Sharm El Sheikh Excursion Blog

Nefertiti (pronounced at the time something like *nafrati) (c. 1370 BC - c. 1330 BC) was the Great Royal Wife (chief consort) of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for changing Egypt’s religion from a polytheistic religion to a monotheistic religion. They believed in only one god, Aten.
She had many titles; for example, at Karnak there are inscriptions that read Heiress, Great of Favours, Possessed of Charm, Exuding Happiness, Mistress of Sweetness, beloved one, soothing the king’s heart in his house, soft-spoken in all, Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt, Great King’s Wife, whom he loves, Lady of the Two Lands, Nefertiti’.
She was made famous by her bust, now in Berlin’s Altes Museum, shown to the right. The bust is one of the most copied works of ancient Egypt. It was attributed to the sculptor Thutmose, and was found in his workshop. The bust itself is notable for exemplifying the understanding Ancient Egyptians had regarding realistic facial proportions.
Some scholars believe that Nefertiti ruled briefly after her husband’s death and before the accession of Tutankhamun as Smenkhkare, although this identification is a matter of ongoing debate.

Ahmose-Nefertari of Ancient Egypt was the royal sister and the great royal wife of pharaoh, Ahmose I. Upon the death of Ahmose I, their heir, Kamose, became pharaoh, but was killed in war. Ahmose-Nefertari then became the regent for another son and ruled until he could attain the age to ascend the throne as Amenhotep I. During her regency she was recognized as a formidable warrior, and at her burial she was given special honors for her accomplishments in war. After her death, she was worshiped as a deity in the funerary cult of Thebes.
Her name appears on many monuments, from Saï to Tura. She is known still to have been alive during the first year of the reign of her grandson, Thutmose I. Thus, she apparently outlived her son, Amenhotep I, who reigned over Egypt for nearly twenty-one years after her regency.
She held many titles, among them, she held the office of Second Prophet of Amun, but renounced it sometime during the eighteenth or twenty-second year of the reign of her husband, Ahmose I. At that time, she became the first living, royal woman known to be entitled, God’s Wife of Amun. Her mother, Ahhotep I, royal wife of Seqenenre Tao II and the mother of Ahmose I as well, had held the title of God’s Wife of Amun first; but the title only has been found on her coffin however, and therefore, some Egyptologists assert that she may not have held the office and exercised its duties. In that case, those scholars speculate that the title may have been given to Ahhotep posthumously.
The office of God’s Wife of Amun had existed in earlier dynasties, but previously, the holder of the title was not a woman of the royal line as the cult was not the dominant one in the changing religious traditions of the culture. Once the cult became dominant, and the temple in which the pharaoh officiated, it became a hereditary title and role for the royal women who served as the highest ranking priestess in the administration of the most powerful temple of the country, passing from one generation to another. The holder of this office, be it wife or daughter, was a close adviser who participated in daily contact with the pharaoh during ceremonies and rites.
Religion and government were interwoven inexorably in Ancient Egypt. For that reason, some scholars describe the administration of the temple of Amun as the virtual rulers of the country while Thebes was the capital of Egypt. Later in this same dynasty, one pharaoh, Akhenaten, moved the capital to another city to escape their influence, adopting the primary solar deity worshiped at the new capital instead of Amun, and establishing his own administrators and policies, but as soon as he died, the priests of Amun regained their control of the government, the location of the capital, and the dominance of their deity.

Cleopatra VII Philopator (January 69 BC – 30 BC) was a Hellenistic ruler of Egypt, originally sharing power with her father Ptolemy XII and later with her brothers/husbands Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV; eventually gaining sole rule of Egypt. As Pharaoh, she consummated a liaison with Gaius Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. After Caesar’s assassination, she aligned with Mark Antony; with him she produced a set of twins and a son. Cleopatra had four children in all, firstly, a born son by Caesar (Ptolemy Caesar nicknamed Caesarion), and three by Mark Antony (the twins, Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios, and a son Ptolemy Philadelphus). Her successive unions with her brothers produced no children. Her reign marks the end of the Hellenistic Era and the beginning of the Roman Era in the eastern Mediterranean. She was the last Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarion, co-ruled in name with his mother only a very few years before Octavian, later on renamed Caesar Augustus, had him executed, most probably by strangulation, which in Antiquity was the execution method reserved for infants and pre-pubescents, thus adding humiliation to his execution.

Usimare Ramesses III (also written Ramses and Rameses) was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty and is considered to be the last great New Kingdom king to wield any substantial authority over Egypt. He was the son of Setnakhte and Queen Tiy-merenese. Ramesses III is believed to have reigned from March 1186 to April 1155 BC. This is based on his known accession date of I Shemu day 26 and his death on Year 32 III Shemu day 15, for a reign of 31 years, 1 month and 19 days.(Alternate dates for this king are 1187 to 1156 BC).

