Campaigns of Kamose c. 1540

Kamose (ruled c. 1543–40 BCE), the final king of the 17th Dynasty, only reigned for three years before he died. In his final year, frustrated by his kingdom serving as a vassal to the occupying Hyksos, he crossed the border at Cusae and massacred the population of Nefrusy, his goal being to penetrate the Hyksos capital, Avaris. Having intercepted a letter from the Hyksos king calling upon the Nubian Kushites for help against the Theban aggressors, Kamose and his army travelled back down the southern Nile into Nubia, taking back the fortress town of Buhen, built by the Egyptians and once part of their occupied territory. Although Kamose marginally extended the borders of the Theban kingdom, his victory could be perceived as pyrrhic, as the Hyksos remained the absolute rulers.