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New Research Reveals Surprising Origins of Egypt’s Hyksos Dynasty An analysis of ancient tooth enamel suggests the enigmatic ancients were immigrants, not invaders

Wall art dated to around 1900 B.C. shows visitors to Egypt wearing colorful robes distinct from the white clothing worn by locals. (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

By Theresa Machemer smithsonianmag.com July 17, 2020

Popular lore suggests the Hyksos, a mysterious group of foreign invaders, conquered the Nile Delta around 1638 B.C. and remained in power until 1530 B.C. But written records of the dynasty are scarce, and modern archaeologists have found few material signs of the ancient military campaign.

Now, new research lends weight to an alternative theory on the Hyksos’ origins. As Colin Barras reports for Science magazine, chemical analysis of skeletons found at the Hyksos capital of Avaris indicates that people from the Levant—an area

encompassing the countries surrounding the eastern Mediterranean—immigrated to Egypt centuries before the takeover. The Hyksos dynasty, then, was likely the result of an immigrant uprising, not a hostile outside invasion.

The findings, published in the journal PLOS One, center on variations in strontium isotopes present in 75 skeletons’ tooth enamel. Strontium, a harmless metal found in water, soil and rocks, enters the body primarily through food. Comparing isotope ratios found in enamel, which forms between ages 3 and 8, with those present in a specific region, can help scientists determine whether an individual grew up there, as levels “vary from place to place,” writes Ariel David for Haaretz.

Around half of the skeletons were buried in the 350 years before the Hyksos’ takeover; the rest were interred during the dynasty’s reign. Per the paper, the researchers found that 24 of the pre-1638 skeletons were foreign-born, pointing toward significant immigration prior to the supposed invasion.

“This was clearly an international city,” lead author Chris Stantis, an archaeologist at Bournemouth University in England, told Science News’ Bruce Bower last April, when she and co-author Holger Schutkowski presented the research at a conference.

A seal amulet bearing the name of the Hyksos pharaoh Apophis (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Archaeological finds further testify to the Hyksos culture’s diversity: Ancient artwork depicts members wearing colorful robes distinct from Egypt’s traditional white clothing, while records indicate that they had names similar to people from southwest Asia, according to Science.

Tombs unearthed at Avaris also offer evidence of “non-Egyptian burial customs,” explains Stantis to Live Science’s Laura Geggel. Males were buried “with bronze weaponry in constructed tombs without scarabs or other protective amulets,” and “[t]he most elite had equids of some sort (potentially donkeys) buried outside the tombs, often in pairs as though ready to pull a chariot.”

The archaeologist adds, “This is both a foreign characteristic of burial style, but also suggestive of someone [with] very high status.”

Chemical analysis revealed that many of the foreign-born people buried at Avaris were women. The researchers posit that local- born rulers married women from western Asia, possibly to cement alliances. Strontium levels found in the teeth of individuals raised outside of Egypt varied widely, suggesting people immigrated to the region from a range of places.

“It is fascinating to see corroborating evidence from a new direction which demonstrates that men from the Levant did not settle at Tell el-Dab’a in large numbers at the start of the Hyksos period—which is what one might expect to see in the wake of a huge military invasion,” Deborah Sweeney, an Egyptologist at Tel Aviv University who was not involved in the study, tells Haaretz.

The researchers theorize that members of Avaris’ immigrant community rose to power during the unrest of the Second Intermediary Period. After ruling northern Egypt for more than 100 years, they were deposed by the returning pharaohs. Per Science, historians have previously speculated that when the pharaohs reclaimed the territory, they exiled the Hyksos rulers to southwest Asia—a move that may have inspired the biblical story of Exodus.

Mentions of the Hyksos’ rule are scarce. One of the earliest sources describing the dynasty dates to the third century B.C., when a priest named Manetho penned a comprehensive history of history of Egypt. Manetho’s work was later transcribed in fragments by another historian, Josephus. Written long after the Hyksos’ actual reign, the tome claims that the invaders brought an army “sweeping in from the northeast and conquering the northeastern Nile Delta,” according to the paper.

Manetho’s history of the Hyksos may have acted as propaganda that supported Egypt’s plan to invade the Levant under the expansionist New Kingdom.

“The Hyksos invasion was presented as a shame that had to be prevented from repeating itself by controlling these lands,” Daphna Ben-Tor, former curator of Egyptian archaeology at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, tells Haaretz. “The Hyksos were the devil incarnate, while the Egyptian king was the savior of the world.”

About Theresa Machemer

Theresa Machemer is a freelance writer based in Washington DC. Her work has also appeared in National Geographic and SciShow. Website:

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Slide 1

Egypt: Middle Kingdom

to New Kingdom

Part Two

Slide 2

Middle Kingdom (ca. 2055- 1650 BCE) • Founded by Mentuhotep II (image to right)

• Egyptian expansion

• Developed infrastructure and trade

• Rise of cult of Osiris

The key feature of the Middle Kingdom is that Egypt becomes an economic power. This is a position

Egypt will hold for thousands of years!

