Khor is the second, later name used by ancient Egyptians after using Retjenu in designating the wider Syrian region, where speakers of Canaanite languages lived. It was long under the hegemony of ancient Egypt and is explicitly mentioned in the Great Hymn to the Aten as a geographic region, along with the kingdoms of Kush and Egypt. Based on the Amarna letters, it is plausible that Khor is a Middle Egyptian reference to Canaan.