Just like the First Intermediate Period, the Second Intermediate Period falls between two period of political stability.
The second such period began when the Middle Kingdom ended, and it ended when the New Kingdom started.Instead of one, there were three capitals:
Near the end of the Middle Kingdom, many people from the area of Palestine and Syria came to Egypt. The Egyptians called them the Asiatics.
These people did not invade the Egyptian territory. The Egyptian government probably invited them because they were skilled boat-makers.
The Asiatic were housed and worked in the Nile Delta, where large ports and trading centres were located.
These immigrants probably had nothing to do with the collapse of the Middle Kingdom.
However, once the Second Intermediate Period began and brought instability, they established a dynasty of their own – the Hyksos or the fifteenth dynasty.
They ruled the north, while the seventeenth dynasty, located in Thebes, ruled the south of Egypt.
It is possible that the seventeenth-dynasty kings were merely vassal rulers of the Hyksos dynasty – until they decided to arise up.
Eventually, the whole of Egypt was under the control of Hyksos kings. At some point around 1640 BC, the Theban seventeenth-dynasty kings decided to put an end to Hyksos rule.
King Sekenenre Ta’o tried to deal with Apophis’s forces, but he died in the battle. His successor Kamose continued fighting the Hyksos and managed to push them back to Avaris.
King Kamose died young, but his brother Ahmose continued where he had left.
After he chased the Hyksos out of Egypt and sacked a number of villages outside of the Egyptian borders, Ahmose secured the eastern border.
A strong military presence was a guarantee that the Hyksos would never return.
This pharaoh is now known as Ahmose I – the first king of the eighteenth dynasty and the New Kingdom.
Which city was the capital of the Hyksos dynasty?
It was Avaris; present-day Tell ad-Dab’a.
Who were the Hyksos?
They were immigrants from Asia, who here brought to build boats and ships for the Egyptian navy.
Which Egyptian king rebelled against the Hyksos?
It was King Sekenenre Ta’o.
Which king managed to expel the Hyksos and start a new dynasty?
It was King Ahmose I.