NEW: Please subscribe to my Substack/newsletter at the bottom of the page. Thanks!
Hyksos Israel
Scholars of Egyptian history have often disagreed widely on the dating of events in ancient Egypt, often with a difference of several hundred years in their opinions. Recently the dating of Israel’s sojourn in Egypt has been reevaluated, with some scholars modifying both the dates of reign of several pharoahs and the dates of Israel in Egypt.
That being the case, we now can state with some degree of certainty that the span of about 100 years following Joseph’s death was actually Israel ruling over Egypt as the Hyksos Dynasty. Recent archeological evidents supports the idea that they were.
Fair Use Notice: Under the provisions of 17USC107 (the 1976 Copyright Act), allowance is made for “fair use” of copyrighted materials for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. This article is reproduced here without the permission of the author only for the purpose of education (teaching/scholarship). If you are the copyright owner and want this article removed, please contact me and I will immediately remove it. [Inclusion of this content does not necessarily indicate that I agree with the content or the author.]
Hyksos
Egyptian DynastyBritannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Hyksos". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Jul. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hyksos-Egyptian-dynasty. Accessed 24 July 2024.
Also known as: 15th Dynasty
Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Brittanica
Last Updated: Jul 1, 2024 • Article HistoryHyksos, dynasty of [Semitic][0] origin that ruled northern Egypt as the 15th dynasty (c. 1630–c. 1530 BCE; see ancient Egypt: The Second Intermediate period). The name Hyksos was used by the Egyptian historian Manetho (flourished c. 300 BCE), who, according to the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (flourished 1st century CE), translated the word as “king-shepherds” or “captive shepherds.” Josephus himself wished to demonstrate the great antiquity of the Jews and thus identified the Hyksos with the Hebrews of the Bible.[1] Hyksos was in fact probably an Egyptian term for “rulers of foreign lands” (heqa-khase), and it almost certainly designated the foreign dynasts rather than an ethnic group. Modern scholarship has identified most of the Hyksos kings’ names as Semitic.
The rise of the Hyksos kings in Egypt was made possible by an influx of immigrants from [Canaan] into Egypt beginning about the 18th century BCE. The immigrants brought with them new technologies, including the horse and chariot, the compound bow, and improved metal weapons. Most of them settled in the eastern portion of the Nile Delta, where they achieved a dominant role in trade with western Asia. Archaeological excavations in that area have revealed a Canaanite-style temple, [Semitic]-type burials (including horse burials), [Semitic] types of pottery, quantities of their superior weapons, and a series of Minoan frescoes that demonstrate stylistic parallels to those of Knossos and Thera. The most-prominent settlement was Avaris (modern Tall al-Dabʿa), a fortified camp over the remains of a Middle Kingdom town in the northeastern delta. Their chief deity was the Egyptian storm and desert god, Seth, whom they identified with a Syrian storm god, Hadad.
The sequence of events that brought the Hyksos kings to power in Lower Egypt is not entirely clear. The 13th and 14th dynasties, which had existed concurrently in Lower Egypt, weakened and disappeared about the middle of the 17th century. Some scholars have suggested that a famine in the Delta region contributed to their decline and opened the way for the emergence of the Hyksos dynasty. From Avaris the Hyksos 15th dynasty ruled most of Lower Egypt and the Nile valley as far south as Cusae (near present-day Asyūṭ). The contemporaneous 16th-dynasty rulers—minor Hyksos kings who ruled in Upper Egypt simultaneously with those of the 15th dynasty—were probably vassals of the latter group.
When, under Seqenenre and Kamose, the Thebans began to rebel, the Hyksos pharaoh Apopis[2] tried unsuccessfully to make an alliance with the rulers of Kush, who had overrun Lower Nubia in the later years of the 13th dynasty (c. 1650 BCE).
The Theban revolt spread northward under Kamose, and about 1521 Avaris fell to his successor, Ahmose, founder of the 18th dynasty, thereby ending 108 years of Hyksos rule over Egypt.[3] Although vilified in some Egyptian texts, the Hyksos had ruled as pharaohs and were listed as legitimate kings in the Turin Papyrus. At least superficially they were Egyptianized, and they did not interfere with Egyptian culture beyond the political sphere.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
This article was most recently revised and updated by Teagan Wolter.
