THUTMOSE I

(reigned c. 1504–1492 BC)

Throne nameAkheperre. Son of the lady Seniseneb by an unknown father. He succeeded the childless Amenhotep Iand must have been related to the ruling family. Thutmose I continued Egyptian expansion south in Nubia and in Asia penetrating as far as the Euphrates River and defeating the army of Mitanni. He married his sister, Ahmose, possibly after his accession, and had two daughters, notably Hatshepsut, but his successor, Thutmose II, was the son of another wife, Mutnefret. At least two other older sons, possibly by Mutnefret, Amenmoseand Wadjmose, predeceased their father. Thutmose I appears to have been the first ruler to be buried in the Valley of the Kings and is the first attested ruler at the village of Deirel-Medina where the tomb builders were located. The construction of his tomb is described in a text by his official, Ineni, and may have been tomb KV20, although his final burial might have been in tomb KV38 discovered in 1899, to which he may have been moved later by his grandson, Thutmose III. His mummy has not been recovered.