Ancient Egypt > Egyptian Dynasties > Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt

Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt

Amosis, according to Manetho, also Amasis: Pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty. A fragmentary statue of Ahmose I at Metropolitan Museum of Art.

image of Thutmose I

Painted relief of Thutmose I. The third Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. He was given the throne after the death of the previous king Amenhotep I.

image of Thutmose III

Thutmose III, "Manahpi(r)ya" in the Amarna letters, the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty: Red granite statue of Thutmose III kneeling and bringing offerings.

image of Hatshepsut.

Statue of Hatshepsut on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She is generally regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty.

image of Tutankhamun

Tutankhaten / Tutankhamen / Tutankhamon possibly Nibhurrereya (as referenced in the Amarna letters), mask of Tutankhaten's mummy, the popular icon for ancient Egypt at The Egyptian Museum.

image of Akhenaten

Statue of Akhenaten in typical Amarna style: Akhenaten (often alt: Akhnaten, or rarely Ikhnaton) meaning Effective spirit of Aten, first known as Amenhotep IV (sometimes read as Amenophis IV and meaning Amun is Satisfied) before his first year (died 1336 BC or 1334 BC), was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. He is especially noted for attempting to compel the Egyptian population in the monotheistic worship of Aten.

The 18th Dynasty (1550-1292 BC) is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt. As well as a number of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, it included Tutankhaten, whose tomb, uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922, was one of the greatest of all archaeological discoveries, being completely undisturbed by tomb robbers. It is sometimes known as the Thutmosid Dynasty because all four of the Thutmose pharaohs ruled well. Hatshepsut, and perhaps two others of a handful of native women known to be crowned king of Egypt, ruled during this dynasty, as did Akhenaten (also known as Amenophis IV), the "heretic Pharaoh" who with his wife, Nefertiti, instituted what may be the first monotheistic state religion.

This dynasty often is combined with the 19th Dynasty and 20th Dynasty under the group title, New Kingdom.

Ahmose

The 18th Dynasty was founded by Ahmose I the brother of Kamose, the last ruler of the 17th Dynasty. Ahmose finished the campaign to expel the hated Hyksos rulers. With this dynasty, the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt ended, and the New Kingdom of Egypt or the Egyptian Empire began. He was followed by Amenhotep I. Both ruled for more than two years.

Thutmose I and Hatshepsut

Thutmose I seems to have not been directly related to the existing royal line, but married into royalty. The dynasty next included Thutmose II and his royal queen, Hatshepsut. She was the daughter of Thutmose I and soon after her husband's death, ruled for over twenty years after becoming pharaoh during the minority of her stepson, who would become Thutmose III.

Hatshepsut later was considered a usurper by nineteenth century researchers, but more recent evidence indicates that she was a very effective and successful ruler, as related in ancient histories. She reestablished international trade, restored the wealth of the country, fostered large building projects, and restored ravaged temples. She built her tomb in what would become the Valley of the Kings as those pharaohs succeeding her chose to be associated with the grandeur of her mortuary complex. Thutmose III also had a lengthly reign after becoming pharaoh and he was followed by Thutmose IV, who ruled for ten years.

Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and the Amarna period

The first recorded formal relations of Egypt with foreign countries were under Amenhotep III, which, under his reign, Egypt enjoyed an economic boom. He built many temples and monuments across Egypt to honor his favorite god, Sobek, who was always depicted as a crocodile.

Some records of his relations were included in the el Amarna letters many of which were scattered before they could be protected properly. Akhenaten instigated the earliest verified expression of monotheism, (although the origins of a pure monotheism are the subject of continuing debate within the academic community and some state that Akhenaten restored monotheisim).

Scholars believe that Akhenaten's devotion to his god Aten offended many in power below him, which contributed to the end of this dynasty; he later suffered damnatio memoriae. Although modern students of Egyptology consider the monotheism of Akhenaten the most important event of this period, the later Egyptians considered the so-called Amarna period an unfortunate aberration. Following Akhenaten are the pharaohs Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten, who both may have been women, during a return to more traditional religious and cultural practices.

Tutankhaten

Tutankhaten, who died before he was twenty years old, restored polytheism, but the dynasty's final years clearly were shaky. The unidentified widow of "King Nibhururiya" in Hittite records, now believed to be Ankhesenamun, royal wife of Tutankhaten, wrote to Suppiluliumas I, king of the Hittites, asking him to send one of his sons to become her husband and rule Egypt. In her note she expressed fear and a reluctance to take a husband from the ranks of the administrators. Suppiluliumas sent an ambassador to investigate, who reported that the situation was described accurately; however the destined Hittite prince Zannanza was murdered en route on the border between the Hittite and Egyptian empires.

