Diniktum , inscribed Di-ni-ik-tum , was a still unlocated middle bronze-age town often thought to be located somewhere in the Diyala Governorate of Iraq .
93-525: It enjoyed independence briefly during the 18th century under the reigns of the Amorite chieftains ( ra-bí-an MAR.DÚ) Itur-šarrum, attested on a single seal from Ešnunna , and Sîn-gāmil, son of Sîn-šēmi and a contemporary of Zimri-Lim (ca. 1710–1698 BC short ) of Mari and Ḫammu-rapī (ca. 1728–1686 BC short) of Babylon , attested in a brick inscription "Sin-gamil, Amorite chief of Diniktum, son of Sin-semi.". In an old Babylonian letter from Yarim-Lim I ,
186-746: A Hurrian minority, found that the inhabitants of Alalakh were a mixture of Copper age Levantines and Mesopotamians, and were genetically similar to contemporaneous Levantines. The view that Amorites were fierce and tall nomads led to an anachronistic theory among some racialist writers in the 19th century that they were a tribe of " Aryan " warriors, who at one point dominated the Israelites. This belief, which originated with Felix von Luschan , fit models of Indo-European migrations posited during his time, but Luschan later abandoned that theory. Houston Stewart Chamberlain claims that King David and Jesus were both Aryans of Amorite extraction. The argument
279-744: A 270-kilometre (170 mi) wall from the Tigris to the Euphrates to hold them off. The Amorites are depicted in contemporary records as nomadic tribes under chiefs, who forced themselves into lands they needed to graze their herds. Some of the Akkadian literature of this era speaks disparagingly of the Amorites and implies that the Akkadian- and Sumerian-speakers of Mesopotamia viewed their nomadic and primitive way of life with disgust and contempt. In
372-613: 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: To what effect do I perceive it, my might, while a ruler is in Avaris and another in Kush, I sitting joined with an Asiatic and a Nubian, each man having his (own) portion of this Egypt, sharing
465-524: A century before his successor Sîn-gāmil became the new ruler of the kingdom. Ikūn-pî-Sîn (“The word of Sin is truthful”), the ruler of Nērebtum ( Tell Ishchali ) and possibly Tutub , cities in the sphere of Ešnunna, has a year name: “Year when Ikū(n)-pî-Sîn captured Diniktum." It was absorbed into the kingdom of Ešnunna and consequently embroiled in its conflicts with Elam during the reigns of Ibāl-pî-El II (ca. 1715–1701 BC short) and Ṣillī-Sîn (ca. 1700–1698 BC short). During an Elamite invasion of Mesopotamia
558-463: A chancellor ( imy-r khetemet ) as the head of their administration. The names, the order, length of rule, and even the number of Fifteenth Dynasty rulers are not known with complete certainty. After the end of their rule, the Hyksos kings were not considered legitimate rulers of Egypt and were omitted from most king lists. The fragmentary Turin King List included six Hyksos kings, however only
651-625: 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
744-708: 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
837-484: A later Egyptian pronunciation of ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣswt as ḥqꜣ- šꜣsw , which was then understood to mean "lord of shepherds." It is unclear if this translation was found in Manetho; an Armenian translation of an epitome of Manetho given by the late antique historian Eusebius gives the correct translation of "foreign kings". "It is now commonly accepted in academic publications that the term Ḥqꜣ-Ḫꜣswt refers only to
930-546: A new reading of as many as 149 years, while Thomas Schneider proposed a length between 160 and 180 years. 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
1023-541: A personal title and epithet by several pharaohs or high Egyptian officials, including the Theban official Mentuemhat , Philip III of Macedon , and Ptolemy XIII . It was also used on the tomb of Egyptian grand priest Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel in 300 BC to designate the Persian ruler Artaxerxes III , although it is unknown if Artaxerxes adopted this title for himself. In his epitome of Manetho , Josephus connected
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#17327723151621116-547: 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
1209-521: A royal inscription defeating a coalition of Sumerian cities and Amorites near Jebel Bishri in northern Syria c. 2240 BC. His successor, Shar-Kali-Sharri , recorded in one of his year names "In the year in which Szarkaliszarri was victorious over Amurru in the [Jebel Bishri]". By the time of the last days of the Third Dynasty of Ur , the immigrating Amorites had become such a force that kings such as Shu-Sin were obliged to construct
