51 Facts About Thutmose III

Thutmose III, sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt.

Thutmose III became sole ruler after Hatshepsut's death in 1458.

Two years before his own death, and after the death of his firstborn son and heir Amenemhat, Thutmose III appointed his son and successor Amenhotep II as junior co-regent.

Thutmose III, who commanded Hatshepsut's armies, is regarded as one of the greatest warriors, military commanders, and military strategists of all time; as Egypt's preeminent warrior pharaoh and conqueror; and as a dominant figure in the New Kingdom period, itself considered the height of Egyptian power.

Thutmose III conducted between 17 and 20 campaigns, all victorious, while expanding Egypt's empire to its largest extent.

Thutmose III created the ancient Egyptian navy, the first navy in the ancient world.

Thutmose III was the son of Thutmose II by a secondary wife, Iset.

When Thutmose II died, Thutmose III was too young to rule.

When Thutmose III reached a suitable age and demonstrated his capacity, Hatshepsut appointed him to head her armies, and at her death in 1458, he was ready to rule.

Some Egyptologists speculate that Thutmose III married his half-sister, Neferure, but there is no conclusive evidence.

Thutmose III is known to have at least three foreign wives, Menhet, Menwi and Merti, who were buried together.

Thutmose III was the mother of several of his children, including the future king Amenhotep II and another son, Menkheperre, and at least four daughters: Nebetiunet, Meritamen C and D and Iset.

Thutmose III reigned from 1479 BC to 1425 BC according to the Low Chronology of Ancient Egypt.

The length of Thutmose III's reign is known to the day thanks to findings in the tomb of the military commander Amenemheb-Mahu.

Thutmose III conducted at least 16 campaigns in 20 years.

Thutmose III is recorded to have captured 350 cities during his rule and conquered much of the Near East from the Euphrates to Nubia.

Thutmose III was the first pharaoh after Thutmose I to cross the Euphrates, doing so during his campaign against Mitanni.

Thutmose III transformed Egypt into an international superpower, an empire stretching from the Asian regions of Syria in the North, to Upper Nubia in the south.

Thutmose III encountered little resistance from neighbouring kingdoms, allowing him to expand his realm easily.

Thutmose III was forced to besiege the city, and finally took it after a siege of seven or eight months.

The fifth, sixth and seventh campaigns of Thutmose III were directed against the Phoenician cities in Syria and against Kadesh on the Orontes.

Thutmose III then moved inland and took the city and territory around Ardata; the town was pillaged and its wheatfields burned.

Unlike previous plundering raids, Thutmose III garrisoned Djahy, a name which probably refers to southern Syria.

Thutmose III found that taking hostages from these noble families largely ensured their loyalty.

Thutmose III sailed directly to Byblos and made boats which he took with him over land on what appeared to otherwise be just another tour of Syria, and he proceeded with the usual raiding and pillaging as he moved north through the lands he had already taken.

Thutmose III continued north through the territory belonging to the still unconquered cities of Aleppo and Carchemish and quickly crossed the Euphrates in his boats, taking the Mitannian king entirely by surprise.

Thutmose III then went freely from city to city and pillaged them while the nobles hid in caves, or at least this is the typically propagandistic way Egyptian records chose to record it.

Thutmose III then returned to Syria by way of Niy, where he records that he engaged in an elephant hunt.

Thutmose III collected tribute from foreign powers and returned to Egypt in victory.

Thutmose III returned to Syria for his ninth campaign in his 34th year, but this appears to have been just a raid of the area called Nukhashshe, a region populated by semi-nomadic people.

Thutmose III's 11th is presumed to have happened in his 36th regnal year and his 12th is presumed to have happened in his 37th year since his 13th is mentioned at Karnak as happening in his 38th regnal year.

In Year 38, Thutmose III conducted his 13th military campaign returning to Nuhasse for a very minor campaign.

Thutmose III moved his troops by land up the coastal road and put down rebellions in the Arka plain and moved on Tunip.

Thutmose III engaged and destroyed three surrounding Mitannian garrisons and returned to Egypt in victory.

In Year 50, Thutmose III waged his last military campaign.

Thutmose III attacked Nubia, but only went so far as the fourth cataract of the Nile.

Thutmose III commissioned the building of many tombs for nobles, which were made with greater craftsmanship than ever before.

Thutmose III's reign saw stylistic changes in the sculpture, paintings and reliefs associated with construction, much of it beginning during the reign of Hatshepsut.

Thutmose III built Egypt's only known set of heraldic pillars, two large columns standing alone instead of being part of a set supporting the roof.

Thutmose III's artisans achieved new heights of skill in painting, and tombs from his reign were the earliest to be entirely painted instead of painted reliefs.

Thutmose III dedicated far more attention to Karnak than any other site.

Thutmose III built a temenos wall around the central chapel containing smaller chapels, along with workshops and storerooms.

Thutmose III undertook building projects to the south of the main temple between the sanctuary of Amun and the temple of Mut.

Thutmose III set royal colossi on both sides of the pylon and put two more obelisks on the south face in front of the gateway.

Thutmose III commissioned royal artists to depict his extensive collections of fauna and flora in the Botanical garden of Thutmosis III.

Thutmose III even built his mortuary temple directly next to Hatshepsut's, showing no grudge against her.

Thutmose III's tomb was discovered by Victor Loret in 1898 in the Valley of the Kings.

Thutmose III died one month and four days before the start of his 54th regnal year.

Thutmose III's mummy was discovered in the Deir el-Bahri Cache above the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut in 1881.

Thutmose III was interred along with those of other 18th and 19th Dynasty leaders Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Ramesses I, Seti I, Ramesses II and Ramesses IX, as well as the 21st Dynasty pharaohs Pinedjem I, Pinedjem II and Siamun.

Thutmose III's mummy was not securely hidden away, for towards the close of the 20th dynasty it was torn out of the coffin by robbers, who stripped it and rifled it of the jewels with which it was covered, injuring it in their haste to carry away the spoil.