Eighteenth Egyptian, Dynasty, 1550 - 1292 BCE Part 3, Thuthmosis III, Amenhotep II, Thuthmosis IV

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).

Thuthmosis III/Menkheper(en)re 

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

Thutmose III (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis III, and meaning Thoth is born) was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of Thutmose's reign he was co-regent with his stepmother, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh. While he is shown first on surviving monuments, both were assigned the usual royal names and insignia and neither is given any obvious seniority over the other. He served as the head of her armies.

After her death and his later rise to being the pharaoh of the kingdom, he created the largest empire Egypt had ever seen; no fewer than seventeen campaigns were conducted, and he conquered from Niya in North Syria to the fourth waterfall of the Nile in Nubia.Thutmose III was the son of Thutmose II by a secondary wife, Iset. His father's great royal wife was Queen Hatshepsut. Her daughter Neferure was Thutmose's half-sister.

Thuthmosis III/Menkheper(en)re 

When Thutmose II died Thutmose III was too young to rule, so Hatshepsut became his regent, soon his coregent, and shortly thereafter, she declared herself to be the pharaoh while never denying kinship to young Thutmose III. Thutmosis III had little power over the empire while Hatshepsut exercised the formal titulary of kingship. Her rule was quite prosperous and marked by great advancements. When he reached a suitable age and demonstrated the capability, she appointed him to head her armies.

Thutmose III reigned from 1479 BC to 1425 BC according to the Low Chronology of Ancient Egypt. This has been the conventional Egyptian chronology in academic circles since the 1960s, though in some circles the older dates 1504 BC to 1450 BC are preferred from the High Chronology of Egypt.

These dates, just as all the dates of the Eighteenth Dynasty, are open to dispute because of uncertainty about the circumstances surrounding the recording of a Heliacal Rise of Sothis in the reign of Amenhotep I. Thutmose III, riding in a "chariot of fine gold," led his armies out of Egypt into Phoenicia, Palestine, and Syria.

In later campaigns he extended the empire to the Euphrates Valley in Mesopotamia. Earlier rulers had already pushed the frontiers south into Nubia, beyond the First Cataract of the Nile. Widely considered a military genius by historians, Thutmose III made 16 raids in 20 years.

Amenhotep II/Akheperure 

 He was an active expansionist ruler, sometimes called Egypt's greatest conqueror or "the Napoleon of Egypt."

Amenhotep II (sometimes read as Amenophis II and meaning Amun is Satisfied) was the seventh Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. Amenhotep inherited a vast kingdom from his father Thutmose III, and held it by means of a few military campaigns in Syria; however, he fought much less than his father, and his reign saw the effective cessation of hostilities between Egypt and Mitanni, the major kingdoms vying for power in Syria. His reign is usually dated from 1427 to 1400 BC.

Amenhotep II was the son of Thutmose III and a minor wife of the king: Merytre-Hatshepsut. He was not, however, the firstborn son of this pharaoh; his elder brother Amenemhat, the son of the great king's chief wife Satiah, was originally the intended heir to the throne since Amenemhat was designated the 'king's eldest son" and overseer of the cattle of Amun in Year 24 of Thutmose's reign.

However, between Years 24 and 35 of Thutmose III, both queen Satiah and prince Amenemhat died, which prompted the pharaoh to marry the non-royal Merytre-Hatshepsut. She would bear Thutmose III a number of children including the future Amenhotep II. Amenhotep II was born and raised in Memphis in the north, instead of in Thebes, the traditional capital.

While a prince, he oversaw deliveries of wood sent to the dockyard of Peru-nufe in Memphis, and was made the Setem, the high priest over Lower Egypt. Amenhotep has left several inscriptions touting his athletic skills while he was a leader of the army before his crowning. Amenhotep was no less athletic than his powerful father.

/Amenhotep II/Akheperure 

 He claims to have been able to shoot an arrow through a copper target one palm thick, and that he was able to row his ship faster and farther than two hundred members of the navy could row theirs. Accordingly some skepticism concerning the truth of his claims has been expressed among Egyptologists.

Amenhotep acceded to the throne on the first day of the fourth month of Akhet, but his father died on the thirtieth day of the third month of Peret. If an Egyptian crown prince was proclaimed king but did not take the throne on the day after his father's death, it meant that he served as the junior coregent during his father's reign.

A coregency with Thutmose III and Amenhotep II is believed to have lasted for two years and four months. Amenhotep's coronation can be dated without much difficulty because of a number of lunar dates in the reign of his father, Thutmose III. These sightings limit the date of Thutmose's accession to either 1504 or 1479 BC. Thutmose died after 54 years of reign, at which time Amenhotep would have acceded to the throne. Amenhotep's short coregency with his father would then move his accession two years and four months earlier, dating his accession to either 1427 BC in the low chronology, or in 1454 BC in the high chronology.

The length of his reign is indicated by a wine jar inscribed with the king's prenomen found in Amenhotep II's funerary temple at Thebes;

Thuthmosis IV/Menkheperure

 it is dated to this king's highest known date - his Year 26 - and lists the name of the pharaoh's vintner, Panehsy. Mortuary temples were generally not stocked until the king died or was near death; therefore, Amenhotep could not have lived much later beyond his 26th year.

Thutmose IV (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis IV and meaning Thoth is Born) was the Eighth Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt, who ruled in approximately the 14th century BC. His prenomen or royal name, Menkheperure, means "Established in forms is Re."

Thutmose IV was born to Amenhotep II and Tiaa but was not actually the crown prince and Amenhotep II's chosen successor to the throne. Some scholars speculate that Thutmose ousted his older brother in order to usurp power and then commissioned the Dream Stele in order to justify his unexpected kingship.

Tuthmosis IV's name means, 'Born of the God Thoth' His throne name was Men-kheperu-re, meaning 'Everlasting are the Manifestations of Re'. We can also find references to him under the names of Thuthmose IV, Thutmosis IV, and Djehutymes IV. Tuthmosis IV was probably married to Mutemwiya, who produced his heir to the throne, Amenhotep III, though he never acknowledged her as either a major or minor queen.

It is possible, though now doubted by some, that she was the daughter of he Mitannian king, Artatama, who sent his daughter to the Egyptian court as part of a diplomatic exchange. Other wives included Merytra, who we believe later changed her name to Tiaa (same as his mother's name) and a non-royal wife, Nefertiry. He probably also married one of his sisters named Iaret.

Thuthmosis IV & Tia

Dating the beginning of the reign of Thutmose IV is difficult to do with certainty because he is several generations removed from the astronomical dates which are usually used to calculate Egyptian chronologies, and the debate over the proper interpretation of these observances has not been settled. Thutmose's grandfather Thutmose III almost certainly acceded the throne in either 1504 or 1479, based upon two lunar observances during his reign.

After ruling for nearly 54 years, Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV's father, took the throne and ruled for at least 26 years, but has been assigned up to 35 years in some chronological reconstructions.

The currently preferred reconstruction, after analyzing all this evidence, usually comes to an accession date around 1401 BC or 1400 BC for the beginning of Thutmose IV's reign. The length of his reign is not as clear as one would wish. He is usually given about nine or ten years of reign. Manetho credits him a reign of 9 years and 8 months. However, Manetho's other figures for the 18th dynasty are frequently assigned to the wrong kings or simply incorrect, so monumental evidence is also used to determine his reign length.