Ancient History: Egypt : The Expulsion of the Hyksos

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Ancient History: Egypt

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : The Expulsion Of The Hyksos

Which Theban Pharaoh finally expelled the Hyksos from their last strongholds in Lower Egypt? 

Possible Answers:

Sequenenre Tao

Ahmose I

Akhenaten

Rameses

Kamose 

Correct answer:

Ahmose I

Explanation:

The Hyksos were an asiatic people who conquered Lower Egypt (and very briefly all of Egypt) setting up the 15th Dynasty. The indigenous Egyptians viewed them as barbaric interlopers, and another dynasty was centered at Thebes and ruled Upper Egypt. It took multiple campaigns to finally unseat the Hyksos and reunify Egypt. Seqenenre Tao was the first Theban Pharaoh to attempt to drive out the Hyksos, and his son Kamose further decreased their territory. However, it was not until his successor Ahmose I, the first king of the 18th Dynasty, took the throne that the Hyksos were fully driven out of Egypt. 

Example Question #1 : The Expulsion Of The Hyksos

Which of these statements about Seqenenre Tao is most accurate?

Possible Answers:

He was executed on the orders of his brother, Ahmose I.

He died of battlefield wounds sustained in a campaign against the Hyksos.

He wrote the Berlin Medical Papyrus.

He was entombed in the largest of the great pyramids of Giza.

He designed and constructed the Step Pyramid of Djoser.

Correct answer:

He died of battlefield wounds sustained in a campaign against the Hyksos.

Explanation:

Seqenenre Tao was a leader of the seventeenth dynasty, during the Second Intermediate Period and the Hyksos occupation of Egypt. He led a military campaign to remove Hyksos influence from Egypt. Unfortunately, he died as a result of battle wounds sustained in a skirmish with the Hyksos. His successors Kamose and Ahmose finished the fight, and the latter reunified Egypt and founded the eighteenth dynasty.

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