September 3, 2025 • 19 mins
Dive into the captivating history of Egypt, exploring its journey from ancient times to the moment of Alexander the Greats conquest. This engaging overview delves into the remarkable development of Egyptian civilization, touching on science, religion, art, language, and literature. Written for curious minds without any prior knowledge of Egypt, this book uses clear and relatable language to make the rich tapestry of Egypts past accessible to everyone. (Summary by Beth Thomas)
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Chapter four of History of Egypt. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. History
of Egypt by F. C. H. Wendell, Chapter four The
decline of the Egyptian Kingdom and the Hixos domination about
(00:21):
nineteen thirty to fifteen thirty b C. This period is
one of the darkest in the history of Egypt. Very
few monuments have come down to us from this epoch,
and almost all we know of the entire four hundred
years or more is the names of the kings, and
in some cases the length of the various reigns of
some of these rulers. We know from the monuments found
(00:44):
how far their power extended, but here our knowledge ends.
We know further that in this period the Egyptian kings
were dethroned by foreign invaders coming from Asia and known
to us as the Hixos, and that these foreigners held
Egypt in subjugation from many years. Who they were and
how long they remained in the country we have no
(01:05):
means of knowing. The only review of this period that
any ancient writer has given us is that copied from
Manitho thirteenth dynasty from Thebes sixty kings in four hundred
and fifty three years fourteenth dynasty, from Kois in the Delta,
seventy six kings in four hundred and eighty four years
(01:26):
fifteenth dynasty, Hixos six kings in two hundred and sixty
years sixteenth dynasty, Hixos unknown kings in two hundred and
fifty one years seventeenth dynasty, from Thebes unknown kings in
unknown years. The number of hypotheses concerning this epoch is legion,
(01:51):
but not one is supported by facts and monuments. The
times of the thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties seem to have
been troublesome. The kings of the four former ruled, according
to Manitho, only about seven and a half years on
an average, while those of the latter only about six years,
while the members of the first Tixos dynasty ruled on
(02:11):
an average forty three and one third years. The entire
period is evidently set down as too long by Manetho's kopists,
who give over one hundred forty two kings in over
fourteen hundred and forty eight years. The monuments do not
permit us to assume so great a gap in the
history as five hundred eleven years between the close of
(02:33):
the Fourteenth Dynasty and the beginning of the New Empire
about fifteen thirty BC. There have come down to us
from the genealogies of nobles who lived early in the
eighteenth dynasty that after a few generations give names which
certainly belong to contemporaries of the thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties.
It is very probable, if not certain, that the last
(02:55):
kings of the fourteenth dynasty were contemporary with the earliest
Tixos king, and we know that all of the kings
of the seventeenth dynasty were contemporaries of the last Hixos kings.
If we must state the duration of this period in years,
we would say that it cannot have exceeded four hundred years,
of which one hundred and fifty years would give about
(03:17):
the duration of dynasties thirteen and fourteen, and two hundred
fifty years the duration of the Hexos domination Section one
the thirteenth dynasty. The New dynasty, which was founded by
King Rahutawi, seems to have been closely connected with the twelfth.
Already at the close of the preceding dynasty, we find
(03:38):
the crocodile god of the Fayoum, Sebak in ascendancy, owing
to the extensive works erected by the last kings of
that dynasty. In the Fayoum, names containing that of Sebak
as a component part begin to appear about the same time,
witness that of Queen Sebak Nofrurra. This custom has become
(03:58):
prevalent in the new dynasty. It is further significant the
two kings of this line adopted the throne name of
amenem Hat, the first Sehotep ab Rah. A long list
of kings of this house has been preserved, but of
scarce a single one do we know more than the name.
As above remarked. The times seem to have been troublesome
(04:19):
and rife with insurrections and usurpations. Of se anngh abras Ameno.
We know that he built at Karnak two altars dedicated
by him to amon Ra having been found here Section two.
