The Fifteenth Dynasty was a foreign dynasty of ancient Egypt. It was founded by Salitis, a Hyksos from West Asia whose people had invaded the country and conquered Lower Egypt. The Fifteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt dates approximately from 1650 to 1550 BC. The 15th, 16th, and 17th Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the Second Intermediate Period.
History of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt
The kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty are said to have been Canaanites. Pharaoh Kamose is known to have referred to Apophis, one of the kings of the Dynasty, as “Chieftain of Retjenu (i.e. Caanan)”. The kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty formed “the second Asiatic Kingdom in the Delta”, covering an area which may have included Canaan itself, although the archaeological record is sparse. The Dynasty probably lasted for about 108 years.
The first king, also described as a Hyksos (ḥḳꜣw-ḫꜣswt, a “shepherd” according to Africanus), led his people into an occupation of the Nile Delta area and settled his capital at Avaris. These events put an end to the Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt. However, there is no evidence of conflict at that time, and the Canaanite population settling could have occurred relatively peacefully in the power vacuum left by the disintegration of the Fourteenth Dynasty. Subsequent relations with Egyptian politics, however, were marked by violent conflict.
Identity
The people of Avaris in the Nile Delta were called “Aamu” by the Egyptians, also the term used to designate the inhabitants of Syria and the Levant or the enemies of Ramses II at the Battle of Kadesh. This has generally been translated as “Western Asiatics” by Egyptologists.
The term Hyksos was traditionally used to designate foreign chieftains, and more specifically, “rulers of the Asiatics”, already before the Fifteenth Dynasty and also after it. It was not an official title of the rulers of the Fifteenth Dynasty and is never encountered with royal titulature, except in one rare instance in an inscription from Tell el-Dab’a mentioning an unknown king and describing him as a Hyksos. “Hyksos” was a generic term encountered separately from royal titulature and in regnal lists after the end of the Fifteenth Dynasty itself. Only the first four kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty used the naming “Hyksos”; after that, royal titulature became purely Egyptian. In another instance, Khyan is thought to have used the title “Hyksos” early in his reign and then abandoned it for traditional Egyptian titulature when he invaded the whole of Egypt.
Territorial extent
Regular conflicts continued with the Egyptian dynasties to the south, the Sixteenth Dynasty, the Abydos Dynasty and the Seventeenth Dynasty, with short intervals of peace during which there were some relations with Nubia. Soon after the occupation of the Nile Delta, where it replaced the Fourteenth Dynasty, the Fifteenth Dynasty expanded to occupy Memphis, leading to the fall of the Thirteenth Dynasty at Memphis. As Egyptian political power disintegrated at Memphis, new dynasties arose in the south, the Abydos Dynasty and the Sixteenth Dynasty at Thebes.
The Fifteenth Dynasty, at one point, after about 20 years since its foundation, extended its rule as far south as Thebes, entering into conflict with Pharaoh Neferhotep III. The whole of Egypt was conquered during the reign of Khayan. The Abydos Dynasty also vanished on the occasion of these southern conquests. Numerous monuments from conquered areas were brought north to the capital of Avaris, and many were marked with additional inscriptions, especially by Apophis; all of this is contested, however. For Alexander Ilin-Tomich, the territory directly ruled by the Hyksos kings of Avaris was likely confined to the eastern Delta, and the nature and extent of their control over Middle Egypt remain unclear.
The Fifteenth Dynasty eventually ended with the conquest of Avaris by Pharaoh Ahmose I.
Trade
The trading relations of the Fifteenth Dynasty were mainly with Canaan and Cyprus. Trade with Canaan is said to have been “intensive”, especially with many imports of Canaanite wares, and may have reflected the Canaanite origins of the Dynasty. According to the Kamose stelae, the Hyksos imported “chariots and horses, ships, timber, gold, lapis lazuli, silver, turquoise, bronze, axes without number, oil, incense, fat and honey”. The Fifteenth Dynasty also exported large quantities of material looted from southern Egypt, especially Egyptian sculptures, to Canaan and Syria. These transfers of Egyptian artefacts to the Near East may be attributed to King Apophis. Trade relations with Cyprus were also fundamental.
Religion
The relation of the Fifteenth Dynasty to Egyptian religious traditions was ambiguous, and they are told by commentators from the Eighteenth Dynasty that “they ruled without acknowledging Re”. The Dynasty is recorded as having destroyed Egyptian monuments, removed Egyptian statuary for booty, and plundered royal tombs, Ahmose complaining that “pyramids have been torn down”.
Rulers of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt
Known rulers of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt are as follows:
Salitis
In the Manethonian tradition, Salitis (Greek Σάλιτις, also Salatis or Saites) was the first Hyksos king, the one who subdued and ruled Lower Egypt and founded the 15th Dynasty.
