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Memorial cone of Sebek-hetep, a scribe, who flourished in the reign of

Sebek-em-sa-f, B.C. 2000.

[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay I, No. 280.]

XIIIth dynasty.

The total of these years is 1,590 according to one reckoning and 1,290 according to another, but it is impossible to accept either, and we must therefore assume that the total of 1,590 or 1,290 years represents the length of the reigns of the kings at Thebes, and of those who ruled in the Delta. In fact it is clear that, except at rare intervals, between the XIIth and the XVIIIth dynasties a king of the North and a king of the South were always reigning at the same time in Egypt, and that neither was sufficiently strong to make himself master of the whole country. The evidence derived from the monuments seems to indicate that the power of the Theban kings declined steadily at the beginning of this period, and that, as it declined, the power of the nomad Semites from the east, who are known as Hyksos or Shepherds, increased until the end of the period, when the Theban kings became strong enough to make themselves masters of the whole country. The names of a considerable number of kings, who may be assumed to have reigned during the XIIIth and XIVth dynasties, are known from scarabs and larger monuments, but nothing is known of their reigns.

Of the monuments of the period in the British Museum may be specially noted: Red granite seated figure of Sekhemuatch-taui-Rā, a king of the XIIIth or XIVth dynasty. This is a fine piece of sculpture, and is unlike any other statue in the gallery. The body lacks the heaviness of the statues of the earlier period. On the throne are cut, in outline, figures of two lions placed back to back. Above them are the signs sa ankh ffff f, ie, the "fluid of life," which the king derived

from Rã, the Sun-god (see Plate XXVII; Bay 1, No. 276). Of interest also are three stelae of private individuals, each of which mentions the name of a king, viz., Sekhem-ka-Rā (see Plate XXVIII), with the Horus name of Sankh-taui (Bay 2, No. 277), Sebek-hetep, with the prenomen of Khā-nefer-Rā (Bay 5, No. 278), and Ab-ȧā (Bay 5, No. 279). To this period belongs the axe handle of Sekhem-uatch-taui-Rā (Sebek-hetep) a king (Table-case E, Third Egyptian Room, No. 104). To a somewhat later period belong the interesting memorial cone of the scribe Sebek-hetep, who flourished in the reign of Sebek-em-sa-f (see Plate XXIX), of the XIVth dynasty, a unique object (Bay 1, No. 280), and the royal inscribed green stone scarab, with a human face, set in a gold plinth, which probably came from the tomb of this king at Thebes (Table-case J, Fourth Egyptian Room, No. 195). Of interest, too, are the royal stele of the little

known king Ap-uat-em-sau-f (Bay 3, No. 281); the stele of Hetep-neteru and Teḥuti-aa, which mentions another hitherto unknown king (Bay 4, No. 282); the stele of Ptaḥ-sankh, mentioning king Rā-Hetep (Bay 5, No. 283); and the slab from the temple of Osorkon II at Bubastis, inscribed with the name of Sekhem-khu-taui-Ră (Bay 23, No. 284).

To a great many stelae of private individuals, who flourished between the XIIth and the XVIIIth dynasties, it is difficult to assign exact dates, for very few of them mention royal names, and the inscriptions cut on them afford no clue. Fine examples of the transition period of funerary sculpture, stelae, etc., are: Stele of Nebȧ, an inspector (Bay 1, No. 285); grey granite portrait figure of an official of Athribis (Bay 2, No. 288); granite figure of Nefer-ȧri, from Bubastis (Bay 2, No. 289); stele of Pai-Neḥsi, the store keeper of the gold which came from the Sûdân (Bay 7, No. 299); stele of Antef-Aqer-ankh-khu (Bay 7, No. 301); stele of Queen Mer-seker (Bay 9, No. 330).

The Hyksos.-Comparatively soon after the downfall of the XIIIth dynasty, the Delta and northern parts of Egypt were little by little occupied by a confederation of Semitic nomad tribes to whose leaders, on the authority of Flavius Josephus, the historian (who died about A.D. 100), the name of Hyksos or Shepherd Kings has been given. The word Hyksos is derived from two Egyptian words Ḥequ-Shasu 7, ie, the

Δ

Shekhs or Governors of the Shasu,1 or nomadic tribes of the Eastern Desert, Syria, etc. It is extremely unlikely that they fought for the possession of Egypt; and we may assume that they migrated into the Delta, and that, after a few generations, they found that their power and numbers were sufficiently great to enable them to assume the mastery of the whole country of Lower Egypt. The Hyksos, who had settled in the Delta, adopted, little by little, the manners and customs of the Egyptians; and at length their chiefs adopted the Egyptian language and religion, and assumed the titles of the old Pharaohs, and became to all intents and purposes Egyptian kings. They apparently worshipped several gods, the chief

1 The word Shasu means primarily "robber," and

is the

"land of the robber," i.c., the nomad desert man, who plundered caravans at means merely

every opportunity. Later, Shasu J. } } }

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'pastoral desert tribes."

of whom was Sutekh

was Sutekh, , and him they identified with Set, or Suti, the old Egyptian god of darkness and evil.

According to Josephus the chief kings of the Hyksos were: Salatis, who reigned at Memphis, and fortified the city of Avaris, near Tanis, and garrisoned it with 250,000 men; he reigned 13 years. He was succeeded by Beon, who reigned 44 years, and Apachnas, who reigned 36 years and 7 months, and Apophis, who reigned 61 years, and Jonias who reigned 50 years and I month, and Assis, who

[graphic]

Granite lion inscribed with the name of Khian, a Hyksos king, about B.C. 1800. [Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 5, No. 340.]

reigned 49 years and 2 months. Of the objects in the British Museum which belong to the Hyksos Period may be mentioned: 1. The famous Mathematical Papyrus (No. 10,058), which was written in the reign of Aa-user-Ra

or Apepȧ I; 2. A red granite slab from the temple of Bubastis, inscribed with the name of Apepȧ 44) (Bay 23, No. 339); 3. A scarab inscribed Ãa-peḥ,

the prenomen of Nubti, a king whose cartouches appear on the famous Stele of 400 years1 (No. 32,368); 4. The granite

1 It was discovered at $ân (Tanis) by Mariette, who had the inscription copied; the stele was then carefully buried, and it has not since been seen.

K

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