The fourteenth dynasty, Ransonib, the eleventh or twelfth successor of Rajhutawi,
(04:40):
the founder of dynasty thirteen founded a new dynasty. The
greater part of his successors have left this monuments, and
the fact that these monuments have been found in all
parts of Egypt, from Tannis to Semne and even far
to the south of this place, proves that these pharaohs
had control of the entire country, though at times they
must have found and it quite a difficult task to
(05:01):
hold their own. Accordingly, we must not picture them to
ourselves as exceedingly mighty monarchs. They were nothing of the kind.
They merely succeeded in holding together the mighty kingdom of
the twelfth dynasty. They have left us only short inscriptions
and statues that are, it is true, sometimes of colossal
proportions and of superior workmanship, but that could easily have
(05:24):
been executed in a short period. Manipho states that this
dynasty came originally from the town of COIs in the Delta,
but where he got this information is a mystery to us.
Segem Ru Taui ras sebac Jhotep the third has left
us several records of the rise of the Nile at
Semne and Cumne. The sixth king of this line, semng
(05:47):
Kara Mermenfitu, is generally supposed to have been a usurper,
but this supposition is based merely on the fact that
his name Mermenfitou means general, and is very doubtful of him.
There are extant to colossal statues that once adorned the
temple of ptah at Tanis. Both of these were later
(06:07):
on usurped by the Hexos king Apepi, and still later
Rameses the second put his cartouches on one of them.
At the same time, a third statue of this ruler
was found, segemuach taui Ra. Sebakhotep the fourth was the
son of a private citizen named Mentuhotep and the princess
(06:28):
fuhnen Abu, the daughter of Queen Nenna. It would thus
seem that Sebakhotep the fourth based his claim to the
crown on his mother. Ha Sishestra Neferhotep, the son of
a private citizen named ha Anghrev and his wife Kimat,
was one of the mightiest of these kings, retaining the
crown eleven years. The temple of Abydos was specially favored
(06:52):
by this ruler. A long inscription found at this place
relates the following story. One day King Neferhotep was seized
with a desire to see the books of the god Attum,
a solar deity. Receiving permission, he entered the temple library
and studied them. Hereupon he resolved to restore the entire temple,
(07:13):
a good resolution, this and one he carried out. One
of the most interesting monuments of his reign is an
inscription on the rocks of Aswan, representing him and his
entire family, consisting of his parents, Prince Sahathor, Prince Sebakhotep,
and a relative named Nebhotep. A sandstone block found at Karnak,
(07:34):
which by the bye proves that he built here, is
of great interest, as it bears on the one side
the name of Neferhotep and on the other that of
sebac Hotep, his son and second successor. It would seem
from this that sebac Jotep had been appointed co regent
by his father in order that his succession might be assured.
(07:56):
A small granite statue of the king was found at
Tannis after the short reign of Sahathor, who seems to
have died soon after his accession, ha Nepherra, sebac Jotep
the fifth ascended the throne. He was a powerful monarch
who ruled over the entire land. A colossal statue of
rose colored granite representing this king, on which Ramses the
(08:19):
Second afterward cut his cartouches, was found at Tannis. A
second statue was found at Bubastis, and a third on
the island of Argo, far south of the Second Cataract.
His name is frequently found on the walls of the
Temple of Karnak. According to the classical authors who call
him Canephris, he died of elephantiasis. Ra Anghra sebac Quotet
(08:44):
the sixth is mentioned on the walls of the Temple
of Karnak and on several smaller monuments. Harajtepra sebac Quotet
the seventh ruled, according to the Turin Papyrus, four years,
eight months and twenty nine days. Wah abra ah Ab
reigned at ten years, eight months and eighteen days, and
(09:05):
mehr Nefherah I reigned thirteen years, eight months and eighteen days,
as far as we know, longer than any other king
of this dynasty. Mer Kharah said al Kotep the eighth
has left us a statue several important tombs at Siutz
date from this time. Of the remaining kings of this dynasty,
we know nothing. Little by little we lose grasp of
(09:28):
the historical connection, and all that has left us is
a mere list of names, with here and there the
statement that a certain king ruled so and so many years.
