>The National Geographic has published a news report announcing that Egyptian archaeologists have found documents that date to the time of the Hyksos in Egypt. The following is an excerpt of the article:

Egyptian archaeologists have announced that they have unearthed traces of solidified lava on the northern coast of Sinai that date to around 1500 B.C.-supporting accounts that ancient Egyptian settlements were buried by a massive volcanic eruption in the Mediterranean, they say.

The archaeological team, led by Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud of Egypt’s Supreme Council for Antiquities, found houses, military structures, and tombs encased in ash, along with fragments of pumice, near the ancient Egyptian fortress of Tharo, on the Horus military road. Tharo is located close to El Qantara, where the Nile Delta meets the Sinai peninsula.

The new find seems to confirm accounts from ancient artwork and documents that recount the destruction of coastal cities in Egypt and Palestine during the 15th dynasty (1650-1550 B.C.), when foreigners known as the Hyksos ruled Egypt.

The archaeological mission also found a fort with four mud-brick towers dating to Egypt’s 18th dynasty (around 1550 to 1307 B.C.).

In addition, an Egyptian archaeologist said:

The fort corresponded to reliefs found in the ancient temple of Karnak in Luxor. The sculptures describe Egypt’s strategy to defend its eastern borders against future invasions by the Hyksos, who are thought to have been Semitic nomads from Syria and Palestine.

“It’s very significant,” said Salima Ikram, a professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo. “There are only a limited number of sites linked to the Hyksos.” Ikram added that the site also contains some of the earliest known remains of horses found in Egypt.

The Hyksos occupy a very important place in the history of Egypt and Canaan in the 18th century B.C. According to John Bright (59-65), around 1710 B.C., the Hyksos, an Asiatic people, conquered Egypt and established their own government that included Canaan and southern Syria. They established their capital in the city of Avaris in the Nile Delta.

The name “Hyksos” means “foreign chiefs.” This name was given by the Egyptians to the invading people, who later adopted the title to designate the foreign elements who ruled Egypt for about 150 years.

The Hyksos were able to conquer Egypt because of their advanced weapons, which included the war chariot and the laminated bow. Many of the names associated with the Hyksos are Semitic. For this reason, some scholars have said that some of the ancestors of the Israelites who entered Egypt may have been associated with the Hyksos.

If Joseph entered Egypt during the time the Hyksos occupied the land, then, the settlement of Jacob and his family in the land of Goshen was made possible because of the affinity between the two groups. The Hyksos domination of Egypt came to an end when Ahmose I in 1570 B.C. attacked Avaris and expelled the Hyksos from Egypt.

Ahmose established the Eighteenth Dynasty, a dynasty that lasted through the end of the Amarna period, a time when, according to the book of Exodus, Israel was in Egypt.

Thus, the discovery of a site that confirms the presence of the Hyksos in Egypt is significant because it helps archaeologists shed light on a very debatable period in the history of Israel.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Exodus, Hyksos,