Redford 1992, p. 110.
144. Ryholt 1997, p. 125.
145. Schneider 2006, pp. 193–194.
146. Schneider 2006, p. –194.
147. ^ Redford 1992, p. 108.
148. Ilin-Tomich 2016, p. 11.
149. Ilin-Tomich 2016, p. 3.
150. ^ Weigall 2016, p. 188.
151. ^ "Statue". The British Museum. EA987.
152. Morenz & Popko 2010, p. 108.
153. Ilin-Tomich 2016, p. 9.
154. ^ Bunson 2014, pp. 2–3.
155. Bunson 2014, p. 197.
156. Flammini 2015, pp. 236–237.
157. Ritner et al. 2003, p. 70.
158. Ryholt 1997, p. 323.
159. Flammini 2015, pp. 239–243.
160. Bietak 2012, pp. 1–4.
161. ^ el-Shahawy 2005, p. 160.
162. Griffith 1891, p. 28. "The name of Khyan on the statue from Bubastis is written over an erasure, that the statue is of the XIIth Dynasty, and that Khyan was a Hyksôs king."
163. ^ Bietak 1999, p. 379.
164. Müller 2018, p. 212.
165. ^ Bard 2015, p. 213.
166. Van de Mieroop 2011, pp. 151–153.
167. Redford 1992, p. 122.
168. Candelora 2018, p. 54.
169. Sayce 1895, p. 17.
170. Bietak 2016, p. 268.
171. Wilkinson 2013, p. 191.
172. Mourad 2015, p. 15.
173. ^ Hernández 2014, p. 112.
174. Herslund 2018, p. 151.
175. Stiebing 2009, p. 166.
176. Wegner 2015, p. 76.
177. ^ Van de Mieroop 2011, p. 149.
178. ^ "Hyksos axe". www.metmuseum.org.
179. "Spearhead". www.metmuseum.org.
180. "Whip handle". www.metmuseum.org.
181. ^ Mourad 2015, p. 129.
182. Ryholt 1997, pp. 138–139, 142.
183. ^ Ryholt 1997, pp. 138–139.
184. Ryholt 1997, p. 141.
185. Burke 2019, p. 80.
186. Keel 1996, pp. 125–126.
187. Keel 1996, p. 126.
188. O'Connor 2009, p. 109.
189. Bietak 1999, pp. 377–378.
190. Bourriau 2000, p. 177.
191. Ryholt 1997, pp. 148–149.
192. Assmann 2003, p. 197.
193. Josephus 1926, p. 199.
194. Assmann 2018, p. 39.
195. Josephus 1926, pp. 255–265.
196. Assmann 2003, pp. 227–228.
197. Assmann 2018, p. 40.
198. Raspe 1998, p. 132.
199. Gruen 2016, p. 214.
200. Moore & Kelle 2011, pp. 91.
201. Redford 1992, p. 412–413.
202. Assmann 2014, pp. 26–27.
203. Faust 2015, p. 477.
204. The Bible Unearthed, p. 69.
205. Redmount 2001, p. 78.
206. Bietak 2015, p. 32.
207. Vos 1999, p. 75.
208. Geobey 2017, pp. 27–30. Notes that the Hebrew word is completely unrelated to the term "Hyksos."
209. Bietak 2015, p. 20.
210. Redford 1992, p. 429.
211. Moore & Kelle 2011, p. 93.
212. Grabbe 2017, p. 36.
213. Geraty 2015, p. 58.
214. Morenz & Popko 2010, p. 102.
215. Van de Mieroop 2011, pp. 162–163.
216. Ryholt 2004, p. 138.
217. Ryholt 2004, pp. 142–143.
218. Ryholt 2004, p. 143.
219. Höflmayer 2015, p. 191.
220. Höflmayer 2015, pp. 195–196.
221. Gabriel 2009, p. 204.
222. Allen 2000, p. 299.
223. Höflmayer 2015, p. 202.
224. Schneider 2018, p. 78.
225. Hawass & Vannini 2009, p. 120. "The foreigners of the fourth register, with long hairstyles and calf-length fringed robes, are labeled Chiefs of Retjenu, the ancient name tor the Syrian region. Like the Nubians, they come with animals, in this case horses, an elephant, and a bear; they also offer weapons and vessels most likely filled with precious substance."
