Under what circumstances did it begin?

Most of our knowleadge of AE history comes down to us in fragments. We get most of it from assorted kings lists and Manetho. Other things like inscriptions from tombs or papyri might gives us an indication of what happened in the very distant past.

The standard history I have always read is that the southern Wasetan[Theban] kings were being disruptive spearing hippotamus. We all know Hippotamus is symbolic of Seth and during this time the Hykos identified their deity with Set.

There is a mummy of Sequene-Re-Tao I that shows a hole in his head. Apparently many believe that he acquired this hole in his head from a battle with the Hykos in northern Egypt.

The Kushite allegiance was found in a letter to Kamose. He found out about the allegiance from intersepting a Hykos messenger to Kush[which would have been located in modern day Kerma].

From Manetho's list, Egyptologists relate the 13th and 17th dynasties to the Theban kings, while the 15th and 16th Dynasties are associated with the Hyksos. The 14th dynasty could have been contemporaneous with the 13th dynasty, and could have either belonged to a line of native Kings or Hyksos. This seems to be a rather chaotic period of dynastic Egypt, and it appears to be reflected in available Kings lists. The Hyksos period is therefore not called the 'dark' period for nothing.

The relative uncertainity about 14th dynasty, based in the Xois city of the north, may well be due to the possibility that, around this time, its local line of rulers were probably under some degree of Hyksos influence or authority, like vassaldom. And as far as the 16th dynasty is concerned, absence of archeological evidence in support of a line of kings belonging to the Hyksos, makes its existence rather questionable.

It should be examined how the Hyksos might have come into the country, because it appears that the Egyptians had a fortified eastern border, with troop presence. So any influx into the nation would have been checked. It seems probable that Egyptians themselves allowed some infiltration of Asiatics into the Delta, possibly for trade reasons:

Hyksos rule of Egypt was probably the climax of waves of Asiatic immigration and infiltration into the northeastern Delta of the Nile. This process was perhaps aided by the Egyptians themselves. For example, Amenemhat II records, in unmistakable language, a campaign by sea to the Lebanese coast that resulted in a list of booty comprising 1,554 Asiatics, and considering that Egypt's eastern border was fortified and probably patrolled by soldiers, it is difficult to understand how massive numbers of foreign people could have simply migrated into northern Egypt. These people migrated, or otherwise moved to the region from the 12th Dynasty onward, and by the 13th Dynasty, this migration became widespread...

...One hypothesis is that the basic population of Egyptians allowed, from time to time, a new influx of settlers, first from the region of Lebanon and Syria, and subsequently from Palestine and Cyprus.

The leaders of these people eventually married into the local Egyptian families, a theory that is somewhat supported by preliminary studies of human remains at Tell el-Dab'a. Indeed, parallels for the foreign traits of the Hyksos at Tell el-Dab'a have been found at southern Palestinian sites such as Tell el-Ajjul, at the Syrian site of Ebla and at Byblos in modern Labanon. - TourEgypt.Net

At any rate, it appears that ambitious leaders among these immigrants, were aided in their adventure, in part due to new imported military concepts they came with, and on the other hand, the existing political weakness during the late 13th dynasty. They subsequently (in late 18th century B.C.) were able to make their capital at Avaris, and then Memphis, 50 years later or so. It should be noted however, that the expansion of Hyksos rule towards upper Egypt was slow paced, and they were never able to adequately rule upper Egypt.

As a matter of fact, no clear chronological line demarcates the 13th dynasty from the 17th dynasty, both of which appeared to have been running in Upper Egypt, during the Hyksos period. Some Egyptologists have been tempted to further subdivide these two dynasties into a number of dynasties, under the suspicion that some of the kings in these dynasties formed an independent political entity from their immediate predecessor, particularly the last few kings of the 17th dynasty.

It is generally accepted that Kamose, the Theban King, took the initiative of launching a war of liberation to drive out the Hyksos. The subsequent victory was completed under Ahmose's watch, with the re-unification of Egypt, and bringing the Theban authority to the fore again.

Prior to Ahmose's re-unification of Egypt, Nebhepetre's (Menthotpe II) moving of the capital to Thebes upon victory over Herakleopolis, left a lasting impact on the minds of Egyptians. Evidence of this, is a temple inscription, dating to the 19th dynasty, bringing together the names of three kings; Menes, Nebhepetre (Menthotpe II) and Ahmose. According to William C. Hayes, these folks were "obviously" regarded "as the founders of the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms". It appears from this, that in the 19th dynasty, Egyptians viewed national history in terms of these three epochs, each marked by unification of the nation by a Pharaoh, after political upheaval. This probably explains the confusion expressed in the following article:

Archeologists have found the tomb of pharaoh Nubkeperre Inyotef with the aid
of a papyrus document that could help find more royal tombs

Cairo, July 01, 2001 (AFP/Agence France Presse) - Archeologists have discovered the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh with the aid of a papyrus document they now realize could help them find more royal tombs, antiquities officials have said. A German working on the west bank of the Nile near present-day Luxor found the tomb of Nubkeperre Inyotef, who is believed to have started the war of liberation against Hyksos invaders around 3,500 years ago, they said.

"Historically speaking, it is a very exciting find," the secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Gaballah Ali Gaballah, said when asked to comment on a German news report of the find. "It validates the information on the papyrus document," he said.Nubkeperre Inyotef's tomb was mentioned in the so-called Abbot Papyrus, a 20th dynasty document now in the British Museum which detailed royal tombs that were pillaged in a period of anarchy under that dynasty, he said...

