DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6640#0035
THE HYKSOS.
21
In both authors these kings are indicated
as being the first; they are called by Africanus
the fifteenth dynasty, to which another, the
sixteenth, is said to have followed. But, not to
speak of the fact that other authors, like
Eusebius or the Old Chronicle, do not mention
this subsequent dynasty, the statement of the
two chronographers is contradicted by the
Egyptian texts ; for we shall see that the king
called here Apophis or Aphobis is one of the
last, perhaps even the very last Hyksos king,
who had to fight the native princes of the
seventeenth dynastj'. We are thus compelled to
admit that there is an inversion in the statement
of the chronographers, and we consider the
kings of whom they give a list as the sixteenth
dynasty.
It is in a papyrus of the British Museum,
called Sallier I., that the mention of a Hyksos
king has first been discovered. This document,
which was translated byBrugsch, E. de Rouge,
Goodwin, Chabas, has been the object of much
discussion. Quite recently it has been trans-
lated anew by Maspero, who denies to the
narrative it contains, a historical character, and
considers it as a tale or a legend, the end of
which has unfortunately been lost. It probably
related the beginning of the war between the
Hyksos king and his native rival, the prince of
Thebes. In spite of its legendary appearance
we gather from the document important
information. We see that the strangers are
called by the offensive epithet of ^^^^^^ff
the impure, or the plague ; they are governed by
the king, Apepi, who resides in Avaris, Q
"^^Z^l^ and who adopted for his god ^^'J
>$_J Sutekh, exclusive of all others. His ad
versary is King Sekenen-Ra, 1 Q (i
who resides in the city of the south,
Thebes.
A further step in the knowledge of the
Hyksos was made by the discoveries of Mariette
<T3
O I AAa5\A £ f] |
1 awm v~*■-J yi
in his excavations at San (Tanis) in 1860. On
the arms of two colossi representing a king of
the thirteenth or fourteenth dynasty, he found
engraved the cartouches of Apepi, which he at
first deciphered incorrectly, but which must be
read as follows :—
0
0¥ C
□
□
"jj the good
god, Baahenen, the son of Ba, Apepi.
This inscription alone is sufficient to show
that in his time the Hyksos were no more the
fierce conquerors described by Manetho. They
did not destroy the temples, since they wrote
their names on the statues made for their native
predecessors, and dedicated to the native gods.
Besides, though they were worshippers of Set
or Sutekh, they considered themselves as sons
of Ra, the solar god.
At the same time as the cartouches, Mariette
discovered other monuments to which the name
of Hyksos has since been applied. They
consist of four sphinxes, originally placed on
both sides of the avenue leading to the centre
of the temple. These sphinxes have a human
head surrounded by a very thick and tufted
mane. As for the face it has a type quite
different from the Egyptian. The nose is wide
and aquiline, the cheek-bones are high and
strongly marked, the mouth projecting, with
stout lips and fleshy corners. At first sight it
is impossible not to be struck by the fact that
we have here the image of a foreign race, and
an art which is not purely Egyptian. No
doubt the artist who sculptured them was
Egyptian, the workmanship has all the charac-
teristics of native art; but on the faces, which
are portraits, we see that the originals belonged
to another race, and they clearly betray a
foreign element.
Mariette from the first attributed them to
the Hyksos, and he was confirmed in his
opinion by the fact that on the right shoulder
of each sphinx is an inscription hammered out,
but where he could decipher the sign of ^
21
In both authors these kings are indicated
as being the first; they are called by Africanus
the fifteenth dynasty, to which another, the
sixteenth, is said to have followed. But, not to
speak of the fact that other authors, like
Eusebius or the Old Chronicle, do not mention
this subsequent dynasty, the statement of the
two chronographers is contradicted by the
Egyptian texts ; for we shall see that the king
called here Apophis or Aphobis is one of the
last, perhaps even the very last Hyksos king,
who had to fight the native princes of the
seventeenth dynastj'. We are thus compelled to
admit that there is an inversion in the statement
of the chronographers, and we consider the
kings of whom they give a list as the sixteenth
dynasty.
It is in a papyrus of the British Museum,
called Sallier I., that the mention of a Hyksos
king has first been discovered. This document,
which was translated byBrugsch, E. de Rouge,
Goodwin, Chabas, has been the object of much
discussion. Quite recently it has been trans-
lated anew by Maspero, who denies to the
narrative it contains, a historical character, and
considers it as a tale or a legend, the end of
which has unfortunately been lost. It probably
related the beginning of the war between the
Hyksos king and his native rival, the prince of
Thebes. In spite of its legendary appearance
we gather from the document important
information. We see that the strangers are
called by the offensive epithet of ^^^^^^ff
the impure, or the plague ; they are governed by
the king, Apepi, who resides in Avaris, Q
"^^Z^l^ and who adopted for his god ^^'J
>$_J Sutekh, exclusive of all others. His ad
versary is King Sekenen-Ra, 1 Q (i
who resides in the city of the south,
Thebes.
A further step in the knowledge of the
Hyksos was made by the discoveries of Mariette
<T3
O I AAa5\A £ f] |
1 awm v~*■-J yi
in his excavations at San (Tanis) in 1860. On
the arms of two colossi representing a king of
the thirteenth or fourteenth dynasty, he found
engraved the cartouches of Apepi, which he at
first deciphered incorrectly, but which must be
read as follows :—
0
0¥ C
□
□
"jj the good
god, Baahenen, the son of Ba, Apepi.
This inscription alone is sufficient to show
that in his time the Hyksos were no more the
fierce conquerors described by Manetho. They
did not destroy the temples, since they wrote
their names on the statues made for their native
predecessors, and dedicated to the native gods.
Besides, though they were worshippers of Set
or Sutekh, they considered themselves as sons
of Ra, the solar god.
At the same time as the cartouches, Mariette
discovered other monuments to which the name
of Hyksos has since been applied. They
consist of four sphinxes, originally placed on
both sides of the avenue leading to the centre
of the temple. These sphinxes have a human
head surrounded by a very thick and tufted
mane. As for the face it has a type quite
different from the Egyptian. The nose is wide
and aquiline, the cheek-bones are high and
strongly marked, the mouth projecting, with
stout lips and fleshy corners. At first sight it
is impossible not to be struck by the fact that
we have here the image of a foreign race, and
an art which is not purely Egyptian. No
doubt the artist who sculptured them was
Egyptian, the workmanship has all the charac-
teristics of native art; but on the faces, which
are portraits, we see that the originals belonged
to another race, and they clearly betray a
foreign element.
Mariette from the first attributed them to
the Hyksos, and he was confirmed in his
opinion by the fact that on the right shoulder
of each sphinx is an inscription hammered out,
but where he could decipher the sign of ^