The Hyksos Invade Egypt

Back up in northern Africa, Amenemhet’s sons and grandsons were still ruling the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. They were strong pharaohs who kept all of Egypt united. They didn’t allow conquered people, like the Nubians, to rebel.

Amenemhet’s family was a powerful dynasty. Do you remember what a dynasty is? It’s when one family rules a country for many years. But after the dynasty of Amenemhet, other families ruled Egypt. The kings in these families were not good pharaohs! They couldn’t keep control over all of Egypt’s land. Once again, the priests and government workers started to quarrel with each other about who had the most power. There was no army that could fight off invaders. No one was really in charge.

But this was a bad time for Egypt to become weak. Fierce enemies were getting ready to attack the pharaoh and take away his throne.

These enemies were from Canaan. Do you remember reading about Canaan? In your story about Abraham, Abraham heard the voice of God, telling him to go to Canaan. And do you remember what he thought? He thought, “Why would I go to a wilderness filled with strange, wild tribes?”

Well, one of the strange wild tribes that lived in Canaan was called the Hyksos. They were warlike nomads who moved from place to place, looking for new land to conquer and new wealth to steal. They had been wandering around Canaan for years. A few at a time, the Hyksos had moved down into Egypt and settled. Now a huge number of Hyksos lived in the Nile Delta. There were so many Hyksos that they had an entire city all their own.

Now they were ready to rule their new home. They picked up weapons and charged down to attack the pharaoh and his army.

Egypt’s weak army wasn’t ready for such a vicious attack. And the Hyksos had weapons that the Egyptians had never used before. They used new bows that could shoot arrows much farther than the Egyptian bows.

The Egyptians hated their Hyksos kings. They called them the “shepherd kings.” They thought that the Hyksos were rude, unclean, and uncivilized. But the Hyksos stayed in Egypt for over a hundred years.

Finally, a group of Egyptian princes got together and organized a rebellion. They armed themselves with strong bows, like the Hyksos bows. They got themselves war-chariots pulled by horses, just like the Hyksos war-chariots. They made bronze sickle-shaped swords, just like the Hyksos swords. And they drove the Hyksos out of Egypt—using fighting methods that they had learned from the Hyksos themselves. The leader of the rebellious Egyptian princes, Ahmose, became the new pharaoh of Egypt.

Under Ahmose and his descendents, Egypt became stronger than ever. Egypt got back the land it had lost to the Hyksos. And the Egyptian pharaohs used their new bows, chariots, and swords to conquer even more territory. Egypt became one of the most powerful kingdoms in the whole world. This time in Egyptian history is called the New Kingdom of Egypt.

Note to Parent: The rule of Amenemhet is approximately 1980–1926 BC/BCE (the first portion of his reign was probably a co-regency with his father). The Middle Kingdom of Egypt dates from 2040 to approximately 1720 BC/BCE. The Hyksos were expelled by Ahmose in approximately 1567 BC/BCE.