Egypt's New Kingdom emerged from a period of regionalisation when local communities had
developed according to different trajectories that gave rise to diverse socio-cultural
transformations. Dynamic and multifaceted these processes involved a range of internal and
external forces some of which were influenced by cultural encounters. Indeed those with the
'rulers of foreign lands' the Hyksos have been commonly associated with the introduction of a
host of ideas and entities into Egypt. However the validity and extent of the impact of the
Hyksos on the New Kingdom remain insufficiently addressed.Anna-Latifa Mourad explores these
points of enquiry but also expands its analysis in line with current theoretical
understandings on the complexity of cultural encounters. Her study ascertains whether and how
consistent Egyptian-Near Eastern encounters in the Middle Bronze Age influenced New Kingdom
society and culture. By assessing a range of archaeological artistic and textual material
it clarifies contexts of encounters as well as interrelated agents and mechanisms questioning
the fate of those ruled by the Hyksos. It elucidates the tangible and intangible effects of
contact on historical socio-political religious and technological developments revealing
how amid the many processes of negotiation and change elements from the Near East seeped into
the dynamic and complex socio-cultural framework of Egypt as it irreversibly transformed into
the New Kingdom.
