Invasion and Rule of the Hyksos—War of Liberation.
(Circa 2100-1600 b.c.)
The close of the twelfth dynasty was followed at no distant date by confusion and disaster. It appears, indeed, that the succeeding dynasty held for a time, at least nominally, the supremacy of Egypt; but sooner or later we find there was a rival dynasty (the fourteenth) ruling at Xois, in the Delta. To the kings composing it is assigned an average length of reign of little over two years, and this has led some to suppose that they were not in any sense Kings of Egypt, but were ruling in the Delta merely as governors—viceroys of foreign invaders. But all details, all records, fail us here, and we have no account of the events that led up to the crisis, when the long threatening storm broke over the land at last. A warlike race, known to us as the Hyksos,[27] aided no doubt by the wandering tribes beyond the frontier, passed the north-east boundary of Egypt, seized upon the Delta, and set up their kingdom at Avaris, and were doubtless welcomed by the settlers of kindred blood already dwelling in the district. Egypt was weakened by discord; the dissensions of rival dynasties had probably led once more to the breaking up of the kingdom into small principalities; no united opposition could be offered to the invaders, and rival chieftains and kings were forced to acknowledge the supremacy of the stranger at the point of the sword.
The horse is never represented in Egyptian sculptures and drawings previous to this date, and if, as is most probable, the Hyksos invaders were mounted, it would be barely possible for foot soldiery to resist their progress. Memphis fell into their hands, and the Egyptian princes and governors as far south as Thebes were compelled to become their vassals and pay tribute. ‘Under one of our kings,’ says a native writer of later days,[28] in a fragment that has been preserved, ‘it came to pass that God was angry with us, and men came from the East, who subdued our country by force, though we never ventured on a battle with them. When they had gotten our governors under their power, they burnt down our cities and demolished the temples of the gods. Their king lived at Memphis, and made the upper and the lower country pay tribute, and he left garrisons in fitting places. He strengthened Avaris greatly, building walls around it and filling it with armed men. These people and their descendants kept possession of Egypt for 511 years.’
The Egyptians might well have said, to use their favourite phrase, ‘Never had the like been seen since the days of Ra.’ There had been wars on the frontiers, and there had been one long dark period of division and civil war, but during the two or three thousand years that Egypt had been a kingdom no foreign foe had set foot upon her soil. Memphis, the ‘secure and beautiful’ city, had stood in all her splendour, and had never seen a hostile banner unfurled against her. The royal line of Mena had ruled,[29] the worship of the temples of Abydos and of the City of the Sun had prevailed uninterruptedly since the days of the pyramid builders and the ‘old time before them.’ It is a wonderful chapter in the world’s history, and one turns the page with regret. Nor can we be surprised at the burning shame and bitter resentment with which the Egyptians of after times looked back upon those days of disgrace and subjection. As far as it was possible they obliterated every trace of the detested Hyksos supremacy; they chiselled out the names of their kings, and destroyed their monumental records. Very few traces survive, but it is plain, nevertheless, that the conquerors soon adopted Egyptian customs and Egyptian civilisation. The Hyksos kings assumed Egyptian titles and erected magnificent temples. And it is more than likely that the feelings of the native historians, galled and exasperated by the recollection of the harsh supremacy of aliens, considerably exaggerated the tale of the suffering and ruin entailed by their presence.
This period, of about 500 years’ duration, is veiled from us in almost impenetrable darkness. The records left of themselves by the Hyksos Pharaohs were destroyed, and over the rest of the subject land there brooded the darkness of a long-protracted eclipse. The tribute was probably paid, and external quietude and order prevailed.
At length a ray of light dispels the darkness for an instant. ‘It came to pass,’ says an ancient papyrus, ‘that the land of Khemi belonged to the enemy. No one was sovereign lord in the day when that happened. The King Sekenen-Ra ruled in the south, but the enemy ruled in the district of the Amu, and Apepi, their king, was in the city of Avaris; the whole land did him homage with the best of its handiwork. King Apepi took unto him Sutech for lord, refusing to serve any other god in the whole land, and he built for him a temple of enduring workmanship. King Apepi appointed festival days for making sacrifice to Sutech, as in the temple of Ra-harmakhu.’ Here there is a break, after which the manuscript goes on to tell how King Apepi, by the advice of his learned councillors, sent an embassy to the ruler of the south (the tributary native prince, Sekenen-Ra). ‘The ruler of the south said to the messenger, “Who sent thee hither? Why art thou come? Is it to spy out the land?”’ So far as we can gather from the text (which is here again interrupted) the messenger’s reply related merely to the construction of a certain well for cattle, although he adds that ‘sleep had not come to him by day or by night until he had delivered his message.’ ‘The ruler of the south was amazed, and knew not how to reply to the messenger of King Apepi.’ Here another vexatious break occurs in the story.
It is more than likely that a spirit of independence was awakening in the south, under the brave Sekenen-Ra, and even that certain secret preparations for an uprising might have been afoot; so that the Hyksos messenger may, after all, have been neither more nor less than a spy, although apparently charged with nothing but an innocent message concerning a tank. It is at any rate clear that Sekenen-Ra’s heart misgave him. His answer indeed is missing, but we read that ‘the messenger of King Apepi rose to depart to where his royal master was,’ and that the Egyptian chief, who evidently felt that the die was cast, forthwith ‘bade summon his mighty chiefs, his captains and expert guides.’ He repeated to them the whole story of the ‘words King Apepi had sent concerning them. But they were silent, all of them in great dismay, and wist not what to answer him, good or bad.’ Here the papyrus breaks off suddenly, and darkness closes in again.
We are left to guess the sequel, but it seems as though we can see how the prince of the south cast off his allegiance and defied the Hyksos sovereign.
His successors bore the same name as himself, and also his family name of Taa. They were known as Taa the Great and Taa the Victorious, and followed up his bold initiative with vigour and success. It was very slowly, and only by hard fighting and step by step, that Egypt was won back from the stranger. But as these brave chieftains pushed their way northward, one tributary prince after another would take heart and join in the war of liberation. The horse must by this time have been naturalised and made use of throughout the land, and thus one terrible and fatal disadvantage would be removed. Old rivalries and minor jealousies would melt away under the influence of a common need and a common hope. Taa the Victorious prepared a flotilla of Nile vessels, two of which bore the significant names of the ‘North,’ and the ‘Going up into Memphis.’ Doubtless it was under him that the ancient capital was regained, after which all was ready for the final attack, in view of which he had made ready his little navy,—the attack which should drive the foe from his stronghold in the Delta, where by this time he was standing desperately at bay.