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[[Image:Beads MFA Boston.jpg|thumb|Beads at MFA Boston]]

[[Image:Beads MFA Boston.jpg|thumb|Beads at MFA Boston]]

'''Hyksos''', the [[Greek language|Greek]] form of an [[Egypt]]ian phrase: “rulers of foreign lands”, refers to a people who entered - possibly forcibly - into Egypt, and built their capital at Avaris in the [[Nile River|Nile]] Delta area in about 1648 B.C. during the Thirteenth Dynasty. There is uncertainty about the method of their takeover. They ruled – as the Fifteenth Dynasty - the northern third or so of Egypt until driven out by [[Ahmose]], first pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, around 1532. The rest of the country was ruled from [[Thebes]] as the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties, however [[Nubian]]s pushed up from the south and took over part of Egypt towards the end of this period and their rulers are known as the Seventeenth Dynasty. Because of the general disruption to the land of Egypt at this time, it is thought a minor branch of the Hyksos set themselves up as minor rulers, and they have been acknowledged as the Sixteenth Dynasty.

The '''Hyksos'''<ref>[http://www.ancient.eu/Hyksos/ Hyksos, Ancient EU]</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hyksos-Egyptian-dynasty Hyksos, Britannica]</ref> were a large group of Semites who entered [[Egypt]] over a period of several decades through a flux of immigration and had established a foothold in Egypt in the beginning of the beginning of the 18th century BC, thus triggering the  [[Second Intermediate Period]] of Egypt from 1782 BC-1521 BC, until they were vanquished by the pharaoh [[Ahmose I]]. Between 1630-1523 BC, the Hyksos wad complete conotrol over northern Egypt. The word Hyksos (heqa-khase) derives from the Greek phrase meaning 'Rules of Foreign Lands'.<ref>[http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hyksos Hyksos, Word Origin and Definition]</ref> The Hyksos immigrants brought with and introduced many things to the land of Egypt, including [[horses]], composite bows, chariots and improved metallic weapons. The capital of the Hyksos was the city of [[Avaris]], an ancient Egyptian city discovered and excavated by [[Manfred Bietak]]. The primary deity of the Hyksos was the Egyptian storm and desert god, Seth.

The Hyksos used the [[Hittite]] Chariot which gives them a possible [[Hittite]] origin. However, they spoke a West Arabian dialect similar to the East Canaanite Amorite of the Old Babylonian kingdom ([[Amorites]]) that was conquered by the Hitties just 11 years earlier, which can explain the appearance of the Hittite chariots in Egypt and the absence of the IndoEuropean language.

== Hyksos Enter Egypt ==

Their historically brief domination had long lasting effects. They introduced the [[horse]] and the chariot to Egypt; and, perhaps, the upright [[loom]], and [[olive]]. They forced the end of Egypt’s long held isolation, as the early rulers of the Eighteenth Dynasty set about creating buffer states in [[Palestine]]; and this contact with the outside world led to the flowering of culture that this Dynasty is known for.  

The Hyksos were primarily a band of Asiatic immigrants, who, over a period of several decades, immigrated into the Egyptian lands in large numbers. When the Hyksos were entering Egypt, the Egyptians never considered them a threat, as they believed that their conquering of a foreign peoples or nation was utterly unthinkable. The Hyksos continually immigrated, especially into the port town of [[Avaris]] which began to increase in its influence through commerce, the primary population of which was of Asiatics and had a growing population because of immigration. Because of the later power that the Hyksos would wield in Egypt, later historians such as [[Manetho]] and [[Josephus]] portrayed the Hyksos as a group of warlords and invaders who conquered the land of Egypt and slaughtered its peoples through their barbaric lust, however the entering of the Hyksos into Egypt was actually very peaceful, and even economically beneficial for Egypt. The Hyksos mostly abandoned their own culture, and quickly assimilated into the culture of Egypt (with only slight modifications and changes), even adopting the worship of their deities and names.

The period of their control in Egypt (1648-1532 BC) is known as the Second Intermediate Period.

== The Rise of the Hyksos ==

==Hyksos in Literature==

The [[Wilbur Smith]] novel, ''River God'', is set in ancient Egypt just before and during the Hyksos invasion. It depicts the Hyksos as ruthless barbarians.

 

 

== The Fall of the Hyksos ==

 

After the reign of Seqenenre Tao, his son [[Kamose]] became pharaoh of Egypt. The next Egyptian pharaoh, Kamose, had greatly complained of the Hyksos and the taxes he had to pay them, and decided to follow what his father, Seqenenre did, and also marched against the Hyksos rulers in rebellion in a massive assault. Unlike his father, Kamose completely defeated the Hyksos, so much so that he claimed that upon the marching of his army and his swift and destructive crushing of the Hyksos and their capital at Avaris, the Hyksos women became sterile. The accounts of Kamose were probably exaggerated however, as the Hyksos still maintained power over the north of Egypt after his reign. However, his son, [[Ahmose I]] further followed in the steps of his father and grandfather, and completely vanquished the remaining Hyksos power, destroyed the city of Avaris, and drove the Hyksos out of Egypt. The reign of the Hyksos would became the basis of numerous stories and legends of Egypt, and a reason of justification for the pharaohs of the [[New Kingdom]] of Egypt to begin conquering neighboring lands.

== See also ==

== See also ==

*[[Middle Kingdom]]

*[[Middle Kingdom]]

*[[Cleopatra]]

*[[Cleopatra]]

[[Category:Egypt]]

[[Category:Egypt]]

[[Category:Ancient History]]

[[Category:Ancient History]]