Pharaoh of Dynasty
XVIII
1525 - 1512 B.C.E.
In ancient Egyptian history the
last great period of true Egyptian culture is known
as the New Kingdom. The New Kingdom saw many strong pharaohs that
led Egypt into war and helped bring a renaissance in art and architecture that
declined in the second intermediate period. One of these great pharaohs of the
New Kingdom was Thuthmosis I.
Thuthmosis I was the third pharaoh in the 18th dynasty (the first dynasty of the New Kingdom). He ruled from 1525 - 1512 B.C.E. and proved to be a capable leader and general. He held the borders that he inherited against the Mitanni people, and was not afraid to do so himself. Although Thuthmosis I has a reputation as a military leader, his greatest achievement was the creation of the Valley of the Kings.
Tuthmosis I was the Pharaoh who inaugurated the tradition of burial in the Valley of the Kings. He rose to power due to the premature death of Amenophis I's son, Amenemmes, and his was marriage to Amenophis I's sister. Tuthmosis I extended the Egyptian control to the island of Argo at the third cataract, where he built the fortress of Tombos. He was able to leave an inscription at Argo on what is known as the Tombos Stele, describing an empire that extended from the third cataract to the Euphrates River. He was the father of Tuthmosis II and Hatshesut. Hatshesut, the only female Pharaoh, dressed in men's clothes and she was always depicted as a man in arts.
The Valley of the Kings was built by Thuthmosis I to battle against
the problem of grave robbers. Many less pious Egyptians found out that the
pyramids and temples that housed the mummies of the pharaohs contained riches
and robbing them proved to be quite lucrative. Thuthmosis I undertook the
monumental task of building the valley burial sites on the West Bank of the
Nile river by creating a whole village to house the thousands of construction
workers. Most of the workers at the Valley of the Kings were literate and their
city was named Deir el-Medina. Thuthmosis himself was buried in the Valley of
the Kings, but parts of his tomb were robbed. Although despoiled, in his tomb
was found a definite version of the book of What is in the Underworld..
The book is a collection of funerary texts that started in the Middle Kingdom.
Thuthmosis I may not be remembered as well as Kufu the pyramid builder or Ramesses II the military leader, but he is still no doubt important to ancient Egyptian history. His major contribution comes in the creation of the Valley of the Kings, a network of tombs that would help preserve ancient Egyptian history for modern Egyptologists to discover.
REFERENCES:
Geddes and Grosset, ed. Ancient Egypt: Myth and History. New Lanark, Scotland: David Dale House, 1997.
James, T.G.H. Ancient Egypt: The Land and Its Legacy. London: British Museum Publications, 1988.
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