Analysis Of Pharaoh Thutmose III History Essay

Thutmose III also known as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis was the sixth Pharaoh of Egypt in the Eighteenth Dynasty who was one of the greatest Egyptian military leader and rulers. Thutmose III was the son of Thutmose II and Isis who is one of wives of Thutmose II. Thutmose III’s Egyptian name Djehutymes means “Born of Thoth”, the god of writing and wisdom.

Thutmosis III statue in Luxor Museum

Pharaoh of Egypt

B. Why is it important to sketch his biography?

Thutmose III was Egypt’s greatest warrior pharaoh. He transformed his country into the first great empire in the Ancient World. From 1479 to 1425 BC, he was a prolific builder of temples during his reign. He captured 350 cities and conquered much of the Near East, from the Euphrates to Nubia during seventeen known military campaigns. Thus he became an active expansionist ruler. He was the first pharaoh to cross the Euphrates, during his campaign against Mitanni. Therefore, on the Asmen’s walls temple of Karnak were transcribe of his campaign.

II.    Early life

A.    Date and place of birth

The Egyptian king, Thutmose III, was born in Egypt in 1516 B.C. Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost fifty-four years, and his reign was startee from April 24, 1479 BC to March 11, 1425 BC that was includes the twenty-two years he was co-regent to Hatshepsut who was his stepmother and aunt.

B. Family

Thutmose III was the son of Thutmose II and Iset. He was the pharaoh’s only son. Therefore, he would have become the first in line for the throne when Thutmose II died. When his father died, he became pharaoh, but Hatshepsut–his father’s widow, acted as regent and the dominant co-ruler and real ruler of Egypt because he was only the age of 7 at that time. She made all executive decisions through his childhood. She grew so accustomed to power that she yielded virtually no authority to Thutmose III until at least his late teen years.

During this period Hatshepsut assumed the title Egypt’s and wore male a pharaoh’s regalia and donned the traditional false beard of a pharaoh. After she died, he must have truly resented her. Thutmose III removed Hatshepsut from Ancient Egyptian historical records in order to became a great warrior king who launched successful military campaigns Canaan, Syria, Nubia and Mitanni in Mesopotamia increasing the wealth and power of Egypt.

Thutmose III married Hatshepsut whose Merytre’s youngest daughter. They had a child together named Amenhotep II. Moreover, he had other wives like Menhet, Menwi, Meritamen, Merti, Nebetu, Neferure, Sitioh and Yabet. He also had 11daughts such as Ahmose Meritamen II, Henutan,Meryptah, Neferamen, Petkeie, Petpui,Sathora, Sitamen I, Takhete, Touai and Uiey.

C. Education

Thutmose III was very young when his father died and was the co-regent of Hatshepsut-his stepmother. Thutmose III was given an education befitting his royal station. He would have been taught about everything from culture and art to military and leadership techniques. He learned all military skills, including archery and horsemanship. Thutmose played very important and active part in the Egypt ‘s government. Thutmose III might have been entrusted with command of the army on campaign in Nubia twice.

III. Political life

A. First Campaign

After Hatshepsut death on the Thutmose III’s twenty second year tenth day of the sixth month, according to information from a single stela from Armant – the king of Kadesh advanced his army to Megiddo. On the twenty-fifth day of the eighth month, Thutmose III mustered his own army and departed Egypt, passing through the border fortress of Tjaru (Sile). Thutmose marched his troops through the coastal plain as far as Jamnia, then inland to Yehem which was a small city near Megiddo that he reached in the middle of the ninth month of the same year. The ensuing Battle of Megiddo might be the largest battle in any of seventeen campaigns of Thutmose. A ridge of mountains jutting inland from Mount Carmel stood between Thutmose and Megiddo, and he had three potential routes to take. Based on Thutmose III’s accession in 1479 BC, this date corresponds was May 9, 1457 BC.

