MALE RULERS OF ANCIENT EGYPT
The men who ruled ancient Egypt
You’ve heard of King Tutankhamun, but do you know the stories of these six other notable male rulers?
THUTMOSE III
Ruled 1479–1425 BC
Dubbed ‘the Napoleon of Egypt’ by Egyptologists, Thutmose was a military powerhouse. He started training in the arts of war as a youth, when his stepmother Hatshepsut was ruling Egypt as his co-regent. After her death in 1458 BC he came to sole power and put his military know-how to use.
Thutmose expanded Egypt’s empire further than ever before, winning 17 campaigns. To the north, he seized Syria; his troops also campaigned in Nubia (an ancient north African province). Here they crushed tribes and put many to work in the region’s gold mines – with the profits lining Egypt’s coffers.
With the wealth from these mines and Tribute sent by the peoples Thutmose had conquered, the pharaoh was able to splash out on an ambitious building programme.
He extended the principal temple at Karnak dedicated to Amun, king of the gods at this time, adorning the site with imposing granite obelisks, and erected more than 50 temples. He was also a keen hunter, taking on elephants and lions.
In his twilight years, Thutmose made his son Amenhotep II his coregent. After dying in his mid-fifties he was interred in the Valley of the Kings, with his mummy being discovered in 1889.
RAMESSES II
Ruled 1279–1213 BC
Ramesses II is remembered as one of Egypt’s most powerful rulers of the New Kingdom – an assessment the prideful pharaoh would no doubt agree with. He became Egypt’s ruler after his father Sety I died in 1279 BC, although this wasn’t his first taste of power: at 14 he’d been named prince regent and served in his father’s military campaigns.
During his 66-year rule he focused on warmongering, determined to restore Egypt’s lost lands. He built forts on Egypt’s border with Libya and frequently clashed with the Hittites (an Anatolian empire). For instance, in 1275 BC he took on the Hittites in a huge chariot battle to try and conquer the Syrian city of Kadesh. Although Ramesses presented the battle as a huge victory – boasting “their hearts quaked with fear when they saw me” – in reality, it ended with a truce.
However, it’s for his building works that Ramesses is perhaps best remembered. Many kings commissioned statues of themselves, but Ramesses took this to the extreme, ordering more than any other ruler in Egypt’s history. He also built scores of temples and even an entire royal city, called Pi-Ramesses.
Notably, Ramesses is known for taking multiple wives and keeping a harem of 200 women. By the time of his death at the age of 90, he had allegedly sired more than 100 children.
DJOSER
Ruled 2667–2648 BC
Djoser’s rule saw the creation at Saqqara of one of Egypt’s most famous landmarks: this sprawling necropolis, which dates back to Predynastic times, is home to the Step Pyramid, a monumental structure that was the first of its kind to be built in history.
Constructed solely from stone, Saqqara marked a radical departure from previous building works in Egypt, which typically also incorporated mud bricks. The shape of the buildings was different, too, with stepped pyramids replacing flat-roofed royal tombs. These radical designs were the brainchild of Imhotep, one of Djoser’s advisors.
Before the pharaoh constructed the Step Pyramid, he won the admiration of the Egyptians for rebuilding the Temple of Khnum (the god of the Nile).
Djoser also made history as the first pharaoh to make Memphis his permanent and only home.
This helps explain why the city became the beating heart of the Old Kingdom. He lived there with his wife (and likely his half-sister), Hetephernebti, who seems to have been his only wife.
AMENHOTEP III
Ruled 1390–1352 BC
Ruling in a time of relative peace, Amenhotep made sure the empire prospered – economically and culturally. He worked to build strong trade relations, using clay tablets to communicate with the leaders of nearby kingdoms in what are history’s earliest diplomatic letters.
He also distributed more than 200 stone scarabs inscribed with five of the biggest events from the first 12 years of his rule, and erected various temples and statues. His seven children by his chief queen included Akhenaten, his successor (see below).
AKHENATEN
Ruled 1352–1336 BC
The Egyptians venerated a pantheon of gods, but Akhenaten believed there was only one deity who should be worshipped, a sun god known as the Aten – and that his subjects should follow suit. In 1346 BC he created a new capital, dedicated to the Aten, at Amarna.
His wife, Nefertiti, is often depicted acting alongside him and supporting him in these beliefs. After Akhenaten’s death, however, Egypt soon returned to its original way of worship.
KHUFU
Ruled 2589–2566 BC
While the Greek writer Herodotus claimed Khufu’s rule was one of suffering and oppression, this damning view is in contrast to his reputation as a wise pharaoh and builder. He commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. Herodotus is also responsible for the common idea that the pyramids were built on slave labour. It’s actually more likely the 2.3 million building blocks were dragged into place by conscripted workers.