NEW KINGDOM (CA. 1550–CA. 1070 B.C.E.)
Th e 18th Dynasty (ca. 1550–ca. 1307 b.c.e.) began with Ah-
mose (r. ca. 1550–ca. 1525 b.c.e.), a brother (or perhaps son)
of Kamose. He believed that he was the true heir to Egypt’s
throne and attacked Avaris possibly fi ve diff erent times. His
army fi nally overwhelmed the defenses of Avaris, probably
killing the last Hyksos king, Khemudy (unknown period of
reign). Th e Hyksos used the fortifi ed town of Sharuhen, in
northeastern Sinai, southwest of Gaza, to control trade routes
from the Near East into Egypt. Ahmose laid siege to Sha-
ruhen, which fell aft er three years. Th e Egyptians massacred
the inhabitants, and Egyptian dominance in the region was
restored. Ahmose’s son Amenhotep I (r. ca. 1525–ca. 1504
b.c.e.) was the last of the family line; a courtier, Th utmose I (r.
ca. 1504–ca. 1492 b.c.e.), succeeded peacefully to the throne.
Th e New Kingdom was an era in which queens became
corulers with their husbands, wielding both political and mil-
itary power. Th e female king Hatshepsut (r. ca. 1473–ca. 1458
b.c.e.), the wife of Th utmose II (r. ca. 1481–ca. 1479 b.c.e.), ran
Egypt during the early rule of her stepson, Th utmose III (r.
ca. 1479–ca. 1425 b.c.e.). She tried unsuccessfully to have one
of her daughters succeed her as king; later Egyptians believed
that she had tried to upset the lawful line of kings. Other
queens were very powerful, notably Nefertiti, the primary
wife of Amenhotep IV (r. ca. 1353–ca. 1335 b.c.e.). In 1330 she
was declared the co-king and took the royal name of Nefern-
eferuaten (r. ca. 1330–ca. 1327 b.c.e.). Her husband was called
a heretic by later Egyptians because he believed there was only
one god, the disk of the sun, and changed the state religion ac-
cordingly. During the reign of Tutankhamun (r. ca. 1333–ca.
1323 b.c.e.), the old pantheon of gods was restored.
During the Eighteenth Dynasty, Egypt became one of the
most prosperous nations of the ancient world. It dominated
most of Nubia and expanded its infl uence to the east coast
of North Africa. It controlled the Mediterranean coast of the
Near East into Syria, as well as the Sinai. Aft er military vic-
tories, the central Egyptian government would leave a local
ruler in charge of the conquered area. Th is ruler was expected
to follow edicts from the central government, although the
local people were allowed a certain degree of autonomy in
deciding their own aff airs. Th e Egyptian government consis-
tently required that trade routes be left open and caravans
be allowed to pass unmolested; anyone who interfered with
these two requirements was put to the sword. Many Egyptian
military campaigns involved no fi ghting. Kings would lead
armies all the way into Syria or deep into Nubia just to make
clear that, if Egypt wished, it could crush these areas.
Th e Ninteenth Dynasty (ca. 1307–ca. 1196 b.c.e.) was
an era of great national wealth and military power. Its kings
were intelligent, strong-minded, and hard working. Th e word
pharaoh came into use to describe the king. Th e most famous
of the Ninteenth Dynasty kings is Ramses II (r. ca. 1290–ca.
1224 b.c.e.), whose reign was the second longest of the Egyp-
tian kings; he became the model ruler for his successors.
He was brash and a megalomaniac. He was also intelligent,
an excellent military leader, and one of the greatest build-
ers among Egypt’s kings. His military campaigns prevented
the Hittites of the northern Near East from taking control of
trade in northern Palestine, and he built impressively huge
monuments all over the lands he controlled. Th ese monu-
ments, oft en depicting Ramses II, were intended to show lo-
cal people the power and geographical range of the Egyptian
government.
Th e Twentieth Dynasty (ca. 1196–ca. 1070 b.c.e.) contin-
ued the strong rule of the Ninteenth Dynasty until its last 30During the New Kingdom the Chief Royal Wives of
the kings were partners with their husbands in rul-
ing Egypt. Their status seems to have refl ected a
general social attitude in Egypt about the rights and
responsibilities of husbands and wives as partners,
and women and men were equals before the law.
The wife of the king often ran Egypt’s bureaucracy
and economy. She sometimes even participated in
battles, though warfare seems to have been primarily
the husband’s responsibility. Occasionally, a woman
would become a female king, meaning she had the
duties and powers of the male part of kingship.
The fi rst such female king may have been Sobe-
knefru (r. ca. 1787–ca. 1783 B.C.E.), who ruled dur-
ing the Middle Kingdom. The most powerful female
king was probably Hatshepsut (r. ca. 1473–ca. 1458
B.C.E.), who was the daughter of Thutmose I and had
been the wife of Thutmose II. When her husband died,
she became the regent for her stepson, Thutmose III,
but in about 1473 B.C.E. she made herself the co-king.
This shift in her status was refl ected in the art of the
time: She was depicted wearing a beard which was a
traditional symbol of kingship.
Hatshepsut was responsible for opening up new
sources of trade for Egypt. In about 1460 B.C.E. she
sent an expedition through the Red Sea to discover
the location of Punt, with which Egypt had traded
through intermediaries since the Old Kingdom. The
expedition found Punt to be a region on the east coast
of Africa, and it began direct trading with people in
Punt. Children of chiefs from Punt were raised in the
Egyptian court. Hatshepsut also established links
with tribal peoples south of the kingdom of Kush,
sometimes entertaining delegations from southeast-
ern Africa in her palace. Her efforts signifi cantly in-
creased the prosperity of Egyptians, bringing into
Egypt gold, ebony, ivory, exotic incenses, and other
goods from new foreign sources.HATSHEPSUT, FEMALE KING
394 empires and dynasties: Egypt