Ahmose I
Founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty who expelled the Hyksos.
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Ahmose I (also known as Amosis or Aahmes, meaning "Iah (the Moon) is born"; lived around 1560–1525 BC) was a pharaoh who founded the 18th Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom, the period when ancient Egypt reached its greatest power. His reign is generally placed in the mid-16th century BC, at the start of the Late Bronze Age.
In his rule, Ahmose finished driving out the Hyksos and taking control of Lower Egypt, restored Theban authority over both Lower and Upper Egypt, and reestablished Egyptian dominance in its former territories of Nubia and Canaan. He reorganized the country’s administration, reopened quarries, mines, and trade routes, and launched large-scale construction projects not seen since the Middle Kingdom. This building effort ended with the last pyramid built by a native Egyptian ruler. Ahmose’s reign set the stage for the New Kingdom, when Egyptian power was at its height.
**Family**
Ahmose I came from the Theban royal family. He was the son of King Tao and the brother of Kamose, the last king of the 17th Dynasty. Under his father or grandfather, Thebes had rebelled against the Hyksos, who ruled Lower Egypt. When Ahmose was about seven, his father was killed. Around age ten, his brother died after a reign of roughly three years, for unknown reasons. Ahmose then took the throne and, at his coronation, took the name Nebpehtyre, meaning "The Lord of Strength is Ra."
He was descended from the Theban 17th Dynasty. His grandparents, Ahmose and Tetisheri, had at least twelve children, including Tao and Ahhotep I. Tao and Ahhotep, following Egyptian royal tradition, married each other. They had sons Kamose and Ahmose I, as well as several daughters. Ahmose I followed his father’s custom by marrying several of his sisters, making Ahmose-Nefertari his chief wife. They had several children: daughters Ahmose-Meritamun and Ahmose-Sitamun, and sons Siamun, Ahmose-ankh, Amenhotep I, and Ramose (the letters "A" and "B" after names are used by Egyptologists to tell apart royal children and wives with the same name). They may also have been the parents of Mutnofret, who later became the wife of Thutmose I. Ahmose-ankh was the heir apparent but died before his father, sometime between Ahmose’s 17th and 25th regnal years. Ahmose I was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Amenhotep I, with whom he may have shared a short coregency.
**Manetho**
There was no clear break in the royal family line between the 17th and 18th Dynasties. The priest and historian Manetho, who wrote a history of Egypt in the 3rd century BC under Ptolemy II (the now-lost *Aegyptiaca*), considered the final expulsion of the Hyksos after nearly a century and the return of native Egyptian rule over the whole country important enough to mark the start of a new dynasty. In that lost work, quoted by Porphyrios, Manetho credits Ahmose I with ending the practice of human sacrifice to Hathor at Heliopolis.
**Reign**
Ahmose I became king as a boy of ten and ruled for about 25 years, dying around age 35. His early reign was under a regency until he came of age. He successfully defeated the Hyksos in Lower Egypt, reuniting the Two Lands, and became the founder of the New Kingdom. He also launched military raids into the Levant, pursuing the Hyksos.
**Regency**
Because Ahmose was a child when he took the throne, his mother, Ahhotep I, acted as regent until he was old enough. Descriptions of her royal duties, including the title "carer for Egypt," suggest she effectively strengthened the Theban power base in the years before Ahmose took full control. If Apepi II was a successor to Apepi I, he likely remained confined to the delta during Ahhotep’s regency, as his name does not appear on any monuments or objects south of Bubastis.
**Campaigns**
The conflict between the Theban kings and the Hyksos king Apepi began under Ahmose’s father, Tao, and ended after nearly 30 years of on-and-off fighting during Ahmose’s own reign. Tao was probably killed in battle against the Hyksos, as his heavily wounded mummy suggests. His successor, Kamose (likely Ahmose’s older brother), attacked and raided areas around the Hyksos capital, Avaris (modern Tell el-Dab'a). Kamose’s reign was short—his highest recorded regnal year is year 3—and he was succeeded by Ahhotep I. Apepi died about a decade later.
