Avaris

Avaris was located near modern Tell el-Dab’a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta.As the main course of the Nile migrated eastward and the delta sedimented up and moved with the river its position at the hub of Egypt’s delta emporia made it a major administrative capital of the Hyksos “Phoenician kings” and other traders. From c 1783-1550 BC or from the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt through the second intermediate until its destruction by Kamose brought to a close the Seventeenth dynasty Avaris brought a little bit of Canaan home to Egypt. After being abandoned for most of the Eighteenth dynasty a royal summer residence for Ramesses II was built nearby during the Nineteenth dynasty.
The site at Tell el-Dab’a, covering an area of about 2 square kilometers, is in ruins today but excavations have shown that at one point it was a well-developed center of trade with a busy harbour catering to over 300 ships during a trading season. Artifacts excavated at a temple erected in the Hyksos period have produced goods from all over the Aegean world. The temple even has Minoan-like wall paintings that are similar to those found on Crete at the Palace of Knossos. A large mudbrick tomb has also been excavated to the west of the temple where grave-goods, such as copper swords, have been found.
Towards the end of the Seventeenth dynasty, Kamose, the last king of theSeventeenth dynasty, captured Avaris just before the Hyksos were finally expelled from Egypt, by Ahmose the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt after a water-borne siege. The Hyksos capital was razed to the ground in the aftermath of the Egyptian triumph. Avaris was abandoned after the Hyksos expulsion throughout most of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. In the Nineteenth dynasty, Ramesses built a palace nearby. Evidence has also been unearthed in Avaris that shows contact between early Mediterranean civilizations.