Thutmose III

New Kingdom (1552–1069 b.c.)

Dynasty XVIII (1479–1425 b.c.)

When he finally gained sole control of the throne after Hatshepsut’s death around 1458 b.c., Thutmose III still had thirty-three years of rule ahead of him, during which he carried out political and military programs that established Egypt as the undisputed master of Asia Minor and Nubia. One of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs, Thutmose III is known as the Napoleon of ancient Egypt because of his small stature and for his prodigious accomplishments as Egypt’s mightiest warrior pharaoh.

We can’t know what relations were really like between Thutmose III and his famous stepmother, but upon her death he took immediate strong control of Egypt’s affairs. His military exploits are well documented, as in the account of his occupation of the coastal plain of Palestine (Djahi) recorded on the walls of the Temple of Amon-Re in Karnak:

"His majesty then discovered the trees of the land of Djahi, all groaning under the weight of their fruit. This was the discovery of the delicious wines that they make in their winepresses. Their wheat too, piled up in heaps on the ground, was more abundant than the sand on the seashore. The army took their fill of it."

But Thutmose III was more than a great soldier. He pursued ambitious building programs including projects at the Temple of Amon-Re at Karnak, buildings at Deir el-Bahri, Medinet Habu, Kom Ombo, Armant, Medamud, Esna, Dendera, Heliopolis, and numerous sites in the Nile Delta where the physical traces of his activity have not survived. Sometime later in his reign he undertook to erase his stepmother’s name on all of her monuments. Was he condemning her to oblivion—a fate worse than death for an Egyptian—or just attempting to rewrite history? When Thutmose III died, he left a strong and vital nation to his successors.

Related exhibit piece: Head of Thutmose III (catalog p. 98).

Related exhibit piece: Lintel of Hatshepsut(?) and Thutmose III (catalog p. 162).

Related exhibit piece: String of Beads (catalog p. 190).

Related exhibit piece: Stelaphorous Figure of Hednakht (catalog p. 136).