The Hyksos were a Semitic group of people from western Asia. They were quite intelligent and very skilled in battle. With their skill in battle and their modern day weapons they worked to take over the Middle Kingdom of Egypt in the 17th century B.C. They began the 15th dynasty in Egypt which would rule until about the 16th century B.C. when the Hyksos were driven out of Egypt by a revolt led by Ahmose who began the 18th dynasty in Egypt. .
According to Encarta Encyclopedia in the 17th century B.C. the Hyksos swept south into Egypt, probably coming from Palestine and Syria, they and their nomadic followers captured Memphis using their superior military tactics. Mounir A. Farah and Andrea Berens Karls tells us that when the Hyksos invaded Egypt they traveled across the desert into Egypt bringing with them many new tools for war. Encarta Encyclopedia tells us that the Hyksos introduced the horse into Egypt. Farah and Karls tells us that when they invaded Egypt they did so with horse-drawn chariots and bronze weapons which were much more advanced than the Egyptians, who fought on foot with copper and stone weapons. The Hyksos superior military easily destroyed the Egyptians rather weak military. After the Hyksos captured Memphis they established a stronghold at Avaris, on the northeastern border of the Nile delta, but left the territory above Memphis under the rule of tributary princes of the old nobility. Encarta Encyclopedia also tells us that these princes will be the people that started the revolt that will finally drive out the Hyksos.
According to the ragz-international website the Hyksos introduced the horse drawn chariot, the compound bow, improved battle-axes and advanced fortification techniques into Egypt. At Avaris in the northeastern delta, they built their capital with a fortified camp over the remains of a Middle Kingdom town that they had conquered. The Hyksos also made a strategic alliance with the kingdom of Kush which was located in Nubia.
