Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty 1550 - 1292 BCE Part I, Ahmose I, Amenhotep I

The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII) 1550 - 1292 BC is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt. As well as boasting a number of Egypt's most famous pharaohs, it included Tutankhamun, the finding of whose tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 was a sensational archaeological discovery despite its having been twice disturbed by tomb robbers. The dynasty is sometimes known as the Thutmosid Dynasty because of the four pharaohs named Thutmosis (English: Thoth child). 

Ahmose I/Nebpehtire

XVIII Egyptian Dynasty 1550 - 1292 BCE
Ahmose I/Nebpehtire 1549 - 1524 BCE
Amenophis/Amenhotep I/Djeserkare 1524 - 1503 BCE
Thuthmosis I/Akheperkare I503 - I493 BCE
Thuthmosis II/Akheperenre I493 - 1479 BCE
Hatshepsut/Maatkare 1479 - 1458 BCE
Thuthmosis III/Menkheper(en)re 1479 - 1424 BCE
Amenophis/Amenhotep II/Akheperure 1424 - 1398 BCE
Thuthmosis IV/Menkheperure 1398 - 1388 BCE
Amenophis/Amenhotep III/NebMaatre 1388 - 1350 BCE
Amenophis/Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten)/Neferkepherure-Waenre 1351 - 1334 BCE
Queen Nefertiti
Smenkhkare/Ankhkheperure 1335 - 1333 BCE
Neferneferuaten/Ankhkheperure-Meriwaenre 1335 - 1333 BCE
Tutankhamun/Nebkheperure 1333 - 1323 BCE.
Ay II/Kheperkheperure 1323 - 1319 BCE
Horemheb/Djeserkheperure-Setepenre 1319 - 1292 BCE

Ahmose I (sometimes written Amosis I, "Amenes" and "Aahmes" and meaning Born of the Moon) was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty. He was a member of the Theban royal house, the son of pharaoh Tao II Seqenenre and brother of the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth dynasty, King Kamose. During the reign of his father or grandfather, Thebes rebelled against the Hyksos, the rulers of Lower Egypt. When he was seven his father was killed, and he was about ten when his brother died of unknown causes, after reigning only three years. Ahmose I assumed the throne after the death of his brother, and upon coronation became known as Neb-Pehty-Re (The Lord of Strength is Re).

During his reign, he completed the conquest and expulsion of the Hyksos from the delta region, restored Theban rule over the whole of Egypt and successfully reasserted Egyptian power in its formerly subject territories of Nubia and Canaan. He then reorganized the administration of the country, reopened quarries, mines and trade routes and began massive construction projects of a type that had not been undertaken since the time of the Middle Kingdom. This building program culminated in the construction of the last pyramid built by native Egyptian rulers. Ahmose's reign laid the foundations for the New Kingdom, under which Egyptian power reached its peak.

Ahmose I/Nebpehtire

  His reign is usually dated to the mid-16th century BC. Ahmose descended from the Theban Seventeenth Dynasty. His grandfather and grandmother, Tao I and Tetisheri, had at least twelve children, including Tao II and Ahhotep. The brother and sister, according to the tradition of Egyptian queens, married; their children were Kamose, Ahmose I and several daughters.

Ahmose I followed in the tradition of his father and married several of his sisters, making Ahmose-Nefertari his chief wife. They had several children including daughters Meritamun B, Sitamun A and sons Siamun A, Ahmose-ankh, Amenhotep I and Ramose A (the "A" and "B" designations after the names are a convention used by Egyptologists to distinguish between royal children and wives that otherwise have the same name).

They may also have been the parents of Mutnofret, who would become the wife of later successor Thutmose I. Ahmose-ankh was Ahmose's heir apparent, but he preceded his father in death sometime between Ahmose's 17th and 22nd regnal year. Ahmose was succeeded instead by his eldest surviving son, Amenhotep I, with whom he might have shared a short coregency.

