Biblical Hebrew Forum

[MarianneLuban AT aol.com]

In a message dated 8/25/2004 6:50:14 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
Banyai AT t-online.de writes:


> nobody has said on this list anything else: 

That is not my recollection....but no matter.

> Then she goes on to say something to the effect that now she 
> is on the throne,  the snake on her brow spitting fire at her enemies, she 
> has "banished the abomination of the gods"--meaning those Aamu.  No doubt 
> about 
> it--she claims the credit.
> 
> It is clear Hatschepsut has expulsed/banished the Hyksos/Aamu population 
> from Egypt. Should she have had done this following a succesfull military 
> conflict she would not have omitted to boast so: I have 
> crushed/vanquished/destroyed, etc. We all know the Egyptian propagandistic 
> literature. It exploits even 
> the smallest incident.

I don't think it's at all so clear that Hatshepsut is responsible--because 
there are other indications that it was her late brother/husband who did 
this--and Hatshepsut had not much use for him, her propaganda even claiming 
that her 
father had always meant *her* to succeed (since she was more royal than her 
brother, being the daughter of the chief queen).  However, in this she *was* 
surely lying as no woman was supposed to rule unless there was no male 
offspring 
of the former pharaoh or these sons were too young and needed a regent 
(always 
a female).  But, anyway, it is interesting about these Aamu.  They are 
depicted once in a very nice scene from apparently more peaceful times.  This 
is in 
the tomb of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hassan in Middle Egypt, dated to the 12th 
Dynasty ca. 1880 BCE during the reign of Sesostris II.  The foreigners are 
very 
carefully rendered with their colorful, striped clothing and sharp, prominent 
noses.  You can view it here at

http://alain.guilleux.free.fr/beni_hassan/necropole_beni_hassan.html

by scrolling down to the tomb of Khnumhotep.  The scene is captioned "the 
bringing of eye-paint (ground-up ore) by 37 Aamu".  Their leader's name is 
given 
as "Abisha" and women and children are with him.  The children ride on a 
donkey and they bring a gazelle, too, as a gift.  Before the procession is 
the word 
"Hq3 x3swt" or "rulers of foreign lands".  This is the true meaning of the 
term "Hyksos".  But the Aamu were only one of them.  However, if one wants to 
see how Joseph and his family would have appeared to the Egyptians--this is 
probably how.