THUTMOSE II

flourished 2nd millennium BC 18th-dynasty king of Egypt (reigned c. 14821479 BC) who suppressed a revolt in Nubia, Egypt's territory to the south, and also sent a punitive expedition to Palestine against some Bedouins. Thutmose was born to Thutmose I, his predecessor, by a sister of his father's queen. He married his fully royal half-sister, Hatshepsut, to solidify his claim to the throne. According to an inscription from Aswan dated year one, a chief from northern Kush, around the Second Nile Cataract, fomented a revolt against Egyptian suzerainty and threatened the garrisons stationed in Nubia. The king dispatched a force with orders to quell the rebels and execute their males. One of the chief's sons was brought captive to Egypt, probably to be Egyptianized and returned to his country as a client ruler. Some time later, as shown by the biography of one of the soldiers who had accompanied his father, Thutmose II sent forces against some Bedouins in southern Palestine. Besides these references, little is known of Thutmose II's reign. His name appears on a few Upper Egyptian and Nubian monuments, but it perhaps was ordered cut by his son, Thutmose III. In western Thebes he built a small funerary temple, which his son later enlarged. No tomb has been positively identified as belonging to Thutmose II, although his mummy was discovered reburied in the royal cache. By a woman of his harem, Thutmose II left a son who was still very young at his father's death. As indicated by the king's chief architect, although the young prince was elevated to the throne, it was his stepmother and regent, Hatshepsut, who governed Egypt. There is doubt concerning the length of Thutmose II's reign. Only his first year is positively attested, although around 1900 a scholar claimed to have seen an inscription dated year 18. This text has never again been seen, however, and most modern scholars doubt its validity.