Hyksos Expulsion (Ahmose I)

What happened

The Hyksos, a Semitic people, ruled northern Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period (c.1630-1550 BCE). Egyptian rulers in the south grew restless under Hyksos domination. Ahmose I, founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty, launched military campaigns expelling the Hyksos (c.1550 BCE). Egyptian forces besieged Avaris (Hyksos capital); the Hyksos withdrew toward Palestine. Ahmose's victory restored Egyptian rule and inaugurated the New Kingdom period (1550-1077 BCE)—Egypt's height. Ahmose consolidated power through military campaigns and reorganization. Perhaps 10,000+ died in the conflict.

Why it mattered

Ahmose's expulsion of the Hyksos became a foundational myth of Egyptian identity—restoration of pharaonic legitimacy against foreign rule. The New Kingdom that followed was Egypt's imperial height: Thutmose III, Hatshepsut, Amenhotep III, and Ramesses II made Egypt a superpower. The Hyksos expulsion demonstrated that military mobilization could restore national independence. Egyptian memory of the Hyksos shaped later xenophobia toward foreign rulers. The New Kingdom's subsequent military expansion and imperialism partly drew legitimacy from the Hyksos expulsion and restoration of 'pure' Egyptian rule. Modern Egypt's nationalism partly invokes Ahmose's expulsion as founding moment.