I find the information in this book far superior to,
and much
more carefully researched than, the above Britannica article.
Dynasty of Slaves: Uncovering the Archeological Record of Israel in Egypt
by BLK SHP Scott (Author)
BLK SHP Scott is a pastor, teacher, and Bible communicator whose work spans the pulpit, the classroom, and
the screen. He leads BLK SHP Bible Talk, a teaching ministry built on the conviction that the Bible can
withstand every hard question, and that most people have never been shown how deep it actually goes.
Dynasty of Slaves is that conviction applied to one of the most consequential and contested chapters in
Scripture. The story of Israel in Egypt is not background. It is the crucible where a family becomes a
nation, where a deliverer is forged in obscurity, and where the God of Abraham steps onto the stage of
history in a way the ancient world could not ignore. This book traces that story through the text, through
the archaeology, and through the ancient documents that have surfaced to corroborate what the Bible was
saying all along.
The goal is not novelty. It is clarity. Scripture read carefully, history taken seriously, and the pieces
allowed to fall where they fall. For too long, the people sitting in the pew on Sunday have been handed
conclusions without evidence. Dynasty of Slaves is an attempt to change that, one reader at a time.
I enthusiastically recommend this book. Scott presents an account of a missing hundred-year span of Israel’s history in Egypt between between Exodus 1:7 and Exodus 1:8 (c. 1630–c. 1530 BCE). More than just a well-researched history book, it is a history book that reads like an exciting mystery novel. If I were still the academic dean of my seminary, I would require it as the textbook for a required course in every degree program. I can’t wait for the movie! I also highly recommend his Substack newsletter.
Media Disclaimer: Presence of video or audio recordings on this website does not
necessarily indicate agreement with all (or any) of the speaker’s theological position.
Genesis is true. We found Joseph.
BLK SHP Bible Talk
History tells us that a mysterious race of invaders called the "Hyksos" conquered Egypt
without a battle, burned its cities, and ruled as tyrants. But when archaeologists dig
into the ruins of their capital, Avaris, they find no evidence of a war. So, who were
they really? In this episode, we investigate the theory that the "Hyksos" weren't invaders
at all; they were the family of Jacob. We’ll connect the dots between the biblical story
of Joseph and the historical King “Salatis,” a name that isn't Egyptian, but a Greek
translation of the Semitic title Ha-Shallit (“The Governor”).
Join me as I brush away the sand from a Syrian-style palace in the Nile Delta,
examine a smashed statue wearing a “coat of many colors,” and uncover how a dreamer became
a king … and how the system he built to save Egypt became the “Iron Furnace” that would
eventually enslave his own family.
In this video:
•
The "Invasion" that never happened
•
The linguistic smoking gun: Joseph vs. Salatis
•
The archaeological discovery of the “Man in the Coat”
•
How the "Dynasty of Slaves" actually began as a Dynasty of Kings
Egypt Feared WHO After the Exodus?
BLK SHP Scott Bible Talk
This video is not directly related to the discussion of the Hyksos Dynasty, but it presents some very interesting information about the development of the Hebrew alef- bet during some Semitic presence in Egypt at about the same time.
Secrets of the Hebrew Alphabet: Origins
Jerusalen Lights - Rabbi Chaim Richman
0. I changed “Palestinian” to “Semitic” or "Canaan/Cannaanite" (depending on the context) throughout this article to agree with the last sentence in this paragraph. Abraham and his family would not become Israel until after their exodus from Egypt. At the time they migrated from Canaan to Egypt they lived as nomads and would have been what history calls “Semitic Canaanites.” They were most certainly not “Palestinian” because no such people have ever existed, and the editors of Encyclopedia Britannica know that! In 1969 the Egyptian terrorist Yasser Arafat, also popularly known as Abu Ammar, invented the term in an attempt to legitimize the Arab Muslim occupation of Israel. [BACK]
1. It is important to know that Josephus identified the Hyksos as Israelites. [BACK]
2. Was Apopis the same person as Joseph? [BACK]
3. Was this when the “new king who knew nothing of Joseph” (Exod 1:8) came to power? [BACK]
|
 |
Subscribe to my Substack/newsletter |
ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!
