Danielle Candelora, PhD Candidate at UCLA and 2017 AIA-OC Grant Awardee will present her research which is centered around the Hyksos, a small group of immigrant Levantine dynasts who ruled northern Egypt for about a century during a period of political fragmentation known as the Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1725-1550 B.C.E.). While the larger question of identity negotiation in the Second Intermediate Period is the subject of her doctoral dissertation, Danielle’s current project is two-fold and will explore both explicit and implicit elements of Hyksos identity. First, she seeks to better understand the title HqA xAswt (ruler of foreign lands), the ancient Egyptian term from which the word “Hyksos” is derived, investigating how these kings adopted an Egyptian title to advertise their foreignness and leadership from an Egyptian perspective. Second, she will be investigating technological transmission under these kings. While the Second Intermediate Period is characterized by the influx of numerous foreign technologies imported from the Levant (e.g., the chariot, bronze production, etc.), many scholars still propose that the Hyksos themselves acted as a block to the transmission of this specialized knowledge. Danielle’s analysis of the archaeological paraphernalia of these technologies seeks to demonstrate that instead, the Hyksos acted as a conduit, drawing Near Eastern technologies into Egypt. Her research will contribute to a new image of the Hyksos by helping to elucidate the conscious and purposeful negotiation of their identities, as well as redefining the nature of their rule and their influence over later Egyptian society and language.