Hyksos

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Hyksos \Hyk"sos\, n. [Gr. ?, fr. Egypt. hikshasu chiefs of the
     Bedouins, shepherds.]
     A dynasty of Egyptian kings, often called the {Shepherd
     kings}, of foreign origin, who, according to the narrative of
     Manetho, ruled for about 500 years, forming the XVth and
     XVIth dynasties. It is now considered that the XVIth is


     merely a double of the XVth dynasty, and that the total
     period of the six Hyksos kings was little more than 100
     years. It is supposed that they were Asiatic Semites.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl.] Hylaeosaur