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A
history of the Hyksos is given here,because of their influence on
Canaanite cities,which critics and sceptics believe were small
insignificant towns at the time the Israelites would have seen them.
The Hyksos a Greek pronunciation of the Egyptian
Hykau-Khysut,controlled the Nile delta of Egypt for close to 300
years,according to most historians.They not only introduced the
chariot to Egypt,but built or rebuilt cities in the delta that was
the envy of the Egyptians.Earlier translations of Hykau-Khysut was
“foreign rulers,” or something similar,and their origin
was unknown.It is known they introduced the chariot to Egypt.,which
makes their origin possibly from Mesopotamia or Armenia.The name
Hykau seems to have come from western Turkey and denotes the people
of the godess Heka (Hekate).The name Hykau-Khusut,would therfore
indicate “rulers of the people of Heka.” Manetho wrote
that the Hyksos stormed into Egypt,destroying cities and
slaughtering inhabitants,but no archeological evidence of that has
been found so far.It is possible that the inscriptions and texts that
Menetho used for his history were referring to the damage caused by
Ahmose when he fought the Hyksos:
"Then
there was fighting on the water in "P'a-djedku" of
Avaris."
"Then Avaris was despoiled, and I brought spoil
from there:
one man,three women; total, four persons.
His
majesty gave them to me as slaves."
Manetho on
the Hyksos
Manetho, Aegyptiaca., frag. 42, 1.75-79.2
Tutimaeus
[0]. In his reign,for what cause I know not,
a blast of God smote
us; and unexpectedly, from the regions of the East,
invaders of
obscure race marched in confidence of victory against our land.
By
main force they easily overpowered the rulers of the land,
they
then burned our cities ruthlessly, razed to the ground the temples of
the gods,
and treated all the natives with a cruel hostility,
massacring some and leading into slavery the wives and children
of others.
Finally, they appointed as king one of their number
whose name was Salitis.
He had his seat at Memphis, levying
tribute from Upper and Lower Egypt,
and leaving garrisons behind
in the most advantageous positions.
Above all, he fortified the
district to the east, foreseeing that the Assyrians,
as they grew
stronger, would one day covet and attack his kingdom.
Flavious
Josephus on the Hyksos.
Then they
made one of their own king. His name was Salatis [1];
he lived at
Memphis, and both the upper and lower regions had to pay tribute to
him.
He installed garrisons in places that were the most suited
for them.
His main aim was to make the eastern parts safe,
expecting the Assyrians, at the height of their power, to covet
his kingdom, and invade it.
In the Saite Nome there was a city
very proper for this purpose, by the Bubastic arm of the Nile.
With
regard to a certain theologic notion it was called Avaris.
He
rebuilt and strengthened this city by surrounding it with walls.
and
by stationing a large garrison of two hundred and forty thousand
armed men there.
From
Memphis the Hyksos intercepted trade coming
into Egypt,and exacted tribute from the Egyptians in central and
southern Egypt:
None can pass
through it as far as Memphis (although it is) Egyptian water!
See
he (even) has Hermopolis!
No man can settle down, when despoiled
by the taxes of the Asiatics.
At some point,the city
of Avaris was used as the Hyksos capital,which archeologists say was
due to the Egyptians recapturing Memphis and running the Hyksos into
the delta,which Manetho agrees with according to Josephus:
"These
people, whom we have called kings before, and shepherds too,
and
their descendants," as he [5] says, "held Egypt for
five hundred and eleven years.
Then," he says, "the
kings of Thebes and the other parts of Egypt
rose against the
shepherds, and a long and terrible war was fought between them."
He says further, "By a king, named Alisphragmuthosis [6],
the shepherds were subdued,
and were driven out of the most parts
of Egypt and shut up in a place named Avaris,
measuring ten
thousand acres." Manetho says,
"The shepherds had built
a wall surrounding this city, which was large and strong,
in
order to keep all their possessions and plunder in a place of
strength.