226. Zakrzewski, Shortland & Rowland 2015, p. 268.
227. Richardson 2013, p. 14.
228. Van de Mieroop 2011, p. 163.
229. Assmann 2003, pp. 199–200.
230. Van de Mieroop 2011, p. 164.
231. Van de Mieroop 2011, pp. 164–165.

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Further reading

• Forstner-Müller, Irene (2022), "The Hyksos State", The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, vol. III, Oxford University Press, pp. 1–47, doi:10.1093/oso/9780190687601.003.0023, ISBN 978-0-19-068760-1

External links

v t e Rulers of the ancient Near East

Territories/ dates Egypt Canaan Ebla Mari Kish/ Assur Akshak/ Akkad Uruk Adab Umma Lagash Ur Elam 4000–3200 BCE Naqada I Naqada II Egypt-Mesopotamia relations Pre-Dynastic period (4000–2900 BCE) Susa I Uruk period (4000–3100 BCE) (Anu Ziggurat, 4000 BCE) (Anonymous "King-priests") Susa II (Uruk influence or control) 3200–3100 BCE Proto-Dynastic period (Naqada III) Early or legendary kings: Upper Egypt Finger Snail Fish Pen-Abu Animal Stork Canide Bull Scorpion I Shendjw Iry-Hor Ka Scorpion II Narmer / Menes Lower Egypt Hedju Hor Ny-Hor Hsekiu Khayu Tiu Thesh Neheb Wazner Nat-Hor Mekh Double Falcon Wash 3100–2900 BCE Early Dynastic Period First Dynasty of Egypt Narmer Menes Neithhotep (regent) Hor-Aha Djer Djet Merneith (regent) Den Anedjib Semerkhet Qa'a Sneferka Horus Bird Canaanites Jemdet Nasr period (3100–2900 BCE) Proto-Elamite period (Susa III) (3100–2700 BCE) 2900 BCE Second Dynasty of Egypt Hotepsekhemwy Nebra/Raneb Nynetjer Ba Nubnefer Horus Sa Weneg-Nebty Wadjenes Senedj Seth-Peribsen Sekhemib-Perenmaat Neferkara I Neferkasokar Hudjefa I Khasekhemwy Early Dynastic Period I (2900–2700 BCE) First Eblaite Kingdom First kingdom of Mari Kish I dynasty Jushur, Kullassina-bel Nangishlishma, En-tarah-ana Babum, Puannum, Kalibum 2800 BCE Kalumum Zuqaqip Atab Mashda Arwium Etana Balih En-me-nuna Melem-Kish Barsal-nuna Uruk I dynasty Mesh-ki-ang-gasher Enmerkar ("conqueror of Aratta") 2700 BCE Early Dynastic Period II (2700–2600 BCE) Zamug, Tizqar, Ilku Iltasadum Lugalbanda Dumuzid, the Fisherman Enmebaragesi ("made the land of Elam submit") Aga of Kish Gilgamesh Old Elamite period (2700–1500 BCE) Indus-Mesopotamia relations 2600 BCE Third Dynasty of Egypt Djoser (First Egyptian pyramids) Sekhemkhet Sanakht Nebka Khaba Qahedjet Huni Early Dynastic Period III (2600–2340 BCE) Sagisu Abur-lim Agur-lim Ibbi-Damu Baba-Damu Kish II dynasty (5 kings) Uhub Mesilim Ur-Nungal Udulkalama Labashum Lagash En-hegal Lugal- shaengur Ur A-Imdugud Ur-Pabilsag Meskalamdug (Queen Puabi) Akalamdug Enun-dara-anna Mes-he Melamanna Lugal-kitun Adab Nin-kisalsi Me-durba Lugal-dalu 2575 BCE Old Kingdom of Egypt Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Snefru Khufu Djedefre Khafre Bikheris Menkaure Shepseskaf Thamphthis Ur I dynasty Mesannepada "King of Ur and Kish", victorious over Uruk 2500 BCE Phoenicia (2500-539 BCE) Second kingdom of Mari Ikun-Shamash Iku-Shamagan Ansud Sa'umu Ishtup-Ishar Ikun-Mari Iblul-Il Nizi Kish III dynasty Ku-Baba Akshak dynasty Unzi Undalulu Uruk II dynasty Ensha- kushanna Mug-si Umma I dynasty Pabilgagaltuku Lagash I dynasty Ur-Nanshe Akurgal A'annepada Meskiagnun Elulu Balulu Awan dynasty Peli Tata Ukkutahesh Hishur 2450 BCE Fifth Dynasty of Egypt Userkaf Sahure Neferirkare Kakai Neferefre Shepseskare Nyuserre Ini Menkauhor Kaiu Djedkare Isesi Unas Enar-Damu Ishar-Malik Ush Enakalle