Second Intermediate Period of Egypt – Universal History

The Second Intermediate Period is the darkest period in Egyptian history, as few monuments remain from this time to report on the events. It was a time when power was not under a single pharaoh and is characterized by the fact that the Hyksos made their appearance in Egypt, whose kings make up the 15th and 16th dynasties.
Since the 12th dynasty, waves of nomadic peoples from the periphery have been evident, especially Libyans and Asians. This period includes the XIII to XVIII Dynasties, which sometimes coincide.

It is usually divided into three parts for study: before, during and after the Hyksos.

Egypt before the Hyksos

The peoples that entered the Egyptian territory are called “Hicsos”. The 13th and 14th Dynasties do not exist in the Royal Lists of Abydos and Saqqara but it is admitted that the 13th was followed by the 17th; the XV, probably Hyksos, is parallel to the XVII; the XIV would be a Delta Dynasty parallel to a part of the XIII and the XVI is also parallel to the XVII, following the information of the Turin Papyrus and the Karnak List.

Dynasties of the Second Intermediate Period

13th Dynasty (Thebes)

The capital continued in Itjitauy, the same as before and that to the extent of the effective command of the XIII Dynasty, continuation of the XII, included all of Egypt, a large part of Nubia.
The Dynasty began, apparently, with Sobek-Hotep I, Sejemra-Jutavy or Ugaf, followed by a series of pharaohs with unknown names, sometimes ephemeral, whose number varies according to the Turin Papyrus. These pharaohs were of Theban origin and who tried to legitimize their ascension to the throne by taking the name of previous pharaohs (such as Amenemmes, Sesostris or Antef, although the most frequent is Sobek-Hotep or Sebek-Hotep).
The instability of the person of the pharaohs was opposed in this Dynasty by the stability of the position of the viziers, who used to last a long time in government. Their names are known: Khemes. Resseneb. lyeru and Ibia. There is also news of the presence at this time of numerous Asians in the Delta and the growing importance of the army. Shortly after Sobek-Hotep IV’s accession to the throne, the so-called Hyksos invasion took place.

14th Dynasty (Xois)

If little is known about the XIII Dynasty, much less can be said about the XIV Dynasty, called xoita (from Xois, in the Delta), parallel to the XIII Dynasty. He probably reigned in the Delta for sixty-five years and includes no less than seventy-four kings, of whom almost nothing is known, although their names also appear in the Turin Royal Papyrus.

Egypt during the 13th and 14th Dynasties

A period of more than a hundred years with continual changes in the holder of the monarchy, abnormally frequent, with reigns that usually did not exceed two years, had to suppose some new situation in the real position of the current pharaoh who would undoubtedly be proclaimed. for life, but that he would be deposed or eliminated or circumstances would work against him and there would be many ambitious ones ready to replace him. In terms of administration, by the 12th Dynasty the title h3tiy mayor had reappeared, followed by the name of the nome before it was applied to that of cities.
In the Middle Kingdom the country was divided into 3 districts: the north, the south and the south headwell known from the Theban papyri.
Relations with Nubia (Kerma) continued, judging by the findings of the necropolises. The same can be said with Syria, Palestine and Byblos, but after the middle of the 13th Dynasty these communications declined markedly although the cause is not known at the moment.

15th Dynasty (Avaris)

The Hyksos kings are traditionally grouped into two Dynasties: The XV, called “Great Hyksos” and the XVI, which is called “Little Hyksos”.
A list of high priests from Memphis that mentions the king’s name during each pontificate cites three Hyksos names: ‘3kn, -3rk, ipr (Apopis). The data that can be extracted is a series of kings: Salitis, Bnon, Apa-canan, lannas or Stan, Archles or Aseth and Apopis, of which only the last is attested in the monuments. This Pharaoh, from the Dynasty that we saw, is considered Phoenician, and has left numerous proofs of his existence. The date of his reign, probably long, is given by the Stele of Kamose, of which he is a contemporary, since Kamosis / Kamose and Sekenenra Taa fought against him. Another abundantly attested pharaoh is Jian, whose monuments are found in Baghdad and Bogazkoi, as well as in Egypt and Palestine. Hamudi appears as the last king of the XVth Dynasty in the Turin Papyrus.

