NMC101 Lecture 13: The Second Intermediate Period

Vocabulary terms and definitions covering the politics, archaeology, chronology, material culture, and military conflicts of Egypt's Second Intermediate Period (Dynasties 13 through 17).

Heka-Khasut

An ancient Egyptian phrase meaning 'Ruler of Foreign Lands,' from which the Greek designation 'Hyksos' is derived, applied to the 15th Dynasty kings ruling from Avaris.

Avaris (Tell el-Dab'a)

The capital city of the Hyksos 15th Dynasty in the northeastern Nile Delta, characterized by monumental fortifications, palace complexes, harbor basins, and material culture displaying strong affinities with the Northern Levant.

Tell el-Yehudiyeh Ware

A distinctive class of pottery commonly found across the Eastern Mediterranean during the Second Intermediate Period, featuring incised or punctured geometric patterns filled with white chalk paste.

Papyrus Boulaq 18

A 13th Dynasty administrative papyrus, likely dating to the reign of Sobekhotep I, that documents royal court officials, palace hierarchy, and palace administrative procedures.

Merneferre Ay

A 13th Dynasty pharaoh after whose reign the Egyptian royal court is traditionally believed to have abandoned the capital at Itj-tawy (Lisht) to move southward to Thebes.

Rhind Mathematical Papyrus

An ancient Egyptian hieratic document ($\text{EA } 10057$) copied during the Hyksos period that preserves instructional mathematical problems concerning arithmetic, algebra, and geometry.

Khayan

A major 15th Dynasty Hyksos pharaoh whose inscribed stone vessel lid was discovered under volcanic ash at Knossos and whose clay sealings were excavated alongside 13th Dynasty sealings at Tell Edfu.

Tell Edfu Columned Hall

An administrative hall used during the 12th and 13th Dynasties where seal impressions of 15th Dynasty King Khayan and 13th Dynasty King Sobekhotep IV were discovered together in an undisturbed abandonment stratum.

Senebkay

An indigenous Second Intermediate Period king whose tomb was discovered at South Abydos in $2014$ by Josef Wegner; osteological analysis reveals he was an equestrian who perished from battle-axe wounds.

Thera Eruption

A catastrophic Aegean volcanic eruption occurring roughly between $1625\text{--}1575\text{ BCE}$ (supported by radiocarbon dating of an olive branch), which deposited volcanic ash across eastern Mediterranean archaeological sites.

Tempest Stela

A royal commemorative stela erected by Ahmose describing an apocalyptic storm of rain and darkness that destroyed houses, flooded the royal court, and extinguished torches throughout the Two Lands.

Pan-Grave Culture

A nomadic pastoralist population linked to Nubia and the Eastern Desert, identified in Egypt by cemeteries such as Mostagedda and Deir Rifa along the territorial frontier at Cusae.

Cusae

A Middle Egyptian settlement identified in the Kamose Stela as the southern frontier and taxation border of Asiatic/Hyksos territorial control.

Buhen

A Second Cataract Egyptian fortress whose local garrison commanders defected to the Kingdom of Kush during the Second Intermediate Period, honoring the Kushite king as their lord on stelae.

Kerma

The capital city of the Kingdom of Kush in Upper Nubia, renowned for monumental royal tumuli tombs containing sacrificial corridors, hundreds of ox skulls, and looted Middle Kingdom statues.

Sobeknakht

A local governor buried at El Kab whose tomb inscription documents the repair of his town's ramparts and his successful defense against a major raid by forces from Kush north of the First Cataract.

Lady Sennuwy

The wife of the 12th Dynasty nomarch Djefaihapi of Assiut, whose granodiorite statue was discovered in a royal tumulus at Kerma, either as booty from a Kushite raid or a diplomatic gift from the Hyksos.

Rishi Coffins

A type of wooden anthropoid coffin introduced in Upper Egypt during the 17th Dynasty, distinctive for carved or painted feathered wings enveloping the body of the deceased.

Seqenenre Tao

A 17th Dynasty Theban pharaoh who was killed in conflict against the Hyksos, evidenced by lethal cranial axe and dagger wounds matching contemporary Levantine-style weapons.

Nubkheperre Intef VI

A 17th Dynasty Theban king whose modest royal pyramid tomb was excavated at the necropolis of Dra' Abu el-Naga by Daniel Polz.

Kamose

The final pharaoh of the Theban 17th Dynasty who campaigned against the Kingdom of Kush at Buhen and besieged the outskirts of Avaris during his three-year reign.

Carnarvon Tablet I

A wooden scribal tablet discovered by Howard Carter in a Theban tomb carrying an official hieratic duplicate of the Kamose Stela narrative detailing the war against the Hyksos king Apepi.

Ahhotep

A powerful 17th Dynasty queen who functioned as queen regent for her young son Ahmose, buried with royal ceremonial weaponry and honors commemorating military valor.