1302-540: A site, Tell #851, was identified as a possible location for Diniktum. It showed surface remains from the Ubaid to Kassite periods. A local resident there turned in six UrIII/Larsa cylinder seals (one mentioned the god Ninib ) and an inscribed brick. The brick read "Sîn-gāmil the great leader of Martu of the city Diniktum son of Sin-šemi". Amorites The Amorites ( / ˈ æ m ə ˌ r aɪ t s / ) were an ancient Northwest Semitic -speaking Bronze Age people from
1395-922: A toponym [...] cautiously linked with the Northern Levant and the northern region of the Southern Levant." Earlier arguments that the Hyksos names might be Hurrian have been rejected, while early-twentieth-century proposals that the Hyksos were Indo-Europeans "fitted European dreams of Indo-European supremacy, now discredited." Some have suggested that Hyksos or a part of them was of Maryannu origins as evident by their use and introduction of chariots and horses into Egypt. However, this theory has been too rejected by modern scholarship. A study of dental traits by Nina Maaranen and Sonia Zakrzewski in 2021 on 90 people of Avaris indicated that individuals defined as locals and non-locals were not ancestrally different from one another. The results were in line with
1488-463: 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 c. 1800 BC during
1581-411: Is clothed in sack-leather ... , lives in a tent, exposed to wind and rain, and cannot properly recite prayers. He lives in the mountains and ignores the places of gods, digs up truffles in the foothills, does not know how to bend the knee (in prayer), and eats raw flesh. He has no house during his life, and when he dies he will not be carried to a burial-place. My girlfriend, why would you marry Martu? As
1674-624: Is described as the last "of the remnant of the Rephaim " ( Deut 3:11 ). The terms Amorite and Canaanite seem to be used more or less interchangeably, but sometimes Amorite refers to a specific tribe living in Canaan. The Biblical Amorites seem to have originally occupied the region stretching from the heights west of the Dead Sea ( Gen. 14:7 ) to Hebron ( Gen. 13:8; Deut. 3:8; 4:46–48 ), embracing "all Gilead and all Bashan " ( Deut. 3:10 ), with
1767-596: 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
1860-568: Is mentioned that in the days of Samuel , there was peace between them and the Israelites ( 1 Sam. 7:14 ). The Gibeonites were said to be their descendants, being an offshoot of the Amorites who made a covenant with the Hebrews ( 2 Samuel 21:2 ). When Saul later broke that vow and killed some of the Gibeonites, God is said to have sent a famine to Israel ( 2 Samuel 21:1 ). In 2017, Philippe Bohstrom of Haaretz observed similarities between
1953-519: Is not thought to represent a full Amorite pantheon, as it does not include important members such as the sun and weather deities. The term Amorites is used in the Bible to refers to certain highlanders who inhabited the land of Canaan , described in Genesis as descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham ( Gen. 10:16 ). This aligns with Akkadian and Babylonian traditions that equate Syro-Palestine with
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#17327723151622046-634: 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. Three years later, c. 1542 BC, Seqenenre Tao's successor Kamose initiated
2139-688: The Ahlamu during the Late Bronze Age collapse . The Arameans rose to be the prominent group amongst the Ahlamu. From c. 1200 BC onward, the Amorites disappeared from the pages of history, but the name reappeared in the Hebrew Bible . The language was first attested in the 21st–20th centuries BC and was found to be closely related to the Canaanite , Aramaic and Sam'alian languages. In
2232-615: 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
2325-463: The Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the fragmented era of the Second Intermediate Period in the Nile Delta , which was characterized by rulers bearing Amorite names such as Yakbim Sekhaenre , and were likely part of the later Hyksos . The term Amurru in Akkadian and Sumerian texts refers to the Amorites, their principal deity , and an Amorite kingdom . The Amorites are mentioned in
2418-724: The Hebrew Bible as inhabitants of Canaan both before and after the conquest of the land under Joshua . It is thought that terms like mar.tu were used to represent what we now call the Amorites: In two Sumerian literary compositions written long afterward in the Old Babylonian period, Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta and Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird , the Early Dynastic ruler of Uruk Enmerkar (listed in
2511-537: The Jerusalem region, and the Jebusites may have been a subgroup of them ( Ezek. 16:3 ). The southern slopes of the mountains of Judea are called the "mount of the Amorites" ( Deut. 1:7, 19, 20 ). The Book of Joshua states the five kings of the Amorites were first defeated with great slaughter by Joshua ( Josh. 10:5 ). Then, more Amorite kings were defeated at the waters of Merom by Joshua ( Josh. 11:8 ). It
