Who were the Hyksos? Investigating provenance from dental nonmetric traits

Abstract

The term Hyksos commonly refers to the foreign dynasty that inhabited and held power in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, circa 1650–1550 BCE. The later historian Manetho described the Hyksos as invading foreigners, and the view persisted until the modern period. Recent research has integrated archaeological, artistic and textual evidence, revealing the Hyksos origin and presence in Egypt more complex than previously envisioned.
To investigate the provenance of the so-called Hyksos, human remains from Tell el-Dab’a, the ancient Hyksos capital of Avaris, were analyzed using ASUDAS dental nonmetric traits. An intra- and inter-site biodistance analysis was conducted on individuals from Tell el-Dab’a (n=92) and other contemporary sites in the Near East (n=285). Two statistical tests were selected, mean measure of divergence (MMD) and Gower distance analysis.
The archaeological and biological evidence suggest occupation continuation spanning from the end of the Middle Kingdom through the Hyksos Dynasty, offering further evidence contra Manetho, describing a sudden invasion. The inter-site analysis supports the archaeological finds from Tell el-Dab’a, suggesting not only commodities but people as well made their way to Tell el-Dab’a.

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ORCID for Sonia Zakrzewski: orcid.org/0000-0003-1796-065X

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