eigners from the land. Ta’o II died soon after, the victim
of an ambush and hideous head wounds, and the war
appeared to be ended for a time.
KAMOSE, however, as the heir to the throne of
Thebes, brushed aside councils of peace and started the
battles in earnest. The last ruler of the dynasty, Kamose
adapted the Hyksos CHARIOTand attacked the Asiatic
southern site. He rolled the Hyksos force back toward
Avaris before he died. Apophis had been dead for months
and his heir, KHAMUDI, faced a renewed campaign in the
reign of another son of Ta’o II. This young warrior,
imbued with Kamose’s rage, was ’Ahmose, the founder of
the New Kingdom (1550–1070 B.C.E.).
NEW KINGDOM (1550–1070 B.C.E.)
Eighteenth Dynasty (1550–1307 B.C.E.)
Some of the most popular pharaohs of Egypt were part of
this royal line, and these warriors carved out an empire
by warring against other lands and peoples. ’Ahmose
inherited the throne at a very young age, and his mother,
Queen AH’HOTEP(1), stood as regent for almost a decade.
Peace was restored on the Nile, but the Thebans were
armed and ready. When ’Ahmose reached his majority, he
led an army northward and put Avaris under siege by
land and by sea. The Asiatics fled, and ’Ahmose dealt a
smashing blow to the Nubians in the south and then
punished the northerners who had collaborated with the
Hyksos at Avaris.
His son, AMENHOTEP I, was a warrior also, but Amen-
hotep I’s successor, TUTHMOSIS I, was the first pharaoh to
march on his enemies in the name of Amun and begin
the great empire. TUTHMOSIS III, his grandson, ruled from
Khartoum in modern Sudan to the Euphrates River. He is
called the “Napoleon of the Nile.” AMENHOTEP II, his son
and heir, loved hand-to-hand combat and expanded the
imperial cause.
By the time AMENHOTEP IIIcame to the throne, he
was the most powerful and wealthiest human being in
the known world of the time. His son, AKHENATEN, living
in seclusion in ’AMARNAand worshiping a deity named
ATEN, brought the empire perilously close to an end.
TUT’ANKHAMUN, who returned the court to Thebes and
the nation’s devotion to the god AMUN, did not live long
enough to distinguish himself. That task would fall to the
last pharaoh of the dynasty, HOREMHAB. When Horemhab
knew that he was dying without an heir, he passed the
fate of the nation into the hands of a trusted military
commander: RAMESSES I.
Nineteenth Dynasty (1307–1196 B.C.E.)
Ruling only one year, Ramesses I could go to his tomb
content that he had raised up a family of warriors to
defend Egypt and to adorn the holy cities on the Nile. His
son and heir was SETI I, a military man and an adminis-
trator who understood the needs of the people. His cam-
paigns, the monuments at Thebes, KARNAK, and Abydos,
and his concern for idle mines and quarries set the pace
for the royal line that would be called the Ramessids.
His son and heir, RAMESSES II, the Great, reigned 66
years. His Syrian campaigns, his battle at KADESH, and his
treaty with the HITTITESrestored Egypt’s power. His mon-
uments, appearing at ABU SIMBELand in Upper and Lower
Egypt, bequeathed a legacy of aristocracy on the Nile.
MERENPTAH, the 13th of his sons, was named the heir.
He outlived Ramesses II and took the throne at an
advanced age. He campaigned in Libya and Syria and
defeated a contingent of the SEA PEOPLES. His son, SETI II,
was unable to keep the throne, which was taken by a
usurper, AMENMESSES. In time he secured the throne, but
he was weakened.
This royal line ended with the reign of another queen
pharaoh, TWOSRET, who ruled a short time before disap-
pearing. Her chancellor, BAY, a foreigner and ambitious,
made his own plans, but a true Ramessid ended the
dynasty.
Twentieth Dynasty (1196–1070 B.C.E.)
SETHNAKHTE, probably a grandson of Ramesses II, rose up
and began campaigns to undo the chaos of the closing
days of the previous reign and secured the throne against
the ambitions of others. His son, RAMESSES III, the last
truly great pharaoh of Egypt, had to defeat the Libyans
and the Sea Peoples. These wandering nomads had con-
quered the Hittites. Ramesses III defeated them when
they invaded the Delta. He built MEDINET HABUand other
monuments and then received apparently mortal wounds
in a harem revolt.
His son, RAMESSES IV, restored order and punished the
guilty. He sent trade expeditions to Sinai and Nubia and
started monuments, but he only lived a few years. Other
Ramesses followed, but difficult times and a devastating
smallpox epidemic took a tragic toll in the royal family.
Tomb robberies and trials took place in the period, and
the criminals were prosecuted during the reign of
RAMESSES IX.RAMESSES XI, a recluse, faced problems in
Thebes and left the administration of Egypt to his
courtiers. Two of these, SMENDES(1) and HERIHOR, divided
Egypt and set the pattern for the dynasty that followed.THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD
(1070–712 B.C.E.)
Twenty-first Dynasty (1070–945 B.C.E.)
This royal line opened the Third Intermediate Period of
Egypt. Smendes ruled in TANISin the Delta, and PINUDJEM
(1)assumed the pharaonic role in Thebes. The Tanis and
Theban families intermarried, and eventually Thebes sent
PSUSENNES Ito Tanis as the ruler.
The monuments and records of the nation in that
historical period indicate an era of calm and prosperity,
but the Thebans rebelled, being open to many southern
influences that Tanis could not control from a distance.
The high priests of Amun had to assume military as welldynasty histories 1 11