Migration to Thebes

The 13th Dynasty switched to Thebes in the far south possibly in the reign of Merneferre Ay.^[1]: 123 Daphna Ben Tor believes that this event was triggered by the invasion of the eastern Delta and the Memphite region by Canaanite rulers, who had their own culture, a variant of the contemporary late Palestinian Middle Bronze Age culture of the southern Levant.^[8] For some authors, this marks the end of the Middle Kingdom and the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period.^[9] This analysis is rejected by Ryholt and Baker however, who note that the stele of Seheqenre Sankhptahi, reigning toward the end of the dynasty, strongly suggests that he reigned over Memphis. The stele is of unknown provenance.^[10][11]

Though the 13th Dynasty may have controlled Upper Egypt, the 14th Dynasty ruled Lower Egypt, and both houses agreed to co-exist allowing trade.^[12] Evidently the rulers had trouble with securing power within their territory, being replaced in rapid fashion, but other factors like famine may have played a part.^[13] The eventual collapse of the 13th Dynasty became an opening for two smaller dynasties to take control of Egypt.^[13]

Fourteenth Dynasty

The 13th Dynasty proved unable to hold on to the entire territory of Egypt, and a provincial ruling family, located in the Nile Delta, broke away from the central authority to form the 14th Dynasty (c. 1700–1650 BC). According to Syncellus, all three sources agree that the 14th Dynasty had seventy-six kings and their court was located in Xois, now modern day Sakha, although they provide different numbers of years ruled. Africanus stated the dynasty reigned for 184 years, whilst the Armenian version of Eusebius states 484 years. Eusebius states the same as Africanus, but in another copy the same number as the Armenian version.^[7][16]

The precise borders of the 14th Dynasty state are not known, due to the general scarcity of its monuments. In his study of the Second Intermediate Period, Kim Ryholt concludes that the territory directly controlled by the 14th Dynasty roughly consisted of the Nile Delta, with borders located near Athribis in the western Delta and Bubastis in the east.^[17] Most modern Egyptologists share the view that Avaris – rather than Xois – was the 14th Dynasty's seat of power.^[18]

Contested rulers proposed by Ryholt as the first five rulers of the dynasty are commonly identified as being of Canaanite (Semitic) descent based on their names. His conclusions about their chronological position within the period are contested in Ben Tor's study.^[19][20] Other sources don't refer to the dynasty as foreign or Hyksos and they were not referred to as "rulers of foreign lands" or "shepherd kings" in kings lists.^{[21][22][23][24]}

The contested^[25] rulers (with the translation of their nomens)^[26] are:

• Yakbim Sekhaenre ("Yakbim" means "(the goddess) Aya is a rock")
• Ya'ammu Nubwoserre ("Ya'ammu" means "where is the uncle")
• Qareh Khawoserre ("Qareh" means "the bald one")
• 'Ammu Aahotepre ("'Ammu" could mean "the Asiatic")
• Sheshi Maaibre ("Sheshi" is a Semitic name)

The most attested, non-contested ruler of the dynasty, Nehesy Aasehre, left his name on two monuments at Avaris. His name means "the Nubian". According to Ryholt, he was the son and direct successor of the pharaoh Sheshi with a Nubian Queen named Tati.^[20]

The 14th Dynasty saw great success during their early years, but like the late 13th Dynasty, the rulers were replaced in rapid succession. The 14th Dynasty was overthrown by the Hyksos.^[16]

Fifteenth Dynasty

The kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty are said to have been either Canaanite^[27] or Amorite.^[28] The settling of Levantine populations in Lower Egypt may have occurred peacefully in the wake of the disintegration of the 14th Dynasty.^[29][30][4] 17th Dynasty Pharaoh Kamose is known to have referred to Apophis, one of the kings of the 15th dynasty, as wr n Rṯnw (‘ruler of Retjenu (Syria-Palestine)’)".^[31][32][33] The kings formed "the second Asiatic Kingdom in the Delta" and ruled Lower Egypt from Avaris for a hundred years.^{[34][35][36][37][1]} It is believed that Avaris was the largest city in the world from 1670 to 1557 BC under the their rule,^[38] but the kingdom being based in Avaris is now viewed as a secessionist move rather than expansionist.^[39] It is still debated if the movement of the Hyksos was a military invasion or a mass migration of Asiatics from Palestine.^{[40][1]: 127–128}