Menmaatre Seti I (also called Sethos I after the Greeks) was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt (Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt), the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. As with all dates in Ancient Egypt, the actual dates of his reign are unclear, and various historians claim different dates, with 1294 BC – 1279 BC and 1290 BC to 1279 BC being the most commonly used by scholars today. These two dates are dependent on the chronological system used by a particular Egyptologist. The ancient Egyptians counted time from a king’s accession day as Year One of a Pharaoh’s reign. When a Pharaoh died or fell from power, the following day immediately became Year number 1 of his successor’s reign. To identify Seti I’s Year 1 with a specific BC year, a chronologist must not only take into account the existing evidence from various sources, but which set of interpretations that he/she finds valid, so different chronologists and historians can have different views on the subject.
The name Seti means “of Set”, which indicates that he was consecrated to the god Set (commonly “Seth”). As with most Pharaohs, Seti had a number of names. Upon his ascension, he took the prenomen mn-m3‘t-r‘, which translates as Menmaatre in Egyptian, meaning “Eternal is the Justice of Re.” His better known nomen or birth name is technically transliterated as sty mry-n-ptḥ, or Sety Merenptah, meaning “Man of Set, beloved of Ptah”. Manetho incorrectly considered him to be the founder of the 19th dynasty.

Akhenaten (often also spelled Echnaton, Akhnaton, or rarely Ikhnaton)meaning Effective spirit of Aten, first known as Amenhotep IV (sometimes read as Amenophis IV and meaning Amun is Satisfied) before the first year of his reign), was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, who died 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is especially noted for attempting to compel the Egyptian population in the monotheistic worship of Aten, although there are doubts as to how successful he was at this. He was born to Amenhotep III and his Chief Queen Tiye and was their younger son. Akhenaten was not originally designated as the successor to the throne until the untimely death of his older brother, the Crown Prince Thutmose.
Amenhotep IV succeeded his father after Amenhotep III’s death at the end of his 38-year reign, possibly after short coregency lasting between either 1 to 2 years. Suggested dates for Akhenaten’s reign (subject to the debates surrounding Egyptian chronology) are from 1353 BC-1336 BC or 1351 BC–1334 BC. Akhenaten’s chief wife was Nefertiti, made world-famous by the discovery of her exquisitely moulded and painted bust, now displayed in the Altes Museum of Berlin, and among the most recognised works of art surviving from the ancient world.
After his death and the restoration of traditional religious practice, he and his immediate successors were ignored and excised from history by later rulers. Akhenaten himself is usually referred to as ‘the enemy’.
Styles of art that flourished during this short period are markedly different from other Egyptian art, bearing a variety of affectations, from elongated heads to protruding stomachs, exaggerated ugliness and the beauty of Nefertiti. Significantly, and for the only time in the history of Egyptian royal art, Akhenaten’s family was depicted in a decidedly naturalistic manner, and they are clearly shown displaying affection for each other. Nefertiti also appears beside the king in actions usually reserved for a Pharaoh, suggesting that she attained unusual power for a queen. Artistic representations of Akhenaten give him a strikingly bizarre appearance, with an elongated face, slender limbs, a protruding belly, wide hips, and an overall pear-shaped body. It has been suggested that the pharaoh had himself depicted in this way for religious reasons, or that it exaggerates his distinctive physical traits. Until Akhenaten’s mummy is located and identified, such theories remain speculative. Some scholars have identified Valley of the Kings’ Mummy 61074 as Akhenaten’s mummy.
Following Akhenaten’s death, a comprehensive political, religious and artistic reformation returned Egyptian life to the norms it had followed previously during his father’s reign. Much of the art and building infrastructure that was created during Akhenaten’s reign was defaced or destroyed in the period immediately following his death. Stone building blocks from his construction projects were later used as foundation stones for subsequent rulers’ temples and tombs.

