Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt

Radiocarbon dating suggests that Dynasty XVIII may have started a few years earlier than the conventional date of 1550 BC. The radiocarbon date range for its beginning is 1570–1544 BC, the mean point of which is 1557 BC.[8]

The pharaohs of Dynasty XVIII ruled for approximately 250 years (c. 1550–1298 BC). The dates and names in the table are taken from Dodson and Hilton.[9] Many of the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes (designated KV). More information can be found on the Theban Mapping Project website.[10] Several diplomatic marriages are known for the New Kingdom. These daughters of foreign kings are often only mentioned in cuneiform texts and are not known from other sources. The marriages were likely to have been a way to confirm good relations between these states.[11]

Pharaoh	Image	Throne name / Prenomen	Reign	Burial	Consort(s)	Comments
Ahmose I / Ahmosis I		Nebpehtire	1549–1524 BC		Ahmose-Nefertari Ahmose-Henuttamehu Ahmose-Sitkamose
Amenhotep I		Djeserkare	1524–1503 BC	KV39? or Tomb ANB?	Ahmose-Meritamon
Thutmose I		Aakheperkare	1503–1493 BC	KV20, KV38	Ahmose Mutnofret
Thutmose II		Aakheperenre	1493–1479 BC	KV42?	Hatshepsut Iset
Hatshepsut		Maatkare	1479–1458 BC	KV20	Thutmose II
Thutmose III		Menkheper(en)re	1479–1425 BC	KV34	Satiah Merytre-Hatshepsut Nebtu Menhet, Menwi and Merti
Amenhotep II		Aakheperure	1427–1397 BC	KV35	Tiaa
Thutmose IV		Menkheperure	1397–1388 BC	KV43	Nefertari Iaret Mutemwiya Daughter of Artatama I of Mitanni
Amenhotep III		Nebmaatre	1388–1351 BC	KV22	Tiye Gilukhipa of Mitanni Tadukhipa of Mitanni Sitamun Iset Daughter of Kurigalzu I of Babylon[11] Daughter of Kadashman-Enlil of Babylon[11] Daughter of Tarhundaradu of Arzawa[11] Daughter of the ruler of Ammia[11]
Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten		Neferkepherure-Waenre	1351–1334 BC	Royal Tomb of Akhenaten	Nefertiti Kiya Tadukhipa of Mitanni Daughter of Šatiya, ruler of Enišasi[11] Meritaten? Meketaten? Ankhesenamun Daughter of Burna-Buriash II, King of Babylon[11]
Smenkhkare		Ankhkheperure	1335–1334 BC		Meritaten
Neferneferuaten		Ankhkheperure	1334–1332 BC		Akhenaten? Smenkhkare?	Usually identified as Queen Nefertiti
Tutankhamun		Nebkheperure	1332–1323 BC	KV62	Ankhesenamun
Ay		Kheperkheperure	1323–1319 BC	KV23	Ankhesenamun Tey
Horemheb		Djeserkheperure-Setepenre	1319–1292 BC	KV57	Mutnedjmet Amenia

• 
  Ahmose-Nefertari. Ahmose-Nefertari was the daughter of Seqenenre Tao II, a 17th dynasty king who rose up against the Hyksos. Her brother Ahmose, expelled the Hyksos, and she became queen of a united Egypt. She was deified after she died.
• 
  Ahmose I. Though he was called the founder of the 18th dynasty, he was the brother of Kamose, the last pharaoh of the 17th dynasty. During his reign, he expelled the Hyksos from Lower Egypt and brought the Nile Delta under his control, politically unifying Egypt once again.
• 
  Amenhotep I gained the throne after his two elder brothers had died. He was the son of Ahmose and Ahmose-Nefertari. He was succeeded by Thutmose I who married his daughter, Ahmose.
• 
  Amenhotep I with his mother, Ahmose-Nefertari. Both royals are credited with opening a workmen's village at Deir el-Medina. Dier el-Medina housed the artisans and workers of the pharaohs tombs in the Valley of the Kings, from the 18th to 21st dynasties. Amenhotep I and his mother were deified and were the village's principal gods.
• 
  Thutmose I. A military man, he came to power by marrying the sister of Amenhotep I. During his reign, he pushed the borders of Egypt into Nubia and the Levant. He is credited with the starting the building projects in what is now the temple of Karnak.
• 
  Sketch from temple relief of Thutmose II. Considered a weak ruler, he was married to his sister Hatshepsut. He named Thutmose III, his son as successor to prevent Hatshepsut from gaining the throne. They had a daughter, Neferure.
• 
  Hatshepsut. Daughter of Thutmose I, she ruled jointly as her stepson Thutmose III's co-regent. She soon took the throne for herself, and declared herself pharaoh. While there may have been other female rulers before her, she is the only one who used the symbolic beard.
• 
  Thutmosis III, a military man and member of the Thutmosid royal line is commonly called the "Napoleon of Egypt". His conquests of the Levant brought Egypt's territories and influence to its greatest extent.
• 
  Amenhotep II.
• 
  Thutmose IV.
• 
  Amenhotep III.
• 
  Akhenaten, born Amenhotep IV, began a religious revolution in which he declared Aten was a supreme god and turned his back on the old traditions. He moved the capital to Akhetaten.
• 
  Queen Nefertiti the daughter of Ay, married Akhenaten. Her role in daily life at the court soon extended from Great Royal Wife to that of a co-regent. It is also possible that she may have ruled Egypt in her own right as pharaoh Neferneferuaten.
• 
  Queen Meritaten, was the eldest daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. She was the wife of Smenkhkare. She also may have ruled Egypt in her own right as pharaoh and is one of the possible candidates of being the pharaoh Neferneferuaten.
• 
  Neferneferure and Neferneferuaten Tasherit. Shown here as children, they were two of six daughters born to Akhenaten and Nefertiti. It is possible that Neferneferuaten Tasherit was the one who may have been her father's co-regent and may have ruled as the female pharaoh, Neferneferuaten.
• 
  Smenkhkare, was a co-regent of Akhenaten who ruled after his death. It was believed that Smenkhkare was a male guise of Nefertiti, however, it is accepted that Smenkhkare was a male. He took Meritaten, Queen Nefertiti's daughter as his wife.
• 
  Tutankhamun, formerly Tutankhaten, was Akhenaten's son. As pharaoh, he instigated policies to restore Egypt to its old religion and moved the capital away from Akhetaten.
• 
  Ay served as vizier to Akhenaten, and Tutankhamun. He was the father of Nefertiti. After the death of Tutankhamun, Ay laid a claim to the throne by burying him and marrying his granddaughter Ankhesenamun.
• 
  After the death of Ay, Horemheb assumed the throne. A commoner, he had served as vizier to both Tutankhamun and Ay. Horemheb instigated a policy of damnatio memoriae, against everyone associated with the Amarna period. He was married to Nefertiti's sister, Mutnodjmet, who died in childbirth. With no heir, he appointed his own vizier, Paramessu as his successor.
• 
  Tiye was the daughter of the visizer Yuya. She married Amenhotep III, and became his principal wife. Her knowledge of government helped her gain power in her position and she was soon running affairs of state and foreign affairs for her husband, Amenhotep III and later her son, Akhenaten. She is also Tutankhamun's grandmother.
• 
  Senenu, High Priest of Amūn at Deir El-Baḥri, grinding grain, c. 1352–1292 BC, Limestone, Brooklyn Museum.

• Egyptian chronology

• Kuhrt, Amélie (1995). The Ancient Near East: c. 3000–330 BC. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415013536.

• Hatshepsut: from Queen to Pharaoh, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF)