Thutmose III

“ Ahmose's son succeeded him, but aside from putting down an uprising of the troublesome Ethiopians, little of importance attached to his administration.
It was left for Ahmose's grandson, Thutmose [3] I., to give Egypt the position she was to occupy among the nations for many years. Thutmose I. was instinctively a soldier. Coming to the throne when a mere boy, the Ethiopians made war directly, thinking they could easily overcome so inexperienced a king. Thutmose at once gave indication of his capacity by marching immediately into their territory and defeating them with tremendous slaughter. ”

“ We have up reliable record of the Chinese until late in the third millennium, and their civilization, if more ancient still, was isolated at least, and affected no other people. When Thutmose I. penetrated to the valley of the Euphrates, some years after the expulsion of the Hyksos, he came upon a nation, of whose culture, script, and language, as the recently discovered Tell-el-Amarna tablets indicate, were already familiar to his own people.
The recorded life of Egypt reaches back more than 6,000 years; civilization in Mesopotamia may have been more ancient. ”

“ The worship of Aton appears as early as the reign of Thutmose IV (ca. 1414-1406 B.C.) , who issued a commemorative scarab stating that the Pharaoh fought “with the Aton before him,” and that he campaigned abroad, “to make the foreigners to be like the (Egyptian) people, in order to serve the Aton forever.” [8]
Aton occupied an important place in the Egyptian pantheon during the reign of Akhenaton’s father, Amenhotep III. A stele of the king’s architects, Hori and Suti, describes the sun god as the deity who holds sway over all peoples and lands. ”

“ At last he ceased to visit the regiments stationed at Pi-Bast, but assembling at the palace all the young nobles, he amused himself and feasted, repressing in his heart indignation at the priests and anxiety for the fate of the country.
"Thou wilt see!" said he once to Tutmosis. "The holy prophets will manage us so that Musawasa will take Lower Egypt, and we shall have to flee to Thebes, if not to Sunnu, unless the Ethiopians drive us also from that place."
"Thou speakest truth," replied Tutmosis; "our rulers' acts resemble those of traitors." ”

“ The frightened Tutmosis waited till the access of rage had subsided; then he gave Rameses wine and water, and fumed him with calming perfumes; finally he sat near his lord and inquired the cause of this unmanly outburst.
“Sit here,” said the prince, without rising. “Knowest thou, I am to-day convinced that our priests have concluded an infamous treaty with Assyria; without war, without demands even from the other side! Canst thou imagine what we are losing?” ”

“ Tutmosis listened in alarm.
"I or they!" finished the prince. "Egypt cannot have two lords."
"Formerly it had only one, the pharaoh," added Tutmosis.
"Then Thou wilt be loyal to me?"
"I, all the nobles, and the army, I swear to thee."
"Enough!" concluded Ramses. "Let them discharge the mercenary regiments, let them sign treaties, let them hide before me like bats, and let them deceive us all. But the time will come And now, Tutmosis, rest after the journey; be with me at the feast this evening. Those people have so bound me that I can only amuse myself. Then let me amuse myself. ”

“ It is possible to fondle a lion, to buy a Phoenician, to win the attachment of a Libyan and an Ethiopian. It is possible to win favor from a Chaldean priest, for he, like an eagle, soars above heights and is safe from missiles. But an Egyptian prophet who has tried power and luxury Thou wilt win with nothing, only his death or thine can end the conflict."
"Samentu speaks truth," said Tutmosis. "Happily not his holiness, but we, the warriors, will decide the ancient struggle between the priests and the pharaoh." ”

“ But first of all I will seize their treasures, which have always been bloated, but which from the time of Ramses the Great have begun to swell out, and today are so swollen that the treasure of the pharaoh is invisible because of them."
"Woe to me and to thee!" sighed Tutmosis. "Thou hast plans under which this hill would bend could it hear and understand them. And where are thy forces, thy assistance, thy warriors? Against thee the whole people will rise, led by a class of men with mighty influence. But who is on thy rider?"
Ramses listened and fell to thinking. At last he said,
"The army." ”

