2265 Amenemhat IV.—The dynasty begins to decline.
2255 Queen Sebek-neferu-Ra, sister of Amenemhat IV.
The XIIth Dynasty a great age for art and literature. Immense activity in building. The literary style is the model for future ages. Valuable historic records on the tombs.
THE XIIIth, XIVth, XVth, XVIth, AND XVIIth DYNASTIES, 2250-1635 B.C.
2250-1635 A period the length of which is unknown, and which has been variously estimated at from four hundred to nearly a thousand years. (See Chapter III, pages 120, 121.) The XIIIth Dynasty reigns at Thebes, and Sebekhotep I is its first king. Before its close the Hyksos invaders have gained rapidly in power, and the new dynasty (XIVth) is driven to Xoïs in the western Delta. The Hyksos establish their rule, and the later kings of the XIVth are probably provincial governors with a short tenure of office, retained by the Hyksos for purposes of internal government. The XVth Dynasty is that of the great Hyksos kings, Salatis, Bnon, Apachnan, Aphobis, Annas, Asseth, and marks the climax of their power. Their principal towns are Ha-Uar (Avaris), Pelusium, and Tanis. They adopt the customs, language, and writings of the Egyptians. Their chief god is Sutekh, “the Great Set,” to whom they build a great temple at Tanis. The XVth Dynasty is in part contemporaneous with the XIVth and XVIth Egyptian; in the latter the provincial governors gradually have their tenure of power lengthened. The XVIIth is of both Hyksos and Egyptians, in which the former begin to lose their power.
Monuments.—Many statues, inscriptions, implements of war, etc.
1800 A new house from the south gradually regains Egypt from the Hyksos. Its principal kings are named Seqenen Ra. Seqenen Ra III marries Aah-hotep, a princess of pure Egyptian blood. By the time her son by a former marriage, Aahmes I, comes to the throne, the Hyksos have been driven and confined to the district around Avaris, where they prepare to make a final stand.
1730 Descent of the Hebrews into Egypt.