Thutmose II
From Freepedia
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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 disputed among scholars. Some Egyptologists prefer to shorten his reign by a 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 evidence and in the official geneaologies of contemporary New Kingdom officials. In 1987, Luc Gabolde published a study in SAK which compared the number of known scarabs produced under Thutmose I, Thutmose II and Hatshepsut. The latter's reign reign length was known to be 21 Years and 9 Months. Gabolde concluded that Thutmose I and II had a reign of approximately 11 and 3 Full years respectively. Consequently, the reign length of Thutmose II is a highly controversial topic.
Thutmose II was the son of Thutmose I and a minor wife, Mutnofret. He was therefore a lessor son of Thutmose I and married 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 seen as evidence that Thutmose II was still a young child at his accession. Ineni, one of his officials, even states in his autobiography that the king was a "Hawk in the Nest" upon his rise to power which is a good indication of his relative youthfulness. Thutmose II had two daughters with Hatshepsut, Nefrure and Meritre, but managed to father a male heir, the famous Thutmose III, by a lesser wife named Isis before his death.
Some archaeologists believe that Hatshepsut was the real power behind the throne during Thutmose II’s rule because of the similar foreign and domestic 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.
See also: List of Pharaohs
| Preceded by: Thutmose I | Pharaoh of Egypt Eighteenth Dynasty | Succeeded by: Hatshepsut |