2604-531: The Jordan Valley on the east of the river ( Deut. 4:49 ), the land of the "two kings of the Amorites", Sihon and Og ( Deut. 31:4 and Joshua 2:10; 9:10 ). Sihon and Og were independent kings whose people were displaced from their land in battle with the Israelites ( Numbers 21:21–35 )—though in the case of the war led by Og/Bashan it appears none of them survived, and the land became part of Israel ( Numbers 21:35 ). The Amorites seem to have been linked to
2697-635: The Kassite dynasty under the name of Karduniaš around 1595 BC. In far southern Mesopotamia, the native First Sealand dynasty had reigned over the Mesopotamian Marshes region until the Kassites brought the region under their control. In northern Mesopotamia , the power vacuum left by the Amorites brought the rise of the Mitanni (Ḫanigalbat) c. 1600 BC. From the 15th century BC onward,
2790-593: The Levant . Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Egypt from the 21st century BC to the late 17th century BC. The Amorites established several prominent city-states in various locations, such as Isin , Kurda , Larsa , Mari , and Ebla , and later founded Babylon and the Old Babylonian Empire . They also founded
2883-611: The Mediterranean Sea , the Arabian Peninsula included. The most common view is that the "homeland" of the Amorites was a limited area in central Syria identified with the mountainous region of Jebel Bishri . The Amorites are regarded as one of the ancient Semitic-speaking peoples . Ancient DNA analysis on 28 human remains dating to the Middle and Late Bronze Age from ancient Alalakh , an Amorite city with
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2976-602: The Sumerian King List ) mentions "the land of the mar.tu ". It is not known to what extent these reflect historical facts. There are also sparse mentions about Amorites (often as MAR-DU ) in tablets from the East Semitic -speaking kingdom of Ebla , dating from 2500 BC to the destruction of the city in c. 2250 BC. From the perspective of the Eblaites, the Amorites were a rural group living in
3069-528: 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 didn't 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
3162-525: The composite bow , a theory which is disputed. The Hyksos did not control all of Egypt. They coexisted with the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties , which were based in Thebes . Warfare between the Hyksos and the pharaohs of the late Seventeenth Dynasty eventually culminated in the defeat of the Hyksos by Ahmose I , who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt . In the following centuries,
3255-617: The "land of the Amorites". They are described as a powerful people of great stature "like the height of the cedars" ( Amos 2:9 ) who had occupied the land east and west of the Jordan . The height and strength mentioned in Amos 2:9 has led some Christian scholars, including Orville J. Nave, who wrote the Nave's Topical Bible , to refer to the Amorites as "giants". In Deuteronomy , the Amorite king Og
3348-640: The 18th century BC at Mari Amorite scribes wrote in an Eshnunna dialect of the East Semitic Akkadian language . Since the texts contain Northwest Semitic forms, words and constructions, the Amorite language is thought to be a Northwest Semitic language. The main sources for the extremely limited extant knowledge of the Amorite language are the proper names and loanwords, not Akkadian in style, that are preserved in such texts. Amorite proper names were found throughout Mesopotamia in
3441-526: The Amorites and the Jews, since both historically existed as well-connected diasporic communities. He also believes that Abraham was among the Amorites who migrated to the Levant, around the same time that the Amorites conquered Ur at 1750 BC, due to his north Syrian heritage and shepherding-based lifestyles. Nonetheless, the Biblical authors only applied the Amorite ethnonym to the pre-Israelite inhabitants of
3534-407: The Amorites were also part. Based on temple architecture, Manfred Bietak argues for strong parallels between the religious practices of the Hyksos at Avaris with those of the area around Byblos , Ugarit , Alalakh and Tell Brak and defines the "spiritual home" of the Hyksos as "in northernmost Syria and northern Mesopotamia", areas typically associated with Amorites at the time. In 1650 BC,
3627-587: 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. The Hyksos show a mix of Egyptian and Levantine cultural traits. Their rulers adopted the full ancient Egyptian royal titulary and employed Egyptian scribes and officials. They also used Near-Eastern forms of administration, such as employing
