His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has publicly refuted claims by an Egyptian archaeology expert denying the existence of a human group historically known as the “Hyksos.” His Highness described the narrative presented by the expert as a spurious tale that continues to circulate among archaeologists and heritage scholars without rigorous scrutiny.
In response to these claims, His Highness stated:
On 15 January 2026, I read in Al Khaleej newspaper the report: Egyptian Archaeologist: There Is No Human Group Called Hyksos.
The report referred to statements by Dr. Ayman Ashmawi, former Head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector, who, during a seminar organized by the Cultural Development Fund in cooperation with the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Archaeology and Heritage, asserted that there exists no human group known as the “Hyksos.” Dr. Ashmawi explained that the term, in ancient Egyptian, signifies the “chiefs of the mountain tribes.”
I was profoundly struck by Dr. Ashmawi’s assertion and astonished that such a claim has been allowed to circulate among scholars under the aegis of the Zahi Hawass Foundation without critical examination.
From a study of ancient Egyptian history and the genealogical records of Egypt’s royal families, as chronicled by the priest Manetho in his History of Egypt, it is recorded that thirty-four dynastic families governed Egypt. Particular attention is drawn to the fifteenth and sixteenth dynasties, whose events are central to understanding the period in question.
Manetho recounts that these two dynasties originated from Thebes in Upper Egypt. While their kings established their capital in this city, a calamitous event occurred in northern Egypt—a catastrophe among the most severe in Egyptian history, whose memory endured across the ages.
According to Manetho, while urban civilization progressed and flourished under the fourteenth dynasty, and all evidence suggested that Egyptian society continued to advance toward refinement and stability, a group of people, unacquainted with culture or civility, descended from Asia upon Egypt’s northern shores—the Nile Delta, referred to by the Greeks as the “lake.” They launched sudden and violent raids, massacring the inhabitants, plundering temple treasures, and seizing control of all coastal regions of the Egyptian kingdom.
Egypt endured their oppression for nearly four centuries. The legitimate kings were confined to Upper Egypt, neighbouring these foreign rulers, whom Manetho designates as the “Hyksos,” or the “Shepherd Kings.” These invaders exercised dominion over the Egyptian rulers, and in reality, held true authority. No evidence survives to provide a detailed account of the chaos and upheaval inflicted during this period, yet it remains historically certain that Egypt suffered under foreign domination, the marks of which are largely lost to posterity.