Second Intermediate Period
Apepi (Apophis)
15th Dynasty (Hyksos) · 1650-1550 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Apepi, throne name Aauserre, was the longest-reigning and most powerful king of the Hyksos Fifteenth Dynasty, ruling roughly forty years during which Hyksos authority over Middle Egypt reached its furthest extent. His reign is also the point at which tension with the rival Theban Seventeenth Dynasty hardened into open conflict, a rivalry remembered both in later Egyptian literature and in the physical evidence of his Theban counterpart's violent death. Research: UCL Digital Egypt; Metropolitan Museum.
Dates from: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
The longest reign
Apepi, also known by the Greek name Apophis, is believed to be the longest-reigning Hyksos king. Historical records indicate he ruled for approximately 40 years. He was the most powerful ruler of the 15th Dynasty, pushing Hyksos influence further south into middle Egypt.
The patron of Seth
Apepi took Khyan's imperial ambitions even further. He adopted the traditional royal title "pacifier of the two lands" and closely associated himself with the god Seth, proclaiming himself "beloved of Seth, Lord of Sumenu." Because Seth was associated with both foreigners and the deserts, and possessed a major cult center in the southern city of Naqada, Apepi utilized this specific religious imagery to legitimize his claim over Upper Egypt.
The Quarrel of Apepi and Seqenenre
A literary tale, preserved in a single New Kingdom papyrus copied centuries after Apepi's reign, imagines him sending an envoy to Seqenenre Tao, the Theban ruler of the rival Seventeenth Dynasty, to complain that the roaring of hippopotamuses in a pool at Thebes, some 800 kilometers south of Avaris, was disturbing his sleep, and to demand the animals be destroyed. The story's ending has not survived, and Egyptologists treat it as an allegorical or fictionalized composition rather than a historical transcript, but it reflects a real, later well-remembered rivalry between Apepi's Hyksos kingdom and the emerging Theban dynasty that would eventually go to war against it.
A conflict written on a king's skull
That rivalry left more than literary traces. The mummy of Seqenenre Tao, Apepi's Theban contemporary, shows severe head wounds consistent with battle-axe and dagger blows, widely interpreted as evidence he died violently, possibly in combat against Hyksos forces or their allies. Whether or not Apepi himself was directly responsible, his reign marks the point at which tension between Avaris and Thebes shifted from uneasy coexistence into the open warfare that his own successors would ultimately lose.
Sources for this profile
- Baker, D. D. (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs: Volume 1. Stacey International.
- Shaw, I. (Ed.). (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
- Ryholt, K. (2004). The Turin King-list. Ägypten und Levante, 14, 135–155.
- Dodson, A., & Hilton, D. (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.
- University College London. Digital Egypt for Universities.
The complete, APA-formatted reference list is on the Academic Sources & Bibliography page.