The Achievements of Pharaoh Thutmose IV
Thutmose I
Thutmose II
 Thutmose III

Gathering the morsels of information on Thutmose IV - Checking the Revised ScenarioThutmose IV

Establishing Thutmose IV Campaigns into Syrian/Assyrian Territories

In this section we intend to present information to the contacts between Egypt and Mesopotamia during the reign of Thutmose IV and his Queens Iaret, Nefertiry and Mutemwiya according to revised dates. In doing so we expect to be able to put together tantalizing bits of information allowing a reconstruction of the era of this king not found anywhere else.

W. Helck, `Records of Egypt', Sec. 494 Inscriptions from the Chariot of Thutmose IV from his tomb - #1559, p. 259.

"The scene accompanying section A. shows the king in his chariot shooting arrows at Syrians. Section

C `shows the king as a sphinx trampling Syrians."

p. 261, list of conquered peoples as seen in the interior of the chariot:

On the left, Asiatics: Naharin, Sangar, Tunip, Shasu (a general name for Asiatic Bedouins [Gardiner, AEO 1, p.1, 93], Kadesh, Tjeksy.

On the right, Nubians: 3 Kurja, Miuy, Irem, Gerses, Tiurek.

Mentions the `Fenkhu' , p. 260 who some regard as an Egyptian reference to the `Assyrians'. [Waterson, P., Private e-mail]

Glyphs for Fenkhu Fenkhu


Most books will consider the eastern Mediterranean (Phoenician) Coast the region for Fenkhu, however, during Assyrian times it may be more likely the center of their government, the Tigris River valley and its capitals.

p. 269, He boasts saying: "King of kings and ruler of rulers, a sovereign to be boasted of, king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Menkheperure, who has conquered all lands for himself, gleaming-of-diadems, beloved of Amun Re, king of the gods, given life, stability, dominion, whilst his heart is joyful, together with his ka like (that of) Re for ever."

From the reign of Thutmose also comes the inscription on a scarab:

"The princes of Naharin bearing their gifts behold ((Menkheperure)(Thutmose IV) as he comes forth from the palace. They hear his voice like that of the son of Nut, his bow in his hand, like the son of Isis. If he arouses himself to fight with the Aton before him he destroys the mountains, trampling down the foreign lands, treading unto Naharin and unto Karoy in order to bring the inhabitants of foreign lands like subjects to the rule of the Aton forever." [F.J. Giles, `Ikhnaton, legend and history', p. 118]

Thutmose IV and the Bentresh Stele

The Bentresh stele, even though carved with iconography and written text of the time of Ramses II, "it was undoubtedly made toward the end of the Pharaonic Period, possibly in the 27th Dynasty (Persian) in the 6th century BC, but before the arrival of Alexander the Great in 332 BC. ... the language is a reasonable copy of the grammar, syntax, and spelling of an authentic text of Ramesses' time. ... The text begins with a full royal titulary of ... Ramessu ... but (also) with other royal names, which refer specifically to King Tuthmosis IV... The main text begins with ... Ramesses annual visit to the land of Naharin (northern Syria) where he receives tribute from many foreign princes, including a soecial gift from the prince of Bakhtan, his eldest daughter." [T.G.H.James, `Ramses II', p. 306f] Of course in conventional chronology the latter years of Ramesses with respect to the Persian period represents a difference of some 600-700 years, in the revised scheme merely 50-100 years. To the Persians, Ramses II evidence was all around them. At the start of the reign of Ramses II in the revised and conventional arrangement, Egypt hardly received tribute from Naharin, therefore, the wording and content of this short passage on the Bentresh Stele titled `Tribute in Naharin' likely reaches back to the time of Thutmose IV, ca. 300 years before.
A Wadi Halfa Stela

According to older information dating from the early 1890is and here brought back for partial information, Captain Lyon conducted excavations in Southern Egypt. "Four sandstone stelae, all found in the northern `Brick Temple of Halfa', are now in the Ashmolean Museum... ."

