Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 20/08/2004 23:13, Walter R. Mattfeld wrote:

> I have been following the exchanges between Marianne Luban and Peter Kirk
> about whether or not Hatshepsut did any restoration work at Avaris after the
> Hyksos expulsion. Perhaps archaeology can cast some light upon the matter ?
>
> According to Manfred Bietak who is charge of the excavations at Tell
> ed-Dab'a (identified as being Avaris), after the expulsion of the Hyksos by
> Ahmose I the site was abandoned. But, he did note that at nearby Ezbet
> Rushdi, ...

Ezbet Rushdi is in fact less than 1 km from the site of the Hyksos 
fortress, and the site also of some 12th dynasty temples which are 
presumably the ones which Hatshepsut claimed to restore.

> ... an Egyptian fortress was erected in "early 18th dynasty" times. Near
> this fortress he found houses which he called "Middle Class Settlement."
> Excavations in and about the fortress and the houses uncovered several
> occupational strata. Some of the items recovered were scarabs which could be
> dated. He stated that the LATEST occupational date he could establish for
> Ezbet Rushdie was the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep II whodated by Clayton as
> reigning ca. 1453-1419 BCE. (cf. p. 112. Peter A. Clayton. Chronicles of the
> Pharaohs. London. Thames & Hudson. 1994).
>
> Clayton dated Hatshepsut as circa 1498-1483 BCE (p. 104. Clayton). So, it is
> "possible" that Hatshepsut could have been responsible, in part, for some
> kind of restoration work in the vicinity of Tell ed-Dab'a at Ezbet Rushdie.
> For all the details cf. pp. 68-73. Manfred Bietak. _Avaris, the Capital of
> the Hyksos, Recent Excavations at Tell el-Dab'a_. London. British Museum
> Press. 1996.
>
> None of this "proves" that the Hyksos were still at Avaris and vicinity,
> only that an Egyptian settlement existed in the area in Hatshepsut and
> Amenhotep II's days. Bietak understood Ahmose I was responsible for the
> initial settlement and fortress.
>
>  
All seems very consistent with the view that Hatshepsut started to 
restore the great city which had been abandoned since the time of Ahmose.


--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/