Thutmose II
Thutmose II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Thutmosis II, Chebron, Chebros | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pharaoh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reign | 13 yrs (disputed), 1493–1479 BC (Low Chronology), 1513–1499 BC (High Chronology) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Thutmose I | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Successor | Hatshepsut | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Consort | Deir el-Bahri royal cache (Theban Necropolis) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dynasty | 18th Dynasty |
Thutmose II was the fourth
Family
Thutmose II (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis II, Thothmes in older history works in Latinized Greek;
Some archaeologists believe that Hatshepsut was the real power behind the throne during Thutmose II's rule because of the similar domestic and foreign policies that were later pursued under her reign and because of her claim that she was her father's intended heir. She is depicted in several raised relief scenes from a Karnak gateway dating to Thutmose II's reign both together with her husband and alone.[2] She later had herself crowned Pharaoh several years into the rule of her husband's young successor Thutmose III; this is confirmed by the fact that "the queen's agents actually replaced the king's name in a few places with her own cartouches" on the gateway.[3]
Manetho's Epitome refers to Thutmose II as "Chebron" (a reference to his prenomen, Aakheperenre) and gives him a reign of 13 years, but this figure is highly disputed among scholars. Some Egyptologists prefer to shorten his reign by a full decade to only three years because his highest Year Date is only a Year 1 II Akhet day 8 stele.[4]
Reign
Dates and length of reign
Manetho's Epitome has been a debated topic among
Argument for a short reign
Ineni, who was already aged by the start of Thutmose II's reign, lived through this ruler's entire reign into that of Hatshepsut.[8] In addition, Thutmose II is poorly attested in the monumental record and in the contemporary tomb autobiographies of New Kingdom officials. A clear count of monuments from his rule, which is the principal tool for estimating a king's reign when dated documents are not available, is nearly impossible because Hatshepsut usurped most of his monuments, and Thutmose III in turn reinscribed Thutmose II's name indiscriminately over other monuments.[9] However, apart from several surviving blocks of buildings erected by the king at Semna, Kumma, and Elephantine, Thutmose II's only major monument consists of a limestone gateway at Karnak that once lay at the front of the Fourth Pylon's forecourt. Even this monument was not completed in Thutmose II's reign but in the reign of his son Thutmose III, which hints at "the nearly ephemeral nature of Thutmose II's reign".[10] The gateway was later dismantled and its building blocks incorporated into the foundation of the Third Pylon by Amenhotep III.[3]
In 1987, Luc Gabolde published an important study that statistically compared the number of surviving
Argument for a long reign
Thutmose's reign is still traditionally given as 13 or 14 years. Although Ineni's autobiography can be interpreted to say that Thutmose reigned only a short time, it also calls Thutmose II a "hawk in the nest", indicating that he was perhaps a child when he assumed the throne.[8] Since he lived long enough to father two children—Neferure and Thutmose III—this suggests that he may have had a longer reign of 13 years in order to reach adulthood and start a family. The German Egyptologist, J. Von Beckerath, uses this line of argument to support the case of a 13-year reign for Thutmose II.[13][page needed] Alan Gardiner noted that at one point a monument had been identified by Georges Daressy in 1900,[14] dated to Thutmose's 18th year, although its precise location has not been identified.[15] This inscription is now usually attributed to Hatshepsut, who certainly did have an 18th year. Von Beckerath observes that a Year 18 date appears in a fragmentary inscription of an Egyptian official and notes that the date likely refers to Hatshepsut's prenomen Maatkare, which had been altered from Aakheperenre Thutmose II, with the reference to the deceased Thutmose II being removed. There is also the curious fact that Hatshepsut celebrated her Sed Jubilee in her Year 16, which von Beckerath believes occurred 30 years after the death of Thutmose I, her father, who was the main source of her claim to power. This would create a gap of 13 to 14 years where Thutmose II's reign would fit in between Hatshepsut and Thutmose I's rule.[16] Von Beckerath additionally stresses that Egyptologists have no conclusive criteria to statistically evaluate the reign length of Thutmose II based on the number of preserved objects from his reign.[17]
Catherine Roerig has proposed that tomb
A reconsideration of this new archaeological evidence would remove several arguments usually advanced in support of a short reign: namely the absence of a tomb that can be assigned to Thutmose II, the absence of a funerary temple and the lack of any major works undertaken by this pharaoh.[23] Thutmose II's Karnak building projects would also imply that his reign was closer to 13 years rather than just 3 years.