3720-551: The Egyptians would portray the Hyksos as bloodthirsty and oppressive foreign rulers. The term "Hyksos" is derived, via the Greek Ὑκσώς ( Hyksôs ), from the Egyptian expression 𓋾𓈎 𓈉 ( ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣswt or ḥqꜣw-ḫꜣswt , "heqau khasut"), meaning "rulers [of] foreign lands". The Greek form is likely a textual corruption of an earlier Ὑκουσσώς ( Hykoussôs ). The first century Jewish historian Josephus gives
3813-639: The Elamites sacked Eshnunna . This caused many soldiers in the Elamite army that were from Eshnunna to defect. Because of the mass desertion, the Elamite king retreated back to Diniktum. While in Diniktum, the Elamites would sue for peace with Hammurabi . The Elamites were then driven from the city. The town was still settled in the later bronze-age, as a year name of 15th century BC Kassite ruler Kadashman-harbe I reads "the year [in which] Kadašman-Ḫarbe ,
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3906-891: The Elder Siamun Psusennes II Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt Harsiese A Takelot II Pedubast I Shoshenq VI Osorkon III Takelot III Rudamun Menkheperre Ini Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt Tefnakht Bakenranef ( Sargonid dynasty ) Tiglath-Pileser Shalmaneser Marduk-apla-iddina II Sargon Sennacherib Marduk-zakir-shumi II Marduk-apla-iddina II Bel-ibni Ashur-nadin-shumi Nergal-ushezib Mushezib-Marduk Esarhaddon Ashurbanipal Ashur-etil-ilani Sinsharishkun Sin-shumu-lishir Ashur-uballit II Hyksos The Hyksos ( / ˈ h ɪ k s ɒ s / ; Egyptian ḥqꜣ(w) - ḫꜣswt , Egyptological pronunciation : heqau khasut , "ruler(s) of foreign lands"), in modern Egyptology , are
3999-551: 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. 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
4092-408: The Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Manfred Bietak proposes that a king recorded as Yaqub-Har may also have been a Hyksos king of the Fifteenth Dynasty. Bietak suggests that many of the other kings attested on scarabs may have been vassal kings of the Hyksos. None of the proposed identifications besides of Apepi and Apophis is considered certain. In Sextus Julius Africanus 's epitome of Manetho,
4185-527: The Hyksos ( 𓋾𓈎𓈉 ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣsw, 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
4278-476: The Hyksos as invaders and oppressors, this interpretation is questioned in modern Egyptology. Instead, Hyksos rule might have been preceded by groups of Canaanite peoples who gradually settled in the Nile Delta from the end of the Twelfth Dynasty onwards and who may have seceded from the crumbling and unstable Egyptian control at some point during the Thirteenth Dynasty . The Hyksos period marks
4371-571: The Hyksos by this name, instead referring to them as Asiatics ( ꜥꜣmw ), with the possible exception of the Turin King List in a hypothetical reconstruction from a fragment. The title is not attested for the Hyksos king Apepi , possibly indicating an "increased adoption of Egyptian decorum". The names of Hyksos rulers in the Turin list are without the royal cartouche and have the throwstick "foreigners" determinative. Scarabs also attest
4464-547: The Hyksos established the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt and ruled most of Lower and Middle Egypt contemporaneously with the Sixteenth and Seventeenth dynasties of Thebes during the chaotic Second Intermediate Period . In the 16th century BC, the Amorite era ended in Mesopotamia with the decline and fall of Babylon and other Amorite-ruled cities. The Kassites occupied Babylon and reconstituted it under
4557-527: 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. In the Wadi Tumilat , Tell el-Maskhuta shows
4650-497: The Hyksos originated in the Levant . The Hyksos' personal names indicate that they spoke a Western Semitic language and "may be called for convenience sake Canaanites ." Kamose , the last king of the Theban Seventeenth ;Dynasty, refers to Apepi as a "Chieftain of Retjenu " in a stela that implies a Levantine background for this Hyksos king. According to Anna-Latifa Mourad, the Egyptian application of
4743-432: The Hyksos title, however, the majority of kings from the second intermediate period are attested once on a single object, with only three exceptions. Ryholt associates two other rulers known from inscriptions with the dynasty, Khyan and Sakir-Har . The name of Khyan's son, Yanassi , is also preserved from Tell El-Dab'a. The two best attested kings are Khyan and Apepi. Scholars generally agree that Apepi and Khamudi are
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#17327723151624836-531: The Hyksos were allowed to leave after concluding a treaty: Thoumosis ... invested the walls [of Avaris] with an army of 480,000 men, and endeavoured to reduce [the Hyksos] to submission by siege. Despairing of achieving his object, he concluded a treaty, under which [the Hyksos] were all to evacuate Egypt and go whither they would unmolested. Upon these terms no fewer than two hundred and forty thousand, entire households with their possessions, left Egypt and traversed
