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When Ahmose (reigned from c1550 – 1525 BC) became king,
Egypt was in crisis. It was occupied in the north and threatened in
the south. It was a shadow of its former self. But by the time he
died, Ahmose had liberated his country and started the new Egyptian
empire.
Egypt, once a powerful kingdom, was sandwiched between two enemies
when Ahmose was born. In the north, the land of the pyramids was occupied
by the Hyksos people, whose king had declared himself pharaoh. To
the south, Egypt was threatened by the warlike Nubians. This
was the first time that Egyptian land had ever been under foreign
rule. As a result, a civilization that had already existed for 1,500
years was threatened with extinction.
At the time, Ahmose’s elder brother, Kamose, had become king
following the death of their father, Seqenenre Taa I. The Hyksos
had brutally killed Seqenenre Taa I, along with his entire army.
Kamose’s brief reign
Kamose was keen to avenge their father’s death and reunite
Egypt. To have foreign occupiers on their land
was a humiliation they could not bear. Although many Egyptians did
not want to fight, war became inevitable after
Kamose’s men intercepted a message from the Hyksos to the
Nubians, inviting them to join forces and conquer what was left
of Egypt.
Only 10 years old, Ahmose watched Kamose lead the Egyptian army
north against the Hyksos. They captured the first Hyksos town they
encountered and headed on to the Hyksos capital,
Arvaris. But just when they were about to push the Hyksos out of
Egypt, Kamose died, leaving the Hyksos in northern Egypt.
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The boy king
Following Kamose’s death, Ahmose became Pharaoh, but he was
still a boy. His mother, Ahhotep, ruled as regent and educated her
son in his future duties. Ten years later, Ahmose was ready to take
on the Hyksos and avenge the deaths of his father and brother. He
marched on Arvaris, defeated the Hyksos and liberated Egypt from
foreign occupation.
This was a great victory. Ahmose was now pharaoh of a united Egypt
that stretched from the borders of Nubia in the south, to the Mediterranean
in the north.
When he got back home to Thebes, Ahmose was a hero and was worshipped
as a god. But running the Hyksos out of Egypt was just
the beginning: Ahmose wanted to build a powerful Egypt.
Good as gold
This required money, so Ahmose traveled south to Nubia, home to
some of the richest gold mines in the ancient world. In a series
of battles, Ahmose’s Egyptian army defeated the Nubians and
their king in another great victory.
By the time of his death, Ahmose had reunited Egypt. He had expanded
its borders beyond the Sinai desert in the north-east and deep into
Nubia in the south. He had also given it financial security –
laying the foundations for a new empire and a golden age.
Where to next:
Women in power
Egyptian society – Soldiers
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