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Let My People Go! – The History and Historicity of the Biblical Account of the Exodus

Khalid Elhassan May 31, 2025 17 min

12. Expulsion of the Hyksos

Pharaoh Ahmose I slays a Hyksos, as depicted in the Ax of Ahmose, from the tomb of Queen Amenhotep. Pinterest

Hyksos rule ended in the reign of Ahmose I, founder of the 18^th Dynasty, who expelled them from Egypt around 1550 BC. Egyptian texts describe Ahmose’s conquest of Avaris, and his pursuit of the fleeing interlopers into southern Canaan. The Hyksos expulsion was significant both politically and symbolically, as it marked the reassertion of native Egyptian control after more than a century of foreign rule.

The Egyptians portrayed the event as a triumphant expulsion of alien oppressors, and it became a defining moment in the formation of the powerful New Kingdom. Several scholars have proposed that memories of the Hyksos expulsion formed the basis for the biblical Exodus story, which was likely written centuries later. The Israelites may have been part of the Semitic populations associated with the Hyksos, or the Exodus narrative may reflect a reworked cultural memory of their expulsion.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.