The 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egyptian history is an exciting period of study of researchers. It saw many famous pharaoh’s such as Thutmose IV, Akhenaten and Hatshepsut.
It saw the rebirth of the cult of the Sphinx, then called Horemakhet, which was worshipped as an image the sun god Ra-Horakhty, who went on to become the one true god under Akhenaten. We saw this new state religion cause chaos in Egypt.
We also have a seemingly intact tomb of King Tutankhamen, a discovery that set the world alight and focussed the world’s attention on the 18th dynasty.
But the first king of this dynasty and the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt was Ahmose I, who defeating the Hyksos, a group who conquered the north of Egypt and established the 15th dynasty. They didn’t rule the whole of Egypt and the country was divided throughout the 16th and 17th dynasties.
The Hyksos are often thought to be a group who came from the outside of the country and took control because we know they practiced many Levantine and Canaanite customs. But interestingly they also practiced some Egyptian customs.
The Hyksos have made the news this week and thanks to a new study by the experts, we can now dispel a long-believed myth that Egypt was invaded and taken over from outsiders.
The Hyksos were not foreign invaders but a group who rose to power from within and we know this thanks to the work of Chris Stantis and his colleagues of Bournemouth University in the UK, details of which are explained in this video.
Furthermore, looking at the style of Hyksos sphinx statues and one specific statue bearing the name of a Hyksos king that is the shape of a recumbent lion, could the Great Sphinx of Giza have been re-carved early in the New Kingdom? Watch the video to find out.