In Manethonian tradition, Salitis, described as a Hyksos (ḥḳꜣw-ḫꜣswt, a "shepherd" according to Africanus), is believed to have conquered the entirety of Egypt, but it is more likely that his rule did not extend beyond Lower Egypt.^[41][42][27] The Turin King list indicates that there were six Hyksos kings, with an obscure Khamudi listed as the final king of the 15th Dynasty:^[43]

15th Dynasty Kings

Name	Image	Dates and comments
Salitis	Unattested	Mentioned by Manetho as first king of the dynasty; currently unidentified with any known archaeologically attested person. Ruled for 19 years according to Manetho, as quoted by Josephus.
Semqen		Mentioned on the Turin king list. According to Ryholt, he was an early Hyksos ruler, possibly the first king of the dynasty; von Beckerath assigns him to the 16th dynasty.[44]
Aperanat		Mentioned on the Turin king list. According to Ryholt, he was an early Hyksos ruler, possibly the second king of the dynasty; von Beckerath assigns him to the 16th dynasty.[44]
Khyan		Ruled 10+ years.[45]
Yanassi		Khyan's eldest son, possibly at the origin of the mention of a king Iannas in Manetho's Aegyptiaca
Sakir-Har		Named as an Hyksos king on a doorjamb found at Avaris. Regnal order uncertain.
Apophis		c. 1590?–1550 BC Ruled 40+ years.[45]
Khamudi		c. 1550–1540 BC

Abydos Dynasty

The Abydos Dynasty (c. 1640 to 1620 BC)^[46] may have been a short-lived local dynasty ruling over part of Upper Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period in Ancient Egypt and was contemporary with the 15th and 16th dynasties. The Abydos Dynasty stayed rather small with rulership over just Abydos or Thinis.^[46] Very little is known about the Abydos dynasty, since it was very short-lived, though we do have some king names that appear in Turin king list, but not in any other sources.

If the Abydos Dynasty was indeed a dynasty, the seat of its power would probably have been either Abydos or Thinis. A possible graffito of Wepwawetemsaf was discovered by Karl Richard Lepsius in the tomb BH2 of the 12th Dynasty nomarch Amenemhat at Beni Hasan, about 250 km North of Abydos, in Middle Egypt. If the attribution of this graffito is correct and if Wepwawetemsaf did belong to the Abydos Dynasty, then its territory might have extended that far north.^[47] Since the dynasty was contemporaneous with the 16th Dynasty, the territory under Abydene control could not have extended farther than Hu, 50 km south of Abydos.^[47]

The dynasty tentatively includes four rulers: Wepwawetemsaf, Pantjeny, Snaaib, and Senebkay.^[46] The Abydos Dynasty ceased when the Hyksos expanded into Upper Egypt.

Sixteenth Dynasty

The 16th Dynasty (c. 1650-1580 BC) ruled the Theban region in Upper Egypt. Of the two chief versions of Manetho's Aegyptiaca, the 16th Dynasty is described by the more reliable Africanus (supported by Syncellus) as "shepherd [Hyksos] kings", but by Eusebius as Theban.^[7] In his 1997 study of the SIP, the Danish Egyptologist Kim Ryholt argues that the 16th Dynasty was an independent Theban kingdom. From Ryholt's reconstruction of the Turin canon, 15 kings can be associated to the dynasty, several of whom are attested by contemporary sources.^[48] While most likely rulers based in Thebes itself, some may have been local rulers from other important Upper Egyptian towns, including Abydos, El Kab and Edfu.^[48] By the reign of Nebiriau I, the realm controlled by the 16th Dynasty extended at least as far north as Hu and south to Edfu.^[49][50] Not listed in the Turin canon (after Ryholt) is Wepwawetemsaf, who left a stele at Abydos and was likely a local kinglet of the Abydos Dynasty.^[48]

Ryholt gives the list of kings of the 16th Dynasty as shown in the table below.^[51] Others, such as Helck, Vandersleyen, Bennett combine some of these rulers with the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt.^[52] The list of rulers is given here as per Kim Ryholt and is supposedly in chronological order:

16th Dynasty Kings^^[53]

