19 Facts About Thutmose IV

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.

Thutmose IV's most celebrated accomplishment was the restoration of the Great Sphinx of Giza and subsequent commission of the Dream Stele.

Thutmose IV soon fell asleep and had a dream in which the Sphinx told him that if he cleared away the sand and restored it he would become the next pharaoh.

The restoration of the Sphinx, and the text of the Dream Stele would then be a piece of propaganda on Thutmose IV's part, meant to bestow legitimacy upon his unexpected kingship.

Thutmose IV suppressed a minor uprising in Nubia in his 8th year around 1393 BC and was referred to in a stela as the Conqueror of Syria, but little else has been pieced together about his military exploits.

Betsy Bryan, who penned a biography of Thutmose IV, says that Thutmose IV's Konosso stela appears to refer to a minor desert patrol action on the part of the king's forces to protect certain gold-mine routes in Egypt's Eastern Desert from occasional attacks by the Nubians.

Thutmose IV's rule is significant because he established peaceful relations with Mitanni and married a Mitannian princess to seal this new alliance.

Thutmose IV would go on to become his principal consort queen Mutemwiya.

Thutmose IV wrote 5,6 times, but he did not give her.

Thutmose IV is usually given about nine or ten years of reign.

Thutmose IV completed the eastern obelisk at the Temple of Karnak started by Thutmose III, which, at 32 m, was the tallest obelisk ever erected in Egypt.

Thutmose IV called it the tekhen waty or 'unique obelisk.

Thutmose IV built a unique chapel and peristyle hall against the back or eastern walls of the main Karnak temple building.

Thutmose IV was buried in tomb KV43 the Valley of the Kings but his body was later moved to the mummy cache in room Jb in KV35, where it was discovered by Victor Loret in 1898.

Thutmose IV's height was given as 1.646 m but considering that the feet have been broken off post-mortem, his height in life would have been taller.

Thutmose IV was succeeded to the throne by his son, Amenhotep III.

The authors noted royal mummies like Thutmose IV showed features characteristic of North Mediterranean populations, or the Western World.

Thutmose IV concludes that their early deaths were likely as a result of a familial temporal epilepsy.