Avaris (/ˈævərɪs/; Egyptian: ḥw.t wꜥr.t, sometimes hut-waret; Ancient Greek: Αὔαρις, romanized: Auaris; Greek: Άβαρις, romanized: Ávaris; Arabic: حوّارة, romanized: Hawwara) was the Hyksos capital of Egypt located at the modern site of Tell el-Dab’a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta. It was occupied from about the 18th century BC until its capture by Ahmose I. As the main course of the Nile migrated eastward, its position at the hub of Egypt’s delta emporia made it a significant capital suitable for trade.
Etymology
The name in the Egyptian language of the 2nd millennium BC was probably pronounced *Ḥaʔət-Waʕrəʔ “House of the Region” and denoted the capital of an administrative division of the land (wʕr.t). Today, the name Hawara survives, referring to the site at the entrance to Faiyum. Alternatively, Clement of Alexandria referred to the name of this city as “Athyria”.
Excavations in Avaris
In 1885, the Swiss Édouard Naville started the first excavations around Tell-el-Daba. Between 1941 and 1942, Labib Habachi, an Egyptian Egyptologist, first forwarded the idea that the site could be identified with Avaris. Between 1966 and 1969, and since 1975, the area was excavated by the Austrian Archaeological Institute. Using radar imaging technology, its scientists could identify 2010 the outline of the city, including streets, houses, a port, and a sidearm of the River Nile passing through the town.
The site at Tell el-Dab’a, covering an area of about 2 square kilometres, is in ruins today. Still, excavations have shown that, at one point, it was a well-developed centre of trade with a busy harbour catering to over 300 ships during a trading season. Artefacts excavated at a temple erected in the Hyksos period have produced goods from around the Aegean world. The temple even has Minoan-like wall paintings similar to those found in Crete at the Palace of Knossos. A large mudbrick tomb has also been excavated west of the temple, where grave goods, such as copper swords, have been found.
History
Pharaoh Amenemhat I initially founded the site on the eastern branch of the Nile in the Delta. Its proximity to Asia made it a famous town for Asian immigrants. Many of these immigrants were from Palestine. They were culturally Egyptianized, using Egyptian pottery, but retained many aspects of their own culture, as seen from the various Asiatic burials, including those of Syro-Palestinian origin. One palatial district appears to have been abandoned due to an epidemic during the 13th dynasty.
In the 18th century BC, the Hyksos conquered Lower Egypt and set up Avaris as their capital. Kamose, the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth Dynasty, besieged Avaris but could not defeat the Hyksos there. A few decades later, Ahmose I captured Avaris and overran the Hyksos. The pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty set up a capital in Thebes, and the palatial complex at Avaris was briefly abandoned. Still, areas such as the Temple of Seth and the G6 region remained continuously occupied. After Ramesses II constructed the city of Pi-Ramesses roughly 2km to the north and “superseding Avaris”, large portions of the former site of Avaris were used by the inhabitants of Pi-Ramesses as a cemetery and part of it was used as a significant navy base.
At the same time, the “Harbor of Avaris” toponym continued to be used for Avaris’ harbour through the Ramesside period. “Avaris” is also referred to in Papyrus Sallier I in the late 13th century BC. In addition, the ‘Avaris’ toponym is also known to Manetho in the 3rd century BC, quoted by Josephus in his Against Apion 1.14.
