The Hyksos Invasion

Hyksos, meaning “rulers of foreign lands,” stems from the manner in which the short-lived dynasty of Hyksos kings referred to itself. These Hyksos invaded and took over Egypt, they were known as “The foreign Kings or Shepherd Kings”. The sun used to burn their faces red, that’s why they were called “burnt faces”. Their origins were unknown. Egyptian histories refer to a Hyksos capital called Avaris.

The Hyksos appeared in a chaotic time after the collapse of the so-called Middle Kingdom period but before the blossoming of the New Kingdom, the five centuries of prosperity and territorial expansion familiar to many from the reigns of pharaohs such as Akhenaten and Tutankhamun.

Hyksos came to the power in the Delta about 1730 BC and accordingly reigned in Egypt, with varying success for a century and a half.

Begins almost 600 years before they took power, climate records show that around 2200 B.C., the world was gripped by a little ice age. In Egypt, the two centuries that followed were marked by persistent droughts. The prolonged dry spell may have led to political instability that resulted in the fragmentation of ancient Egypt’s Old Kingdom.

From Avaris, the Hyksos rapidly expanded their rule. For a brief period, in the 15th Dynasty (around 1650 BC–c. 1550 BC), the Hyksos dominion stretched to envelop central Egypt.

The Egyptians called them Heka Khawaset-Foreign Rulers. They were awarlike nation, introducing in to Egypt the chariot.

Their occupation of Egypt split the country in two, with new political and administrative centres formed by the Hyksos at Avaris in the north and Egyptians at Thebes in the south. The Hyksos’ rise was reflected in Avaris, too. The city’s foot-print nearly tripled, and at its height, the city was home to an estimated 25,000 people, spread out over a square mile of bustling, crowded, stinking cityscape.

The associated military clashes that arose in this era between the two centers, and most significantly the Hyksos Expulsion, conflicted with ideas of Egyptian kingship and culture. This in turn had a lasting impression on the Egyptian’s perception of foreigners and of themselves.

In about 1550 B.C., Hyksos were driven out by the Theban pharaoh Ahmose (r. 1550–1525 B.C.), first King of the 18th dynasty. He launched a campaign to seize Avaris and crush the Hyksos once and for all. Avaris was captured. And the Hyksos agreed to leave Egypt willingly. According to reliefs celebrating the pharaoh’s victory, though, the dynasty’s end was bloodier.
The Hyksos Invasion