Semqen
Semqen (also Šamuqēnu) was a Hyksos ruler of Lower Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period in the mid-17th century BC. According to Jürgen von Beckerath, he was the third king of the 16th Dynasty and a vassal of the Hyksos kings of the 15th Dynasty. William C. Hayes and Wolfgang Helck shared this opinion but were recently rejected by Kim Ryholt. In his 1997 study of the Second Intermediate Period, Ryholt argues that the kings of the 16th Dynasty ruled an independent Theban realm from 1650 to 1580 BC. Consequently, Ryholt sees Semqen as an early Hyksos king of the 15th Dynasty, perhaps its first ruler. This analysis has convinced some Egyptologists, such as Darrell Baker and Janine Bourriau, but not others, including Stephen Quirke.
Aperanat
‘Aper-‘Anati (also written Aper-Anat and Aperanat) was a ruler of Lower Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period in the mid-17th century BC. According to Jürgen von Beckerath, he was the second king of the 16th Dynasty and a vassal of the Hyksos kings of the 15th Dynasty. Kim Ryholt recently rejected this opinion. In his 1997 study of the Second Intermediate Period, Ryholt argues that the kings of the 16th Dynasty ruled an independent Theban realm from 1650 to 1580 BC. Consequently, Ryholt sees ‘Aper-‘Anati as an early Hyksos king of the 15th Dynasty, perhaps its second ruler. This analysis has convinced some Egyptologists, such as Darrell Baker and Janine Bourriau, but not others, including Stephen Quirke.
Khyan
Seuserenre Khyan (also Khayan or Khian and Apachnan from the West Semitic Apaq-khyran) was a Hyksos king of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt, ruling over Lower Egypt in the second half of the 17th century BCE. His royal name, Seuserenre, translates as “The one whom Re has caused to be strong.” Khyan bears the title of an Egyptian king and ruler of a foreign land (heqa-khaset). The latter title is the typical designation of the Hyksos rulers.
Yanassi
Yanassi (also Yanassy and Yansas-Aden, possibly reflecting the West Semitic *Jinaśśi’-Ad) was a Hyksos prince and perhaps king of the Fifteenth Dynasty. He was the eldest son of the pharaoh Khyan and possibly the crown prince, designated to be Khyan’s successor. He may have succeeded his father, thereby giving rise to the mention of a king, “Iannas”, in Manetho’s Aegyptiaca, who, improbably, was said to have ruled after the pharaoh Apophis.
Sakir Har
Sakir-Har (also Seker-Har and Skr-Hr) was a Hyksos king of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt, ruling over some parts of Lower Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, possibly in the early 16th century BC. Sakir-Har is attested by a single inscription on a doorjamb excavated at Tell el-Dab’a—ancient Avaris—by Manfred Bietak in the 1990s. The doorjamb, now in Cairo under the catalogue number Cairo TD-8316, bears his partial royal titulary like the Ancient Egyptian, showing his Nebti and Golden Falcon names and his nomen.
Apepi
Apepi (also Ipepi; Egyptian language ipp(i)), Apophis (Greek: Ἄποφις); regnal names Neb-khepesh-Re, A-qenen-Re and A-user-Re) was a ruler of Lower Egypt during the Fifteenth Dynasty and the end of the Second Intermediate Period that this foreign Dynasty of rulers dominated called the Hyksos. According to the Turin Canon of Kings, he ruled over the northern portion of Egypt for forty years. He governed during the early half of the 16th century BC and outlived his southern rival, Kamose, but not Ahmose I. Although his reign only entailed northern Egypt, Apepi was dominant over most of Egypt during the early portion of his authority and traded peacefully with the native Theban Seventeenth dynasty to the south.
Khamudi
Khamudi (also known as Khamudy) was the last Hyksos ruler of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Khamudi came to power in 1534 BC or 1541 BC, ruling the northern portion of Egypt from his capital, Avaris. His ultimate defeat at the hands of Ahmose I, after a short reign, marks the end of the Second Intermediate Period.
The 15th Dynasty of Egypt was the first Hyksos dynasty, ruling from Avaris without control of the entire land. The Hyksos preferred to stay in northern Egypt since they infiltrated from the northeast. The names and order of kings are uncertain. The Turin King list indicates six Hyksos kings, with an obscure Khamudi listed as the final king of the 15th Dynasty.
Number of kings named Apepi
Some scholars argue that there were two Apophis kings named Apepi, mainly because there are two known prenomina for this king: Awoserre and Aqenenre. However, the Danish Egyptologist Kim Ryholt maintains in his study of the Second Intermediate Period that these prenomens all refer to one man: Apepi I, who ruled Egypt for 40+X years. This is also supported by this king’s employment of a third prenomen during his reign: Nebkhepeshre. Apophis likely employed different prenomina throughout several periods of his power. This scenario is not without precedent or parallel since several kings, including Mentuhotep II, the famous Ramesses II, and Seti II, have used two different prenomina during their reigns.
