An Egyptian story of struggle (Part One)
Dear reader, what do you think of a journey with me through time to live in Pharaonic Egypt during an important period in the history of Egypt, beloved to our hearts? It is the era of struggle and liberation from the yoke and oppression of the usurping Hyksos occupiers.
The importance of this period is that it separates the era of decline, decay, and occupation from the era of the modern state, advanced in all fields. The trip is free and lasts for a few minutes, which is your reading time. Let's go to the time machine to the era of the Fifteenth Dynasty.
I see Egypt in an era of decline, chaos, and weakness, ruled by weak kings and deteriorating conditions. Savage people who came from the north seized the opportunity and migrated to Egypt in large groups, where they easily overcame the weak Egyptian resistance. Their powerful weapon was the horse-drawn chariots, which the Egyptians had not known before, and they were destroyed in a short time. They lived in the Delta and ruled the north.
The Egyptians called these people the Hyksos, meaning the shepherd kings. Most of them were characterized by being short in stature and with long beards. The Egyptians called them those with dirty beards, and they are a people with hard hearts. Look, my friend, they torture the Egyptians, hate their ancient history and civilization, destroy temples, and destroy everything that is precious. The Egyptians are now looking forward to salvation from this nightmare. Painful, is there a savior and liberator??
Let us continue the journey and travel to the era of the Seventeenth Dynasty. What is this? The Hyksos are still ruling the north, and the Egyptian people in the north are suffering from the injustice and yoke of the usurping occupier.
This is the condition of the North, what about the South or Upper Egypt? Let us go to it and see its conditions. Praise be to God. Look, my friend, it was not occupied by the Hyksos and remained free, but they feel and suffer from the pain of their brothers in the North and are looking forward to breaking their chains and liberating them.
Look at the peasants with their strong, copper-brown bodies, cleansed by the beloved sun of Egypt, as they work in the fields as if they grew from the core of its good land. These will be Egypt’s staunch soldiers in the war of liberation from the usurping Hyksos.
Now we have entered the majestic Thebes, the capital of the south, with huge obelisks, large temples, and wide roads. We see the king’s palace in the largest of the squares, and inside it is King Seqenenre Taa II, looking concerned and thinking deeply as he sits with the ministers, leaders, and high priests in the large royal hall, which is guarded by Medinet Habu’s staunch guards. The king was talking to them and listening. Opinions. But why all this? Something important must have happened that shook the being of everyone in the hall. So what is this matter?
Apophis, the king of the Hyksos, asked King Seqenenre to slaughter the hippopotamuses, which the Egyptians sanctify, that were located in Thebes because they disturbed him and disturbed his sleep because of their sounds while he was in his palace in Memphis, the capital of the north, which was a long distance from Thebes. The people of the south must worship the six evil gods that the Hyksos worshiped, and not worship Amun Ra, and they must close the doors of all the temples of Amun. I mean, my friend, in my country, this is a literal meaning, and so the decision was war.
The crowd dispersed, and the anxious king entered the royal suite. He was met by his wife, Ahotepe, and his mother, Titi-Shiri, and his mother asked him: What did Apophis want this time? He responded to her angrily, wanting me to slaughter hippopotamuses because their sounds disturbed his dreams in Memphis, and he wanted us to close the temples of Amun Ra and worship their idol, Set, the evil god whom they sanctify.
Her face became angry and she said, “During the days of your father’s rule, they used to send to us asking for grains and gold, and your father used to give them what they wanted to keep their evil away from us, but at the same time he was preparing a strong army in complete secrecy so that the shepherds would not know about it.” Here Ahhotep said, “I see that this time they covet more than grains and gold. They covet our honor and pride and want to humiliate us.” Tati Shiri looked at the king with a look filled with anger and asked him: What was your response?
I did not give an answer, and I will give them my answer tomorrow, and I, the commanders, the priests, and the courtiers decided on war unanimously.
