King Kamose & Hyksos -X

King Kamose was the last king of the Theban 17th Dynasty. He ruled almost from 3 to 5 years and he is the second heroic king, who launched military initiatives and helped liberating Egypt from the Hyksos.

Egypt’s archeologist Dr. Hussein Abdel Bassir wrote, in his book: “The Warrior Pharaohs” that through three documents, we came to know the story of Kamose, the second hero of the liberation war.

The first document is a text written by an ancient Egyptian student on a board known as the Carnarvon Board.

As for the second document, it is written on a plaque that was found in 1928 and states that after the death of his father, Kamose assumed throne under the Hyksos occupation. He met with the elite and the military leaders then to discuss the situation, while they went on praising him and hailing his courage and power. While he was surprised by their response, he drew their attention to the fact that he was in a position between two kings, one, an Asian, ruling in the north and the other Kushi ruling in the south.

He felt that his council was not inclined to war and agreed with the current situation. However, Kamose rejected this and was determined to fight the enemies.

He was sure that the whole country would stand with him. Indeed, the brave Kamose advanced by the Nile River to the north until he reached the town of Nefrosi (north of Qusiya in Assiut) and defeated its ruler, who was loyal to the Hyksos.

The third document is a complete limestone plaque found in Karnak temples in 1954 and completes the events of the previous two documents. It tells the story of Kamose battles’ victory over the Hyksos and how his military could inject terror at the heart of the enemies.

It also tells the story of what he obtained from the capture of a messenger sent by the king of the Hyksos Abibi (or Apophis) to the king of Kush in Upper Nubia, in which he asked him to help and attack Egypt from the south while Kamose is busy in his wars in the north.

In his third year of rule, Kamose launched a military campaign against the Kushites, south, who were cooperating with Hyksos, to cut supplies and connections between these two enemies, and struck them again in the next year or the one after it.

We do not know, for certain, how was the end of this heroic king or how he died. But it is certain that he died during one of the battles in the north and before he could enter the capital of the Hyksos Avares (or Ories) in the east of the Egyptian Delta,

He left this sacred mission to his successor, the great king Ahmose I, founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the Modern State, and the era of the glorious Egyptian Empire in the ancient Near East, who could liberate Egypt from occupation.

Kamose, the great Egyptian king who extended the rule of his southern state to the north, however is still known for the amazing victories he had against the Hyksos though he was unable to expel them permanently from Egypt. He died in defense of the great homeland: Egypt, so he deserved to be immortalized by history.