Amenhotep I
Ahmose's son Amenhotep I (r. 1525 - 1504) ascended the throne when his father died.
We knew that he headed campaign aims at securing the borders at south and settled down when he was sure of the safe condition.
He directed his efforts to the country's internal affairs. As a result Egypt enjoyed stability and wealth.

Amenhotep ruled for about 20 prosperous years.

Thutmose I
Amenhotep I died without a rightful heir and so some problems erupted. Thutmose I (a.k.a. Thutmosis in Greek) (r. 1504 - 1492), who is believed to belong to the royal house, ascended the throne and to legitimize his rule he married princess Ahmose, Ahmose I's daughter.

Thutmose I led brilliant military campaigns to Egypt's southern borders and to Palestinian and Syrian lands. He reached to the Euphrates River in Iraq. Thutmose I is one of the earliest kings to build in the Karnak temple paving the way for his successors to contribute to its grandeur.

Thutmose was buried in his tomb at the Valley of the Kings and his mummy was found in the royal cache of Deir El-Bahari.

Thutmose II
After his death his son Thutmose II succeeded him. Thutmose II (r. 1492 - 1479) was a son of a secondary royal wife and so to strengthen his position he had to marry his stepsister queen Hatshepsut.

Thutmose II continued to quash the Nubian rebellions. He also tended to secure Egypt's eastern borders and copper quarries in Sinai Peninsula. Thutmose also contributed to the building at the Karnak temple. He was succeeded by his wife, Queen Hatshepsut. His mummy was found in cache at Deir El-Bahari temple.

Hatshepsut
(r. 1973 - 1458) Initially King Thutmose III succeeded his father Thutmose II but he was too young, so Queen Hatshepsut, his stepmother appointed herself as his regent.
Just two years after that she simply adopted the royal titles and drove the young boy away from the throne. She was aided in her rule by some statesmen, especially by vizier, Hapuseneb, who was the senior Amun priest at the Karnak and Senmut (a.k.a. Senenmut), her chief architect and steward, who designed the famous temple of Deir El-Bahari.

After building the temple, Hatshepsut wrote on its reliefs that she is the daughter of God Amun-Re and that she was chosen to rule the country. That was part of the propaganda that she launched to legitimize her seizure of the throne.
She also recorded the expedition which she sent to Punt to get loads of incense and trees.
She erected the temple of Speos Artemidos at Menya and contributed to the great Amun temple of Karnak. There, she erected a pair of red granite obelisks of which one still stands. She also built a temple at Medinet Habu.

Hatshepsut proved herself as one of the mightiest queens of ancient Egypt, as the country enjoyed stability and prosperity in her reign.
She tried to neglect her femininity so as to rise to the world of statesmen. She appeared in masculine figures and was referring to herself with male pronouns and men titles.

We aren't sure about her fate, whether she died naturally or was murdered, as some believe, by Thutmose who, might had brought about her death impelled by his hatred for her. Her mummy was never found.

Thutmose III

Thutmose III image 2004 © www.clipart.com

(r. 1458 - 1425) Thutmose succeeded his stepmother. At his first years in the reign he seemed to be tolerant of the memory of Hatshepsut. After strengthening the power he started to deform the reminiscences of her and also of her aides; He began to demolish her tombs and remove her name off reliefs.
Thutmose, then, carried out his monarchy royal duties to mark his character as one of the most influencing Pharaohs of ancient Egypt.

Thutmose was the first to arrange the army; dividing the army into sections i.e. right and left flanks, and the center. He was also studying the battle scene before its occurrence. Moreover he was the first of the Pharaohs to establish what is known as the Egyptian Empire. He overpowered peoples of neighboring countries and forced them to pay him tributes.
Hatshepsut actually neglected the Asiatic lands which increased their greediness to the extent that they organized an anti-Egyptian sovereignty plot. This was led by Kadesh's prince.

There were also the kingdom of Mitanni which led also some insurrection and had some influence in the east. Thutmose launched a military campaign to get back their territories.
He first marched to Gaza and then to a place called Yehem. He wanted to attack Megiddo, a stronghold of the prince of Kadesh.
At that point, he had 3 possible routes to choose from, 2 straightforward and the third was through a narrow pass that was more dangerous and tiresome.
His aides had a point to choose easier routes, but he preferred the third route and mocked their choices, and so the army marched into the narrow pass.

Thutmose had an indeed clever idea and good viewpoint as actually his enemies were anticipating the Egyptian army at the easier route.
Thutmose attacked his enemies at a site overlooking Megiddo.
The enemy was in panic and sought refuge inside the city's walls. The Egyptian army pursued a 7-month siege of the city after which the city finally felt.
The victorious king returned to Thebes where a great celebration took place.
For several years, Thutmose led about 17 military campaigns to Syrian territories to quell rebels there. The Egyptian navy was used in these campaigns.

In his 6th campaign Thutmose met his foe, the prince of Kadesh. Finally the city of Kadesh felt itself.
He also led a war against Mitanni near the river of Euphrates. He defeated its army and captured the city. Thutmose was also a devoted builder. He built two temples at Luxor; one of them is just behind Hatshepsut's temple of Deir El-Bahari. He also built pylons and a festival hall in the temple of Karnak and contributed to a Medinet Habu temple built by his stepmother, Hatshepsut.

He was buried in a tomb in the valley of kings, but his mummy was also found in the royal cache of Deir El-Bahari.

Amenhotep II

Amenhotep II image 2004 © www.clipart.com

Amenhotep II (r. 1427 - 1401) succeeded his father Thutmose II. He had a special zeal for sports; he was an athletic and a good horseman.
At the beginning of his rule, the Egyptian-controlled territories were trying to put the new king at test but he led successive campaigns against Syria and Phoenicia, following his father's footsteps.

The army once again marched as far as the river of Euphrates.
Returning back to Egypt, the triumphant king showed unusual barbarism, as he was recorded to have tortured his enemies, hanging some of them alive upside down on the prow of his ship and slaying some when he arrived home. Amenhotep also added to the temples of his father.