As with the Canaanites, the chief deity of the Hyksos, was the storm god, Hadad, and was associated with the Egyptian storm and desert god, Seth. The manuscript below records the Hyksos King Apepi as worshiping Seth in a monolatric / henotheistic way, (which would have been viewed negatively by the ancient Egyptians, as Jan Assmann points out): “Then King Apophis made Seth as his lord, and he would not serve any god who was in the land except Seth. And he built a temple of good and eternal work beside the House of King Apophis and he appeared every day to have sacrifices made... daily to Seth. And the officials of the King carried wreathes exactly as is done in the temple of the god, Re-Har-akhti.”
Fifteen years before the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt (between 1575 and 1540 BCE), the Hyksos King Apepi (Apophis) ruled in Avaris. He had a Canaanite background and was a contemporary of the Ramesside king, Seqenenre of the 17th dynasty (1560 BCE). The Hyksos were a people of diverse origins, possibly from Western Asia, who settled in the eastern Nile Delta some time before 1650 BCE. Immigration by Canaanite populations preceded the Hyksos. Canaanites first appeared in Egypt in 1800 or 1720 BCE and established an independent realm in the eastern Nile Delta. The Canaanite rulers of the Delta founded the 14th Dynasty, which coexisted with the Egyptian 13th Dynasty. In about 1650 BCE, the Hyksos invaded the territory of both dynasties and established the 15th Dynasty.
The Hyksos are believed to have originated in Phoenicia-Palestine, where they destroyed the Amorite-ruled Byblos in the 18th century BCE. The Hyksos were a mixed group which, in addition to West Semites (Canaanites), included Hurrians, Hittites, Syrians (from Mitanni), Habiru and Indo Europeans. Their entry into Egypt was a gradual infiltration of migrating nomads or semi-nomads who slowly took over control of the country piecemeal. The Hyksos kings were eventually reduced to vassals of the 17th Dynasty Egyptian kings and were finally driven out of Egypt by Ahmose. The last Hyksos king, Khamudi, was expelled in 1550 BCE.
See Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, pg. 231
Worksheet d203b (coming soon)
b203b
