Wednesday 10 August 2016

Fourteenth Egyptian Dynasty

The Eleventh (all of Egypt), Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Middle Kingdom, though this dynasty overlaps partially with either (or both of) the Thirteenth Dynasty or the Fifteenth Dynasty, during the Second Intermediate Period.
It is associated with the Delta region of Egypt, and may have ruled from Xois, though for only little more than 100 years. Its rulers may have been related to the Hyksos, though they are very frequently identified as being of Semitic origin, owing to the distinct origins of the names of some of their Kings, like Yakobaam or Yaqub-Har.

As many as 76 kings are known from various king lists (from Manetho; the Turin King List gives 32), but only a few are attested in contemporary sources, so some may not have been actual rulers (eg some may be pseudonyms of other rulers). Most likely, many of these ruled concurrently over different parts of the Delta. Known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for this Dynasty include: Nehesy (or Nehesi)

Nehesy (Nehesi) was a ruler traditionally placed in the 14th Dynasty of Egypt of the Second Intermediate Period. He left his name on two monuments at Avaris. His name means "Nubian" in Egyptian. In the Turin King list (8:1), he is mentioned under Merdjefare. His name is also known from scarabs. Arguably, he is the best-known ruler of the 14th Dynasty. At Tell Habwe, there is a pair of steles. In Lower Egypt, at the Temple of Seth in Raahu, he erected an obelisk with an inscription "king's eldest son". Also an usurped seated statue by Merenptah is believed to belong to Nehesy, inscribed with "Seth, the Lord of Avaris".

This should be compared with the 400-year-stele of Ramesses II commemorating the Jubileum of the Cult of Seth during the reign of Haremheb. According to Manfred Bietak, the father of Nehesy may have been a military or administrative high official, who from the City of Avaris controlled the Northeastern part of the Nile Delta. Sekheperenre Merdjefare. Attested by a single stela from Saft al-Hinna, in the Delta.

Several other rulers may be dated to the 14th dynasty or the 15th dynasty:
Sekhaenre Yakbim
Ya'ammu
Qareh (or Qar)
'Ammu
Maaibre Sheshi

Maaibre Sheshi was a pharaoh of Egypt during Egypt's fragmented Second Intermediate Period. Sheshi is difficult to precisely place chronologically. While he is usually described as the founder of the 15th dynasty, this suggestion does not appear tenable since the early Hyksos kings such as Sakir-Har and Khyan are known to have adopted the title heka-khawaset. Khyan only used a prenomen in the second half of his reign-a practice which was followed by his successor Apophis. In contrast, Sheshi always used a prenomen according to his seals. The Danish Egyptologist Kim Ryholt has suggested that Sheshi was actually a 14th Dynasty Asiatic king - such is the degree of confusion over his timeline during the Second Intermediate Period.

The section of the Turin King List dealing with this complex period of Egyptian history is badly damaged and Sheshi's origins and timeline within the Second Intermediate period is uncertain. Sheshi's throne name, Maaibre, means 'Seeing is the heart of Re'. He is well known from more than 300 seals and seal impressions made during his reign. According to Ryholt's 1997 book, Sheshi is attested by 396 seals alone which is 3 times higher than the next highest figure of 123 seals for Yakbim Sekhaenre who is another Asiatic ruler in Egypt whose precise dynasty or timeline is unknown.

Aperanat, also written Aper-anat, actually Aper-en-a-ti, is the birth name of an ancient Egyptian minor king or prince of the Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1650 to 1550 BC), who has yet to be exactly placed within this epoch. Aperanat is only known from a few individual seals. He bears the title of Heka-chasut, which translates as "Ruler of the Foreigners" and from which the word Hyksos is derived. The status of Aperanat is disputed. Ryholt sees him tentatively as the second ruler of the 15th dynasty, but points out that Heka-chasut, with one exception, is never connected to the royal form of address and these people tend to be officials, and not kings, as is often supposed. Von Beckerath sees him as a minor king, who reigned in Palestine and reads the name as "User-anat"

Meruserre Yaqub-Har: Yaqub-Har (Other spellings: Yakubher), also known as Yak-Baal was a pharaoh of Egypt during the 17th or 16th century BCE. As an Asiatic ruler during Egypt's fragmented Second Intermediate Period, Yaqub-Har time is difficult to locate chronologically. While he is occasionally described as a member of the Hyksos based 15th dynasty, the Danish specialist Kim Ryholt has suggested that Yaqub-Har was actually one of the last kings of the 14th Dynasty. This is because while the early Hyksos kings are known to have used the title heka-khawaset in their reigns such as Sakir-Har or Khyan -- at least early in the latter king's reign before he chose the prenomen Seuserenre.

Later Hyksos kings such as Apophis simply adopted a prenomen -mlike the 14th dynasty kings. Yaqub-Har himself always used a prenomen or royal name, Meruserre, in his reign which strongly suggests that he was rather a member of the Asiatic 14th dynasty which preceded the Hyksos. Meruserre means 'strong is the love of Re.' The 14th Dynasty of Egypt was an Asiatic dynastic which ruled in the Delta region - like the Hyksos. Ryholt has suggested that the name Yaqub-Har had a West Semitic origin. The Ancient Egyptians blamed the Hyksos for conquering their country. The truth may have been a somewhat more benign and gradual process of integration.



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