**Conquest of the Hyksos**
Ahmose I began his conquest of Lower Egypt, held by the Hyksos, around the 11th year of the Hyksos king Khamudi’s reign, but the exact sequence of events is debated. Reconstructing the conquest before the siege of Avaris is very difficult. Almost all information comes from brief military notes on the back of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, which include diary entries. One reads: "Regnal year 11, second month of shomu, Heliopolis was entered. First month of akhet, day 23, this southern prince broke into Tjaru." In the past, this regnal year was thought to refer to Ahmose, but it is now believed to refer to his Hyksos opponent Khamudi, because the papyrus calls Ahmose "Prince of the South" rather than king or pharaoh—a title a Theban supporter would not have used for him.
- Born
- c. mid-16th century BC
- Field
- Pharaoh
- Nationality
- Egyptian
- Known for
- Founding the Eighteenth Dynasty, expelling the Hyksos, reuniting Egypt, building
Lore & Background
Ahmose I was a pharaoh and the founder of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, ruling during the mid-16th century BC at the start of the Late Bronze Age. He was a member of the Theban royal house, the son of King Tao and brother of King Kamose. When he was about seven years old, his father was killed, and he was around ten when his brother died after a short reign of roughly three years. His mother, Ahhotep I, then served as regent until he came of age, effectively consolidating Theban power. Upon his coronation, he took the throne name Nebpehtyre, meaning “The Lord of Strength is Ra.” Ahmose I married several of his sisters, following royal tradition, with Ahmose-Nefertari as his chief wife; they had several children, including his eventual successor Amenhotep I. His reign lasted about 25 years, dying around age 35. He completed the conquest and expulsion of the Hyksos from Lower Egypt, restored Theban rule over both Upper and Lower Egypt, and reasserted Egyptian authority over Nubia and Canaan. He reorganized the country’s administration, reopened quarries, mines, and trade routes, and launched massive construction projects, culminating in the last pyramid built by a native Egyptian ruler. His reign laid the foundations for the New Kingdom, the era of Egypt’s greatest power. The historian Manetho considered the expulsion of the Hyksos significant enough to mark the start of a new dynasty, and credited Ahmose I with abolishing human sacrifice to Hathor at Heliopolis.
Reader's Guide
Ahmose I's reign laid the foundations for the New Kingdom, under which Egyptian power reached its peak. He reorganized the administration of the country, reopened quarries, mines and trade routes, and began massive construction projects culminating in the last pyramid built by native Egyptian rulers. The priest and historian Manetho considered the final expulsion of the Hyksos and restoration of native Egyptian rule a significant enough event to warrant the start of a new dynasty. Ahmose's military campaigns included three attacks against the Hyksos capital Avaris, a fourth attack that conquered it, and a three-year siege of Sharuhen. He also campaigned in Syria and Nubia, reaching at least as far as Kedem. His success reunited the Two Lands and established the Eighteenth Dynasty, marking the beginning of Egypt's New Kingdom era.
Did You Know?
- Ahmose I was about ten years old when his brother Kamose died after reigning only three years.
- His mother Ahhotep reigned as regent until he was of age.
- He launched three attacks against the Hyksos capital Avaris before a fourth conquered it.
- He besieged Sharuhen for three years.
- Manetho considered the expulsion of the Hyksos significant enough to start a new dynasty.
The Liberation of Lower Egypt
The defining achievement of Ahmose I, ruler of Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty, was the military conquest of Hyksos-controlled Lower Egypt, a campaign spanning roughly from 1550 or 1549 BC through 1531 BC. This liberation followed a prolonged period of conflict: the Hyksos and the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt had been locked in wars across Lower Egypt from approximately 1580 to 1550 BC, a struggle that left the northern part of the country under foreign dominion. The conquest marked the formal beginning of the New Kingdom of Egypt, a period that would see the pharaoh's successors project power far beyond the country's traditional borders. In the broader chronology of Near Eastern conflicts, Ahmose's victory stands as a turning point that shifted the balance of power in the region and set the stage for subsequent Egyptian military operations into the Levant and Nubia.
