Second Intermediate Period of Egypt

The Second Intermediate Period
c. 1700 BC–1550 BC
The political situation in the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt (c. 1650 – c. 1550 BC)
Capital	Itjtawy c.1803 – 1677 BC 13th Dynasty Avaris c.1725 – 1535 BC 14th and 15th Dynasties Thebes c.1677 – 1600 BC 13th, 16th and 17th Dynasties Abydos c.1650 – 1600 BC Abydos Dynasty
Religion	Ancient Egyptian religion
Demonyms	Egyptians and Hyksos
Government	Monarchy
Pharaoh
• c. 1701 – c. 1677 BC	Merneferre Ay (first)
• c. 1555 – c. 1550 BC	Kamose (last)
History
• approximately around the late 13th Dynasty	c. 1700 BC
• The end of the 17th Dynasty of Egypt	1550 BC
Preceded by Succeeded by Middle Kingdom of Egypt New Kingdom of Egypt

The Second Intermediate Period marks a period when ancient Egypt was divided into smaller dynasties for a second time, dating from 1782 to 1550 BC, between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom. There is no universal agreement in Egyptology about how to define the period.

It is best known as the period when the Hyksos people of West Asia established the 15th Dynasty and ruled from Avaris, which, according to Manetho's Aegyptiaca, was founded by a king by the name of Salitis. The settling of these people may have occurred peacefully, although Manetho presents the Hyksos as "invaders of an obscure race" who conquered Egypt with brutality.

The Turin King List from the time of Ramesses II remains the primary source for understanding the chronology and political history of the Second Intermediate Period, along with studying the typology of scarabs, beetle-shaped amulets mass-produced in ancient Egypt and often inscribed with the names of rulers.