Suppiluliumas I reacted with rage at the news of his son's death by going to war against Egypt's vassal states in Syria and Northern Canaan and captured the city of Amki. Unfortunately, Egyptian prisoners of war from Amki carried a plague which eventually, would ravage the Hittite Empire and kill both Suppiluliumas I and his direct successor.

The last two members of this dynasty-Ay and Horemheb-became rulers from the ranks of officials in the royal court, although Ay may have married the widow of Tutankhaten in order to obtain power and she did not live long afterward. Ay's reign was short. His successor was Horemheb, who had been a diplomat in the administration of Tutankhaten and may have been intended as his successor by the childless Tutankhaten. Horemheb may have taken the throne away from Ay in a coup. He also died childless and appointed his successor.

The 18th Dynasty starts not with the accession of a new royal family to the throne, but with the reign of Ahmose, a brother or nephew of his predecessor Kamose, who is counted as the last king of the previous dynasty.

After about a decade of relative peace and status quo with the Hyksos who still controlled the northern half of the country, the Theban king Ahmose rekindled Kamose's war against these foreign rulers. Within 5 years, he succeeded in expelling them from his country, reuniting it back under the sole rule of one Egyptian king.

Perhaps driven by the desire to make sure that Egypt never again would fall under a foreign rulership, Ahmose continued his military campaigns after the expulsion of the Hyksos. Through a series of campaigns both in Syria-Palestine and in Nubia, Ahmose extended Egypt's realm of influence well beyond its borders, stretching from at least as far north as the city of Bybos and perhaps even beyond, down to the second cataract town of Buhen in the south.

From this reign on, Egypt would become a military power that the neighbouring states and kingdoms would need to reckon with.

The reign of Ahmose's son and successor Amenhotep I was somewhat more peaceful than that of Ahmose and seems to have focused more on the building of new temples throughout the country. Although he was not buried there, Amenhotep I, along with his mother Ahmes-Nefertari, would be revered until long after his death by the craftsmen who built the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Amenhotep II: Large statue head of Amenhotep II on display at the Brooklyn Museum.

Granite bust of Thutmose IV: The 8th Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. His prenomen or royal name was Menkheperure.

With Thutmose I a new family ascended to the throne. The mother of the new king is only known by the title of King's Mother, which she obtained after her son came to power. She was neither the sister, daughter nor wife of a king, which means that the father of Thutmose I, who is not known, was definitely not a king. It is sometimes argued that the royal line was continued through Ahmes, Thutmose' principal wife, but the fact that this queen is not known to have held the title King's Daughter, does indicate that she was neither a daughter of Ahmose nor Amenhotep I. Her title King's Sisiter might as well mean that she was the sister of Thutmose I himself.

Following some rebellions in the conquered territories, Thutmose I launched a series of military campaigns both in Syria-Palestine and in Nubia. Towards the end of his reign, Egypt's southern border was at the at the town of Napata, near the 4th cataract, deep into Sudan, while in the north, the country's influence stretched as far as the town of Karkemish, not far from the modern day Turkish border.

The bounty Thutmose brought back from his campaigns, and the tribute that foreign kings and vassal rulers would send to Egypt on a regular basis, brought a wealth to the country unlike anything it had ever seen before. This wealth flowed mainly to the building of temples, particularly the temple of the god Amun-Re at Karnak.

Thutmose I was the first king to be buried in the Valley of the Kings, a tradition that would be followed until the end of the New Kingdom. Thutmose I was succeeded by his son Thutmose II who died after a brief reign leaving only an infant son, Thutmose III, to inherit the empire. The widow and sister of the deceased king, Hatshepsut, was appointed regent on behalf of the new king, her stepson. Within a few years, Hatshepsut evolved from regent to king, forcing the young Thutmose III into the role of junior partner in a corregency.

Hatshepsut's reign was generally a peacefull one, during which the country prospered. A trading mission to the mysterious land of Punt is often considered as one of the most important accomplishments of this remarkable queen-turned-king and was left very well documented in her funerary temple at Deir el-Bahari.

An important part of Egypt's prosperity continued to flow to large building projects. Hatshepsut added many new shrines and a pair of obelisks to the great temple of Amun at Karnak and she extended or built several temples throughout the country. Her most remarkable building achievement, however, was be the unique mortuary temple she built at Deir el-Bahari, on the Westbank of Thebes.