His mother said to him, “Then go, my son, as a supporter of Amun, and know that the honor of Egypt is in your hands, and do not return here unless you liberate the entire north, not only to Memphis, but to Avaris, their capital, so that you destroy their fortresses and expel the shepherds with filthy beards out of Egypt.” To return to the barren deserts of the north from which they came, then they all went to sleep.
In the morning, the king summoned the leaders, ministers, and priests, then requested the presence of the messengers of Apophis. They came, walking arrogantly and arrogantly. They were three priests. They greeted the king, and the eldest of them quickly asked, “What are you, ruler of the south?”
The king became angry at calling him the ruler of the south and did not call him king, but he controlled himself and replied, saying: Tell Apophis, the ruler of the north, that I will not fulfill any of his requests, and he must leave to the desolate deserts from which he came and leave Egypt to the Egyptians. The chief of the messengers, who was the high priest of Apophis, became angry and said angrily, “Apophis is the king of the north and the south.” Wardak means war. The king replied to him and said: Yes, it is war until the last of you leaves all of Egypt.
The messengers went out, burning with anger, and hastened to return to send a reply to Apophis.
The king ordered the chief army commander, Pepi, to prepare the army for departure and begin to gather in the middle of the large square in front of the Temple of Amun and await his arrival to them. The fleet commander, Ahmose Abana, ordered the fleet to be prepared to sail the Nile. The square was the largest square in Thebes, and in the middle of it stood a huge obelisk, a symbol of the magnificence and greatness of Egypt, and there thousands of people gathered to bid farewell to their king and their army with cheers and flowers.
When the king put on his war clothes, he found his son Kams coming, wearing his war clothes as well. He said to him, “My son, stay here in my place. You take care of the country’s affairs in my absence and take care of our family, and do not forget to send supplies to us.” He ordered him to return. Kams got angry and said, “My father, take me with you to war. I want to defend the honor of my country.” So the king said to him, “Your duties are Don't stop fighting and order him to stay. His youngest son, Ahmose, came running to him to kiss his father’s cheek and bid him farewell. The king looked at him smiling and said to him, “Do not forget your father, and always remember him with pride.” He kissed him on the forehead and left. The king's riders began to move, and when he arrived in the large square, the king descended amidst the loud cheers of the gathered masses, and when the people saw Titi-Sheri, they went crazy and shouted in her name. Then Ahhotep descended and they all headed to the Temple of Amun, where the chief priest of Amun Huni received them and greeted the king. Then the king entered the Holy of Holies in the temple. He spent some time praying, then left. He said to him, “Just a moment, my lord.” The king said to him, “What is behind you?” So Huni motioned to some of the priests with his hand, so they brought a small box, opened it and took out from it the double crown, symbol of the North and the South. He said to the king, “This is the crown of the last king of unified Egypt, before the shepherds entered Egypt. Allow me, my lord.” He removed the crown of the south from the king’s head and crowned him with the double crown.
When Seqenenre came out and the crowds saw him with the double crown on his head, they cheered and chants rose. Long live Seqenenre, king of unified Egypt. Then she began to deliver an enthusiastic speech to the soldiers. Everyone fell silent and listened intently. She said to them, “Today I see monsters in front of me, not humans. I see monsters thirsty for the blood of the shepherds with dirty beards who poisoned our brothers.” In the north, the worst of torment is upon me, sons of the Nile, O brave soldiers of Egypt. O you whose bodies grew from this good land and whose brown skin was purified by the shining sun of Egypt, return to us with clear victory and do not return until you have liberated your brothers in the north and expelled the last man of the shepherds from the land of Egypt. May God grant you success and care for you. Then the king ordered the army to begin moving, and the ranks of the army were divided by the crashing waves of people, which shook the ground with cheers, and they hastened to throw roses on the soldiers. Then the king bid farewell to his wife and mother and rode his war chariot with the double survivor on his head amidst a halo of guard vehicles and behind him a squad of the royal guard of fearless men with their spears and swords. .
Source: websites