4929-470: The Hyksos with the Jews, but he also calls them Arabs. In their own epitomes of Manetho, the Late antique historians Sextus Julius Africanus and Eusebius say that the Hyksos came from Phoenicia . Until the excavation and discovery of Tell El-Dab'a (the site of the Hyksos capital Avaris ) in 1966, historians relied on these accounts for the Hyksos period. Material finds at Tell El-Dab'a indicate that
5022-525: The Isin ruler Ishbi-Erra , which marked the beginning of the Isin-Larsa period. After the decline of Ur III, Amorite rulers gained power in a number of Mesopotamian city-states beginning in the Isin-Larsa period and peaking in the Old Babylonian period. In the north, the Amorite ruler of Ekallatum , Shamshi-Adad I conquered Assur and formed the large, though short-lived Kingdom of Upper Mesoptamia. In
5115-434: The Old Babylonian period, as well as places as far afield as Alalakh in Turkey and modern day Bahrain ( Dilmun ). They are also found in Egyptian records. Ugaritic is also a Northwest Semitic language and is possibly an Amorite dialect. A bilingual list of the names of ten Amorite deities alongside Akkadian counterparts from the Old Babylonian period was translated in 2022. These deities are as follows: This list
5208-478: The Sumerian myth "Marriage of Martu", written early in the 2nd millennium BC , a goddess considering marriage to the god of the Amorites is warned: Now listen, their hands are destructive and their features are those of monkeys; (An Amorite) is one who eats what (the Moon-god) Nanna forbids and does not show reverence. They never stop roaming about ..., they are an abomination to the gods' dwellings. Their ideas are confused; they cause only disturbance. (The Amorite)
5301-416: The Turin King List or from other sources who may have been Hyksos rulers. According to Ryholt, kings Semqen and Aperanat , known from the Turin King List, may have been early Hyksos rulers, however Jürgen von Beckerath assigns these kings to the Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt . Another king known from scarabs , Sheshi , is believed by many scholars to be a Hyksos king, however Ryholt assigns this king to
5394-426: 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
5487-407: The archaeological evidence, suggesting Avaris was an important hub in the Middle Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean trade network, welcoming people from beyond its borders. 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
5580-431: The centralized structure of the Third Dynasty of Ur slowly collapsed, the city-states of the south such as Isin, Larsa and Eshnunna, began to reassert their former independence, and the areas in southern Mesopotamia with Amorites were no exception. Elsewhere, the armies of Elam were attacking and weakening the empire, making it vulnerable. Ur was eventually occupied by the Elamites. They remained until they were rejected by
5673-409: 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,
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#17327723151625766-411: 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
5859-495: The desert to Syria. ( Contra Apion I.88-89) 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
5952-432: 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. 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
6045-464: The east, whose coming was unforeseen, had the audacity to invade the country, which they mastered by main force without difficulty or even battle. Having overpowered the chiefs, they then savagely burnt the cities, razed the temples of the gods to the ground, and treated the whole native population with the utmost cruelty, massacring some, and carrying off the wives and children of others into slavery ( Contra Apion I.75-77). Manetho's invasion narrative
6138-420: 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
6231-428: The end of the Fifteenth Dynasty itself. However, Vera Müller writes: "Considering that S-k-r-h-r is also mentioned with three names of the traditional Egyptian titulary (Horus name, Golden Falcon name and Two Ladies name) on the same monument, this argument is somehow strange." Danielle Candelora and Manfred Bietak also argue that the Hyksos used the title officially. All other texts in the Egyptian language do not call
6324-426: The first in which foreign rulers ruled Egypt. Many details of their rule, such as the true extent of their kingdom and even the names and order of their kings, remain uncertain. The Hyksos practiced many Levantine or Canaanite customs alongside Egyptian ones. They have been credited with introducing several technological innovations to Egypt, such as the horse and chariot , as well as the khopesh (sickle sword) and
