Once Hatshepsut was gone, Thutmose III (reigned c. 1479–1425 BC) led his army north almost every year. His first campaign, in his Year 23, ended in one of the best-documented battles of the ancient world.
Key idea
The road to Megiddo
The account of the campaign, carved at Karnak in Thutmose's Annals, tells how the army reached the ridge south of Megiddo. Three roads led over it. His officers urged the two wide roads around; the king chose the narrow Aruna pass, straight through, where the army had to march in single file. The enemy, expecting him elsewhere, was caught off guard. The coalition broke and fled into Megiddo, and after a long siege the city surrendered.
Why it works
The Annals and later campaigns
- The Annals, on the walls around Karnak's sanctuary, record campaigns, booty and tribute year by year, based on a daybook kept by army scribes.
- In about his Year 33 his army crossed the Euphrates, with boats carried overland, and set up a stela next to that of his grandfather Thutmose I.
- Sons of defeated rulers were brought to Egypt and raised at court, then sent home as loyal vassals.
- Karnak received much of the wealth; his Festival Hall there even has reliefs of plants and animals seen on campaign.
Worked example: Megiddo or Kadesh?
- Megiddo came early in the 18th Dynasty empire: Thutmose III's first campaign.
- Kadesh came about 180 years later, in the 19th Dynasty: Ramesses II against the Hittites.
- Memory aid: the earlier battle belongs to the earlier king.
Answer: Megiddo: Thutmose III. Kadesh: Ramesses II.
Common mistake