Archaeologists from Warsaw University’s Institute of Archaeology led by Andrzej Niwiński have discovered a treasure chest and a wooden box dated 3,500 years back in the Egyptian site of Deir el-Bahari in March 2020.[24]
The stone chest consisted of several items and all of them covered with linen canvas. Three bundles of flax were found during the excavation. A goose skeleton was found inside one of them, sacrificed for religious purposes. The second one included goose eggs. It is believed that what the third bundle contained was an ibis egg which had a symbolic meaning for the ancient Egyptians. In addition, a little wooden trinket box was discovered inside the bundle, believed to contain the name Pharaoh Thutmose II.
According to the Andrzej Niwiński, "The chest itself is about 40 cm long, with a slight smaller height. It was perfectly camouflaged, looked like an ordinary stone block. Only after a closer look did it turn out to be a chest."[24]
Military Campaigns
Upon Thutmose's coronation,
Thutmose also seems to have fought against the
Death
Burial
His tomb is not known for certain. It is speculated that it may have originally been KV42[by whom?]. Another option is tomb C4 near the Valley of the kings. The much destroyed tomb dates to the early 18th Dynasty and shows many features typical for a royal burial, such as remains of an Amduat depicted on the walls. [29] However, his remains were found in the Royal Cache of Mummies at Deir el-Bahari (Theban Necropolis).
Mummy
Thutmose II's mummy was discovered in the
The mummy was unwrapped by Gaston Maspero on July 1, 1886. There is a strong familial resemblance to the mummy of Thutmose I, his likely father, as the mummy's face and shape of the head are very similar. The body of Thutmose II suffered greatly at the hands of ancient tomb robbers, with his left arm broken off at the shoulder-joint, the forearm separated at the elbow joint, and his right arm chopped off below the elbow. His anterior abdominal wall and much of his chest had been hacked at, possibly by an axe. In addition, his right leg had been severed from his body.[31] All of these injuries were sustained post-mortem, though the body also showed signs that Thutmose II did not have an easy life, as the following quote by Gaston Maspero attests:
He had scarcely reached the age of thirty when he fell a victim to a disease of which the process of embalming could not remove the traces. The skin is scabrous in patches, and covered with scars, while the upper part of the skull is bald; the body is thin and somewhat shrunken, and appears to have lacked vigour and muscular power.[32]
James Harris and Fawzia Hussien (1991) conducted an X-ray survey on New Kingdom royal mummies and examined the mummified remains of Thutmose II. The results of the study determined that the mummy of Thutmose II had a craniofacial trait measurement that is common among Nubian populations.[33]
His mummy has the inventory number CG 61066.
See also
- History of Ancient Egypt
- Family tree of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-58983-736-2. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ Betsy Bryan (2000). "The 18th Dynasty before the Amarna Period". The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. p. 236.
- ^ a b Betsy Bryan, p. 236
- ^ J. Von Beckerath (1997). Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten, Münchner Ägyptologische Studien 46. Mainz: Philip von Zabern. p. 201.
- ^ a b Grimal, Nicolas (1988). A History of Ancient Egypt. Librairie Arthéme Fayard. p. 204.
- ^ Helk, Wolfgang. Schwachstellen der Chronologie-Diskussion. pp. 47–49. Göttinger Miszellen, Göttingen, 1983
- ^ Shaw, Ian; Nicholson, Paul (1995). The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. The British Museum Press. p. 289.