Name of king	Image	Dates	Comments
Unknown		1649–1648 BC	Name lost in a lacuna of the Turin canon
Sekhemre Sementawy Djehuty		1648–1645 BC
Sekhemre-seusertawi Sobekhotep VIII		1645–1629 BC
Sekhemre-seankhtawi Neferhotep III		1629–1628 BC
Seankhenre Mentuhotepi		1628–1627 BC
Sewadjenre Nebiryraw I		1627–1601 BC
Nebiryraw II		1601 BC
Semenre		1601–1600 BC
Bebiankh		1600–1588 BC
Sekhemre Shedwaset		1588 BC
Unknown		1588–1582 BC	Five kings lost in a lacuna of the Turin canon

The continuing war against the 15th Dynasty dominated the short-lived 16th Dynasty. The armies of the 15th Dynasty, winning town after town from their southern enemies, continually encroached on 16th Dynasty territory, eventually threatening and then conquering Thebes itself. Famine, which had plagued Upper Egypt during the late 13th Dynasty and the 14th Dynasty, also blighted the 16th Dynasty, most evidently during and after the reign of Neferhotep III.

The end of the 16th Dynasty came after relentless military pressure by the succeeding 15th Dynasty after many attempts, with evidence of Nebiryraw I's own personal seals being found in the Hyksos territory. Sometime around 1580 BC, the 16th Dynasty collapsed after being conquered by King Khyan of the Hyksos 15th Dynasty.^[54]

Seventeenth Dynasty

The 17th Dynasty (c.1571-1540 BC)^[55] was established by the Thebans quickly after the fall of the 16th. The details of the overthrow of the Hyksos in Thebes are unclear.^[55] Sources such as Africanus and Eusebius indicate that the 16th Dynasty comprised shepherd kings (like the 15th Dynasty), but also Theban kings too.^[7] The founder of the dynasty was Rahotep and scholars consider his dynasty to have been native to Egypt.^[56]

Five kings are recorded on the Karnak King List, dated to the reign of Thutmose III. Three kings are also listed in the kings scene of TT2, dated to the reign of Ramesses II. More names may have originally appeared in the missing sections of the kings lists. 17th Dynasty kings constructed a palatial complex at Deir el-Ballas, which is thought to have played an important role during the rule, but was later abandoned in the New Kingdom ^[57]

17th Dynasty Kings^[58]

Nomen (personal name)	Prenomen (throne name)	Horus-name	Image	Reign	Burial	Consort(s)	Comments
Rahotep	Sekhemre-wahkhaw	Wahankh		c. 1585 BC	Dra' Abu el-Naga'?
Sobekemsaf I	Sekhemre-wadjkhaw	Hetepnetjeru		7 years	Dra' Abu el-Naga'?	Nubemhat
Sobekemsaf II	Sekhemre-shedtawy	(unknown)			Dra' Abu el-Naga'? Tomb was robbed during the reign of Ramesses IX	Nubkhaes
Intef V	Sekhemre-wepmaat	Wepmaat		2-3? years	Dra' Abu el-Naga'?
Intef VI	Nubkheperre	Neferkheperu		3-8? years	Dra' Abu el-Naga'	Sobekemsaf
Intef VII	Sekhemre-heruhermaat	(unknown)			Dra' Abu el-Naga'?	Haankhes
Ahmose the Elder	Senakhtenre	Merymaat		1-2 years	Dra' Abu el-Naga'?	Tetisheri
Tao	Seqenenre	Khaemwaset		c. 1560 (4 years)	Dra' Abu el-Naga'?	Ahmose Inhapy Sitdjehuti Ahhotep I	Died in battle against the Hyksos
Kamose	Wadjkheperre	Khahernesetef		1555 to 1550 BC (5 years)	Dra' Abu el-Naga'	Ahhotep II?

The last two kings of the dynasty opposed the Hyksos rule over Egypt. The 17th Dynasty would see four different ruling families whose last king did not have a male heir to the throne. Subsequently, other powerful families established kings having short reigns.^[55] The 17th Dynasty maintained a short-lived peace with the 15th Dynasty, which ended with the start of the reign of Seqenenre (c. 1549-1545 BC), who started a series of wars against the Hyksos. King Kamose (c. 1545-1540 BC) continued the war against the Hyksos as a whole, but his brother Ahmose I would be the king to deal the final blow; he thus became the first king of the New Kingdom 18th Dynasty.^[55]