Although archeology
doesn't agree with Manetho on the length of rule by the Hyksos,they
do agree that Avaris was a very large city.Ten thousand acres would
seem like an exageration,and may well be.Archeology doesn't discount
the 240,000 families that Manetho wrote about.There were also other
Asiatics there,and probably Arabians,which may not have accounted for
much of the population.The Hyksos were apparantly in the delta at the
time Joseph was taken to Egypt.They were certainly there when
Seqenenra was Pharoah in the late 17th century bce,or the begenning
of the 16th.The Ethiopians were in control of southern Egypt at the
same time:
His majesty spoke in his
palace to the council of nobles who were in his retinue:
'Let me
understand what this strength of mine is for!
(One) prince is in
Avaris [1], another is in Ethiopia, and (here)
I sit associated
with an Asiatic and a Negro!
Each man has his slice of this
Egypt, dividing up the land with me.
None can pass through it as
far as Memphis (although it is) Egyptian water!
See he (even) has
Hermopolis! No man can settle down, when despoiled by the taxes of
the Asiatics.
I will grapple with him, that I may rip open his
belly!
My wish is to save Egypt and to smite the Asiatic!
Then
spake the magistrates of his council: 'See, as far as Kos it is
Asiatic water, and they have drawn out their tongues of one
accord.
We are doing all right with our (part of) Egypt:
Many
Egyptians were satisfied being ruled by the Hyksos,who were
apparantly treating them better than Egyptian kings:
Elephantine
is strong, and the interior is with us as far as Kos.
Their free
land is cultivated for us, and our cattle graze in the Delta fens,
while corn is sent for our pigs.
Our cattle have not been
seized, and /// have not been tasted.
Archaeologists
discovered this inscription left by Seqenenra Tao,the first Egyptian
to wage war on the Hyksos:
"It
so happened that the land of Kemet was in distress,
for there was
no Lord who was King of the (entire) region.
There was King
Seqenenre as ruler of the Southern City,
but the distress was in
the city of the Asiatics of King Apophis,Avaris.
He had seized
control over the entire country and its tributes,
and likewise the
North and all the good products of the Northern Land.
Apophis,the
last king of the Hyksos, was overbearing and he not only seized the
goods of traders in the north,he also harassed the caravans and ships
headed for Thebes.He also taunted Seqenenre with a letter intended to
be insulting since Apopis was nearly 400 miles to
the
North of the Egyptian Capital at Thebes:
"
Then one said to the messenger of King Apophis:
What has brought
you to the Southern City.
Why has this traveler reached me?"
And
the messenger said to him: "
It
is King Apophis who sent me to you to say
'You shall put an end to
the pond of hippopotami
which is in the lake of the city,since
they do not allow that sleep comes to me day or night,
their noise
being in the ears of the (entire) city'".
Now the prince of
the Southern City was so amazed with (this) great insult
that it
so happened he knew not how to reply the messenger of King
Apophis.
Now the prince of the Southern City said to him:
"
Let your Lord hear the words ///.../// in the Lake of the Southern
City".
Seqenenre
apparently wasn't amused,and started a war with the Hyksos.His mummy
shows a crushing blow, three axe wounds,and a sword thrust.For Him
the war didn't last long,but His son Ahmose took up the challenge. It
took some time
before
he got support from the people as one of His inscriptions show:
[...]
we are at ease in our (part of) Egypt.
Elephantine (at the First
Cataract) is strong,
and the middle (of the land) is with us as
far
as
Cusae[near modern Asyut].
The sleekest of their fields are plowed
for us,
and our cattle are pastured in the Delta.
Emmer is sent
for our pigs.
Our cattle have not been taken away...
He holds
the land of the Asiatics; we hold Egypt."
