Thutmose III

(reigned c. 1479–1425 BC)

   Throne name Menkheperre. Son of Thutmose II and Isis. He succeeded his father as a young child under the regency of his stepmother, Hatshepsut, who soon took the royal title. He remained in relative obscurity until year 21, when Hatshepsut presumably died, and he appeared at the head of his army invading Palestine-Syria. Thutmose III defeated the local princes at the battle of Megiddo and firmly established Egyptian rule in the area with a series of campaigns that led to the defeat of Mitanni. Later in his reign, he ordered the removal of all inscriptions concerning his stepmother. He was regarded in later times as one of the most effective rulers, and scarabswith his throne name were produced centuries after his death. It is not clear if he married his half sister, Nefrure, but he had at least three other principal wives, Satiah, Nebtu, and Meryetre Hatshepsut, not of royal birth, who was the mother of his successor, Amenhotep II, as his eldest son, Amenemhat, had predeceased him. Thutmose III was buried in the Valley of the Kings (KV34), which was discovered in 1898, and his body was recovered from the royal cache in 1881. He has been erroneously described as being very short, but this is due to damage to the lower part of his mummy. His mortuary temple, Djeser-akhetat Deir el-Bahri, next to that of Hatshepsut, has been largely destroyed by an earthquake and was rediscovered by a Polish expedition in 1982.

   See also Warfare.

Historical Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt by Morris L. Bierbrier