Editing Ancient Egypt (section)

===Second Intermediate Period (1674–1549 BC) and the Hyksos===
{{Main|Second Intermediate Period of Egypt}}

Around 1785{{nbsp}}BC, as the power of the Middle Kingdom kings weakened, a [[Western Asia]]n people called the [[Hyksos]], who had already settled in the Delta, seized control of Egypt and established their capital at [[Avaris]], forcing the former central government to retreat to [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]]. The king was treated as a vassal and expected to pay tribute.{{sfnp|Ryholt|1997|p=310}} The Hyksos ('foreign rulers') retained Egyptian models of government and identified as kings, thereby integrating Egyptian elements into their culture.{{sfnp|Shaw|2003|pp=180–182}}

After retreating south, the native Theban kings found themselves trapped between the Canaanite Hyksos ruling the north and the Hyksos' [[Nubian people|Nubian]] allies, the [[Kingdom of Kush|Kushites]], to the south. After years of vassalage, Thebes gathered enough strength to challenge the Hyksos in a conflict that lasted more than 30 years, until 1555{{nbsp}}BC.{{sfnp|Ryholt|1997|p=310}} [[Ahmose I]] waged a series of campaigns that permanently eradicated the Hyksos' presence in Egypt. He is considered the founder of the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Eighteenth Dynasty]], and the military became a central priority for his successors, who sought to expand Egypt's borders and attempted to gain mastery of the [[Ancient Near East|Near East]].{{sfnp|Redford|1992|pp=129, 148–149}}