“ I understand now-why a dog tears the cat which has crossed his path."
"Thou art accustomed to Jews and Phoenicians, worthiness, Thou hast met
Assyrians now for the first time," put in Tutmosis.
"Stupidity! the Phoenicians!" continued the prince, as if to himself.
"The Phoenicians, the Philistines, the Arabs, the Libyans, even the
Ethiopians seem, as it were, members of our own family. When they fail
to pay tribute, we are angry; when they pay, we forget our feeling. ”

“ And thy army would be larger than that which Ramses the Great had behind him,"
This zeal of the Phoenicians did not please the heir, but he was silent on that subject.
"But what will happen if the priests learn of your conversations?" inquired he. "None of you will escape death, be sure of that."
"They will learn nothing," replied Tutmosis, joyfully. "They trust too much in their power, they pay their spies badly, and have disgusted all Egypt with their pride and rapacity. ”

“ After the priest had gone, Tutmosis entered.
"The Greeks are raising the pile for their chief," said he, "and a number of Libyan women have agreed to wail at the funeral ceremony."
"We shall be present," answered Ramses. "Dost Thou know that my son is killed? such a little child. When I carried him he laughed and held out his little hands to me. What wickedness may be in the human heart is beyond comprehension. If that vile Lykon had attempted my life I could understand, even forgive him. But to slay a little child."
"But have they told thee of Sarah's devotion?" inquired Tutmosis. ”

“ Every princess at her birth received the title of “royal consort.” A son and daughter of Tahutmes, probably older than Hatshepsut, died in childhood, the former named Uatmes (who by some is believed to be brother rather than son of Tahutmes) and a daughter Kheb-no-fru-ra or Nefer’kebt. Tahutmes himself is considered the son of Amenhotep I and Queen Sen-semb.
Tahutmes I, like his predecessors, was a warrior. He fought in the north, made conquests in Palestine and Syria and penetrated into Mesopotamia. ”

“ Thothmes addressed his army, and told them of the information he had just received concerning the position of the enemy, who had said, ‘I will withstand the King of Egypt at Megiddo.’ ‘And now,’ said the king, ‘tell me the way by which we shall go to break into the city.’ The army with one accord entreated to be led by any way but that which wound along by the Jordan. ‘It has been told us,’ they said, ‘that the foe lies there in ambush, and the way is impassable for a great host; one horse cannot stand there beside another, nor can one man find room by another. ”

“ Then, in his fifth year, he marched northward with a great army, with purpose, it would appear, to emulate the achievements of Thothmes III and win fame as a mighty conqueror. But he underestimated the strength of his rival and narrowly escaped disaster. Advancing impetuously, with but two of his four divisions, he suddenly found himself surrounded by the army of the wily Hittite, King Mutallu, in the vicinity of the city of Kadesh, on the Orontes. ”

“ Instead of plunging with a small force into the midst of populous countries, and contending with armies ten or twenty times as numerous as his own, defeating them, and utterly subduing a vast empire, Thothmes marched at the head of a numerous disciplined army into thinly peopled regions, governed by petty chiefs jealous one of another, fought scarcely a single great battle, and succeeded in conquering two regions of a moderate size, Syria and Upper Mesopotamia, as far as the Khabour river. ”

“ Thûtmosis brought with him on ascending the throne the spirit of the younger generation, who, born shortly after the deliverance from the Hyksôs, had grown up in the peaceful days of Amenôthes, and, elated by the easy victories obtained over the nations of the south, were inspired by ambitions unknown to the Egyptians of earlier times. To this younger race Africa no longer offered a sufficiently wide or attractive field; the whole country was their own as far as the confluence of the two Niles, and the Theban gods were worshipped at Napata no less devoutly than at Thebes itself. ”

