Dajani, A.K.; (1956) Hyskos period in Palestine: (Palestine under the Hyskos). Doctoral thesis , University of London.

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Abstract

The contents of this thesis give an archaeological picture of the civilization of Palestine (the land of Canaan) in the middle-Bronze II Period c.1800-1550 B.C. The citizens of this part of the world were sharing in the general civilization of the coastal area of Syria. They had, of course, close connections with the rest of the Near East. The Geographical formation of the land tended to accentuate local differences, a condition which is favourable to a political organization based on the city-state. We may presume that each city-state had its chieftain, sheikh, or tribal leader, as in the period of the Amarna Letters. To call these chieftains, sheikhs, and tribal leaders "Hyksos" is a misnomer, because they were not foreigners to Palestine. The basic culture of Palestine in the Middle-Bronze II Period (the so-called Hyksos) does not reveal any break in the continuity of the preceding phase. It has always been stated that the Hyksos are bands of warriors. By the available archaeological evidence they impress us rather as a Peace-loving-people ruled by their chieftains, sheikhs or tribal leaders. They had never used the horse and the chariot as a war technique in Palestine and Egypt until possibly in their last struggle against the Egyptians before they were expelled from the country, i.e. our Phase V or the XVIII Dynasty. Their daggers were not as efficient as those of earlier and later periods. They hardly used the spear (if at all) at the very early period of our Phase IIA i.e. 1750 B.C., though it was in comaon use in the Middle-Bronze I Period. The use of the bow and arrow in the early Phases of our period is also uncertain. However, in Phase V there is slight evidence of their use but they are not as comaon as in the Late Bronze Period. The archaeological evidence from a number of sites suggests that there was a state of instability. This was most probably one of the main reasons for the decline in their standard of living recognized in every aspect of their life. This feature of decline, with-a quantitative prosperity, could be compared with Palestine nowadays.

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