Image: The Cartouch with the Pharaoh’s name

Credit: Egypt Ministry of State Antiquities

Archaeologists excavating a site in Egypt have found the remains of a pharaoh who ruled Egypt more than 3,600 years ago. The remains of Senebkay, king of Egypt was a pharaoh who until now was unknown in Egyptian history. The skeleton of King Senebkay was uncovered at South Abydos in the Sohag province, a site located about 300 miles south of Cairo.

This discovery is important because this pharaoh reigned at the time the Hyksos ruled Egypt. Below is an excerpt from the article announcing this important discovery:

The statement dates King Senebkay’s rule to 1650 BC during a time known as the second intermediate period when central authority collapsed and small kingdoms sprang up between the end of the Middle Kingdom era and the start of the New Kingdom era.

The discovery provides new evidence that at least part of Egypt may have escaped the rule of the Hyksos, invaders from what is now Syria, who dominated the Nile Delta between the 18th and 15th centuries BC, the officials said.

“The royal family in Abydos, which may have been founded by Senebkay, is of Egyptian origin and did not submit to the Hyksos’s rule,” they said.

You can read the article in its entirety here.

The fact that King Senebkay did not submit to Hyksos’s rule is significant because, as the article states, “The discovery provides new evidence that at least part of Egypt may have escaped the rule of the Hyksos.” This discovery may provide additional historical information about the time when the Hyksos ruled Egypt.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

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