16th Dynasty (Middle Egypt)

This dynasty is made up of nine kings who ruled for forty-nine years. They did not control Upper Egypt or the entire south of the country. They were weak kings. Meanwhile, the Theban monarchy, in the south, was strengthened and managed to completely expel Prince Ahmosis of Thebes, after the fight started by his predecessor Kamose, last king of the Theban Seventeenth Dynasty.

17th Dynasty (Thebes)

During the Hyksos rule in the north, a series of chiefs with royal title appear in Thebes, known mostly from their tombs on the western shore, in the village called Dra-Abu-en-Nagga. It is usually considered a Dynasty, although it is simply kings of the same type as the Hyksos of the 16th Dynasty.
The first known is Antef V, undoubtedly one of the most important in the series, of which the Coptos Decree is known, which shows that other lords (Hicsos and 16th Dynasty) reigned at that time. Then follow a series of kings up to Antef VII, Tao/Taa II, Tao/Taa II, and Kamose.
Tao/Taa II is known from several sources, one of which is a Ramesside period narrative of the fictional type. The dispute between Apophis and Seqenenra, which recounts the confrontation in the form of a kind of riddle joust between the two kings. The skull of his mummy, found in the Deir el-Bahari cache, showed signs of having received fatal wounds.

Kamose and his war against the Hyksos

The figure of Kamose, last king of the Theban Seventeenth Dynasty. He is mentioned in the Karnak stelae and in the Carnavon Tablet number I, where the beginning of his war against the Hyksos and his fight against the king of this town, Apopi, is narrated.
He belongs to the same family as his two predecessors and their successors, so that what we call the Eighteenth Dynasty properly begins with the last kings of the Seventeenth. Tao I had a royal wife Tetisheri, a woman of non-royal origin and from this marriage Ahhotep was born, sister and wife of Tao II, who in turn were probably the parents of Kamose, Ahmosis and his wife, Ahmosis Nefertari. Thus, a true Dynasty was constituted and with them we see how the custom of consanguineous marriages in the royal family became general, which, according to all interpretations, had a religious significance.
Little is known of the structure of the Theban kingdom of the Seventeenth Dynasty. The Kamose Stela specifies that the kingdom stretched from Elephantine to Kusae. The northern border oscillated according to the times and the administration of the kingdom must have been a continuation of that of the Middle Kingdom. And it is possible that the fights for the throne typical of the time were not lacking.
During this period, Nubia was left out of Egyptian rule, at least for the end. The withdrawal of the Egyptian garrisons at the beginning of the period led to Kush being occupied by people from the south, but it is curious that Egyptian culture continued to assert itself in Nubia.

Administration of Egypt during the time of the Hyksos

The administration of this time is known through four documents: The Kahún Papyrus, the Bulaq Papyrus and the Stelae. It is known that there was a double administration, in the north (Lower Egypt) and in the south (Upper Egypt), the latter under the Theban princes of the 17th Dynasty, which did not, in fact, have effective independence until its last three sovereigns. Their territory perhaps did not exceed that of the first eight nomes of Upper Egypt, from Elephantine to Abydos, while the other nomes were ruled by the successors of the 13th Dynasty pharaohs. In Lower Nubia the independent kingdom of Kush was formed at the same time.
Intellectual life during the 17th Dynasty was very active, writing topics that, like the Maxims of Ptah-hotep (in the Papyrus Prisse, found in the sarcophagus of Antef V), became popular in the New Kingdom.

Egypt after the Hyksos

After the Hyksos, a reunification of Egypt was carried out with which the New Kingdom began, although nothing was ever the same again.
At this time, while Asian influence continued in the Delta, despite the fall of the Hyksos monarchy, in the south the penetration of Nubian elements increased, which will act as mercenaries for the kings of the New Kingdom and eventually end up replacing them . This period is directly related to the so-called new empire.