New Kingdom
Thutmose I (Aakheperkare)
18th Dynasty · 1550-1295 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Thutmose I, throne name Aakheperkare, was not a son of the previous king but rose to the throne likely through marriage into the royal line, and used his reign to push Egyptian military power further than any predecessor, into Nubia beyond the Third Cataract and north as far as the Euphrates. He is also closely associated with the origins of the Valley of the Kings as the New Kingdom's royal burial ground, though the exact tomb built for him remains debated. Research: UCL Digital Egypt; Metropolitan Museum.
Reign dates: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
The great conqueror
Thutmose I pushed Egypt's borders further than any previous pharaoh. He led a massive military campaign deep into Nubia and established a fortress at Tombos past the Third Cataract. He then marched his army north into the Levant as far as the Euphrates River, where he violently clashed with the Kingdom of Mitanni. He is widely credited as the first pharaoh to build a concealed royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Ineni's secret excavation
The architect Ineni, who served under both Amenhotep I and Thutmose I, recorded in his own tomb autobiography at Thebes that he personally oversaw the excavation of the king's rock-cut tomb "in privacy; none seeing, none hearing," a striking early statement of the secrecy that would define Valley of the Kings burials for the rest of the New Kingdom. Modern Egyptologists have proposed two different tombs in the valley, conventionally numbered KV20 and KV38, as candidates for this original burial place, but which one Ineni actually built, and how the two relate to a later reburial of the king under his grandson Thutmose III, remains genuinely unresolved.
Sources for this profile
- Baker, D. D. (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs: Volume 1. Stacey International.
- Shaw, I. (Ed.). (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
- University College London. Kings of the New Kingdom.
- Reeves, N., & Wilkinson, R. H. (1996). The Complete Valley of the Kings. Thames & Hudson.
- Dodson, A., & Hilton, D. (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.
The complete, APA-formatted reference list is on the Academic Sources & Bibliography page.