New Kingdom
Thutmose IV (Menkheperure)
18th Dynasty · 1550-1295 BCE
Reign begins1400 BCE
Reign ends1390 BCE
Dynasty span1550-1295 BCE
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The dream stele
Thutmose IV is best known for the Dream Stele, a monument erected directly between the paws of the Great Sphinx at Giza. The inscription claims the sun god appeared to him in a dream and promised him the throne if he cleared the desert sand burying the Sphinx. He also shifted Egyptian foreign policy by securing a formal peace treaty with the Mitanni Empire, cementing the new alliance by marrying a Mitannian princess.