The tombs of Seiuts that date from this time all
show that the nobles here buried were rich and powerful.
They have the same value for this period as those
of Beni Hassan have for the Twelfth dynasty, but are
(09:50):
not nearly so well preserved and contain but few historical illusions.
Section three. The Hixos domination about seventeen eight d to
fifteen thirty b C. The Fifteenth dynasty. The fourteenth dynasty
succumbed to an invasion of Asiatic Bedouins, who gradually succeeded
(10:10):
in driving the Egyptian kings south. It is highly probable, however,
that the pharaohs yielded only after a long and bitter struggle.
The only account we have of the Hexos invasion is
that copied from Manifo's book by Josephus. This account is
as follows. At the time when King Timaeus ruled in Egypt. God,
(10:30):
for unknown reasons, became incensed at the Egyptians, a people
coming from the east, suddenly attacked the land and easily
conquered it. The ruling class were taken prisoners, the cities
were burnt down, and the temples devastated. All the inhabitants
were treated in the most hostile and barbarous manner. Some
were slain, and the wives and children of others were
(10:52):
sold into slavery. At last, these barbarians elected one of
their own number, named Salatus King. He made Memphis his capital,
levied taxes in upper and Lower Egypt, and garrisoned a
number of towns. The strongest garrisons were laid in the
eastern forts, as he feared the Assyrians, who were at
(11:12):
that time very powerful, might attack Egypt. Finding in the
Saitic mistake for Cethroitic Gnome, a city favorably located east
of the Bubastic branch of the Nile, which, owing to
an old legend, was called Avarice, he built a great
wall around it and put in a garrison of two
hundred and forty thousand men to this city. He came
(11:35):
in the summer partly to direct the distribution of food
and pay, and partly to frighten the enemy by constantly
drilling his men. After a reign of nineteen years, he died,
and the following were his successors, Belon who ruled forty
four years, Apacnas, who ruled thirty six years and seven months.
According to Africanus sixty one years a Phoebus, also called
(12:00):
Apolphus sixty one years, Annus fifty years and one month,
and Asseth forty nine years and two months. These six
kings were the first rulers of the people that lived
in constant strife with the Egyptians and sought to exterminate them.
The whole people had the name of hixos i e.
(12:21):
Shepherd kings, for Huk signifies in the Old language king
and soss shepherd, and still has this meaning in the
demodic Some say they were Arabs. In another copy of Manitho, however,
there is the note that the syllable huk does not
signify king, but that the entire word means prisoners of war.
(12:43):
This latter explanation seems to me that's Josephus, the more
plausible and better in accord with ancient history. The last
note given by Josephus was certainly not found in the
original work of Manitho, but was added by some later copyists,
provided it being an invention of Josephus himself. This writer's
(13:03):
object in quoting this passage from Manifo in his History
of the Jews was to prove that the Hixos and
the Jews were one and the same people, and thus
to demonstrate the great antiquity and nobility of the Jewish race.
Now there was one thing that bothered him. The Hixos
entered the land as conquerors, while the Jews, according to
the Old Testament, entered it peacefully. Josephus therefore bethought himself
(13:28):
of this not over ingenious compromise. On the other hand,
Manitho's etymology is correct. Hert does mean prince, and huck
may well be corrupted from this word, and souls certainly
is a corruption of Chasu or Chas, which was the
name commonly applied in this period to the Nomads on
the Asiatic frontier. I must, in this connection remind the
(13:52):
reader of the fact that the Greeks had no and nosh,
and were compelled to render the former as k and
the latter as The only difficulty lay in the fact
that hick represented the singular hec, while the plural heku
would have been the proper form. But it has been
demonstrated that the form Hixos is a mistake for hikusos.
(14:15):
While Manitho is right here, he has made some terrible
slips in other parts of his narrative. His most glaring
mistake is that he speaks of a powerful Assyrian empire
in about seventeen eighty b C, at a time when
Assur was a small and unimportant town that could scarcely
hold its own against its near neighbors. Even three hundred
years later, Assyria was so weak that when Thutmosis the
(14:38):
third had defeated the Syrian kings, it sent him tribute.