Elamite invasions (3 kings) Shushun- tarana Napilhush 2425 BCE Kun-Damu Eannatum (King of Lagash, Sumer, Akkad, conqueror of Elam) 2400 BCE Adub-Damu Igrish-Halam Irkab-Damu Kish IV dynasty Puzur-Suen Ur-Zababa Urur Lugal-kinishe-dudu Lugal-kisalsi E-iginimpa'e Meskigal Ur-Lumma Il Gishakidu (Queen Bara-irnun) Enannatum Entemena Enannatum II Enentarzi Ur II dynasty Nanni Mesh-ki-ang-Nanna II Kiku-siwe-tempti 2380 BCE Sixth Dynasty of Egypt Teti Userkare Pepi I Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Pepi II Merenre Nemtyemsaf II Netjerkare Siptah Adab dynasty Lugalannemundu "King of the four quarters of the world" 2370 BCE Isar-Damu Enna-Dagan Ikun-Ishar Ishqi-Mari Invasion by Mari Anbu, Anba, Bazi, Zizi of Mari, Limer, Sharrum-iter Ukush Lugalanda Urukagina Luh-ishan 2350 BCE Puzur-Nirah Ishu-Il Shu-Sin Uruk III dynasty Lugalzagesi (Governor of Umma, King of all Sumer) 2340 BCE Akkadian Period (2340–2150 BCE) Akkadian Empire Sargon of Akkad Rimush Manishtushu Akkadian Governors: Eshpum Ilshu-rabi Epirmupi Ili-ishmani 2250 BCE Naram-Sin Lugal-ushumgal (vassal of the Akkadians) 2200 BCE First Intermediate Period Seventh Dynasty of Egypt Eighth Dynasty of Egypt Menkare Neferkare II Neferkare Neby Djedkare Shemai Neferkare Khendu Merenhor Neferkamin Nikare Neferkare Tereru Neferkahor Neferkare Pepiseneb Neferkamin Anu Qakare Ibi Neferkaure Neferkauhor Neferirkare Second Eblaite Kingdom Third kingdom of Mari (Shakkanakku dynasty) Ididish Shu-Dagan Ishma-Dagan (Vassals of the Akkadians) Shar-Kali-Sharri Igigi, Imi, Nanum, Ilulu (3 years) Dudu Shu-turul Uruk IV dynasty Ur-nigin Ur-gigir Lagash II dynasty Puzer-Mama Ur-Ningirsu I Pirig-me Lu-Baba Lu-gula Ka-ku Hishep-Ratep Helu Khita Puzur-Inshushinak 2150 BCE Ninth Dynasty of Egypt Meryibre Khety Neferkare VII Nebkaure Khety Setut Ur III period (2150–2000 BCE) Nûr-Mêr Ishtup-Ilum Ishgum-Addu Apil-kin Gutian dynasty (21 kings) La-erabum Si'um Kuda (Uruk) Puzur-ili Ur-Utu Umma II dynasty Lugalannatum (vassal of the Gutians) Ur-Baba Gudea Ur-Ningirsu Ur-gar Nam-mahani Tirigan 2125 BCE Tenth Dynasty of Egypt Meryhathor Neferkare VIII Wahkare Khety Merykare Uruk V dynasty Utu-hengal 2100 BCE (Vassals of UR III) Iddi-ilum Ili-Ishar Tura-Dagan Puzur-Ishtar (Vassals of Ur III) Ur III dynasty "Kings of Ur, Sumer and Akkad" Ur-Nammu Shulgi Amar-Sin Shu-Sin 2025-1763 BCE Amorite invasions Ibbi-Sin Elamite invasions Kindattu (Shimashki Dynasty) Middle Kingdom of Egypt Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt Mentuhotep I Intef I Intef II Intef III Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep III Mentuhotep IV Third Eblaite Kingdom (Amorites) Ibbit-Lim Immeya Indilimma (Amorite Shakkanakkus) Hitial-Erra Hanun-Dagan (...) Lim Dynasty of Mari (Amorites) Yaggid-Lim Yahdun-Lim Yasmah-Adad Zimri-Lim (Queen Shibtu) Old Assyria Puzur-Ashur I Shalim-ahum Ilu-shuma Erishum I Ikunum Sargon I Puzur-Ashur II Naram-Sin Erishum II Isin-Larsa period (Amorites) Dynasty of Isin: Ishbi-Erra Shu-Ilishu Iddin-Dagan Ishme-Dagan Lipit-Eshtar Ur-Ninurta Bur-Suen Lipit-Enlil Erra-imitti Enlil-bani Zambiya Iter-pisha Ur-du-kuga Suen-magir Damiq-ilishu Dynasty of Larsa: Naplanum Emisum Samium Zabaia Gungunum Abisare Sumuel Nur-Adad Sin-Iddinam Sin-Eribam Sin-Iqisham Silli-Adad Warad-Sin Rim-Sin I (...) Rim-Sin II Uruk VI dynasty: Alila-hadum Sumu-binasa Naram-Sin of Uruk Sîn-kāšid Sîn-iribam Sîn-gāmil Ilum-gamil