Of these stelae the one refered to as III may be of some interest in that it mentions Thutmose IV. The 36x19 ½ inch stela is of fine stone and good workmanship. At the top, upon the right, is the ut'a; on the left is one wing of the disk , with dependent uraei, between which is the name of Thutmosis IV,; the disk itself, immediately above, serving as the sign . Together with the remaining signs a partial reading is given as, "Delighting [the King] as regards Ethiopia beyond what she produces" or "The delighting of Ethiopia beyond her products". The royal prince, in whose name the stela is inscribed, is presumably the Amenophis of Lepsius, Denkmäler', III, 69a whom one would naturally take to be the future Amenophis III. [W.E.Crum, `Stelae from Wadi Halfa' in PSBA, Vol. XVI, Nov 1893, p. 16-19; See also P. Scott-Moncrieff, Some Notes on the 18th Dynasty Temple at Wadi Halfa in PSBA, Vol. XXIX, 1907, p. 39-46. Also shown are the glyphs and text of an inscription by Thutmose III, p. 43-45.]
Statues and Statuettes of Thutmose IV

For a rather instructive article see Betsy M. Bryan's `Portrait Sculpture of Thutmose IV' in the Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt (JARCE), Vol. XXIV, 1987, p. 3-20.

It is instructive to compare `likenesses' of Thutmose IV, also his wife Tiaa, with those of Amenhotep III for instance. The former's are characterized with variant facial features, i.e. slanted eyes, thin lips, while the latter has full lips and less slanted eyes. Also the appearance of `diadems' are a characteristic of Thutmose IV.

The Portico Court of Ipet-Isut

This structure is no longer in existence since Amenhotep III used its blocks as filler for his own building project, the Third Pylon at Karnak. These masterfully executed relief carvings made by the artists of Thutmose IV are today once again being published. [KMT, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 42-47]

Artifacts Relating to Pharaoh Thutmose IV

A fairly good image of the sarcophagus of the king may be seen in Peter A. Clayton's, `Chronicle of the Pharaohs', p. 113.
A fine color image of a pillar of the portico of Thutmoses IV can be seen in J. Lauffray, `Karnak d'Egypte - Domain du vivin', Paris, 1979, p. 116, 118.
An inscribed bronze ax-head bearing the prenomen of Amenhotep II bears also a short hieroglyphic text, `"Captain of the Mery Amen ...?", a ship name which is mentioned in several stela in the Louvre, two of which bear the cartouche of Thutmose IV.'Percy E. Newberry, Extracts from my Notebooks in PSBA, Jun 1902, p. 244-252.; Also contains drawn plates including a plaque of king `Aspalut/Aspalta', a scarab of `Ym-hetep', a ring of `Sat-Amen' and a piece of a kohl-tube of `Hent-Ta-Neb'.

The House of Menkheprure

Interestingly enough Thutmose IV name of Menkheprure continues with "Shopsi resting in Hekak". This inscription on a foundation containing the prenomen of Thutmose IV is understood to be part of a reference to a (small?) temple, not improbable at Karnak. `Makak' may be the provincial domain in which this temple was located. According to Gardiner both, `Hekak' and its god `Shopsi' are known and can perhaps be associated with the later funerary temple of a king whose name was read as Ramses IV, if the reading is correct. [A.H.Gardiner, `Ramesside Texts on Taxation, etc., of corn', Vol. 27, 1941, p. 67f]

The Mummy of Thutmose IV

It was Victor Loret who in 1898 found the tomb of Amenophis II (KV35). In the second side room to the right he found reportedly the mummies of Thutmose IV, Amenophis III, Merneptah, Siptah, Sethos II, Ramses IV, V and VI, and an unidentifiable female mummy. Of the 9 sarcophagy present only five had still the lid in position. [F. Abitz, `Baugeschichte und Dekoration des Grabes Ramses IV.', Göttingen, 1989, p. 9]

The Tomb of Thutmose IV

"The passage from room I to the hall of the sarcophagus (SH) was walled up in I, decorated and dressed throughout with the representations shown of the left wall, as the earlier representations on the left and right of the current forced entry way to the SH clearly still show details of figures. It is assumed that in room I the passage to the SH was not anymore visible after the interment of the king. If a new plastered, a reworked stucco or even a decoration was made by Horemheb is not known. Before this time would the passage way to the SH have been destroyed by intruders.
E. Thomas noted, that here were found two different seal impressions on different types of stucco, one, which obviously was the original seal of the necropolis, the other shows the cartouche of Horemheb. From the direction of the SH the passage to I appears to have been closed off by a wooden door. This points out that it was deemed important to close off access to the SH from the inside. Without this door, which would have allowed return of the workmen to room I, at least the part of the wall visible in the rough plaster of the SH would have remained visible." [Friedrich Abitz, `König und Gott' in Ägyptische Abhandlungen Vol. 40, 1984, p. 33; quotes E.Thomas, `Necropoleis', p. 81; translated by CIAS]

For information with detailed drawings and hieroglyphic texts see F. Abitz's, `König und Gott', in Ägyptologische Abhandlungen, Band 40 1984, p. 37 and other pages.
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