Thutmosis III - The Egyptian Napoleon
Or should we say, Napoleon was the French Thutmosis III? He did exist thousands of years before the reign of Napoleon... The reason he was compared to Napoleon is due to the fact that he began the age of Egyptian empire-building. This statue identifies the King by the carved cartouche on his belt. It can be seen at the Luxor Museum. There are many beautiful monuments and statues of this King still almost fully in tact, many of which are open to viewing. His tomb lies in the Valley of the Kings. He succeeded Queen Hatshepsut after being her co-regent for over 20 years. He was actually the true heir to the thrown after his father died, but he was only an infant at the time and had to share his thrown with this ambitious queen - his aunt and step-mother Hatshepsut. In fact, after her death, he was so relieved to be rid of her that he went on to desecrate many of her monuments. She had suppressed his position and pushed him aside for too long! So it seems he came back with a vengeance and proved himself worthy of the throne of Egypt. He was the first true Egyptian empire builder. OK, I guess I should explain why Hatshepsut was his aunt AND step-mother at the same time! It sounds ridiculous I know :S King Thutmosis II (father of our Egyptian Napoleon) was married to his half-sister Hatshepsut. This was a common practice in ancient Egyptian royal families in order to keep the power in the family. But daddy had his son from one of his lesser wives in the harem (also a common practice) which made Thutmosis III step-son to his aunt. There were some family arrangements even more complicated than that... imagine! So, back to our Egyptian Napoleon – after he had the throne all to himself he began a series of military campaigns to expand Egypt's borders. He was well-trained in the battlefield and was known to be a fearless warrior. Unlike most rulers, he usually led the front lines during attacks. He began his empire building after 2 years of ruling alone by invading Gaza and moving on to Megiddo and finally onto Kadesh. And although the campaign was mostly a success, the fighting between the Egyptians and Syrians continued for many years until he finally captured Kadesh for what seemed like the last time. He marched in the name of the God Amun, and was thought to be protected during wars. He made many offerings to the God. His faith is what gave him the element of surprise in a battle where he chose the more difficult route of 3. His enemies had predicted him to take the other routes, leaving themselves open to his surprise attack! You can read more about these battles in the page about ancient Egyptian armies. King Thutmosis III lived into his eighties (which was quite an exception in ancient Egypt). He was married to Queen Meritre, although he had a full harem of many lesser wives – including some Syrian war brides. When he died in approx. 1450 BC, he was succeeded by his son King Amenhotep II.
|
Looking for a specific topic?
