Thutmose III

The hieroglyphs 'Son of Ra' are over the cartouche of the birth-name of Thutmos III. 18th Dynasty. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

Thutmose III sometimes written as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis III, Thothmes in older history works (Thutmose means "Thoth is born") was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. 

Thutmose III was pharaoh in name for almost 54 years (24 April 1479 BC to 11 March 1425 BC) from the age of two and until his death at age fifty-six. 

For the first 22 years of his reign, he was coregent with his stepmother and aunt, Hatshepsut. She was also pharaoh, and probably the actual ruler for the first part of his reign.Shaw, Ian (ed) 2000. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, discussion p237 et seq. ISBN 0-19-815034-2Partridge R. 2002. Fighting Pharaohs: weapons and warfare in ancient Egypt. Manchester: Peartree, p202/203. During the final two years of his reign, he appointed his son and successor, Amenhotep II, as his junior co-regent. His firstborn son and heir to the throne, Amenemhat, died before Thutmose III.

As the sole ruler of the kingdom after the deaths of Thutmose II and Hatshepsut, he created the largest empire Egypt ever had. 17 campaigns were conducted. He conquered lands from the Niya Kingdom in northern Syria to the Fourth Cataract of the Nile in Nubia.

Whether the Egyptian empire covered even more areas is less specific. Earlier Egyptologists, most recently Ed. Meyer believed that Thutmose had also subjugated the islands of the Aegean Sea. This can no longer be upheld today. Conquest of Mesopotamia is unthinkable; whether tribute sent from Alashia Cyprus was more than occasional gifts

When Thutmose III died, he was buried in the Valley of the Kings. Other kings from this period in Egypt were also buried there.

 References 

Category:2nd-millennium BC pharaohs
Category:15th-century BC people