THUTMOSE III and IV. - Pharaohs of the XVIII dynasty, one of whom is sometimes identified with the pharaoh of the oppression or of Israel’s exodus (Ex. 1-12).
T. III (1496-1442 B.C.) was one of the most glorious pharaohs, above all because of his conquests, including those in Palestine and beyond, as far as the Euphrates. Having freed himself from the onerous tutelage of his aunt Hashepsowe, in 1475 he resumed the advance of the Egyptian armies in the East and occupied Palestine as far as Lebanon. In another 19 successive campaigns he consolidated his power throughout the East. He also extended his frontiers in the direction of Nubia, reaching as far as the fourth cataract. His annals, inscribed on a wall of the enclosure at Karnak, in Thebes, are famous.
T. IV (1416-1468), son of Amenophis II, himself son of the preceding ruler, secured the latter’s conquests through numerous wars, including those in Palestine, but died at only twenty-five years of age. Following a dream, he ordered the Sphinx to be freed from the encroaching sands. His identification with the
pharaoh of the exodus is even less probable than that of T. III.