Thutmose II
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Akheperenre Thutmose II (d. 1479 BC; sometimes spelled Thutmosis) was the fourth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from either 1492 BC or 1482 BC to 1479 BC. Manetho's Epitome calls him 'Chebron' which is a reference to his prenomen--Akheperenre--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 3 Years because his Highest Year Date is only a Year 1 stela. In addition, he is poorly attested in the monumental record and in the contemporary tomb autobiographies of New Kingdom officials. In 1987, Luc Gabolde published an important study in Studien Zur Altägyptischen Kultur (SAK) which statistically compared the number of surviving scarabs found under Thutmose I, Thutmose II and Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut's reign length is known to be 21 Years and 9 Months. Gabolde highlighted--in his analysis--the relatively small number of surviving scrabs known for Thutmose II compared to Tuthmose I and Hatshepsut, and estimated Thutmose I and II's reigns to be approximately 11 and 3 full years respectively. Subsequently, the reign length of Thutmose II has been a controversial and much debated subject among Egyptologists with little consensus given the small number of surviving documents for his reign. Virtually all his monuments were dismantled or recycled by later New Kingdom Pharaohs.
Family
Image:Luxor, hieroglyphs on an obelisk inside the Temple of Hatshepsut, Egypt, Oct 2004.jpg
Thutmose II was the son of Thutmose I and a minor wife, Mutnofret. He was, therefore, a lesser son of Thutmose I who chose to marry his fully royal half-sister, Hatshepsut, to secure his kingship. While he successfully put down rebellions in Nubia and the Levant and defeated a group of nomadic Bedouins, these campaign were specifically carried out by the king's Generals, and not by Thutmose II himself. This is often interpreted as evidence that Thutmose II was still a minor at his accession. Ineni, one of his court officials, even states in his tomb Autobiography that the king was a "Hawk in the Nest" upon his rise to power which is an indication of his relative youth. Thutmose II had two daughters with Hatshepsut, Nefrure and Meritre, but also managed to father a male heir, the famous Thutmose III, by a lesser wife named Isis before his death. If Thutmose II was indeed a young child on his accession, he would probably have reigned for 13 Years in order to reach Maturity and father children of his own. The German Egyptologist, J. Von Beckerath, uses this line of argument to support the case of a 13 Year reign for Thutmose II in his book, Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten.("Chronology of the Egyptian Pharaohs") Von Beckerath also notes the curious fact that Hatshepsut celebrated her Sed Jubilee in her Year 16 which he believes would have occurred 30 Years after the death of Thutmose I, her father, who was the sole source of her claim to power. This would create a gap of 13-14 Years where Tuthmose II's reign would fit in.
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 which were later pursued under her reign and because of her claim that she was her father’s intended heir. She later had herself crowned Pharaoh after his death early during Thutmose III's reign. Thutmose II's body was found in the Deir el-Bahri Cache above the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut and can be viewed today in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
References
- J. Von Beckerath, Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten, MÄS 46 (Philip von Zabern, Mainz: 1997)
- Template:Cite journal
See also
| Preceded by: Thutmose I | Pharaoh of Egypt Eighteenth Dynasty | Succeeded by: Hatshepsut |
es:Aajeperenra-Thutmose fr:Thoutmôsis II it:Thutmose II lt:Tutmozis II pl:Totmes II ru:Тутмос II sk:Thutmose II. fi:Thutmosis II zh:图特摩斯二世