- ^ a b Breasted, James Henry (1906). Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. II. University of Chicago Press. p. 47.
- ^ Grimal, Nicolas. A History of Ancient Egypt. Librairie Arthéme Fayard, 1988. p. 216.
- ^ Betsy Bryan, pp. 235–236
- ^ Gabolde, Luc (1987). "La Chronologie du règne de Thoutmosis II, ses conséquences sur la datation des momies royales et leurs répercutions sur l'histoire du développement de la Vallée des Rois". Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur. 14: 61–87.
- ^ Gabolde, Luc (1987). "La Chronologie du règne de Thoutmosis II, ses conséquences sur la datation des momies royales et leurs répercutions sur l'histoire du développement de la Vallée des Rois". Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur. 14: 67–68.
- ^ J. Von Beckerath, "Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten", Münchner Ägyptologische Studien 46 (Philip von Zabern, Mainz: 1997)
- ^ G. Daressy, Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte 1, 1900, 90(20)
- ^ a b Gardiner, Alan. Egypt of the Pharaohs. p. 180 Oxford University Press, 1964
- ^ J. Von Beckerath, "Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten", Münchner Ägyptologische Studien 46 (Philip von Zabern, Mainz: 1997), p. 121
- ^ J. von Beckerath, "Nochmals zur Regierung Tuthmosis' II", Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 17 (1990), pp. 65–74
- ^ C. Roerig, "The Building Activities of Thutmose III in the Valley of the Kings", in E.C. Cline, D. O'Connor (eds.), Thutmose III: A New Biography, Ann Arbor 2006, pp. 238–259
- ^ Luc Gabolde, "La 'cour de fetes' de Thoutmosis II à Karnak", Cahiers de Karnak 9 (1993), pp. 1–100; Luc Gabolde, "Monuments décorés en bas relief aux noms de Thoutmosis II et Hatshepsout à Karnak", Mémoires publiés par les membres de l'Institut Français d'Archéology Orientale (MIFAO) 123 le Cairo 2005.
- ^ Luc Gabolde, Monuments décorés en bas relief aux noms de Thoutmosis II et Hatshepsout à Karnak, Mémoires publiés par les membres de l'Institut Français d'Archéology Orientale (MIFAO) 123 le Cairo 2005.
- ^ Zygmunt Wysocki, "The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari: Its Original Form", Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 42 (1986), pp. 213–228
- ^ W. V. Davies, "Tombos and the Viceroy Inebny/Amenemnekhu", British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and the Sudan 10 (2008), 45f
- ^ Thomas Schneider, "Contributions to the Chronology of the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period", Egypt and the Levant 20, 2010. p. 393
- ^ a b "Stone chest found in ancient temple and containing skeleton of a sacrificial goose could lead to hidden royal tomb". www.thefirstnews.com. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
- ^ Steindorff, George; and Seele, Keith. When Egypt Ruled the East. p. 35. University of Chicago, 1942
- ^ Breasted, James Henry. Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. II p. 49. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1906
- ^ Breasted, James Henry. Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. II p. 50. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1906
- ^ a b Breasted, James Henry. Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. II p. 51. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1906
- ^ Piers Litherland: Has the Tomb of Thutmoses II been found? In: Egyptian Archaeology. 63, Autumn 2023, pp. 28–31.
- ^ PMID 26808107.
- ^ Smith, G Elliot. The Royal Mummies, pp. 28–29. Duckworth, 2000 (reprint).
- ^ Maspero, Gaston. History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 4 (of 12) Project Gutenberg EBook, Release Date: December 16, 2005. EBook #17324.
- ISSN 1047-482X.
- ^ Parisse, Emmanuel (5 April 2021). "22 Ancient Pharaohs Have Been Carried Across Cairo in an Epic 'Golden Parade'". ScienceAlert. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
External links
Media related to Thutmosis II at Wikimedia Commons