Another bad slip is the story about Avarice. Assuredly, the
Hixos did not conquer Egypt in order to be able
to garrison a town on the borders of the desert.
Only the bare facts of Manitho's narrative are available for
historical purposes, and these are that a vast horde of
(14:59):
a Asiatic bedouins. This is the best rendering of Shasu
invaded Egypt and after a long struggle succeeded in conquering
the country. What race these Bedouins belonged to we cannot say,
nor have we any idea of their appearance. The monuments
at Tannis and formerly attributed to them have long since
been proved to belong to another epoch of Egyptian history.
(15:23):
Their religion was, of course, different from that of the Egyptians.
An Egyptian text treating of the expulsion of the Hexos
states that they worshiped the god Sutekh. This is the
name applied by the Egyptians to the god of the foreigners,
and is often a translation of the Semitic baal Thus,
the baalim of the various Gheta towns are designated as
(15:44):
Sutekhu plural of Sutek, as god of the foreign enemies
of Egypt. Sutek is identified with set, the enemy of
Horus and principle of evil, and it is but natural
that this god should be looked upon as the tutelar
deity of the hostile foreigners. In later times, when the
power of the New Empire declined, Suttech as the powerful
(16:07):
god of the mighty enemies, was considered a very potent
divinity and found many worshipers in Egypt. The names of
most of the Hixos kings or compounds of the name
of the god set, but some are compounds of the
name Ra, showing that the Hixos were to some extent
influenced by Egyptian religious thought. The sixteenth dynasty, the Hixos
(16:30):
did not always remain uncultured barbarians, but with time began
to adopt the civilization of Egypt. Egyptian officials were put
in charge of the various departments. Egyptian literature, science, and
art were encouraged. Under King ah Wesserrah Apepi, the first
was compiled a mathematical treatise of which a copy written
(16:51):
in the twenty third year of his reign has come
down to us Ah Penenra Apepi. The second is known
from several monuments. The reign, or rather death of King
ah Pehtisset Nubti is used as an era in an
inscription of the time of Ramses the Second, which is
dated four hundred years after King Nubti. This would place
(17:13):
Nubti in the seventeenth century, somewhere between seventeen hundred and
sixteen thirty b c. As the inscription unfortunately does not
give the year of Ramses reign. Of the other Hixos kings,
we know the names only section four the seventeenth dynasty,
beginning of the struggle for independence toward the close of
(17:35):
the Hexos domination. They are ruled in Thebes a line
of kings who were in all probability descended from the
last kings of the fourteenth or perhaps of the thirteenth dynasty.
They are the rulers of the seventeenth dynasty who began
the combat with the Hixos. A legend preserved on a
papyrus belonging to the British Museum Salier I relates the
(17:57):
story of the outbreak King Apepi, the Hixos ruler who
was an ardent worshiper of Suttech, sent messengers to the
Egyptian king of Thebes rasecnenta A, bearing certain propositions regarding
religious matters, which Rasakinen rejected. There had also arisen misunderstandings
regarding a well lying on or near the border, in
(18:19):
regard to which no agreement could be reached. This brought
on the war. Rasekanen is called throughout the story Prince
of the Southern city i e. Thebes, and it would
seem from this that the Hixos had either never reached
that city or the country had been reconquered so far
north as Thebes. At all events, the Theban kings were
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independent rulers and resented the Hixos king's attempt to assert
any claim of sovereignty over them, and they boldly took
up the cause of Egyptian liberty. Long years the war lasted,
and the Hixos were slowly driven north. The kings who
distinguished themselves in this war were raseeknenta A the First,
(19:01):
Tar the Second, the Great, Ta the Third the Brave,
and kames A, husband of Queen Ahhouttep and father of
Ahmis the First, the final liberator of Egypt. In eighteen
eighty one, the mummy of King Ra Sakanen was found
in a shaft at Dare El Bahari. An ugly gash
(19:21):
on the head of the mummy proves that the king
died of violent death. In all probability, he was killed
in his struggle for the liberty of his country. End
of chapter four recording by Owen Cook in Potawatamie ceded
Land
Chapter four of History of Egypt. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. History
of Egypt by F. C. H. Wendell, Chapter four The
decline of the Egyptian Kingdom and the Hixos domination about
(00:21):
nineteen thirty to fifteen thirty b C. This period is
one of the darkest in the history of Egypt. Very
few monuments have come down to us from this epoch,
and almost all we know of the entire four hundred
years or more is the names of the kings, and
in some cases the length of the various reigns of
some of these rulers. We know from the monuments found
(00:44):
how far their power extended, but here our knowledge ends.
