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 (), including the leading man with a
Nubian ibex labelled as
Abisha the Hyksos (,
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: dagger handle of a soldier of Hyksos pharaoh
Apepi, illustrating the soldier hunting with a short bow and sword. Inscriptions: "The perfect god, the lord of the two lands, Nebkhepeshre
Apepi" and "Follower of his lord Nehemen", found at a burial at
Saqqara. Now at the
Luxor Museum. 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 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 did not 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. In 2024,
Manfred Bietak defended the reading of the Turin King List as only showing a reign of 108 years, arguing that the longer reign periods were incompatible with the archaeology of the Hyksos capital, Avaris. Bietak stressed that: : "If we use the average phase estimate of 30-32 years at Tell el-Dab'a (ie. Avaris) for the Hyksos Period, which includes half of Phase E/2 and the Phases E/1, D/3 and D/2, we arrive at 105-112 years. This aligns closely to the 108 years read by
Farina and
von Beckerath for the Hyksos Period. In contrast, the more recently proposed estimates of 140-149, 160-169, and 180-189 years result in averages of 40, 42.5, 46, 48, 51.5, and 54 years for each phase. These estimates are incompatible with the other phases of this stratigraphy as they would require significant compressions of the overall period to fit into the timeframes established by the fixed points. Such compression would result in a completely one-sided entity with elongated reigns within an unstable period....Our model for the chronology of the Hyksos period, based on the stratigraphy at Tell el-Dab'a, makes the elongation of the Hyksos Period to 140-189 years highly unlikely, and in the higher realm, absolutely impossible." 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. (Avaris) dating from the late Hyksos period (1648–1540 BC). Now at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 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. , bearing axe wounds. The common theory is that he died in a battle against the Hyksos. 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: 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 [Avaris], 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: 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==