An-am Irdanene Rîm-Anum Nabi-ilišu Sukkalmah dynasty Siwe-Palar-Khuppak Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt Amenemhat I Senusret I Amenemhat II Senusret II Senusret III Amenemhat III Amenemhat IV Sobekneferu 1800–1595 BCE Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt Abraham (Biblical) Kings of Byblos Kings of Tyre Kings of Sidon Yamhad (Yamhad dynasty) (Amorites) Old Assyria (Shamshi-Adad dynasty 1808–1736 BCE) (Amorites) Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi (Non-dynastic usurpers 1735–1701 BCE) Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi (Adaside dynasty 1700–722 BCE) Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II First Babylonian dynasty ("Old Babylonian Period") (Amorites) Sumu-abum Sumu-la-El Sin-muballitSabium Apil-Sin Sin-muballit Hammurabi Samsu-iluna Abi-eshuh Ammi-ditana Ammi-saduqa Samsu-Ditana Early Kassite rulers Second Babylonian dynasty ("Sealand Dynasty") Ilum-ma-ili Itti-ili-nibi Damqi-ilishu Ishkibal Shushushi Gulkishar DIŠ+U-EN Peshgaldaramesh Ayadaragalama Akurduana Melamkurkurra Ea-gamil Second Intermediate Period Sixteenth Dynasty Abydos Dynasty Seventeenth Dynasty Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt ("Hyksos") Semqen 'Aper-'Anati Sakir-Har Khyan Apepi Khamudi Mitanni (1600–1260 BCE) Kirta Shuttarna I Parshatatar 1531–1155 BCE New Kingdom of Egypt Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ahmose I Amenhotep I Third Babylonian dynasty (Kassites) Agum-Kakrime Burnaburiash I Kashtiliash III Ulamburiash Agum III Karaindash Kadashman-harbe I Kurigalzu I Kadashman-Enlil I Burnaburiash II Kara-hardash Nazi-Bugash Kurigalzu II Nazi-Maruttash Kadashman-Turgu Kadashman-Enlil II Kudur-Enlil Shagarakti-Shuriash Kashtiliashu IV Enlil-nadin-shumi Kadashman-Harbe II Adad-shuma-iddina Adad-shuma-usur Meli-Shipak II Marduk-apla-iddina I Zababa-shuma-iddin Enlil-nadin-ahi Middle Elamite period (1500–1100 BCE) Kidinuid dynasty Igehalkid dynasty Untash-Napirisha Thutmose I Thutmose II Hatshepsut Thutmose III Amenhotep II Thutmose IV Amenhotep III Akhenaten Smenkhkare Neferneferuaten Tutankhamun Ay Horemheb Hittite Empire Ugarit Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ramesses I Seti I Ramesses II Merneptah Amenmesses Seti II Siptah Twosret Elamite Empire Shutrukid dynasty Shutruk-Nakhunte 1155–1025 BCE Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt Setnakhte Ramesses III Ramesses IV Ramesses V Ramesses VI Ramesses VII Ramesses VIII Ramesses IX Ramesses X Ramesses XI Third Intermediate Period Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon the Elder Siamun Psusennes II Phoenicia Kings of Byblos Kings of Tyre Kings of Sidon Kingdom of Israel Saul Ish-bosheth David Solomon Syro-Hittite states Middle Assyria Eriba-Adad I Ashur-uballit I Enlil-nirari Arik-den-ili Adad-nirari I Shalmaneser I Tukulti-Ninurta I Ashur-nadin-apli Ashur-nirari III Enlil-kudurri-usur Ninurta-apal-Ekur Ashur-dan I Ninurta-tukulti-Ashur Mutakkil-Nusku Ashur-resh-ishi I Tiglath-Pileser I Asharid-apal-Ekur Ashur-bel-kala Eriba-Adad II Shamshi-Adad IV Ashurnasirpal I Shalmaneser II Ashur-nirari IV Ashur-rabi II Ashur-resh-ishi II Tiglath-Pileser II Ashur-dan II Fourth Babylonian dynasty ("Second Dynasty of Isin") Marduk-kabit-ahheshu Itti-Marduk-balatu Ninurta-nadin-shumi Nebuchadnezzar I Enlil-nadin-apli Marduk-nadin-ahhe Marduk-shapik-zeri Adad-apla-iddina Marduk-ahhe-eriba