We know further that in this period the Egyptian kings
were dethroned by foreign invaders coming from Asia and known
to us as the Hixos, and that these foreigners held
Egypt in subjugation from many years. Who they were and
how long they remained in the country we have no
(01:05):
means of knowing. The only review of this period that
any ancient writer has given us is that copied from
Manitho thirteenth dynasty from Thebes sixty kings in four hundred
and fifty three years fourteenth dynasty, from Kois in the Delta,
seventy six kings in four hundred and eighty four years
(01:26):
fifteenth dynasty, Hixos six kings in two hundred and sixty
years sixteenth dynasty, Hixos unknown kings in two hundred and
fifty one years seventeenth dynasty, from Thebes unknown kings in
unknown years. The number of hypotheses concerning this epoch is legion,
(01:51):
but not one is supported by facts and monuments. The
times of the thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties seem to have
been troublesome. The kings of the four former ruled, according
to Manitho, only about seven and a half years on
an average, while those of the latter only about six years,
while the members of the first Tixos dynasty ruled on
(02:11):
an average forty three and one third years. The entire
period is evidently set down as too long by Manetho's kopists,
who give over one hundred forty two kings in over
fourteen hundred and forty eight years. The monuments do not
permit us to assume so great a gap in the
history as five hundred eleven years between the close of
(02:33):
the Fourteenth Dynasty and the beginning of the New Empire
about fifteen thirty BC. There have come down to us
from the genealogies of nobles who lived early in the
eighteenth dynasty that after a few generations give names which
certainly belong to contemporaries of the thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties.
It is very probable, if not certain, that the last
(02:55):
kings of the fourteenth dynasty were contemporary with the earliest
Tixos king, and we know that all of the kings
of the seventeenth dynasty were contemporaries of the last Hixos kings.
If we must state the duration of this period in years,
we would say that it cannot have exceeded four hundred years,
of which one hundred and fifty years would give about
(03:17):
the duration of dynasties thirteen and fourteen, and two hundred
fifty years the duration of the Hexos domination Section one
the thirteenth dynasty. The New dynasty, which was founded by
King Rahutawi, seems to have been closely connected with the twelfth.
Already at the close of the preceding dynasty, we find
(03:38):
the crocodile god of the Fayoum, Sebak in ascendancy, owing
to the extensive works erected by the last kings of
that dynasty. In the Fayoum, names containing that of Sebak
as a component part begin to appear about the same time,
witness that of Queen Sebak Nofrurra. This custom has become
(03:58):
prevalent in the new dynasty. It is further significant the
two kings of this line adopted the throne name of
amenem Hat, the first Sehotep ab Rah. A long list
of kings of this house has been preserved, but of
scarce a single one do we know more than the name.
As above remarked. The times seem to have been troublesome
(04:19):
and rife with insurrections and usurpations. Of se anngh abras Ameno.
We know that he built at Karnak two altars dedicated
by him to amon Ra having been found here Section two.
The fourteenth dynasty, Ransonib, the eleventh or twelfth successor of Rajhutawi,
(04:40):
the founder of dynasty thirteen founded a new dynasty. The
greater part of his successors have left this monuments, and
the fact that these monuments have been found in all
parts of Egypt, from Tannis to Semne and even far
to the south of this place, proves that these pharaohs
had control of the entire country, though at times they
must have found and it quite a difficult task to
(05:01):
hold their own. Accordingly, we must not picture them to
ourselves as exceedingly mighty monarchs. They were nothing of the kind.