The
councilors clearly did not wish to disturb the status quo:
The
city of Cusae was the unofficial boundary between Egyptian held
territory and the Hyksos.Elephantine marked the territory of the
Ethiopians.Ahmose (Khamose) took up the fight against the Hyksos,and
the commander Ahmose went north to engage the Hyksos in
battle,although he was reluctant to start an unprovoked war:
He
has the land of the Asiatics, we have Egypt.
Only when comes one
who [acts against us] should we act against him.'
But they
troubled His Majesty's heart.
As for your counsel /// [op]posite
me.
He who partitions the land with me will never respect me ///
the Asiatics who /// with him.
I will sail north to engage the
Asiatics and success will come!
If he intends to be at ease in
/// his eyes weeping and the entire land!
The Mighty Ruler in
Thebes, Kamose the Strong, protector of Egypt.
I went north
because I was strong (enough)
to attack the Asiatics through the
command of Ammon [2], the just of counsels.
My valiant army was
in front of me like a blast of fire.
The troops of the Madjoi [3]
were on the upper part of our cabins,
to seek out the Asiatics
and to push back their positions.
East and west had their fat,
and the army foraged for things everywhere.
Ahmose
especially showed no pity on the Egyptian town of Nefrusi,which had
given safe Haven to the Hyksos:
"I
set out a strong troop of the Madjoi,
while I was on the day's
patrol /// to him in /// Teti, the son of Pepi, within Nefrusi [4].
I would not let him escape while I held back the Asiatics who had
withstood Egypt.
He made Nefrusi the nest of the Asiatics.
I
spent the night in my boat, with my heart happy.
When day broke,
I was on him as if it were a falcon.
When the time of breakfast
had come, I attacked him.
I broke down his walls, I killed his
people, and I made his wife come down to the riverbank.
My
soldiers were as lions are, with their spoil, having serfs, cattle,
milk, fat and honey,
dividing up their property, their hearts
gay."
The district of Nefrusi came down (in submission) :
it
did not take us long until its /// was hemmed in [?]
[unknown
location] was deserted when I approached it.
Their horses had
fled inside, and the border patrol ///
those who had spent the
night in the valley, their property I siezed."
Ahmose
left an inscription praising Himself and His
accomplishments:
Biography of Ahmose, son of Abana
The
Crew Commander Ahmose son of Abana, the justified; he says.
I
speak to you, all people. I let you know what favours came to me.
I
have been rewarded with gold seven times in the sight of the whole
land,
with male and female slaves as well.
I have been
endowed with very many fields.
The name of the brave man is in
that which he has done; it will not perish in the land forever.
(Urkunden des ägyptischen Altertums - Urk IV 1,16 - 2,6)
I
grew up in the town of Nekheb,
my father being a soldier of the
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sekenenre, the justified.
Baba son
of Reinet was his name.
I became a soldier in his stead on the
ship "The Wild Bull"
in the time of the Lord of the Two
Lands, Nebpehtire, the justified.
I was a youth who had not
married; I slept in a hammock of netting.
Now when I had
established a household, I was taken to the ship "Northern",
because I was brave.
I followed the sovereign on foot when he
rode about on his chariot.
When the town of Avaris was besieged,
I fought bravely on foot in his majesty's presence.
Thereupon I
was appointed to the ship khaemmennefer ("Rising in Memphis").
Then there was fighting on the water in "P'a-djedku" of
Avaris.
I made a seizure and carried off a hand.
When it was
reported to the royal herald the gold of valour was given to me.
Then they fought again in this place; I again made a seizure
there and carried off a hand.
Then I was given the gold of valour
once again.
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.
When it was reported to the royal herald I
was rewarded with gold once more.
Then Avaris was despoiled, and
I brought spoil from there: one man,three women; total, four persons.
His majesty gave them to me as slaves.
Then Sharuhen was
besieged for three years.
His majesty despoiled it and I brought
spoil from it: two women and a hand.
Then the gold of valour was
given me, and my captives were given to me as slaves.
Now when
his majesty had slain the nomads of Asia,
he sailed south to
Khent-hen-nefer, to destroy the Nubian Bowmen.
