Thutmose II

The Life and Times of Pharaoh Thutmose II

Gathering the morsels of information on Thutmose II - Checking the Revised Scenario

The Life and Times of Thutmose II

Thutmose II was the husband of his Queen the later Pharaoh Hatshepsut. For an image of the two together see KMT, Spring 2000, page 58.

History books will write about Thutmose II as follows:

"Thutmose II is one of those historical figures who happened to occupy an interlude between more eventful times. His father is to be regarded as a brilliant military leader, a warrior king who, during his 6 year reign, set Egypt firmly on the path to empire. ... It has been assumed that, by the time he was in his twenties, Thutmose II was in poor health, or else was indolent, letting Hatshepsut do the actual day-to-day governing of the Two Lands, in fact if not in form." [Dennis Forbes, `Akheperenre Djehutyems' the all-but-forgotten Second Thutmoses, KMT, Summer 2000, Vol. 11, p. 63-75.]

Perhaps the significant references to Thutmose I above should be kept in mind for our little file on the father of Thutmose II since we do not repeat this quotation there.

"Thutmose I died in about 1518 BC (conventional dates), leaving behind a complicated situation vis à vis his successor to the throne. His two elder sons - the princes Wadjmose and Amenmose - predecased their father, so the young third son became heir. Also called Thutmose, the new king was son of a minor royal wife, the princess Mutnefert. In order to strengthen the youngster's position, therefore, he was married to his half-sister Hatshepsut, elder daughter of Thutmose I and his queen Ahmose." [P.Clayton, `Chronicle of the Pharaohs', p. 102]

References to Relief Carvings
The detail of a relief carving described as showing Thutmose II and Hatshepsut behind him, facing the same direction to the left, on display at the Luxor Museum, can be seen in KMT, Vol. 10, Summer 1999, p. 36. The badly damaged cartouche closest to Hatshepsut could be hers based on one partial sign, the also damaged cartouche closest to the male figure does not seem to match that of Thutmose II nor any other 18th Dynasty king, unless it is a less well known name circle of another figure or of the king.

For an image of a painted cartouche from probably a new kingdom tomb see: A. Rosalie David, `The Making of the Past - The Egyptian Kingdoms', 1975, p. 50.

Even though historical accounts from the days of Thutmose II are sparse he is credited with advancing a hieroglyphic writing form which allowed to write otherwise lengthy and verbose texts in a more compact format by using the íw.tw formula. Later kings perfected this formula further. Scribes wanted to get to the main account of a battle quickly and one way they did it is by stating, `One came to say to his majesty ... .'[A.J.Spalinger, `Aspects of the Military Documents of the Ancient Egyptians', 1982, p. 2; See the Assuan Philae Inscription of Thutmose II: `íw.tw r dd n hm.f']

Basically in the days of Thutmose II the formula was shortened from `íí.tw r rdít wd₃-íb n hm.f r-ntt' - to - `íw', meaning `I come'. The hieroglyphics are shown like this:

or in short

The closest phrase in Hebrew may be this, "... for all that came unto king Solomon's table ..." [1.Kings 4:27] which probably does not serve the same function but may show that such expression, the `coming before the king' were in use even in Israel during that era. The Egyptian formula, however, was originally designed to shorten otherwise lenghty military accounts in their picture representational method of writing. The scribes of later kings would use these hieroglyphics in numerous inscriptions of their own time. In contrast, the alphabetic Hebrew language could express much with very few characters.

Artifacts Relating to the King

Some now eagerly sought after artifacts of Thutmose II are: a left side panel and door leaf of ebony probably part of a larger naos. These fine ebony carvings Lotus blossom photographed by CIAS in a pool of water are discussed and photographs are shown by Edouard Naville but the carvings apparently are now missing. For the images and story see KMT, Vol. 13, Winter 2002/03, p. 43ff.
The lotus, or lily (Hebr.), design is known from relics of the king as for example on a side view of a throne on which the king sits extending his right hand as if in a gesture of blessing.[Joyce Tyldesley, `Hatchepsut', 1996, p. 83.]

The End of the Road for Thutmose II

Following the bleating sounds of a fallen camel, Ahmed Abd el-Rassul became the discoverer of the Deir el-Bahri Cache of some 32 mummies. Together with later finds this number swelled to some 40 mummies, not all of them necessarily of kings or queens. But it was Emile Brugsch who was the first European to see the sights on Thursday, July 6th, 1881.

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