They merely succeeded in holding together the mighty kingdom of
the twelfth dynasty. They have left us only short inscriptions
and statues that are, it is true, sometimes of colossal
proportions and of superior workmanship, but that could easily have
(05:24):
been executed in a short period. Manipho states that this
dynasty came originally from the town of COIs in the Delta,
but where he got this information is a mystery to us.
Segem Ru Taui ras sebac Jhotep the third has left
us several records of the rise of the Nile at
Semne and Cumne. The sixth king of this line, semng
(05:47):
Kara Mermenfitu, is generally supposed to have been a usurper,
but this supposition is based merely on the fact that
his name Mermenfitou means general, and is very doubtful of him.
There are extant to colossal statues that once adorned the
temple of ptah at Tanis. Both of these were later
(06:07):
on usurped by the Hexos king Apepi, and still later
Rameses the second put his cartouches on one of them.
At the same time, a third statue of this ruler
was found, segemuach taui Ra. Sebakhotep the fourth was the
son of a private citizen named Mentuhotep and the princess
(06:28):
fuhnen Abu, the daughter of Queen Nenna. It would thus
seem that Sebakhotep the fourth based his claim to the
crown on his mother. Ha Sishestra Neferhotep, the son of
a private citizen named ha Anghrev and his wife Kimat,
was one of the mightiest of these kings, retaining the
crown eleven years. The temple of Abydos was specially favored
(06:52):
by this ruler. A long inscription found at this place
relates the following story. One day King Neferhotep was seized
with a desire to see the books of the god Attum,
a solar deity. Receiving permission, he entered the temple library
and studied them. Hereupon he resolved to restore the entire temple,
(07:13):
a good resolution, this and one he carried out. One
of the most interesting monuments of his reign is an
inscription on the rocks of Aswan, representing him and his
entire family, consisting of his parents, Prince Sahathor, Prince Sebakhotep,
and a relative named Nebhotep. A sandstone block found at Karnak,
(07:34):
which by the bye proves that he built here, is
of great interest, as it bears on the one side
the name of Neferhotep and on the other that of
sebac Hotep, his son and second successor. It would seem
from this that sebac Jotep had been appointed co regent
by his father in order that his succession might be assured.
(07:56):
A small granite statue of the king was found at
Tannis after the short reign of Sahathor, who seems to
have died soon after his accession, ha Nepherra, sebac Jotep
the fifth ascended the throne. He was a powerful monarch
who ruled over the entire land. A colossal statue of
rose colored granite representing this king, on which Ramses the
(08:19):
Second afterward cut his cartouches, was found at Tannis. A
second statue was found at Bubastis, and a third on
the island of Argo, far south of the Second Cataract.
His name is frequently found on the walls of the
Temple of Karnak. According to the classical authors who call
him Canephris, he died of elephantiasis. Ra Anghra sebac Quotet
(08:44):
the sixth is mentioned on the walls of the Temple
of Karnak and on several smaller monuments. Harajtepra sebac Quotet
the seventh ruled, according to the Turin Papyrus, four years,
eight months and twenty nine days. Wah abra ah Ab
reigned at ten years, eight months and eighteen days, and
(09:05):
mehr Nefherah I reigned thirteen years, eight months and eighteen days,
as far as we know, longer than any other king
of this dynasty. Mer Kharah said al Kotep the eighth
has left us a statue several important tombs at Siutz
date from this time. Of the remaining kings of this dynasty,
we know nothing. Little by little we lose grasp of
(09:28):
the historical connection, and all that has left us is
a mere list of names, with here and there the
statement that a certain king ruled so and so many years.
The tombs of Seiuts that date from this time all
show that the nobles here buried were rich and powerful.
They have the same value for this period as those
of Beni Hassan have for the Twelfth dynasty, but are
(09:50):
not nearly so well preserved and contain but few historical illusions.