His majesty made a
great slaughter among them,
and I brought spoil from there: two
living men and three hands.
Then I was rewarded with gold once
again, and two female slaves were given to me.
His majesty
journeyed north, his heart rejoicing in valour and victory.
He
had conquered southerners, northerners.
Then Aata came to the
South.
His fate brought on his doom.
The gods of Upper Egypt
grasped him.
He was found by his majesty at Tent-taa.
His
majesty carried him off as a living captive, and all his people as
booty.
I brought two young warriors as captives from the ship of
Aata.
Then I was given five persons and portions of land
amounting to five arura in my town.
The same was done for the
whole crew.
Then came that foe named Tetian.
He had gathered
the malcontents to himself.
His majesty slew him; his troop was
wiped out.
Then I was given three persons and five arura of land
in my town.
The defeat of Tetian
Then I conveyed King
Djeserkare, the justified, when he sailed south to Kush, to enlarge
the borders of Egypt.
His majesty smote that Nubian Bowman in the
midst of his army.
They were carried off in fetters, none
missing, the fleeing destroyed as if they had never been.
Now I
was in the van of our troops and I fought really well.
His
majesty saw my valour. I carried off two hands and presented them to
his majesty.
Then his people and his cattle were pursued, and I
carried off a living captive and presented him to his majesty.
I
brought his majesty back to Egypt in two days from "Upper Well,"
and was rewarded with gold.
I brought back two female slaves as
booty, apart from those that I had presented to his majesty.
Then
they made me a "Warrior of the Ruler."
The
war didn't end in defeat of the Hyksos,but rather with a treaty and a
promise that the Eyksos would leave Egypt.Sometime around 1550 BCE
Ahmose ruled both north and central Egypt:
Ex 1:9,10
"Now
there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
And
he said unto his people,
Behold, the people of the children of
Israel are more mightier than we:
Come on, let us deal wisely
with them; lest they multiply,
and it come to pass, that, when,
there falleth out any war,
they join also unto our enemies, and
fight against us,
and so get them up (northward) out of the
land."
Ahmose set out making
slaves out of the Asiatics that were left in Avaris.
"I
took of those whom my sword spared many captives, pinioned like birds
before my horses,
their women and children in tens of thousands,
and their cattle in hundreds of thousands.
I settled their leaders
in strongholds called by my name.
I gave them to troop-commanders
and chiefs of the tribes,branded and made into slaves stamped with my
name,
their women and children treated likewise.
I brought
their cattle to the house of Amun,made for him into everlasting
herds".
Manethjo was
probably correct about the Hyksos being settled in cities in
canaan,according to archeologists.He may also have been correct about
them coming from the east.Archeologists claim they were Semitic and
it's believed they came for Anotolia or Northern Syria.They had been
in Canaan for some time,and could have been the Biblical
Jebusites.Archeology has discovered evidence of them being dominate
in Jerusalem and Jerico until sometime after the 15th century
bce.There were names of Hyksos leaders found among the ruins of
Jerico,as well as a vast complex of store rooms,68 in all, that had
been built at that time,indicating the Hyksos had settled there
following their expulsion from Egypt,by Ahmose.Around 1600 BCE,the
store rooms were destroyed along with the cities ramparts.Sometimes
later further damage was done by an earthquake,which toppled parts of
the walls.The city saw continuous use until the end of the 15th
century BCE.Royal scarabs,indicate Egyptian rule and include those
Thuthmose III,and Amenhotep III and around 1400 BCE activity of the
city come to an abrupt halt.The tribal name of the inhabitants are
not mentioned in the Bible,but archeology says they were
Hyksos.Surrounding the city was a retaining wall fifteen feet high.At
its top was an eight-foot brick wall strengthened from behind by an
earthen rampart.Behind the wall were domestic structures,with an
inner wall surrounding the central city.Timbers were used to span the
two walls,on top of which houses were built.Josh. 2:15,describes them
exactly: