Comparison Of Akhenaton, Hatshepsut And Ramses II

Many ancient egyptian rulers were successful in their reign. However some were not so successful. There were some that brought great joy and prosperity during their time but there were also others who were not appreciated or popular. Three ancient pharaohs that fit under at least one of those categories. Akhenaton, Hatshepsut and Ramses II are three rulers that fit into that.

Akhenaten was a very unpopular leader. He was the son of Amenophis III and he was credited to being the earliest monotheist in history. At the time when he received the throne, Amun-Re was the most powerful deity in their religion. His father was even named after him. Akhenaton took after a minor manifestation of the god Amun-Re; Aten/Aton. Akhenaton made a complete

Her main focus during her rule was architecture. She loved statues and monuments and building things. She was married to Thutmose II her half brother because her parents hadn’t had any sons. When he died many people were skeptical about his death. Some people thought that Hatshepsut poisoned him so she could take the throne. That theory was very unlikely because Egypt would not crown a queen as pharaoh. Hatshepsut wasn’t able to rule so she had to have a son. She unfortunately couldn’t have children so she had to have one of her husbands concubines have a child; Thutmose III. He was named king even the early age of 10. Hatshepsut worked closely with him claiming pharaoh-like duties for the child. In the sixth year of Thutmose’s reign, Hatshepsut claimed that she had a dream where the god Amos urged her to take the throne so she proclaimed herself as “king” of Egypt. In order to portray herself as “king”, she dressed in a mans clothes and a beard. Powerful officials, like one named Senenmut, helped her keep her position, and she kept up the lie that she ruled with Thutmose III. During her reign she focused mostly on building monuments and architecture. She also liked to trade with other countries. After she died, Thutmose III had a very long reign. He wanted to erase Hatshepsut from every record. He had her statues destroyed and her name removed from a lot of monuments. He had her name on the kings list removed and replaced with a

He was loved by the people he ruled and set very high standards for pharaohs after him. He ruled for 66 years and outlived three possible successors. He made many changes during his reign as pharaoh. He fought many battle and made many military changes. Ramses he tried to imitate the laborious work that his father had put in to restore the empire. In one act of restoration, he initiated the battle of Kadesh. The territory of Kadesh was taken by the Hittites, who because of this addition, now controlled all of northern Mesopotamia. Ramses led his powerful battalion into western Asia. The army was ambushed and Ramses claims to have prayed to Amon, his god, and asked for protection and then he says that the army overcame the Hittites and trampled them. However the Hittite recollection of the battle states that the Egyptians were too overwhelmed and were forced to retreat to the south. The actual truth is somewhere between the two stories. After more years of campaigning, a peace treaty was signed between the two forces. The treaty expresses that they agreed on a line of separation and each ruler promised to come to the aid of the other if either is attacked by an outside force or enemy. Ramses also became very famous for his monument building. He made many monuments, statues and collected a lot of gold and riches. He had various wives and it is said that he had more than 170 children. His reign was one that showed a golden age for Egypt-