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Shepherd kings

Shepherd \Shep"herd\, n. [OE. schepherde, schephirde, AS. sce['a]phyrde; sce['a]p sheep + hyrde, hirde, heorde, a herd, a guardian. See Sheep, and Herd.]

  1. A man employed in tending, feeding, and guarding sheep, esp. a flock grazing at large.

  2. The pastor of a church; one with the religious guidance of others.

    Shepherd bird (Zo["o]l.), the crested screamer. See Screamer.

    Shepherd dog (Zo["o]l.), a breed of dogs used largely for the herding and care of sheep. There are several kinds, as the collie, or Scotch shepherd dog, and the English shepherd dog. Called also shepherd's dog.

    Shepherd dog, a name of Pan.
    --Keats.

    Shepherd kings, the chiefs of a nomadic people who invaded Egypt from the East in the traditional period, and conquered it, at least in part. They were expelled after about five hundred years, and attempts have been made to connect their expulsion with narrative in the book of Exodus.

    Shepherd's club (Bot.), the common mullein. See Mullein.

    Shepherd's crook, a long staff having the end curved so as to form a large hook, -- used by shepherds.

    Shepherd's needle (Bot.), the lady's comb.

    Shepherd's plaid, a kind of woolen cloth of a checkered black and white pattern.

    Shephered spider (Zo["o]l.), a daddy longlegs, or harvestman.

    Shepherd's pouch, or Shepherd's purse (Bot.), an annual cruciferous plant ( Capsella Bursapastoris) bearing small white flowers and pouchlike pods. See Illust. of Silicle.

    Shepherd's rod, or Shepherd's staff (Bot.), the small teasel.

Shepherd kings

Hyksos \Hyk"sos\, n. [Gr. ?, fr. Egypt. hikshasu chiefs of the Bedouins, shepherds.] A dynasty of Egyptian kings, often called the Shepherd kings, of foreign origin, who, according to the narrative of Manetho, ruled for about 500 years, forming the XVth and XVIth dynasties. It is now considered that the XVIth is merely a double of the XVth dynasty, and that the total period of the six Hyksos kings was little more than 100 years. It is supposed that they were Asiatic Semites.

Wiktionary
shepherd kings

n. the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyksos

Usage examples of "shepherd kings".

The mysterious Hyksos have conquered the kingdom, the shepherd kings as they're sometimes called, and although we don't know where they came from the epithet does seem apt.

Egypt of course must have appeared rather a declining country in those days under the rule of her half-barbaric shepherd kings, and if one took an interest in politics one must have noticed how the Semitic people seemed to be getting everywhere, ruling Egypt, ruling distant Babylon, building Nineveh on the upper Tigris, sailing west to the Pillars of Hercules (the straits of Gibraltar) and setting up their colonies on those distant coasts.

They were the nefarious Hyksos, the so-called 'shepherd kings,' who ravaged cultured Egypt like pigs in a pastry shop for two hundred years before their own barbaric mismanagement and debauchery weakened them to the point where the Egyptians could reorganize and drive them out.