When Hatshepsut disappeared from the political stage the then adult Thutmose III was faced with a rebellion that threatened Egypt's hold on Syria-Palestine. Like his grandfather before him, Thutmose III embarked on a series of military campaigns in Syria-Palestine and in Nubia that reinforced Egypt's control over both areas. Rather than executing the vassals that had rebelled against him, Thutmose III confirmed them in their power, ensuring himself of their loyalty by bringing their heirs back to Egypt, not just as hostages, but also to "educate" them so that, when they would succeed their fathers, they too would remain loyal to Egypt.

The success of this policy is shown by the fact that Thutmose III's successors would rely more on diplomacy and trade than solely on military power to maintain their empire.

The 18th Dynasty peaked during the reign of Amenhotep III, a great-grandson of Thutmose III. Sustained by the enormous wealth of past conquests, by tributes and diplomatic gifts of vassal kings and foreign rulers, Amenhotep III became one of the greatest builders in the history of his country.

Like his ancestors, he continued extending the great temple of Amun at Karnak. He also built the temple of the goddess Mut at Karnak, just to the South of Amun's great temple and somewhat more to the south, he constructed a new temple dedicated to Amun and Amenhotep III himself. On the Theban Westbank, he built a large palace complex and a funerary temple of which, unfortunately, only two badly damaged colossi now bear witness. Amenhotep's building activity was not limited to Thebes alone. Throughout his realm, and as far south as the 4th cataract, new temples were built and others extended.

Another interesting development in the course of Amenhotep III's reign was more of a religious nature. Next to the apparent deification of the living king, a new god made his appearance in the already vast pantheon of the Ancient Egyptians: Aton, the solar disk.

All the while, however, Amenhotep III continued to support the cult of the god Amun, whose priests became increasingly wealthy and powerful. Perhaps driven by a desire to break this power, Amenhotep IV, the son and successor of Amenhotep III, advanced the status of this new god from being the most important solar god, to being as good as the only god. Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten, which means as much as "ray of Aton", ordered all temples that were not dedicated to the new god closed and moved the capital away from Thebes to a new city which he built in Middle Egypt: Akhet-Aton, "the horizon of Aton", which, in modern-day literature is called Amarna. The so-called Amarna Revolution had begun.

As part of his revolution, Akhenaten also made some drastic changes in the way people and things would be represented. The most obvious change would be the way he had himself and the members of his family portrayed. His protruding belly, elongated face, fat thighs and small ankles and arms are in sharp contrast with the young and athletic portrayals of his predecessors. Whether or not this was actually what Akhenaten looked like, is still the subject of much debate.

Although there was some military activity during Akhenaten's reign, the king seems to have been interested more in his religious and cultural reforms than he was in protecting Egypt's intrests abroad. Calls for support from his vassals in Syria-Palestine went largely ignored, opening the way for the Hittite empire to expand its own realm of influence in that region.

Towards the end of his reign, Akhenaten appointed Semenekhkare to be his coregent, leaving all the worldly matters to him. Remarkably, the junior coregent appears to have set the first steps towards a restoration of the old cults.

It would, however, be Tutankhaten, who would abandon the capital of Akhenaten, along with the cult of its god. Having changed his name to Tutankhaten, this young king set about reopening the temples that were closed during the reign of Akhenaten, restoring the old priesthood back to its former power. Despite the importance of his reign, Tutankhamun will probably be best remembered for his tomb, which was found almost intact in the early 1920s.

Tutankhaten having died without leaving an heir, the throne passed to two of his courtiers. The first was Ay, who is sometimes believed to have been a brother-in-law of Amenhotep III and who married the widow of the deceased king in order to legitimise his claims to the throne. The second was Horemheb, a former general who served under Tutankhaten and who may have been married to a sister of Nefertiti, Akhenaten's wife. It was during Horemheb's reign that the restoration policy after the Amarna Revolution turned into a policy of destruction: Akhenaten's names were chissled away, his statues torn down and his temples smashed to bits.

As he had no male offspring, Horemheb appointed an old comrade in arms, the general Paramesu, to be his successor. With Paramesu's accession to the throne as Ramesses I, the 18th Dynasty had come to an end.

Mysteries Zone Network: For everyone who enjoys a mystery stories. Feel free link to any page(s) from this site.
NOTE: Views expressed here are not endorsed by mysterieszone.com or any other sponsoring individuals or organizations.

2010 copyright by Mysteries Zone Resources, Privacy Policy