Section three. The Hixos domination about seventeen eight d to
fifteen thirty b C. The Fifteenth dynasty. The fourteenth dynasty
succumbed to an invasion of Asiatic Bedouins, who gradually succeeded
(10:10):
in driving the Egyptian kings south. It is highly probable, however,
that the pharaohs yielded only after a long and bitter struggle.
The only account we have of the Hexos invasion is
that copied from Manifo's book by Josephus. This account is
as follows. At the time when King Timaeus ruled in Egypt. God,
(10:30):
for unknown reasons, became incensed at the Egyptians, a people
coming from the east, suddenly attacked the land and easily
conquered it. The ruling class were taken prisoners, the cities
were burnt down, and the temples devastated. All the inhabitants
were treated in the most hostile and barbarous manner. Some
were slain, and the wives and children of others were
(10:52):
sold into slavery. At last, these barbarians elected one of
their own number, named Salatus King. He made Memphis his capital,
levied taxes in upper and Lower Egypt, and garrisoned a
number of towns. The strongest garrisons were laid in the
eastern forts, as he feared the Assyrians, who were at
(11:12):
that time very powerful, might attack Egypt. Finding in the
Saitic mistake for Cethroitic Gnome, a city favorably located east
of the Bubastic branch of the Nile, which, owing to
an old legend, was called Avarice, he built a great
wall around it and put in a garrison of two
hundred and forty thousand men to this city. He came
(11:35):
in the summer partly to direct the distribution of food
and pay, and partly to frighten the enemy by constantly
drilling his men. After a reign of nineteen years, he died,
and the following were his successors, Belon who ruled forty
four years, Apacnas, who ruled thirty six years and seven months.
According to Africanus sixty one years a Phoebus, also called
(12:00):
Apolphus sixty one years, Annus fifty years and one month,
and Asseth forty nine years and two months. These six
kings were the first rulers of the people that lived
in constant strife with the Egyptians and sought to exterminate them.
The whole people had the name of hixos i e.
(12:21):
Shepherd kings, for Huk signifies in the Old language king
and soss shepherd, and still has this meaning in the
demodic Some say they were Arabs. In another copy of Manitho, however,
there is the note that the syllable huk does not
signify king, but that the entire word means prisoners of war.
(12:43):
This latter explanation seems to me that's Josephus, the more
plausible and better in accord with ancient history. The last
note given by Josephus was certainly not found in the
original work of Manitho, but was added by some later copyists,
provided it being an invention of Josephus himself. This writer's
(13:03):
object in quoting this passage from Manifo in his History
of the Jews was to prove that the Hixos and
the Jews were one and the same people, and thus
to demonstrate the great antiquity and nobility of the Jewish race.
Now there was one thing that bothered him. The Hixos
entered the land as conquerors, while the Jews, according to
the Old Testament, entered it peacefully. Josephus therefore bethought himself
(13:28):
of this not over ingenious compromise. On the other hand,
Manitho's etymology is correct. Hert does mean prince, and huck
may well be corrupted from this word, and souls certainly
is a corruption of Chasu or Chas, which was the
name commonly applied in this period to the Nomads on
the Asiatic frontier. I must, in this connection remind the
(13:52):
reader of the fact that the Greeks had no and nosh,
and were compelled to render the former as k and
the latter as The only difficulty lay in the fact
that hick represented the singular hec, while the plural heku
would have been the proper form. But it has been
demonstrated that the form Hixos is a mistake for hikusos.
(14:15):
While Manitho is right here, he has made some terrible
slips in other parts of his narrative. His most glaring
mistake is that he speaks of a powerful Assyrian empire
in about seventeen eighty b C, at a time when
Assur was a small and unimportant town that could scarcely
hold its own against its near neighbors. Even three hundred
years later, Assyria was so weak that when Thutmosis the
(14:38):
third had defeated the Syrian kings, it sent him tribute.
Another bad slip is the story about Avarice. Assuredly, the
Hixos did not conquer Egypt in order to be able
to garrison a town on the borders of the desert.
