Thutmose III took the risky mountain pass to win at Megiddo
Facing a coalition at Megiddo, Thutmose III ignored generals who urged safer routes, called them cowards, and led his army through the narrow Aruna pass. He emerged between the enemy and their city and routed them, though looting soldiers let many escape inside, forcing a siege of seven or eight months.
Son of Thutmose II and a secondary wife, Iset, he inherited the throne as a child, somewhere between two and 13 years old. His stepmother and aunt Hatshepsut acted as regent and then declared herself pharaoh, never denying his kingship but ruling as senior partner for 22 years while he remained junior. Once he proved capable she put him in charge of her armies, and after her death around 1458 BC he ruled alone. His throne name Menkheperre means the Established One of the Manifestation of Ra, and Thutmose means born of Thoth.
Remarkably, his reign is dated to the day. The tomb of the commander Amenemheb-Mahu records his death in regnal year 54, and with astronomical data Jürgen von Beckerath fixed his coronation at 28 April 1479 BC and death at 11 March 1425 BC, though an older high chronology prefers 1504 to 1450 BC.
Hatshepsut's death prompted the king of Kadesh to march on Megiddo. Thutmose passed the frontier fortress of Tjaru and moved up the coastal plain before turning inland. Karnak's Hall of Annals dates the battle to a new-moon feast equivalent to 9 May 1457 BC. It was probably the largest of his campaigns, of which various counts give between 17 and 20, all won.
He captured a recorded 350 cities and built an empire from Syria to Upper Nubia, the first pharaoh since Thutmose I to cross the Euphrates, during his war on Mitanni. Chariots, possibly introduced by the Hyksos around 1650 BC, gave his forces an edge, and his troops even hauled boats overland. He is credited with founding Egypt's navy, and both James Breasted and Richard Gabriel dubbed him the Napoleon of Egypt. After his eldest son Amenemhat died, he named Amenhotep II co-regent two years before his own death.
Source: Thutmose III