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Originally posted by ausar:

The standard history I have always read is that the southern Wasetan[Theban] kings were being disruptive spearing hippotamus. We all know Hippotamus is symbolic of Seth and during this time the Hykos identified their deity with Set.

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Yes, I have the story that the Hyksos king was complaining about hippopotamus making too much noise, it bothered him or something! Such a strange story had to be a metaphor for something else. But what was it exactly?

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The Kushite allegiance was found in a letter to Kamose. He found out about the allegiance from intersepting a Hykos messenger to Kush[which would have been located in modern day Kerma].

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Yes, strange how despite the 'racial' conflict Western scholars would say existed between the Egyptians and Kushites, that the more caucasian Hyksos from the Levant would ally themselves with the Kushites!

BTW, Djehuti, did you recieve my email? You never responded about this in another post. Just curious if you did.

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Originally posted by ausar:

BTW, Djehuti, did you recieve my email? You never responded about this in another post. Just curious if you did.

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Yes, Ausar. Jstor only works in college libraries but I'll be glad to help you find those articles.

Jstor has a PDF option that allows you to email the PDF. You should be able to email the article to me in PDF if you could.

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The reason for the virulence of the Egyptian attack on Kush in early Dynasty 18, has its roots in the discovery that Kamose made and which he inscribed on his second stela, discovered in 1954. In that stela, he states that his troops captured a Hyksos messenger on the oasis road headed south to Kush. His message was, Kamose is attacking the Hyksos king on the southern end of Hyksos ruled Egypt. You have arisen as king without letting me (the Hyksos king) know, but as Kamose is attacking me, you strike him in the rear (from Kush into Upper Egypt), and then we will divide up this Egypt between your land and mine.

That is why the attack when it came was so virulent.

The Egyptians had realized that the Hyksos were allied to the Kushites, with the Dynasty 17 squeezed in between. The capture of this message drove home the plight of Egypt.

Already Seqenenre Tao had died in battle against the Hyksos, and now this, a Hyksos-Kushite alliance.

Proof of the alliance has also come from seals with Hyksos names found in the Kushite burial mounds, and Hyksos style pottery also.

After the Kushites emerged into a powerful Kingdom, and the Hyksos seized Lower and Middle Egypt, the semi-independent Upper Egyptians turned to the Medja [Beja] for military help. As bedoiuns they were superb trackers, and I'm willing to see them as the fellows who captured the Hyksos messenger on his way to Kush, whose message Kamose intercepted. If he didn't know before, he knew after, that the Kushites and Hyksos were allied. This spelled curtains for both as the Egyptians ousted the Hyksos.

So, this accounts for the virulent attack on Kush that really took off only after the Hyksos were driven from Egypt.

However, since the Kushites had been in this alliance that could have wiped out Egypt in a moment, the Egyptians obviously had it in for both powers once they became masters of their own fate again.

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Like, how old were Sekenenra's sons when he began his crusade?

I see the Scepter of Egypt referenced alot. Never read the book. Unfortunately my Egyptology resources are very slim know. Maybe you can post on exceprts from the book. Right know my main area of interest is the Late Period in Egypt to the Islamic period in the Middle Ages.

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Originally posted by Djehuti:
Exactly how did the war against the Hyksos start?

Under what circumstances did it begin?

Was there really a political conspiracy by the Hyksos to undermine native rule in Thebes, and did they really get help from the Kushites?

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This has come up before; here is my generalized response(repeated):

Are you sure that the people in the Ipuwer's complaints are the same as the Hykos. The people who invaded the eastern Delta seem more akin to nomadic bedouin. Hykos people were people that were used to living in large cities like the ones around Syro-Palestine or Levantine countries. Not just mere nomads.

The Ipuwer is not the only writings that complain of strangers in the Delta,but there is another such as the Instructions of Meri-ka-Re.

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Originally posted by Djehuti:
Exactly how did the war against the Hyksos start?

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The Hyksos never ruled all of Egypt. They ruled the less densely populated Lower Egypt while Upper Egypt was ruled by local chieftains. There was always hostility between the Hyksos and the ruling family of Thebes(Waset) who were more nationalist and wanted a united Egypt. The war started when Kamose intercepted evidence of a conspiracy between the Hyksos and the Kushites against the ruling family of Thebes.

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Originally posted by Djehuti:

Was there really a political conspiracy by the Hyksos to undermine native rule in Thebes, and did they really get help from the Kushites?

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The rulers of Thebes were extremely conservative and nationalistic so there's always the possibility that the conspiracy was propaganda. However, the Hyksos were growing weary of the Theban Princes and definately felt threatened by their power so they had very strong motives to conspire against them.

What kind of an invasion was this? Could such an invasion happen even today?

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Originally posted by Djehuti:
One thing I find interesting is that written records, I forgot by whom, say that the Hyksos take over was unexpected and happened gradually but at the same time subtly. Like it was done right under their noses.

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It's quite possible that the Hyksos were just a ruiling family that grew powerful enough to rule lower Egypt.

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Originally posted by Djehuti:
Not to offend anyone, but perhaps the Hyksos invasion of Egypt could be compared with the movement of illegal Mexicans into the US?

Mexicans are moving in undocumented all the time but most of us are pretty oblivious or don't care. In fact we appreciate the cheap labor, but who knows maybe in time the Mexicans will have the power to take over! [b]LOL[/B]

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