Thutmose III and the Battle of Megiddo

In the first year of his reign (after the reign of his aunt, Hatshepsut, 1479 - 1458 BC), King Thutmose III began a twenty-year effort to regain control of areas that had been won under his father and predecessors. The records of his efforts are carved in monuments in the Temple of Amen at Karnak.

He found himself confronting a coalition of foes, who were once subjects of Kemet.  They were led by the Prince of Kadesh and they were prepared to fight him in Megiddo (just north of today’s Jerusalem).

While in pursuit of them, King Thutmose III called together his generals and asked their advice. They told him that the road they were on became very narrow, just ahead. To continue on that road would mean that his army would have to go, one-by-one (in a single-file line)—with one horse behind another—while a great army would be on the other side to meet them.

There were two other roads they could take—one to the north and one to the east—that could make them avoid that trap.

“Please don’t make us take that difficult road,” they exclaimed.

King Thutmose III said, “As Ra loves me, as Amen favors me, as my nostrils are refreshed with the breath of life, my kingship will travel on that road! Let those who wish to go on those other roads, go. Those who wish to follow my leadership, follow me! Or else the enemies will say, 'He is afraid to fight us, that’s why he chose another road.’ ”

His commanders said to him, “We are the followers of your majesty, wherever your majesty goes. A servant follows his lord.”

King Thutmose III sent out a communication to the entire army, “Your majesty will guide you on this road that becomes very narrow. I will not let the army go before me, I will be in the front as we go through, one-by-one, I will lead the way!”

King Thutmose III went through the narrow passage, at the head of his army. To his surprise, there was no enemy on the other side to meet them!

“Give praise to Amen! The wretched enemy are fallen! God’s strength is great!”, he said.

King Thutmose III’s army filled the valley, as they came out of the narrow passage. This time he heeded the advice of his commanders and waited for his entire army to gather. Then, they grouped and struck against their enemies.

Thutmose III positioned himself in the middle of his army—on board a golden chariot. He ordered his army to strike and they overwhelmed the coalition of princes that was against them.

Their enemies ran to the city of Megiddo and those on the inside put down garments over the walls so that their soldiers could be hoisted over into the city. While this rout was going on, his army gathered up spoil from the enemy.

King Thutmose III shouted, “Hold on! Grasp this my army! Every prince of every northern land is shut up within the walls of this city now. To capture Megiddo, is to capture a thousand towns!”

They measured the town and surrounded it with a ditch, then put up timber in the ditch so as to create a wall around the city. The siege of the city forced the princes of the northern lands to come out on their bellies, “to kiss the ground” before Thutmose III.

They gave him silver, gold, cattle, lapis lazuli and many other gifts during their surrender. The army also captured 1,929 cows, 2,000 goats, 20,500 sheep and 207,300 sacks of wheat.

The campaigns of Thutmose III cemented Kemet’s borders, from the Fourth Cataract of the Nile (in today’s Sudan) all the way to the Euphrates River.

References and further reading:

Lichtheim, Miriam. Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume II: The New Kingdom. London: University of California Press, 1976.

Images:

Sphinx of Thutmose III, 1479-1425 B.C., Metropolitan Museum, Rogers Fund, 1908, Quartzite, front view