There was no distinct break in the line of the royal family between the 17th and 18th dynasties. The historian Manetho, writing much later during the Ptolemaic dynasty, considered the final expulsion of the Hyksos after nearly a century and the restoration of native Egyptian rule over the whole country a significant enough event to warrant the start of a new dynasty. Ahmose's reign can be fairly accurately dated using the Heliacal rise of Sirius in his successor's reign, but because of disputes over from where the observation was made, he has been assigned a reign from 1570-1546, 1560-1537 and 1551-1527 by various sources.

Manetho gives Ahmose a reign of 25 years and 4 months; this figure is supported by a 'Year 22' inscription from his reign at the stone quarries of Tura. A medical examination of his mummy indicates that he died when he was about thirty-five, supporting a 25-year reign if he came to the throne at the age of 10. The radiocarbon date range for the start of his reign is 1570 - 1544 BCE, the mean point of which is 1557 BC. Alternative dates for his reign (1194 - 1170 BC) were suggested by David Rohl, but these were rejected by the majority of Egyptologists even before the radiocarbon date was published in 2010.

Amenhotep I (Amenhotep, sometimes read as Amenophis I and meaning "Amun is satisfied") was the second Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. His reign is generally dated from 1526 to 1506 BC. He was born to Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari, but had at least two elder brothers, Ahmose-ankh and Ahmose Sapair, and was not expected to inherit the throne. However, sometime in the eight years between Ahmose I's 17th regnal year and his death, his heir apparent died and Amenhotep became crown prince. He then acceded to the throne and ruled for about 21 years.

Although his reign is poorly documented, it is possible to piece together a basic history from available evidence. He inherited the kingdom formed by his father's military conquests and maintained dominance over Nubia and the Nile Delta but probably did not attempt to keep power in Syrio-Palestine. He continued to rebuild temples in Upper Egypt and revolutionized mortuary complex design by separating his tomb from his mortuary temple, setting a trend which would persist throughout the New Kingdom. After his death, he was deified into the patron god of Deir el-Medina.

Amenhotep I was the son of Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari. His elder brothers, the crown prince Ahmose Sapair and Ahmose-ankh, died before him, thus clearing the way for his ascension to the throne. Amenhotep probably came to power while he was still young himself, and his mother, Ahmose-Nefertari, appears to have been regent for him for at least a short time. This is evidenced because both he and his mother are credited with opening a worker village at the site of Deir el-Medina. Amenhotep took his sister Ahmose-Meritamon as his Great Royal Wife. Another wife's name, Sitkamose, is attested on a nineteenth dynasty stele.

Beyond this, his relation to all other possible family members has been questioned. Ahhotep II is usually called his wife and sister, despite an alternate theory that she was his grandmother.

Amenhotep I/Djeserkare

 He is thought to have had one son by Ahhotep II, Amenemhat, who died while still very young. This remains the consensus, although there are arguments against that relationship as well. With no living heirs, Amenhotep was succeeded by Thutmose I, whom he married to his sister, Aahmes, although once again there is no definite proof that the two were related. Since Aahmes is never called "King's Daughter" in any inscription, some scholars doubt this relation as well.

In the ninth year of Amenhotep I, a heliacal rise of Sothis was observed on the ninth day of the third month of summer. Modern astronomers have calculated that, if the observation was made from Memphis or Heliopolis, such an observation could only have been made on that day in 1537 BC. If the observation was made in Thebes, however, it could only have taken place in 1517. The latter choice is usually accepted as correct since Thebes was the capital of early 18th dynasty Egypt; hence, Amenhotep I is given an accession date in 1526 BC, although the possibility of 1546 BC is not entirely dismissed.

Manetho's Epitome states that Amenhotep I ruled Egypt for twenty years and seven months or twenty-one years, depending on the source. While Amenhotep I's highest attested official date is only his Year 10, Manetho's data is confirmed by information from a passage in the tomb autobiography of a magician named Amenemhet. This individual explicitly states that he served under Amenhotep I for 21 Years. Thus, in the high chronology, Amenhotep I is given a reign from around 1546 to 1526 BC and, in the low chronology, from around 1526 to 1506 BC or 1525 to 1504 BC, though individual scholars may vary by a few years.