6417-412: The first king. Recently, archaeological finds have suggested that Khyan may have been a contemporary of the Thirteenth Dynasty pharaoh Sobekhotep IV , potentially making him an early rather than a late Hyksos ruler. This has prompted attempts to reconsider the entire chronology of the Hyksos period, which as of 2018 had not yet reached any consensus. Some kings are attested from either fragments of
6510-414: The high mountains. Reasons include the polemical need to associate them with the "barbaric raw meat eating" Amorites that the Sumerians imagined them as. The authors also wanted to portray these inhabitants as having an ancient history. There are a wide range of views regarding the Amorite homeland. One extreme is the view that kur mar.tu / māt amurrim covered the whole area between the Euphrates and
6603-425: The individual foreign rulers of the late Second Intermediate Period," especially of the Fifteenth Dynasty , rather than a people. However, Josephus used it as an ethnic term. Its use to refer to the population persists in some academic papers. In Ancient Egypt, the term "Hyksos" ( ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣswt ) was also used to refer to various Nubian and especially Asiatic rulers both before and after the Fifteenth Dynasty. It
6696-481: The king of Yamḫad to the Yašub-Yahad, the king of Dēr , he says: .. Certainly. Sîn-gāmil, king of Diniktum. very much like you would repeatedly respond to me by means of lies and provocations. Having docked 500 boats in Diniktum's quay. I "sank" (supported?) his land as well as him for 12 year!" Yarim-Lim I would defeat the king of Diniktum in battle. One king of Diniktum named Itur-šarrum ruled Diniktum for around
6789-526: The king, dug the canal of Diniktum". An early proposal was on the Tigris river downstream from Upi and close to the northern border of Elam . It has also been suggested as being at or in the vicinity of Tell Muhammad , which lies in south-eastern part of modern Baghdad . Diniktum is mentioned in the Harmal geographical list, Tablet IM 51143. In a survey of archaeological sites in the Diyala region of Iraq
6882-587: The kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt (fl. c. 1650–1550 BC). Their seat of power was the city of Avaris in the Nile Delta , from where they ruled over Lower Egypt and Middle Egypt up to Cusae . In the Aegyptiaca , a history of Egypt written by the Greco-Egyptian priest and historian Manetho in the 3rd century BC, the term Hyksos is used ethnically to designate people of probable West Semitic, Levantine origin. While Manetho portrayed
6975-502: The land with me. There is no passing him as far as Memphis, the water of Egypt. He has possession of Hermopolis, and no man can rest, being deprived by the levies of the Setiu. I shall engage in battle with him and I shall slit his body, for my intention is to save Egypt, striking the Asiatics. Following a common literary device, Kamose's advisors are portrayed as trying to dissuade the king, who attacks anyway. He recounts his destruction of
7068-418: The last two kings of the dynasty, and Apepi is attested as a contemporary of Seventeenth-Dynasty pharaohs Kamose and Ahmose I . Ryholt has proposed that Yanassi did not rule and that Khyan directly preceded Apepi, but most scholars agree that the order of kings is: Khyan, Yanassi, Apepi, Khamudi. There is less agreement on the early rulers. Sakir-Har is proposed by Schneider, Ryholt, and Bietak to have been
7161-518: 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
7254-572: The name as meaning "shepherd kings" or "captive shepherds" in his Contra Apion (Against Apion), where he describes the Hyksos as Jews as they appeared in the Hellenistic Egyptian historian Manetho . "Their race bore the generic name of Hycsos, which means 'king-shepherds'. For hyc in the sacred language denotes 'king' and sos in the common dialect means 'shepherd' or 'shepherds'; the combined words form Hycsos. Some say that they were Arabians." Josephus's rendition may arise from
7347-459: The name in a Hyksos inscription of Sakir-Har from Avaris, the name was used by the Hyksos as a title for themselves. However, Kim Ryholt argues that "Hyksos" was not an official title of the rulers of the Fifteenth Dynasty, and is never encountered together with royal titulary , only appearing as the title in the case of Sakir-Har. According to Ryholt, "Hyksos" was a generic term encountered separately from royal titulary, and in regnal lists after