Amenhotep III (sometimes read as Amenophis III; meaning Amun is Satisfied) was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1391 BC-December 1353 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC after his father Thutmose IV died. Amenhotep III was the son of Thutmose by Mutemwia, a minor wife of Amenhotep’s father.
Amenhotep III fathered two sons with his Great Royal Wife Tiye, a great queen known as the progenetor of monotheism via the Crown Prince Tuthmose who predeceased his father, and his second son, Akhenaten, who ultimately succeeded him to the throne. Amenhotep also may be the father of a third child—called Smenkhkare, who later would succeed Akhenaten, briefly rule Egypt as pharaoh, and who is depicted as a woman.
Amenhotep III and Tiye may also have had four daughters: Sitamun, Henuttaneb, Isis or Iset, and Nebetah.They appear frequently on statues and reliefs during the reign of their father and also are represented by smaller objects—with the exception of Nebetah.Nebetah is attested only once in the known historical records on a colossal limestone group of statues from Medinet Habu. This huge sculpture, that is seven meters high, shows Amenhotep III and Tiye seated side by side, “with three of their daughters standing in front of the throne–Henuttaneb, the largest and best preserved, in the centre; Nebetah on the right; and another, whose name is destroyed, on the left.”
Amenhotep III elevated two of his four daughters–Sitamun and Isis–to the office of “great royal wife” during the last decade of his reign. Evidence that Sitamun already was promoted to this office by Year 30 of his reign, is known from jar-label inscriptions uncovered from the royal palace at Malkata.The lineage of the royal line of Egypt was traced through its women and the religion of Ancient Egypt was interwoven inexorably with the right to rule. It must be stressed that Egypt’s theological paradigm, therefore, encouraged a male pharaoh to accept royal women from several different generations as wives to strengthen the chances of his offspring to succeed him.The goddess Hathor herself was related as first the mother, and later wife and daughter of Ra when he rose to prominence in the pantheon of the Ancient Egyptian religion.[14] Hence, Amenhotep III’s marriage to his two daughters should not be considered as incest in our contemporary conception of marriage. Sitamun may have actually been the youngest daughter of Amenhotep III’s father Thutmose IV, making her the half-sister of Amenhotep III and not his daughter.
Amenhotep III is known to have married Gilukhepa, the first of a series of diplomatic brides and the daughter of Shuttarna II of Mitanni, in the tenth year of his reign.[15] Around Year 36 of his reign, he also married Tadukhepa, the daughter of his ally Tushratta of Mitanni.

Thutmose III (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis III and meaning Son of Thoth) was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of Thutmose’s reign he was co-regent with his aunt, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh. While she is shown first on surviving monuments, both were assigned the usual royal names and insignia and neither is given any obvious seniority over the other.He served as the head of her armies.
After her death and his later rise to being the pharaoh of the kingdom, he created the largest empire Egypt had ever seen; no fewer than seventeen campaigns were conducted, and he conquered from Niy in north Syria to the fourth waterfall of the Nile in Nubia. After his years of campaigning were over, he established himself as a great builder pharaoh as well. Thutmose III was responsible for building over fifty temples in Egypt and building massive additions to Egypt’s chief temple at Karnak. New levels of artistic skills were reached during his reign, as well as unique architectural developments never seen before and never again after his reign.
Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost fifty-four years, and his reign is usually dated from April 24, 1479 to March 11, 1425 BCE; however, the first twenty-two years of his reign was as the co-regent to Hatshepsut–his stepmother and aunt–who was named as the pharaoh. During the last two years of his reign he became a coregent again, with his son, Amenhotep II, who would succeed him. When he died he was buried in the Valley of the Kings as were the rest of the kings from this period in Egypt.
Thutmosis III was the son of Pharaoh the second Thutmose II and Iset (sometimes transliterated Isis), a secondary wife of Thutmosis II. Because he was the pharaoh’s only son, he would have become the first in line for the throne when Thutmosis II died; however, because he was not the son of his father’s royal queen, his “degree” of royalty was less than ideal. To bolster his qualifications, he may have married a daughter of Thutmose II and Hatshepsut. It has been suggested that the daughter in question may have been Merytre-Hatshepsut, however, she is now proven not to have been a daughter of Hatshepsut’s.
Regardless of this, when Thutmosis II died Thutmosis III was too young to rule, so Hatshepsut became his regent, soon his coregent, and shortly thereafter, she was declared to be the pharaoh. Thutmosis III had little power over the empire while Hatshepsut exercised the formal titulary of kingship, complete with a royal prenomen—Maatkare. Her rule was quite prosperous and marked by great advancements. When he reached a suitable age and demonstrated the capability, she appointed him to head her armies. After the death of Hatshepsut, Thutmosis III ruled Egypt on his own for thirty years, until the last two years of his reign, when his son became a coregent for two years. He died in his fifty-fourth regnal year.
Thutmosis III had two known wives: Satiah and Merytre-Hatshepsut. Satiah bore him his firstborn son, Amenemhat, but the child predeceased his father. His successor, the crown prince and future king Amenhotep II, was born to Merytre-Hatshepsut.
Thutmose III reigned from 1479 BCE to 1425 BCE according to the Low Chronology of Ancient Egypt. This has been the conventional Egyptian chronology in academic circles since the 1960s,though in some circles the older dates 1504 BC to 1450 BC is preferred from the High Chronology.These dates, just as all the dates of the eighteenth Dynasty, are open to dispute because of uncertainty about the circumstances surrounding the recording of a Heliacal Rise of Sothis in the reign of Amenhotep I. A papyrus from Amenhotep I’s reign records this astronomical observation which, theoretically, could be used to perfectly correlate the Egyptian chronology with the modern calendar, however, to do this the latitude where the observation was taken must also be known. This document has no note of the place of observation, but it can safely be assumed that it was taken in either a delta city such as Memphis or Heliopolis, or in Thebes. These two latitudes give dates twenty years apart, the High and Low chronologies, respectively.
The length of Thutmose III’s reign is known to the day thanks to information found in the tomb of the court official Amenemheb.Amenemheb records Thutmose III’s death to his master’s fifty-fourth regnal year,on the thirtieth day of the third month of Peret.[10] The day of Thutmose III’s accession is known to be I Shemu day 4, and astronomical observations can be used to establish the exact dates of the beginning and end of the king’s reign (assuming the low chronology) from April 24 1479 BC to March 11 1425 BC respectively.

