Hyksos / Hykussos in hieroglyphs | ||||||||
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Ḥq3-ḫ3st / Ḥq3-ḫ3swt Heka-chaset / Heka-chasut Ruler(s) of the foreign countries |
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Greek | Hykussos (Ύκουσσώς) |
The Hyksos (/ˈhɪksɒs/ or /ˈhɪksoʊz/;Egyptian heqa khaseshet, "ruler(s) of the foreign countries"; Ancient Greek: Ὑκσώς, Ὑξώς) were a people of mixed origins from Western Asia, who settled in the eastern Nile Delta, some time before 1650 BC. The arrival of the Hyksos led to the end of the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt and initiated the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt. In the context of Ancient Egypt, the term "Asiatic" – which is often used for the Hyksos – may refer to any people native to areas east of Egypt.
Immigration by Canaanite populations preceded the Hyksos. Canaanites first appeared in Egypt towards the end of the 12th Dynasty c. 1800 BC, and either around that time or c. 1720 BC, established an independent realm in the eastern Nile Delta. The Canaanite rulers of the Delta, regrouped in the Fourteenth Dynasty, coexisted with the Egyptian Thirteenth Dynasty, based in Itjtawy. The power of the 13th and 14th Dynasties progressively waned, perhaps due to famine and plague.
In about 1650 BC, both dynasties were invaded by the Hyksos, who formed the Fifteenth Dynasty. The collapse of the Thirteenth Dynasty created a power vacuum in the south, which may have led to the rise of the Sixteenth Dynasty, based in Thebes, and possibly of a local Abydos Dynasty. The Hyksos eventually conquered both, albeit for only a short time in the case of Thebes. From then on, the 17th Dynasty took control of Thebes and reigned for some time in peaceful coexistence with the Hyksos kings, perhaps as their vassals. Eventually, Seqenenre Tao, Kamose and Ahmose waged war against the Hyksos and expelled Khamudi, their last king, from Egypt c. 1550 BC.