Marduk-zer-X Nabu-shum-libur Neo-Elamite period (1100–540 BCE) 1025–934 BCE Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Babylonian dynasties ("Period of Chaos") Simbar-shipak Ea-mukin-zeri Kashshu-nadin-ahi Eulmash-shakin-shumi Ninurta-kudurri-usur I Shirikti-shuqamuna Mar-biti-apla-usur Nabû-mukin-apli 911–745 BCE Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt Shoshenq I Osorkon I Shoshenq II Takelot I Osorkon II Shoshenq III Shoshenq IV Pami Shoshenq V Pedubast II Osorkon IV Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt Harsiese A Takelot II Pedubast I Shoshenq VI Osorkon III Takelot III Rudamun Menkheperre Ini Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt Tefnakht Bakenranef Kingdom of Samaria Kingdom of Judah Neo-Assyrian Empire Adad-nirari II Tukulti-Ninurta II Ashurnasirpal II Shalmaneser III Shamshi-Adad V Shammuramat (regent) Adad-nirari III Shalmaneser IV Ashur-Dan III Ashur-nirari V Eight Babylonian Dynasty Ninurta-kudurri-usur II Mar-biti-ahhe-iddina Shamash-mudammiq Nabu-shuma-ukin I Nabu-apla-iddina Marduk-zakir-shumi I Marduk-balassu-iqbi Baba-aha-iddina (five kings) Ninurta-apla-X Marduk-bel-zeri Marduk-apla-usur Eriba-Marduk Nabu-shuma-ishkun Nabonassar Nabu-nadin-zeri Nabu-shuma-ukin II Nabu-mukin-zeri Humban-Tahrid dynasty Urtak Teumman Ummanigash Tammaritu I Indabibi Humban-haltash III 745–609 BCE Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt ("Black Pharaohs") Piye Shebitku Shabaka Taharqa Tanutamun Neo-Assyrian Empire (Sargonid dynasty) Tiglath-Pileser Shalmaneser Marduk-apla-iddina II Sargon Sennacherib Marduk-zakir-shumi II Marduk-apla-iddina II Bel-ibni Ashur-nadin-shumi Nergal-ushezib Mushezib-Marduk Esarhaddon Ashurbanipal Ashur-etil-ilani Sinsharishkun Sin-shumu-lishir Ashur-uballit II Assyrian conquest of Egypt Assyrian conquest of Elam 626–539 BCE Late Period Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt Necho I Psamtik I Necho II Psamtik II Wahibre Ahmose II Psamtik III Neo-Babylonian Empire Nabopolassar Nebuchadnezzar II Amel-Marduk Neriglissar Labashi-Marduk Nabonidus Median Empire Deioces Phraortes Madyes Cyaxares Astyages 539–331 BCE Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt (First Achaemenid conquest of Egypt) Kings of Byblos Kings of Tyre Kings of Sidon Achaemenid Empire Cyrus Cambyses Darius I Xerxes Artaxerxes I Darius II Artaxerxes II Artaxerxes III Artaxerxes IV Darius III Twenty-eighth Dynasty of Egypt Twenty-ninth Dynasty of Egypt Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt 331–141 BCE Argead dynasty and Ptolemaic Egypt Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy Keraunos Ptolemy II Philadelphus Arsinoe II Ptolemy III Euergetes Berenice II Euergetis Ptolemy IV Philopator Arsinoe III Philopator Ptolemy V Epiphanes Cleopatra I Syra Ptolemy VI Philometor Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator Cleopatra II Philometor Soter Ptolemy VIII Physcon Cleopatra III Ptolemy IX Lathyros Cleopatra IV Ptolemy X Alexander Berenice III Ptolemy XI Alexander Ptolemy XII Auletes Cleopatra V Cleopatra VI Tryphaena Berenice IV Epiphanea Ptolemy XIII Ptolemy XIV Cleopatra VII Philopator Ptolemy XV Caesarion Arsinoe IV Hellenistic Period Argead dynasty: Alexander III Philip III Alexander IV Antigonid dynasty: Antigonus I Seleucid Empire: Seleucus I Antiochus I Antiochus II Seleucus II Seleucus III Antiochus III Seleucus IV Antiochus