Second Intermediate Period
Kamose (Wadjkheperre)
17th Dynasty (Theban) · c.1580-1550 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Kamose, throne name Wadjkheperre, was the last king of the Seventeenth Dynasty and the immediate predecessor of Ahmose I, continuing the war against the Hyksos that his father Seqenenre Taa had begun and died fighting. His own account of that war survives in an unusually direct form: two large stelae, inscribed in the first person, that describe his campaign in his own words rather than through later summary. Research: UCL Digital Egypt; Metropolitan Museum.
Chronological source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
Rejecting a divided Egypt
Following the violent death of his father, Kamose inherited the throne and immediately escalated the war against the Hyksos. Against the explicit advice of his cautious political council, who preferred maintaining the status quo and securing their local estates, Kamose absolutely refused to accept a permanently divided Egypt.
Securing the south and striking north
Before attacking the Hyksos, Kamose marched south to pacify the Kushite threat. He easily recaptured the old Middle Kingdom fortress of Buhen in Nubia and installed a trusted viceroy named Teti to secure the border. Turning north, his forces intercepted a letter from Hyksos king Apepi attempting to forge a military alliance with the Kushites. Kamose used this as proof of Hyksos weakness, raiding all the way to the outskirts of the Hyksos capital of Avaris. He plundered their storehouses and devastated Hyksos-aligned settlements before returning to Thebes. He died unexpectedly shortly after the campaign.
The Kamose Stelae
Kamose's war is known largely through two royal stelae. The text of the first survives mainly through a later wooden writing board known as the Carnarvon Tablet, while the second stela was recovered largely intact in 1954, discovered at the base of a colossal statue of Ramesses II near the Second Pylon at the Karnak temple, having apparently been reused as building material centuries after it was carved. Together the two texts give a first-person royal account of preparing for war, confronting a skeptical council of advisors, and campaigning against the Hyksos, making them among the most direct and vivid surviving royal war narratives from any period of ancient Egyptian history.
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.