The impact of then Hyksos on New Kingdom Egypt

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The expulsion of the Hyksos had long and short term consequences on the 18th dynasty and the New Kingdom. The Hyksos reign over Egypt as well as their expulsion after 100 years helped to reshape Egypt. It influenced not only the foreign policies but also Egypt’s military, religion and rulers. Through historical evidence, including written and archaeological and by examining the debates between historians today, it is clearly evident that the expulsion of the Hyksos had a significant impact on the Egyptian way of life in many different ways. This essay will prove that ultimately, the expulsion of the Hyksos and the beginning of the 18th dynasty strengthened Egypt making them an unbeatable force for hundreds of years. The period in which the Hyksos ruled Egypt was considered by all Egyptians as “a great national humiliation” . During this time, it is believed that there were five Hyksos Kings - Sheshi, Yakubher, Khyans, Apepi I and II. This theory is based around the detailed descriptions by Manetho, however there is much debate surrounding this as the papyri that the script was written is severely damaged and the length of each rule is also debated for the same reason . Whilst the later Egyptian rulers, such as Hatshepsut in her temple Speos Artemidos, named the Hyksos as “barbarians... who ruled in ignorance of Re” the names of each Hyksos king contradict this. An example is Sheshi, whose throne name – which was Egyptian - means “Seeing is the heart of Re” . The names of the kings suggest that the Hyksos adopted the Egyptian life style and provide evidence that the Hyksos period was later used as propaganda by the New Kingdom Pharaohs. Whilst many historians assume that there were no Egyptian rulers in Egypt at the time of the Hyksos reign, it has been proven by Egyptologists that the Egyptian rulers still held quite a lot of control over Egypt. The Egyptian
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