“ Tutmosis was troubled. His conclusion that it was Lykon was wise and might be true, but indications were not lacking that the queen had seen Rameses. It was certain that he had returned to his chamber after midnight; he wore a tunic with [Pg 626] white and blue stripes, he had lost his mantle. It was true that his brother was demented, and, moreover, could a mother’s heart deceive her?
And doubts rose in the soul of Tutmosis, intricate and involved as a nest of poisonous reptiles. Luckily in proportion as his doubts increased hope entered the heart of Nikotris. ”

“ Regiments are not formed in a few days."
"But enchantments?" inquired Tutmosis.
"There are no enchantments which an axe will not shatter," said Ramses, laughing.
Tutmosis wished at that moment to mention the tricks of the high priests with Lykon, but he was restrained by the thought that his lord would be very angry and lose calmness, through which he was powerful on that day. A chief before battle can think of nothing but action, and there would be time enough for Lykon's case when the priests were in prison. ”

“ If thou wilt convince thyself—oh, that my words be not ill understood—”
The prince grew so gloomy that Tutmosis broke off the conversation and took farewell of his friend at the earliest. When he sat down in his boat, which was furnished with a baldachin and curtains, he drew a deep breath and draining a large goblet of wine, thought,—
“Brr! I thank the gods for not giving me such a character as that which Rameses has. He is a most unhappy man in the happiest conditions. He might have the most beautiful women in Memphis, but he sticks to one to annoy his mother. ”

“ They will all vote with our lord, but from the multitude we must select the wisest."
He took leave of the pharaoh and went out.
"But thou, Tutmosis," inquired Ramses.
"My lord," said the favorite, "I am so certain of thy nobility and army that I make bold to turn to thee with a request for myself."
"Thou wishest money?"
"Not at all. I wish to marry."
"Thou!" exclaimed the pharaoh. "What woman has earned from the gods such a happiness?"
"She is the beautiful Hebron, the daughter of Antefa, the most worthy nomarch of Thebes," replied Tutmosis, laughing. ”

“ The heir waved his hand contemptuously.
"A charioteer of his holiness means more than any king, especially any king of the Israelites, who as yet have no kingdom."
"In every case, Sarah's fault is not so great," put in Tutmosis.
"Then know that I will pay the priests sometime."
"They are not to blame so greatly. For instance, the worthy Herhor did this to increase the glory and power of thy dynasty. And he did it with the knowledge of thy mother."
"But why does Mefres interfere? His single duty is to care for the temple, not influence the fate of the pharaoh's descendants." ”

“ This is an insufficient excuse, but it is better than anything which can be offered on behalf of Thucydidês; who had with him a paid Athenian force, and might just as well have kept it at Eion as at Thasos. We may be sure that the absence of Thucydidês with his fleet, at Thasos, was one essential condition in the plot laid by Brasidas with the Argilians.
To say, with Dr. Thirlwall, that “human prudence and activity could not have accomplished more than Thucydidês did, under the same circumstances,” is true as matter of fact, and creditable as far as it goes. ”

“ Thothmes III., a man of great ambition and no less ability, is not likely to have acquiesced very willingly in the secondary position assigned to him. Whether he openly rebelled against it, broke with Hatasu, and deprived her of the throne, or even put her to death, is wholly uncertain. The monuments hitherto discovered are absolutely silent as to what became of this great queen. She may have died a natural death, opportunely for her brother, who must have wished to find himself unshackled ”

“ Moreover, the aristocracy, the army, the scribes, the laborers, even the minor priests are only waiting for the signal to attack the temples, take out the treasures, and lay them at the feet of the pharaoh. When their treasures fail, all their power will be lost to the holy fathers. They will cease even to work miracles, for to work them gold rings are needed."
The prince turned conversation to other subjects and gave Tutmosis the sign of withdrawal. ”

“ Without doubt it was then against the legitimate rule that a woman should hold the government; for that reason probably her brother, who was still a minor, appears as a co-regent. After her death, all her cartouches were turned into Tuthmosis-cartouches, the feminine expressions of the inscriptions changed, and her name was never mentioned in the later lists of the legitimate kings.
Of Tuthmosis III., who completed the work of his royal sister during his long reign, two temples still exist, both erected at the edge of the desert. ”