Thutmose I

The Commoner Come King

    The third king of the 18th Dynasty was a commoner by birth. He married Ahmose, a sister of Amenhotep I, and was named king when the his prodecessor died childless. Ahmose bore him two sons who were surprisingly passed over for Thutmose II, who was born to Mutnofret.
    Thutmose built an extension to the temple of Amon at Karnak. He added pylons, courts and statues. He led a campaign into Nubia where he penetrated beyond the Third Cataract. He defeated the Nubian chief in a hand to hand combat and returned to Thebes with the body of the fallen chief hanging on the prow of his ship. His greatest campaigns were in the Delta. Warring against the Hyksos he subdued tribes and finally reached the Euphrates River.
    To commemorate his victory he built a hall at Karnak, made entirely of cedar wood columns.
    His remains were found in the cache, with others, at Deir el Bahri. Thutmose brought Egypt a sense of stability and his military campaigns healed the wounds of Thebians.