Hatshepsut (or Hatchepsut), meaning, Foremost of Noble Ladies, was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She is generally regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty.
Although contemporary records of her reign are documented in diverse ancient sources, Hatshepsut was described by early modern scholars as only having served as a co-regent from about 1479 to 1458 B.C., during years seven to twenty-one of the reign previously identified as that of Thutmose III.Today it is generally recognized that Hatshepsut assumed the position of pharaoh and the length of her reign usually is given as twenty-two years, since she was assigned a reign of twenty-one years and nine months by the third-century B.C. historian, Manetho, who had access to many records that now are lost. Her death is known to have occurred in 1458 B.C., which implies that she became pharaoh circa 1479 B.C.
Although it was uncommon for Egypt to be ruled by a woman, the situation was not unprecedented. As a regent Hatshepsut was preceded by Merneith of the first dynasty, who was buried with the full honors of a pharaoh and may have ruled in her own right. Nimaethap of the third dynasty may have been the dowager of Khasekhemwy, but certainly acted as regent for her son, Djoser, and may have reigned as pharaoh in her own right.Queen Sobekneferu of the Twelfth Dynasty is known to have assumed formal power as ruler of “Upper and Lower Egypt” three centuries earlier than Hatshepsut. Ahhotep I, lauded as a warrior queen, may have been a regent between the reigns of two of her sons, Kamose and Ahmose I, at the end of the seventeenth dynasty and the beginning of Hatshepsut’s own eighteenth dynasty. Amenhotep I, also preceding Hatshepsut in the eighteenth dynasty, probably came to power while a young child and his mother, Ahmose-Nefertari, is thought to have been a regent for him.Other women whose possible reigns as pharaohs are under study include Akhenaten’s possible female co-regent/successor (usually identified as either Nefertiti or Meritaten) and Twosret. Among the later, non-indigenous Egyptian dynasties, the most notable example of another woman who became pharaoh was Cleopatra VII, the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
In comparison with other female pharaohs, Hatshepsut’s reign was long and prosperous. She was successful in warfare early in her reign, but generally is considered to be a pharaoh who inaugurated a long peaceful era. She re-established trading relationships lost during a foreign occupation and brought great wealth to Egypt. That wealth enabled Hatshepsut to initiate building projects that raised the calibre of Ancient Egyptian architecture to a standard, comparable to classical architecture that would not be rivaled by any other culture for a thousand years.

Ahmose I (sometimes written Amosis I and “Amenes” and meaning The Moon is Born) was a
Pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty. He was a member of the Theban royal house, the son of pharaoh Tao II Seqenenre and brother of the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth dynasty, King Kamose. Sometime during the reign of his father or grandfather, Thebes rebelled against the Hyksos, the rulers of Lower Egypt. When he was seven his father was killed,[6] and he was about ten when his brother died of unknown causes, after reigning only three years. Ahmose I assumed the throne after the death of his brother,and upon coronation became known as Neb-Pehty-Re (The Lord of Strength is Re).
During his reign, he completed the conquest and expulsion of the Hyksos from the delta region, restored Theban rule over the whole of Egypt and successfully reasserted Egyptian power in its formerly subject territories of Nubia and Canaan.He then reorganized the administration of the country, reopened quarries, mines and trade routes and began massive construction projects of a type that had not been undertaken since the time of the Middle Kingdom. This building program culminated in the construction of the last pyramid built by native Egyptian rulers. Ahmose’s reign laid the foundations for the New Kingdom, under which Egyptian power reached its peak. His reign is usually dated to about 1550–1525 BC.