B. Tours of Canaan and Syria

Thutmose’s second, third, and fourth campaigns appear to have not been more than tours of Syria and Canaan to collect tribute. Traditionally, the second campaign has been considered to be the material directly after the text of the first campaign. This text records tribute from the area which the Egyptians called Retenu, (roughly equivalent to Canaan), and it was also that Assyria paid a second “tribute” to Thutmose III at this time. Anyways, it may these texts come from Thutmose’s fortieth year or later, so it had nothing to do with the second campaign at all.

C.     Conquest of Syria

Thutmose III’s fifth, sixth, and seventh campaigns were directed against the i Syria of Phoenician cities and also against Kadesh on the Orontes. Unlike previous plundering raids. Nevertheless, Thutmose III often garrisoned the area-Djahy, which is probably a reference to southern Syria. This subsequently allowed him to ship supplies and troops between Syria and Egypt. Even through there is no specific evidence for it. For this reason some people believe that Thutmose’s sixth campaign in his thirtieth year, commenced with a naval transportation of troops directly into to Byblos and entire bypassing Canaan. They proceeded into the Jordan river valley and moved north from there after the troops arrived in Syria by whatever means. Pillaging Kadesh’s lands Turning west again, Thutmose took Simyra and quelled a rebellion in Ardata, which apparently had rebelled once again. Thutmose began taking hostages from the cities in Syria in order to stop such rebellions.

Thutmose III smiting his enemies.

Relief on the seventh pylon in Karnak

Attack on Mitanni

The obvious target for his eighth campaign was the state of Mitanni which was a Hurrian country with an Indo-Aryan ruling class after Thutmose III had taken control of the Syrian cities. He had to cross the Euphrates river in order to reach Mitanni. Thusby, Thutmose III enacted many strategies. Eventually a militia was raised to fight the invaders, but it fared very poorly. Then Thutmose III returned to Syria by Niy way, where he records that he engaged in an elephant hunt. Later he collected tribute from foreign powers and returned to Egypt in victory.

E. Tours of Syria

The Mitanni’s ruler had raised a huge army and engaged the Egyptians around Aleppo by Thutmose’s thirty-fifth year. As usual for any Egyptian king, there is a suspect statement said that Thutmose boasted a total crushing victory. Thutmose returned to Nukhashashe for a very minor campaign in his thirteenth campaign. One year later, he mounted his fourteenth campaign against the Shasu, but the location is indefinite to determine, since the Shasu were nomads who could have lived anywhere from Lebanon to the Transjordan and to Edom. From this point on, campaigns can only be counted by date because the numbers given by Thutmose’s scribes to his campaigns all fall in lacunae.

F. Nubian Campaign

At very late in his life, Thutmose took one last campaign in his fiftieth regnal year. However, there was no Egypt’s king had ever penetrated so far as he did with an army, previous kings’ campaigns had spread already so far to Egyptian culture, and the earliest Egyptian document found at Gebel Barkal, in fact, comes from three years before Thutmose’s campaign.

IV. Mummy

Thutmose III died on his 54 year of rein in 1450 B.C. His tomb is in the Valley of the Kings (KV34). He would have made his 55th year being in control if he died one month and four days later.

In 1881 Thutmose III mummy was found in the Deir el-Bahri Cache about the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. The mummy of him was in bad condition since tomb robbers got to it already. He was interred along withother eighteenth and nineteenth dynasty leaders such as Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Ramesses I, Seti I, Ramesses II, and Ramesses IX, and the twenty-first dynasty pharaohs Pinedjem I, Pinedjem II, and Siamun.

Mummified head of Thutmose III

V. Conclusion

Thutmose III was a great warrior and ruler pharaoh. His reign was one of intense battle with one campaign followed by another. There were over 350 cities fell under his rule. There is little doubt that his numerous campaigns were extremely successful. Actually he has been referred to as the “Napoleon of Ancient Egypt” because of his military expansion.