IV Antiochus V Demetrius I Alexander III Demetrius II Antiochus VI Dionysus Diodotus Tryphon Antiochus VII Sidetes 141–30 BCE Kingdom of Judea Simon Thassi John Hyrcanus Aristobulus I Alexander Jannaeus Salome Alexandra Hyrcanus II Aristobulus II Antigonus II Mattathias Alexander II Zabinas Seleucus V Philometor Antiochus VIII Grypus Antiochus IX Cyzicenus Seleucus VI Epiphanes Antiochus X Eusebes Antiochus XI Epiphanes Demetrius III Eucaerus Philip I Philadelphus Antiochus XII Dionysus Antiochus XIII Asiaticus Philip II Philoromaeus Parthian Empire Mithridates I Phraates Hyspaosines Artabanus Mithridates II Gotarzes Mithridates III Orodes I Sinatruces Phraates III Mithridates IV Orodes II Phraates IV Tiridates II Musa Phraates V Orodes III Vonones I Artabanus II Tiridates III Artabanus II Vardanes I Gotarzes II Meherdates Vonones II Vologases I Vardanes II Pacorus II Vologases II Artabanus III Osroes I 30 BCE–116 CE Roman Empire (Roman conquest of Egypt) Province of Egypt Judea Syria 116–117 CE Province of Mesopotamia under Trajan Parthamaspates of Parthia 117–224 CE Syria Palaestina Province of Mesopotamia Sinatruces II Mithridates V Vologases IV Osroes II Vologases V Vologases VI Artabanus IV 224–270 CE Sasanian Empire Province of Asoristan Ardashir I Shapur I Hormizd I Bahram I Bahram II Bahram III Narseh Hormizd II Adur Narseh Shapur II Ardashir II Shapur III Bahram IV Yazdegerd I Shapur IV Khosrow Bahram V Yazdegerd II Hormizd III Peroz I Balash Kavad I Jamasp Kavad I Khosrow I Hormizd IV Khosrow II Bahram VI Chobin Vistahm 270–273 CE Palmyrene Empire Vaballathus Zenobia Antiochus 273–395 CE Roman Empire Province of Egypt Syria Palaestina Syria Province of Mesopotamia 395–618 CE Byzantine Empire Byzantine Egypt Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda Byzantine Syria Byzantine Mesopotamia 618–628 CE (Sasanian conquest of Egypt) Province of Egypt Shahrbaraz Sahralanyozan Shahrbaraz Sasanian Empire Province of Asoristan Khosrow II Kavad II 628–641 CE Byzantine Empire Ardashir III Shahrbaraz Khosrow III Boran Shapur-i Shahrvaraz Azarmidokht Farrukh Hormizd Hormizd VI Khosrow IV Boran Yazdegerd III Peroz III Narsieh Byzantine Egypt Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda Byzantine Syria Byzantine Mesopotamia 639–651 CE Muslim conquest of Egypt Muslim conquest of the Levant Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia and Persia Chronology of the Neolithic period Rulers of Ancient Central Asia Rulers with names in italics are considered fictional. Hallo, W.; Simpson, W. (1971). The Ancient Near East. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. pp. 48–49. "Rulers of Mesopotamia". cdli.ox.ac.uk. University of Oxford, CNRS. Thomas, Ariane; Potts, Timothy (2020). Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins. Getty Publications. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-60606-649-2. Roux, Georges (1992). Ancient Iraq. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 532–534 (Chronological Tables). ISBN 978-0-14-193825-7. ^ Per Sumerian King List Unger, Merrill F. (2014). Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus: A Study in Archaeological Illumination of Bible History. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-62564-606-4.

• Hyksos
• Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt
• Canaan
• Semitic-speaking peoples
• Nile Delta
• Invasions of Egypt