Slide 3

Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1650-1550 BCE)

Takeover by people thought to be West Asian in origin, the HYKSOS. Originally thought to be an invasion, new evidence suggests that the Hyksos were immigrants who lived in Egypt before their taking over. Josephus suggests a connection to the story of Joseph in Genesis

West Asian = Mesopotamian. What evidence was thee that the Hyksos had lived in Egypt before taking

over? When examining Hyksos burial sites scientists that many of the Hyksos had spent their childhood

in Egypt. How did they know that? Certain metals are deposited in your teeth (such as strontium) with

certain ratios of isotopes depending on what is the ratio in your environment. The pattern of isotopes

matched what was found in Egypt. The conclusion is that the Hyksos lived in Egypt for some time before

they took over. The images above were created by Egyptians showing them with the Hyksos. The Hyksos

are lighter in skin color, and have beards. Also their clothing is colored and striped, and probably made

from animal skins – suggesting a Middle Eastern origin.

Slide 4

New Kingdom (1550 – 1069 BCE)

Egypt in the New Kingdom learned from the fatal flaw of the Middle Kingdom – great wealth required

protection (just like the Middle Kingdom learned from the great flaw of the Old Kingdom – power that is

too concentrated can cause paralysis). Egypt becomes a military super-power and expands beyond the

region of the Nile.

Slide 5

Ahmose I (1549- 1524 BCE)

The first ruler of the New Kingdom was Ahmose I.

Slide 6

Hatshepsut the Female Pharaoh (1479-1458)

Hatshepsut was a pharaoh in her own right, and also served as co-ruler with her son Thutmose III. Her

statue is typical of any pharaoh: she is shown with her left leg forward – warrior pose. She has a thin

waist and well-developed arms. She is wearing a loincloth and has no covering for her breasts. Also, she

has a beard.

Slide 7

Thutmose III (1479-1425)

Thutmose III was the son of Hatshepsut and was at one point he co-regent. Apparently thee was a falling

out between mother and son, and Thutmose had all references her chiseled out of monuments.

Slide 8

Akhenaten (1351-1334 BCE)

Akhenaten was an unusual pharaoh not only for how his official image was portrayed, but because of

how he changed the religious structure of Egypt for at least a time.

Slide 9

Amenhotep III

Amenhotep III was Akhenaten’s father, and is portrayed as a typical pharaoh.

Slide 10

Cult of Amun

The chief god of the Egyptian pantheon was Amun, the sun god, and this god’s name appears as part of

Amenhotep’s name. Above Amun is pictured in human form, carrying the symbol of life, the ankh.

Slide 11

Temple of Amun at Karnak

The main temple of the god Amun was at a place called Karnak. Above are the ruins of Karnak. The cult

of Amun was incredibly powerful and wealthy, and in such cases it is NOT unusual for the cult to exert a

lot of power behind the scenes.

Slide 12

The Aten

Akhenaten switches his allegiance to a NEW god, who is a sun god, the Aten. The Aten does not have a

human appearance, and is only depicted as a solar disk. What comes down from the god are life-giving

rays. Akhenaten went further: not only switched allegiance to the Aten, he declares that Aten is the only

god! None of the others exist! Akhenaten created the firs monotheism. Also note that Akhenaten’s name

has the name of the god incorporated into it.

Why did he do this? Did he have some kind of revelation/religious experience? Did he do this because he

wanted to grab power from the priesthoods? It could be both!

Slide 13

How manifold it is, what thou hast made! They are hidden from the face (of man). O sole god, like whom there is no other! Thou didst create the world according to thy desire, Whilst thou wert alone: All men, cattle, and wild beasts, Whatever is on earth, going upon (its) feet, And what is on high, flying with its wings. The countries of Syria and Nubia, the land of Egypt, Thou settest every man in his place, Thou suppliest their necessities: Everyone has his food, and his time of life is reckoned. Their tongues are separate in speech, And their natures as well; Their skins are distinguished, As thou distinguishest the foreign peoples. Thou makest a Nile in the underworld, Thou bringest forth as thou desirest To maintain the people (of Egypt) According as thou madest them for thyself, The lord of all of them, wearying (himself) with them, The lord of every land, rising for them, The Aton of the day, great of majesty.

Slide 14

Gold Mask Tutankhamun

Akhenaten’s son and successor was Tutankhamun. The fact that Akhenaten’s son has the name of the

earlier god in it shows that the monotheism ended with Akhenaten’s death. Also notice that in the death

mask we have here an image of a pharaoh’s face that is almost identical to Thutmose III

Slide 15

Mummy of Tutankhamun

Slide 16

Reconstruction of Tutankhamun

Slide 17

Battle of Kadesh 1274 BCE

One of the largest battles in the ancient world was when the Egyptians fought a Mesopotamian -derived

empire in the Battle of Kadesh. The battle ends in a draw. The result of this draw was that the two

powers enter into the first peace treaty. A copy of which is on display in the United Nations.

Slide 18

Peace Treaty Between Hittites and Egyptians

This copy is in cuneiform.