7440-476: The name of the last, Khamudi , is preserved. Six names are also preserved in the various epitomes of Manetho, however, it is difficult to reconcile the Turin King List and other sources with names known from Manetho, mainly due to the "corrupted name forms" in Manetho. The name Apepi/Apophis appears in multiple sources, however. Various other archaeological sources also provide names of rulers with
7533-550: The narrow basin of the middle and upper Euphrates in northern Syria. The Eblaites used the term MAR.TU in an early time for a state and people east to Ebla (around Emar and Tuttul ), which means the name Amurru for the west is later than the name for the state or the people. For the Akkadian emperors of central Mesopotamia, mar.tu was one of the "Four Quarters" surrounding Akkad, along with Subartu (north), Sumer (south), and Elam (east). Naram-Sin of Akkad records in
7626-479: 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 ( ꜥꜣmw ), including the leading man with a Nubian ibex labelled as Abisha
7719-431: The religious practices of the Hyksos at Avaris with those of the area around Byblos , Ugarit , Alalakh and Tell Brak , defining the "spiritual home" of the Hyksos as "in northernmost Syria and northern Mesopotamia ". The connection of the Hyksos to Retjenu also suggests a northern Levantine origin: "Theoretically, it is feasible to deduce that the early Hyksos, as the later Apophis, were of elite ancestry from Rṯnw ,
7812-594: The south, Babylon became the major power under the Amorite ruler Sumu-la-El and his successors, including the notable Hammurabi . Higher up the Euphrates, to the northwest, the Amorite kingdom of Mari arose, later to be destroyed by Hammurabi. Babylon itself would later be sacked by the Hittites, with its empire assumed by the Kassites . West of Mari, Yamhad ruled from its capital Halab, today's Aleppo, until it
7905-418: The term ꜥꜣmw to the Hyksos could indicate a range of backgrounds, including newly arrived Levantines or people of mixed Levantine-Egyptian origin. Due to the work of Manfred Bietak, which found similarities in architecture, ceramics and burial practices, scholars currently favor a northern Levantine origin of the Hyksos. Based particularly on temple architecture, Bietak argues for strong parallels between
7998-620: The term Amurru is usually applied to the region extending north of Canaan as far as Kadesh on the Orontes River in northern Syria. After the mid-2nd millennium BC, Syrian Amorites came under the domination of first the Hittites and, from the 14th century BC, the Middle Assyrian Empire . They then appear to have been displaced or absorbed by other semi-nomadic West Semitic -speaking peoples, known collectively as
8091-595: The use of this title for pharaohs usually assigned to the Fourteenth or Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt, who are sometimes called "'lesser' Hyksos." The Theban Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt is also given the title in some versions of Manetho, a fact which Bietak attributes to textual corruption. In the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and during the Ptolemaic Period , the term Hyksos was adopted as
8184-445: 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 . 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: A people of ignoble origin from
8277-455: 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
8370-526: Was destroyed by the Hittites in 16th century BC. The city of Ebla , under the control of Yamhad in this period, also had Amorite rulership. There is thought to have been an Amorite presence in Egypt from the 19th century BC. The Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt , centred in the Nile Delta , had rulers bearing Amorite names such as Yakbim . Furthermore, increasing evidence suggests that the succeeding Hyksos of Egypt were an amalgam of peoples from Syria of which
8463-467: 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
8556-1774: Was repeated by the Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg . In the Levant: In Mesopotamia: In Egypt: ( Shamshi-Adad dynasty 1808–1736 BCE) (Amorites) Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi (Non-dynastic usurpers 1735–1701 BCE) Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi ( Adaside dynasty 1700–722 BCE) Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II Second Intermediate Period Sixteenth Dynasty Abydos Dynasty Seventeenth Dynasty (1500–1100 BCE) Kidinuid dynasty Igehalkid dynasty Untash-Napirisha Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon
8649-456: Was used at least since the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt (c. 2345–2181 BC) to designate chieftains from the Syro - Palestine area. One of its earliest recorded uses is found c. 1900 BC in the tomb of Khnumhotep II of the Twelfth Dynasty to label a nomad or Canaanite ruler named " Abisha the Hyksos " (using the standard 𓋾𓈎𓈉 , ḥqꜣ-ḫꜣswt , "Heqa-kasut" for "Hyksos"). Based on the use of
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