Sheshi

Who is Sheshi?

Maaibre Sheshi was a ruler of Avaris in Lower Egypt during Egypt's fragmented Second Intermediate Period. Sheshi is difficult to precisely place chronologically. While he is usually described as the founder of the 15th dynasty, this suggestion does not appear tenable since the early Hyksos kings such as Sakir-Har and Khyan are known to have adopted the title heka-khawaset. Khyan only used a prenomen in the second half of his reign—a practice which was followed by later Hyksos kings such as Apophis. In contrast, Sheshi's scarab seals always show his prenomen. The Danish Egyptologist Kim Ryholt has suggested that Sheshi was actually a 14th Dynasty and the father of his successor, Nehesy. Such is the degree of confusion over his timeline during the Second Intermediate Period.

The section of the Turin canon dealing with this complex period of Egyptian history is badly damaged and Sheshi's origins and timeline within the Second Intermediate period is uncertain. Sheshi's throne name, Maaibre, means "Seeing is the heart of Re". He is well known from more than 300 seals and 2 seal impressions made during his reign. According to Ryholt's 1997 book, Sheshi is attested by 396 seals alone which is 3 times higher than the next highest figure of 123 seals for Yakbim Sekhaenre who is another Asiatic ruler in Egypt whose precise dynasty or timeline is unknown.