Only the bare facts of Manitho's narrative are available for
historical purposes, and these are that a vast horde of
(14:59):
a Asiatic bedouins. This is the best rendering of Shasu
invaded Egypt and after a long struggle succeeded in conquering
the country. What race these Bedouins belonged to we cannot say,
nor have we any idea of their appearance. The monuments
at Tannis and formerly attributed to them have long since
been proved to belong to another epoch of Egyptian history.
(15:23):
Their religion was, of course, different from that of the Egyptians.
An Egyptian text treating of the expulsion of the Hexos
states that they worshiped the god Sutekh. This is the
name applied by the Egyptians to the god of the foreigners,
and is often a translation of the Semitic baal Thus,
the baalim of the various Gheta towns are designated as
(15:44):
Sutekhu plural of Sutek, as god of the foreign enemies
of Egypt. Sutek is identified with set, the enemy of
Horus and principle of evil, and it is but natural
that this god should be looked upon as the tutelar
deity of the hostile foreigners. In later times, when the
power of the New Empire declined, Suttech as the powerful
(16:07):
god of the mighty enemies, was considered a very potent
divinity and found many worshipers in Egypt. The names of
most of the Hixos kings or compounds of the name
of the god set, but some are compounds of the
name Ra, showing that the Hixos were to some extent
influenced by Egyptian religious thought. The sixteenth dynasty, the Hixos
(16:30):
did not always remain uncultured barbarians, but with time began
to adopt the civilization of Egypt. Egyptian officials were put
in charge of the various departments. Egyptian literature, science, and
art were encouraged. Under King ah Wesserrah Apepi, the first
was compiled a mathematical treatise of which a copy written
(16:51):
in the twenty third year of his reign has come
down to us Ah Penenra Apepi. The second is known
from several monuments. The reign, or rather death of King
ah Pehtisset Nubti is used as an era in an
inscription of the time of Ramses the Second, which is
dated four hundred years after King Nubti. This would place
(17:13):
Nubti in the seventeenth century, somewhere between seventeen hundred and
sixteen thirty b c. As the inscription unfortunately does not
give the year of Ramses reign. Of the other Hixos kings,
we know the names only section four the seventeenth dynasty,
beginning of the struggle for independence toward the close of
(17:35):
the Hexos domination. They are ruled in Thebes a line
of kings who were in all probability descended from the
last kings of the fourteenth or perhaps of the thirteenth dynasty.
They are the rulers of the seventeenth dynasty who began
the combat with the Hixos. A legend preserved on a
papyrus belonging to the British Museum Salier I relates the
(17:57):
story of the outbreak King Apepi, the Hixos ruler who
was an ardent worshiper of Suttech, sent messengers to the
Egyptian king of Thebes rasecnenta A, bearing certain propositions regarding
religious matters, which Rasakinen rejected. There had also arisen misunderstandings
regarding a well lying on or near the border, in
(18:19):
regard to which no agreement could be reached. This brought
on the war. Rasekanen is called throughout the story Prince
of the Southern city i e. Thebes, and it would
seem from this that the Hixos had either never reached
that city or the country had been reconquered so far
north as Thebes. At all events, the Theban kings were
(18:40):
independent rulers and resented the Hixos king's attempt to assert
any claim of sovereignty over them, and they boldly took
up the cause of Egyptian liberty. Long years the war lasted,
and the Hixos were slowly driven north. The kings who
distinguished themselves in this war were raseeknenta A the First,
(19:01):
Tar the Second, the Great, Ta the Third the Brave,
and kames A, husband of Queen Ahhouttep and father of
Ahmis the First, the final liberator of Egypt. In eighteen
eighty one, the mummy of King Ra Sakanen was found
in a shaft at Dare El Bahari. An ugly gash
(19:21):
on the head of the mummy proves that the king
died of violent death. In all probability, he was killed
in his struggle for the liberty of his country. End
of chapter four recording by Owen Cook in Potawatamie ceded
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