The eighteenth dynasty was founded by Kamose’s brother, Ahmose-I (r.c.1550-c.1525 BC). Ahmose was a young boy at his succession and it was probably not until about his eleventh regnal year that the struggle resumed against the Hyksos. We know from an autobiography by a naval officer Ahmose, son of Ibana, that when the fleet arrived at Avaris the king laid siege while the army fought to subdue the surrounding area. After capturing Avaris the Egyptian forces went to southwest Palestine and captured the fortress of Sharuhen, the last bastion of the Hyksos.
Ahmose then undertook the conquest of Nubia He established Buhen as the administrative centre of the area and appointed a man called Turi as its commander. After returning from Nubia, Ahmose had to deal with two uprisings. The first, a minor mutiny by a non-Egyptian called Aata who brought a small force into Egypt from the north, was defeated and the captured men were allowed to live. The second, a rebellion led by an Egyptian named Tetian, was considered to be much more serious and all the men were killed.
Amenhotep-I (r.c.1525-c.1504 BC) consolidated the Egyptian kingdom won by his father. He led at least one campaign into Nubia and the western desert oases appear to have been recaptured, but there is no evidence of a military campaign in Syria/Palestine.
Thutmose-I (r.c.1504-c.1492 BC) subdued Nubia as far as the third cataract and penetrated southwest Asia as far as the Euphrates. He made extensive improvements to the temple of Amun at Karnak and was the first pharaoh to be buried in the Valley of the Kings.
Thutmose II (r.c.1492-c.1479 BC) put down an uprising in Kerma and all those involved were killed. This effectively ended Egypt’s problems with Kush but Thutmose did little else during his reign. He was probably strongly influenced by his wife Hatshepsut (r.c.1478-c.1458 BC).
When Thutmose II died, Hatshepsut assumed power, first as regent for his son Thutmose III (r.c.1479-c.1425 BC), and then from a year later as pharaoh. When Hatshepsut died Thutmose III truly inherited the throne and devoted himself to the expansion of the Egyptian Empire by mounting many campaigns into Canaan, Phoenicia and Syria. In his first campaign he defeated a coalition of Syrians and Palestinians and captured Megiddo (c.1457 BC). In his eighth campaign he defeated the forces of the kingdom of Mitanni east of the Euphrates. In his last campaign he went to Nubia.
Amenhotep II (r.c.1427-c.1400 BC) continued the military exploits of his father, particularly in Syria, where he crushed an uprising and demanded oaths of loyalty from local rulers. After the campaign of his ninth regnal year, Egypt and Mitanni seem to have reached some sort of peace.
Thutmose IV (r.c.1400-c.1390 BC) suppressed rebellions in Nubia and Palestine/Syria, and sealed the alliance with Mitanni by marrying the daughter of the Mitannian king Artatama-I (r.c.1410-c.1400 BC).
Amenhotep III (r.c.1390-c.1352 BC) did little campaigning and was content to sponsor many building works in Egypt and Nubia. He married the daughter of the Mitannian king Shuttarna II (r.c.1400-c.1385 BC), Gilu-Heba.
It was around this time that the ‘Amarna correspondence’ took place between the rulers of the civilizations in the Fertile Crescent. It is mostly written in Akkadian cuneiform script, the diplomatic language of the time, on tablets found at Tell el-Amarna in Egypt c.1887.
Thebes remained the most important religious cult centre of the country. Its local god, Amun (‘the hidden one’) had become associated with the sun god Ra and as Amun-Ra was worshipped in every major temple in Egypt.
Early in his reign Amenhotep IV (r.c.1352-c.1336 BC) changed his name to Akhenaten and created a new cult religion that worshipped the sun-god, Aten (‘sun-disk’). He built a new residence halfway between Memphis and Thebes and called it Akhetaten (=el-Amarna). Traditional gods were banned and the names and images of Amun were erased throughout Egypt, thereby promoting possibly the first recorded monotheistic religion.
Smenkhkara (r.c.1338-c.1336 BC) is identified by some as Nefertiti, the wife of Akhenaton: others say that he was a younger brother to Tutankhamun (c.18; r.c.1336-c.1327 BC).
When the young Tutankhamun succeeded to the throne he was assisted by advisors and chancellors, including Ay (r.c.1327-c.1323 BC) and Horemheb (r.c.1323-c.1295 BC). He reinstated the cult of Amun-Ra and returned to Memphis. It is not known how Tutankhamun died but he could have been murdered or he may have died accidentally.
Tutankhamun was the last of Ahmose’s line and his wife Ankhesenpaaten had not produced any heirs. During Akhenaten’s reign Mitanni was defeated by the Hittites. In response to Ankhesenpaaten’s request for a husband to become the king of Egypt the Hittite king Suppiluliuma-I (r.c.1344-c.1322 BC) sent his son Zennanza who was assassinated en route, possibly on the orders of Horemheb.
Ay apparently inherited the throne by marrying Ankhesenpaaten. Horemheb, the commander-in-chief of the army, eventually succeeded and it seems that his energies were mainly directed towards national rehabilitation following the upheaval caused by Akhenaton.
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