Pushing Beyond the Nile: Syria and Nubia
Following his consolidation of power over all of Egypt, Ahmose I turned his attention outward. These expeditions represent some of the earliest recorded instances of the New Kingdom pharaohs projecting force into the Levant and the southern desert regions. The Syrian campaign in particular placed Ahmose's armies in a theater that would remain a focal point of Egyptian military activity for centuries, as later pharaohs such as Thutmose III would return to the same general region for the famous Battle of Megiddo in 1457 BCE. By taking the fight to neighboring territories in both directions—northward into the Levant and southward into Nubia—Ahmose established a pattern of bilateral expansion that characterized the early New Kingdom and positioned Egypt as a dominant military power in the broader Near Eastern landscape encompassing Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Echoes of the First Unification
Ahmose I's conquest of Lower Egypt did not occur in a vacuum; it was the culmination of a long arc of political fragmentation and reunification in Egyptian history. The precedent for unifying the two halves of the country stretched back to approximately 3100 BC, when Upper and Lower Egypt were first joined into a single polity during the Early Dynastic Period. For nearly two millennia, that unity held, but the Second Intermediate Period shattered it. From roughly 1580 to 1550 BC, the Hyksos and the indigenous Seventeenth Dynasty waged wars across Lower Egypt, effectively dividing the country into rival spheres of control. Ahmose, as a king of the Eighteenth Dynasty, completed the work of reunification by conquering the Hyksos-ruled territories between 1550 or 1549 BC and 1531 BC.
A Pivotal Point in the Near Eastern Conflict Record
Within the vast chronological catalogue of Near Eastern conflicts spanning from the epipaleolithic era to the mid-twentieth century, Ahmose I's military actions occupy a distinctive and consequential position. His conquest of Hyksos-ruled Lower Egypt (1550/1549–1531 BC) and his subsequent campaigns into Syria and Nubia (c. 1537 BCE) sit squarely in the Bronze Age, bracketed by earlier Sumerian and Akkadian wars of the third millennium and later New Kingdom engagements such as Thutmose III's Battle of Megiddo in 1457 BCE and Ramses II's clash with the Hittite Empire at Kadesh in 1247 BCE. The Near East as a military theater—encompassing Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Caucasus—had already seen centuries of sieges, raids, and conquests before Ahmose took the field. Yet his campaigns are notable for ending a foreign occupation of Egypt itself and for opening the door to Egyptian power projection into Syria, a region that would feature prominently in the conflict records for the next several centuries.
Gallery
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Ahmose I?
Ahmose I is the founding pharaoh of Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty, ruling during the New Kingdom in the mid-16th century BC. He is best remembered for driving the Hyksos invaders out of the Nile Delta and reuniting Upper and Lower Egypt under Theban authority.
What was Ahmose I's role as ruler?
As pharaoh, he held supreme political and military authority over a fully unified Egypt. His reign also marks the opening of the Late Bronze Age era for Egyptian civilization, shifting the country into a new imperial phase.
How does Ahmose I's story end?
His reign closed in the mid-16th century BC after he had secured Egypt's frontiers and reasserted dominance over Nubia and Canaan. He then passed the throne to his successors within the newly established Eighteenth Dynasty, leaving behind a stable and expanded realm.
Why is Ahmose I important in Egyptian history?
He ended the Second Intermediate Period by expelling the Hyksos, which restored Theban control across both halves of Egypt. His victories in Nubia and the Levant also laid the groundwork for the New Kingdom's later imperial expansion.
What did Ahmose I build or achieve beyond warfare?
In addition to his military campaigns, he is credited with construction projects that reinforced Theban power and consolidated the new dynasty's legitimacy. His combined legacy as conqueror, unifier, and builder made him the foundational figure of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
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