Home > Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth Dynasty was founded by Ahmose, the son of Kamose, the last ruler of the Seventeenth Dynasty . Ahmose finished the campaign to expel the hated HyksosThe Hyksos were an ethnically mixed group of Western Asiatic people who appeared in the eastern Nile Delta during the Second Intermediate Period, and formed the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Dynasties (ca. 1674-1548 B. See Egyptian chronology). They overthrew t rulers. With this dynasty, the Second Intermediate Period of EgyptThe Second Intermediate Period marks a period when Ancient Egypt once again fell into disarray between the end of the Middle Kingdom, and the start of the New Kingdom. It is best known as when the Hyksos made their appearance in Egypt, whose reign compris ended, and the New Kingdom of EgyptThe New Kingdom period of Egyptian history is the period between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasty of Egypt. It follows the Middle Kingdom, and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate P or the Egyptian Empire began.

Highlights of this dynasty include: Queen Hatshepsut, who effectively ruled during the minority of her son, but was later considered a usurper; the first formal relations with foreign countries under Amenhotep III, of which some records were included in the el AmarnaAmarna (commonly known as el-Amarna is the name given to an extensive archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty (c. The name for the city used by the ancient Egyptians letters; the first expression of monotheismMonotheism is the belief in a single, universal, all-encompassing deity. Various forms of monotheism exist, including: Theism, a term that usually refers to the belief in a 'personal' god, that is, a single god with a distinctive personality, rather than under Akhenaton, but whose religion offended many in power, and who late suffered damnatio memoriae. Although modern students consider the monotheism of Akhenaton the most important event of this period, for centuries this period was best known as when the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt.

Scholars believed that Akhenaton caused a great deal of antipathy by his devotion to his God Aten, which contributed to the end of this dynasty. Its final years were clearly shakey: the unidentified widow of king Nibhuruyiras (identified with either Akhenaton or Tutankhamun) wrote to Suppiluliumas I, king of the Hittites, asking him to send one of his sons to be her husband and rule Egypt. Suppiluliumas sent an ambassador to investigate, who reported that the situation was accurately described; however the destined Hittite prince died en route, and the last two members of this dynasty came from officials of the royal court.

See: History of Ancient Egypt