Second Intermediate Period
Salitis
15th Dynasty (Hyksos) · 1650-1550 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Salitis is named by the Egyptian priest-historian Manetho, writing more than a thousand years later, as the founder of the Fifteenth Dynasty and the first Hyksos king to rule from Avaris. Manetho's own account survives only in fragments quoted by much later writers, above all the Jewish historian Josephus, so everything attributed to Salitis passes through several layers of retelling before reaching modern readers. Some Egyptologists tentatively connect him with a king recorded elsewhere as Sekhaenre, but no contemporary Egyptian inscription securely confirms his reign. Research: UCL Digital Egypt; Manetho tradition studies.
Reign dates: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
The first Hyksos king
Salitis was the first ruler of the 15th Dynasty, representing the establishment of Hyksos control over northern Egypt. The term "Hyksos" derives from the Egyptian phrase hekau khasut, meaning "rulers of foreign lands." According to the later historian Manetho, the Hyksos invaded from the east and seized control of the country without striking a blow, suggesting the pre-existing Canaanite populations in the delta offered little to no resistance. Salitis officially established his capital at the heavily fortified, cosmopolitan port city of Avaris in the eastern Nile Delta.
A king known only at several removes
Unlike Nehesy or his own successor Khyan, no contemporary stela, seal, or building inscription bearing Salitis's own name has been identified. Nearly everything said about him, including that he ruled from Memphis while collecting tribute from both Upper and Lower Egypt and stationed garrisons at strategic points, comes from Josephus's quotation of Manetho, written well over a thousand years after Salitis supposedly reigned and shaped by Josephus's own historical arguments rather than by any surviving Egyptian record. Some scholars tentatively equate him with a king named Sekhaenre attested in a later Memphite priestly list, but this identification remains unconfirmed. Honestly, Salitis's reign is reconstructed almost entirely from a much later literary tradition rather than from Egypt's own contemporary sources.
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.