that of the skillful architect and engineer who erected this obelisk
and its companion. But the masonry covering the obelisk has fallen down,
and it still proclaims the fame of Hatshepsut.
Thutmose III (Fig. 63)
was the first great general in history, the Napoleon of Egypt, the greatest
of the Egyptian conquerors. He ruled for over fifty years, beginning about
1500 B. C. On the temple walls at Karnak we can read the story of nearly
twenty years of warfare, during which Thutmose crushed the cities and kingdoms
of Western Asia and welded them into an enduring empire. At the same time
his war fleet carried his power even to the Ægean, and one of his
generals became governor of the Aegean islands (Fig.
143; see map I, p. 184).
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FIG.
63. PORTRAIT OF THUTMOSE III, THE NAPOLEON
OF ANCIENT EGYPT (A), COMPARED WITH HIS MUMMY (B)
This portrait (A),
carved in granite, can be compared with the actual face of the great conqueror
as we have it in his mummy. Such a comparison is shown in B,
where the profile of this granite portrait (outside lines) is placed over
the profile of Thutmose III’s mummy (inside lines). The correspondence
is very close, showing great accuracy in the portrait art of this age. |
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111. The campaigns of Thut- mose III (1501-1447 B.C.) |