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18TH DYNASTY PHAROAHS
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The
18th Dynasty was a period full of powerful Kings and Queens. It starts
by King Ahmose who ruled from 1570-1546, one of the most outstanding in
the history of ancient Egypt. His principal achievement was to weaken
the Hyksos, who had dominated Lower Egypt for some 300 years, by taking
Avaris, their citadel in the north. He pursued them into southern
Palestine and laid siege to Sharuhen for three years.
Amenhotep I (Amenophis) was the son of Ahmose I and his queen
Ahmose-Nefertari - and ruled from 1546 to 1526. He undertook
military campaigns in Libya and in Nubia (up to the 3rd cataract) using
boats on the Nile to transport his army, and extended the boundaries of
his empire by establishing a vice-royalty in Nubia. On reaching the
throne, Amenhotep I very quickly had to defend Egypt's borders - the
Libyans had taken the opportunity of Ahmose I's death to launch an
invasion in Egypt's delta - Amenhotep I led an army to the Western
border and defeated the Libyans and their allies. Next was a rebellion
by Nubia, Amenhotep I this time led an army to the southern border and
very quickly restored order.
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Amenhotep I | |
Amenhotep
II
the 7th king of the 18th dynasty, son of Thutmose III, ruled Egypt from 1450 to 1425 BC. He continued the military exploits of his father, particularly in Syria, where he crushed an uprising and demanded oaths of loyalty from local rulers. Amenhotep I (Amenophis) was the son of Ahmose I and his queen
Ahmose-Nefertari - and ruled from 1546 to 1526. He undertook
military campaigns in Libya and in Nubia (up to the 3rd cataract) using
boats on the Nile to transport his army, and extended the boundaries of
his empire by establishing a vice-royalty in Nubia. On reaching the
throne, Amenhotep I very quickly had to defend Egypt's borders - the
Libyans had taken the opportunity of Ahmose I's death to launch an
invasion in Egypt's delta - Amenhotep I led an army to the Western
border and defeated the Libyans and their allies. Next was a rebellion
by Nubia, Amenhotep I this time led an army to the southern border and
very quickly restored order. Amenhotep II the 7th king of the 18th dynasty, son of Thutmose III, ruled Egypt from 1450 to 1425 BC. He continued the military exploits of his father, particularly in Syria, where he crushed an uprising and demanded oaths of loyalty from local rulers.
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His mummy was discovered in the Valley of the Kings. Amenhotep II was famed at the time for his sportsmanship - he was very athletic and had a great love of horses.His greatest feat of sportsmanship was the shooting of copper targets with arrows, while driving a chariot with the reigns tied round his waist. Upon the death of Tuthmosis III, Amenhotep II inherited a vast empire, it was not something that he intended to lose - any rebellions were severely dealt with and a series of campaigns were made into Syria. Inscriptions detail how Amenhotep II sought to fight in hand-to-hand combat and led the Egyptian troops into battle with howls of rage - perhaps unsurprisingly Amenhotep II is regarded as the most bloodthirsty pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty Egypt at the height of its power. His father was Tuthmosis IV by one of that king's chief queens | |
Amenhotep II | |
Mutemwiya. She may have, though mostly in doubt
now, been the daughter of the Mitannian king, Artatama. That queen was
indeed probably sent to Egypt for the purposes of a diplomatic marriage. He
was more likely between six and twelve years of age at the time of his
father's death. Amenhotep
III's own chief queen, was not of royal blood, but came from a very
substantial family. She was Tiy, the daughter of Yuya and his
wife, Tuya, who owned vast holdings in the Delta. Yuya was also a
powerful military leader. His extensive diplomatic contacts with other
Near Eastern states, especially Mitanni and Babylonia, are revealed in
the Amarnatablets. Amenhotep III ruled (1417-1379 BC) Of the great temple he built near Thebes, only two statues, the so-called colossi of Memnon, remain. Amenhotep's wife Tiye, a woman of humble birth, was prominently associated with him during his long and peaceful reign.We know at least six of his children consisting of two sons and four daughters (other daughters including Henuttaneb and Nebetiah). However, his probable oldest son, Tuthmosis died early leaving the future heretic king, Amenhotep IV, otherwise known as Akhenaten, as the crown prince. His extensive diplomatic contacts with other Near Eastern states, especially Mitanni and Babylonia, are revealed in the Amarna tablets. Of the great temple he built near Thebes, only two statues, the so-called colossi of Memnon, remain. After the military problems seem to have been settled, we find a long period of great building works and high art. It was also a period of lavish luxury at the royal court. The wealth needed to accomplish all of this did not come from conquests, but rather from foreign trade and an abundant supply of gold, mostly from the mines in the Wadi Hammamat and further south in Nubia. . During his reign, we find a marked increase in Egyptian materials found on the Greek mainland. We also find many Egyptian place names, including Mycenae, Phaistos and Knossos first appearing in Egyptian inscriptions We also find letters written between Amenhotep III and his peers in Babylon, Mitanni and Arzawa preserved in cuneiform writing on clay tablets.
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Amenhotep III | |
Akhenaten
(Amenhotep IV) (1350-1334),
The second son of the great Amenhotep III, Akhenaten came to the throne when his elder brother and heir to the throne, Thuthmose, died while still a child.
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Akhenaten | |
At
this point the young Akhenaten was still known by his original name - Amenhotep
(IV), it was only when he ascended the throne that he would change his name.
Immediately he took up the offices and teachings of a prince regent, including
studying at the centre of intellectual learning for Egypt - Heliopolis.
was invested as king not in the Amen temple at Karnak as custom dictated, but at
Hermonthis, where his uncle Inen was High Priest of Re and immediately began
building a roofless temple to the Aten, the disk of the rising sun. He soon
forbade the worship of other gods, especially of the state god Amen of Thebes.
In the 6th year he changed his name from Amenhotep ("Amen is
satisfied") to Akhenaten ("beneficial to Aten") and left Thebes
for a new capital at Akhetaten (El Amarna). Amenhotep IV's reign was a time of
many changes, for not only did he decide to change his name to Akhenaten, he
found a perfect site along the banks of the Nile where he could be build a new
capital of Egypt - Akhetaten, the Pharaoh found a plain within a semicircle of
cliffs - here he set up an altar and made an offering to the Aten in thanks for
leading him to this chosen place. Later at the foundation ceremony of the city,
Akhenaten expressed how the city had been revealed to him alone by his father,
the Aten, as his chosen seat. Living
there with his queen Nefertiti, six daughters, and possibly several sons, he
fostered new styles in art and literature. The confiscation of the wealth of the
Amen temples wreaked havoc upon its priesthood. Akhenaten used these riches to
strengthen the royal control over the army and his officialdom. His
concentration on internal affairs brought about the loss of some of the Egyptian
possessions in Canaan and Retenu (Syria) and of the Egyptian naval dominance,
when Aziru defected to the Hittites with his fleet. Tutankhamen (r. 1361-1352 BC), Tthe
son in law of Akhenaten, succeeded his brother Smenkhkare when he was only nine
years old. His vizier Ay restored the traditional polytheistic religion,
abandoning the monotheistic cult of Aten of Akhenaten, its religious centre at
el Amarna and returning to the capital Thebes. By reviving the cult of the state
god Amen he strengthened the position of Amen's priesthood. The pharaoh changed
his name Tutankhaten, (living image of Aten), to Tutankhamen, (living image of
Amen),
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