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Thutmose I[thut´mOz, tut´–] Pronunciation Key or Thothmes I[thoth´mEz, tOt´mes] Pronunciation Key, d. 1495 B.C., king of ancient Egypt, third ruler of the XVIII dynasty; successor of Amenhotep I. He became king c.1525. In a great campaign he subjugated the valley of the Nile up to the Third Cataract (below the present Dongola). Syria occupied his attention, and he at least temporarily subdued the country as far as the Euphrates River. His son and successor, Thutmose II, reigned from c.1495 to 1490 B.C. Unlike Hatshepsut, his half-sister whom he married, Thutmose II did not have a royal mother. Before long Hatshepsut gained equal power and relegated him to the background, calling herself "king." At the death of Thutmose II, Hatshepsut became regent for Thutmose III, his son by a minor queen. She relegated Thutmose III to an inferior position for 22 years while she ruled Egypt. At her death (1468), he emerged as the sole ruler of Egypt and as a great conqueror. Almost immediately he advanced into Syria, where an Asian alliance against Egypt waited to oppose him. He was victor at Megiddo and consolidated all Syria, except Phoenicia, in his empire. In successive campaigns he reduced every ruler N of the Euphrates to the status of autonomous tributary and eventually conquered even powerful Kadesh and Mitanni, a kingdom E of the Euphrates River. His empire (the zenith of the New Empire), extending from the Third Cataract to the Euphrates, was used to enrich Egypt with wealth and man power. He built temples up and down the Nile and founded the wealth of the priesthood of Amon, to which he belonged. Thutmose died (1436), after having made his son Amenhotep II coregent, and was buried in the Valley of the Tombs at Thebes. His mummy is now at Cairo. Thutmose IV (reigned c.1406–1398 B.C.), son and successor of Amenhotep II, also invaded Asia and Nubia; he formed alliances with independent kings neighboring his Syrian tributaries and married a princess of Mitanni, who was mother of his son and successor, Amenhotep III.
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