When last we left Egypt, the 12th dynasty which was a period of great prosperity had just begun.
But it didn't last long, by the time of "Neferusobek", she was the eighth ruler of the 12th Dynasty ( 1763-1759 B.C.), it was over. The scenario went like this: It seems that "Amenemhet IV"
The seventh king of the 12th Dynasty, (who was probably the son of Amenemhet III, the 6th. king), was old when he assumed the throne, due to his father Amenemhet III's long reign.
He had no male heir, so it seems that a family feud broke out, from which Sebeknofru (his sister), emerged the winner. The exact nature of her reign is unknown, however this would be the second time in Egyptian history that a woman succeeded in establishing herself as 'King of Upper and Lower Egypt'. This was so abnormal a situation, that it had to once again bring disaster. After Sebeknofru, (as after Queen Nitocris of the 6th dynasty), there followed a succession of kings none of whose reigns exceeded three years. For Whatever cause, the glorious Middle Kingdom had finally broken down.
There had been a big building boom in Egypt during the 12th dynasty. Many temples were built and much other construction work was done. This created a need for more workers, and many of the workers that answered the call, were the highly skilled workers of Mesopotamia. Prominent among these, would be the Amorites, (who are now out of work). They are known in Egypt as "Hapiru" (one who sells his services), this word Hapiru will later become "Hebrew". The large-scale immigration of these foreigners into the Nile Valley during the Middle Kingdom, eventually spelled the end of the Middle Kingdom in Egypt.
Because these foreigners had maintained their identity as "Asiatic's" and had not become Egyptians, they felt empowered to establish their own communities and live by their own laws. Eventually, as their numbers increased, they challenged the power of the Egyptian monarchy itself, and Egypt fell into disarray. We do not known exactly how the "Hyksos" took northern Egypt, but took it they did. The middle and last part of the Second Intermediate Period (15th-17th dynastys) saw northern Egypt ruled by these foreign kings for hundreds of years.
During this time, Egypt was never under the control of a single monarch, but consisted largely of independent states under a variety of kings. The Egyptians called the foreign kings of northern Egypt - Heka-Khaswt - there is argument as to whether this translates to "Shepherd Kings" or "Rulers of the Foreign Lands." The Greeks later perverted this word to Hyksos. It might be of interest to note that in Sumer, the king was known in their hymns and poems as "the good Shepherd".
This second intermediate period, lasted for hundreds of years, until king "Tao" of Thebes took to battle in order to re-unify Egypt. After he fell in battle, his son Kamose carried on. King Kamose's throne name, Wadj-kheper-re means: "Flourishing is the Manifestation of Re". As Kamose picked up the battle-axe from his father, in the war against the Hyksos, he tried to motivate the Egyptian people to break the status quo, but it was a hard task, their fighting spirit wasn't high. The Hyksos had apparently been good neighbors, they had incorporated Egyptian gods into their religious pantheon, and had many commercial agreements with Egyptians in upper Egypt. They were people who had lived in Egypt for hundreds of years, and aside from their desire to build their nation with the Pharaohs land, were in all other ways tolerable.
In order to hold-off the oncoming Egyptian army, the old Hyksos king, "Apepi I" tried to make an alliance with the Nubians (people south of Egypt), and engage King Kamose in a two-front war, but it didn't work out as planned. Instead the Nubians joined forces with Kamose and headed north to expel the Hyksos. However, all Egyptians did not support expulsion of the Hyksos, and these people were treated as traitors.
As the battles raged, the Hyksos were eventually forced to barricade themselves in their city of Avaris. Here they were besieged, but managed to hold out. Kamose, not wishing to maintain a protracted siege, offered a compromise. Whereby if the Hyksos would leave peacefully, they could take all of their possessions and receive safe conduct out of Egypt. This the Hyksos accepted, and they gathered up all of their possessions, (and all of the Egyptians possessions that they could), and left Egypt.
Finally the Hyksos were expelled, (they went into Canaan - Biblical Exodus?). Subsequently though, a rebellion by unhappy quarry workers, encouraged the Hyksos to return to Egypt.
Here we are quoting Josephus Flavius from his book, Against Apion, where he is quoting passages concerning the Hyksos from Manetho's Aegyptiaca. Josephus is a Hebrew traitor named Joseph, who upon going over to the Romans, was made a General and given the title Josephus Flavius. He subsequently commanded Roman troops in putting down the Hebrew rebellion. {Not all Hebrews, especially the wealthy, objected to Roman rule}. Josephus's writing is generally considered to be "self-serving", but since he is quoting Manetho, we will use it.
"Those sent to work in the quarries lived miserably for a long while, and the king was asked to set apart the city Avaris, which the Hyksos had left, for their habitation and protection; and he granted them their wish.
But when these men had entered it, and found it suitable for a revolt, they chose a ruler from among the priests of Heliopolis, whose name was Osarsiph (Moses). They swore an oath that they would obey him in all things. The first laws he gave them were that they should not worship the Egyptian gods, nor should they abstain from any of the sacred animals that the Egyptians held in the highest esteem, but could kill them, and that they should not ally themselves to any but those that were of their conspiracy.
After making such laws as these, and others contrary to Egyptian customs, he ordered that the many hands at their service to be employed in building walls around the city and prepare for a war with king Ahmose. He colluded with the other priests, and those that were polluted as well, (apparently many of the quarry workers were Lepers), and sent ambassadors to those Hyksos expelled by Kamose to Jerusalem, informing them of his own affairs, and of the state of those others that had been treated so shamefully, and desired that they would come united to his assistance in this war against Egypt.
He also promised their return to their ancient city and land of Avaris, and plentiful support for their people; that he would protect them and fight for them if need be, and that the land would easily be subdued. The Hyksos were delighted with his message, and assembled two hundred thousand men. Shortly they arrived at Avaris.
This account goes on to tell of the Pharaohs sojourn to Nubia and his return 13 years later.
In any event, by now it was the reign of Kamose's son "Ahmose I", and he offered no compromise. On his stella, Ahmose I proclaims that he chased the Hyksos out of Egypt, and as far east as the Euphrates river.
The Egyptian historian "Manetho" (305–282 B.C.), writes about this expulsion: "And it was also reported that the priest, who ordained their polity and their laws, was by birth of Heliopolis, and his name was Osarsiph from Osyris, who was the god of Heliopolis; but that when he was gone over to these people, his name was changed, and he was called Moses".
Kamose's son, "Ahmose I" probably became ruler of Egypt around 1550 B.C. He was about the age of 10 when he came to the throne, and he ruled for a period of about 25 years.
Picture below: Not part of the story - just something interesting to think about.
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Now lets see how all this is playing out in Canaan.
Please visit the "Additional Material Area" for many more photographs of each civilization, and related material <Click> |
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