Hyksos Effect on Nke

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It used to be assumed that the Hyksos invaded Egypt at the end of the 13th Dynasty, but it is now recognised that the process was more gradual and more peaceful, according to Donald Redford "it is not unreasonable to assume that with the gradual weakening of royal authority, the Delta defenses were allowed to lapse, and groups of transhumants found it easy to cross the border and settle in Lower Egypt .. .Having persauded oneself of this, the Hyksos assumption ofpower reveals itself as a peaceful takeover from wthin by a racial element already in the majority." A number of New Kingdom texts, including the Ramesside Papyrus Sallier (c1220 BC) suggest that the Hyksos interlude was essentially the ruthless imposition of Asiatic culture on that of the native Egyptians, but these were undoubtedly biased accounts, and the archaeological evidence is considerably more ambiguous. The small number of royal sculptures of the Hyksos period largely adhere to the iconographic and stylistic traditon of the Middle Kingdom. There is some evidence to suggest that the rulers supported the traditional forms of government and adopted an Egyptian-style Royal Titulary. Their major deity was Seth but they also worshipped other Egyptian gods as well as Anat and Astarte, two closely related goddesses of Syro-Palestinian origin. Conventional forms of Egyptian literature contineud to be composed or copied. Having established their capital at Avaris, they appear to have gradually spread westward, establishign centres such as Tell El-Yahudiya, and taking control of the important Egyptian city of Memphis. The discover of a small number of objects incribed with the names of Hyksos kings at sites such as Knossos, Baghdad and Boghazkoy, suggest that the new rulers maintained trading links with the Near East and the Agean. Seals at the Nubian site of Kerma bear the name Sheshi, apparently

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