The Wars In Syria Of Thutmose 3 Summary

The book I reviewed was The Wars In Syria and Palestine of Thutmose III. The book was written by Donald B. Redford, an Egyptologist and archaeologist who teaches at Pennsylvania State University. This book provides info on Thutmose III, who was the 6th pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. Thutmose III is credited with expanding Egypt’s borders to its largest size during its imperial period. The area that Thutmose III conquered during his reign stretched from North Syria to Nubia, and he was known as the ruler of the “Black land and Red land.” The sources that Redford gained his information from contained information ranging from military campaigns, supplies that were plundered, ceremonies that were conducted, and prayers and songs that may have

In the King’s Second Song, this line is simple yet profound: “for I am very skilled in the martial art, wh my precious father [Amun-re Lord of Karnak] granted” . This is significant to me because it helps to reinforce the idea of the pharaoh being a medium between his subjects and the gods, or in Thutmose’ case, Amun. The pharaoh believed that he was the son of a deity, and he used that belief on his subjects, as many rulers throughout Egypt tended to do. This idea is reinforced with writings that indicate that the pharaoh’s court would respond in unison praising the deity, a practice which is not all that different from a practice in modern church services. Redford displayed Thutmose’ devotion to Amun throughout his book, and through the pharaoh, the rest of the empire worshipped Amun as well. This is also evident when you look at the various temples, monuments, and pylons that Thutmose had commemorated to Amun. It would be safe to assume that Thutmose may have possibly thought that his success was some sort of divine right, and this could be supported by the generous donations that Thutmose III would make from tributes and various goods that he would acquire from conquering a territory. The tributes that Thutmose made to Amun often ranged from livestock and fresh produce, gold and other metals, precious gems, and even land set

The scribes described the interactions between the pharaoh and the people in the conquered areas as some divine event, but, it is probable that the pharaoh had the people take an oath of loyalty to keep some of their lands as well as their lives. While the scribes romanticized the event, and made it seem like the conquered people were grateful, it is safe to surmise that the interaction went down like any other: the conquered people agree to be part of the empire, and while they could keep their lands, they had to pay a tribute of some sort, which usually involved a loyalty oath and sometimes enslaving the wives and children of the conquered tribes. This part of the book stood out to me because it indicates that Thutmose III wasn’t thinking solely about conquering these lands just for the sake of acquiring the area and materials; he may have envisioned truly expanding the Egyptian empire across the known world and all people worshipping the god Amun. While this may have been a common belief for most pharaohs (as well as other rulers from different regions and time periods) to expand their empire and religion, the fact that Thutmose III was able to do it across such a large area without annihilating a good number of the population stood out to