The close of the twelfth dynasty was followed at no distant date by confusion and disaster. It appears, indeed, that the succeeding dynasty held for a time, at least nominally, the supremacy of Egypt; but sooner or later we find there was a rival dynasty (the fourteenth) ruling at Xois, in the Delta. To the kings composing it is assigned an average length of reign of little over two years, and this has led some to suppose that they were not in any sense Kings of Egypt, but were ruling in the Delta merely as governors—viceroys of foreign invaders. But all details, all records, fail us here, and we have no account of the events that led up to the crisis, when the long threatening storm broke over the land at last. A warlike race, known to us as the _Hyksos_,[27] aided no doubt by the wandering tribes beyond the frontier, passed the north-east boundary of Egypt, seized upon the Delta, and set up their kingdom at Avaris, and were doubtless welcomed by the settlers of kindred blood already dwelling in the district. Egypt was weakened by discord; the dissensions of rival dynasties had probably led once more to the breaking up of the kingdom into small principalities; no united opposition could be offered to the invaders, and rival chieftains and kings were forced to acknowledge the supremacy of the stranger at the point of the sword. The horse is never represented in Egyptian sculptures and drawings previous to this date, and if, as is most probable, the Hyksos invaders were mounted, it would be barely possible for foot soldiery to resist their progress. Memphis fell into their hands, and the Egyptian princes and governors as far south as Thebes were compelled to become their vassals and pay tribute. ‘Under one of our kings,’ says a native writer of later days,[28] in a fragment that has been preserved, ‘it came to pass that God was angry with us, and men came from the East, who subdued our country by force, though we never ventured on a battle with them. When they had gotten our governors under their power, they burnt down our cities and demolished the temples of the gods. Their king lived at Memphis, and made the upper and the lower country pay tribute, and he left garrisons in fitting places. He strengthened Avaris greatly, building walls around it and filling it with armed men. These people and their descendants kept possession of Egypt for 511 years.’