MIDDLE EMPIRE.

Unfortunately there are no monuments whereby we can \ncorrect or modify these figures. The number of years \nassigned to the rule of the XlIIth and XIVth dynasties \nseems excessive. The Hyksos appear to have made their \nway from the countries in and to the west of Mesopotamia \ninto Egypt. They joined with their countrymen, who had \nalready settled in the Delta, and were able to defeat the \nnative kings; it is thought that their rule lasted 500 years, \nand that Joseph arrived in Egypt towards the end of this \nperiod. The name Hyksos is derived from the Egyptian I ~ I LLI ~ ~ r ~ ~! Qequ Shlllisu, i.e., "princes \nof the Shasu," or nomad tribes on the east and north-east \nof Egypt. The principal Hyksos kings of the XVIth \ndynasty are Apepa I. and Apepa II.; Nubti and the native \nEgyptian princes ruled under them. Under Se-qenen-Ra, \na Theban ruler of the XVIIth dynasty, a war broke out \nbetween the Egyptians and the Hyksos, which continued \nfor many years, and resulted in the expulsion of the foreign \nrulers.