Documents for "Ancient History, Egypt: Biographies":

• Akhenaton see Ikhnaton.

• Amasis I d. c.1545 BC, king of ancient Egypt (c.1570-1545 BC), founder of the XVIII dynasty. He drove the Hyksos out of the Nile delta and pursued them into Palestine. His name also appears as Ahmose.

• Amasis II d. 525 BC, king of ancient Egypt (569-525 BC), of the XXVI dynasty. In a military revolt he dethroned Apries. He erected temples and other buildings at Memphis and Saïs and encouraged Greek merchants and artisans to settle at Naucratis. He also established alliances with Greek leaders and maintained his...

• Amenemhet I d. 1970 BC, king of ancient Egypt, founder of the XII dynasty. The son of a powerful Theban family, he seized the kingship c.2000 BC The XII dynasty ushered in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt...

• Amenhotep I or Amenophis I , fl. 1570 BC, king of ancient Egypt, of the XVIII dynasty; son and successor of Amasis I. His chief exploits were military. He pushed southward into Nubia and reestablished Egypt's boundary at the...

• Amenophis see Amenhotep.

• Apries king of ancient Egypt (588-569 BC), of the XXVI dynasty; successor of Psamtik II. Apries sought to recover Syria and Palestine. He attacked Tyre and Sidon but failed (586 BC) to relieve the siege...

• Berenice b. c.340 BC, d. 281 or 271 BC, consort and half sister of Ptolemy I, king of ancient Egypt. A Macedonian, she was the widow of Philip, one of the officers of Alexander the Great, and was by this...

• Berenice c.273-21 BC, queen of ancient Cyrene and Egypt. She was the daughter and successor of King Magas of Cyrene. In 247 BC she married Ptolemy III, thereby effectively annexing Cyrene to Egypt...

• Caesarion see Ptolemy XIV.

• Cheops see Khufu.

• Chephren see Khafre.

• Cleopatra 69 BC-30 BC, queen of Egypt, one of the great romantic heroines of all time. Her name was widely used in the Ptolemaic family; there were many earlier Cleopatras. The daughter of Ptolemy XI, she...

• Eudoxus of Cyzicus fl. 130 BC, Greek navigator in the service of the Ptolemies. He explored the Arabian Sea for Ptolemy VII. After being blown from his course to the east coast of Africa, he decided that Africa...

• Harmhab see Horemheb.

• Hatshepsut d. 1458 BC, ruler of ancient Egypt, of the XVIII dynasty; eldest daughter of Thutmose I. She managed to rule Egypt by relegating her husband (and younger half-brother), Thutmose II (see under Thutmose I ), to the background during his brief reign. After his death, she continued in power as regent to his son, Thutmose III, and at some point was named pharoah. Thereafter she was regarded as a king...

• Hophra see Apries.

• Horemheb or Harmhab , d. c.1303 BC, king of ancient Egypt (c.1342 BC-c.1303 BC), founder of the XIX dynasty. A powerful noble under Ikhnaton, he seems to have been an army commander under the successors of that ruler,...

• Ikhnaton or Akhenaton [Egyptian,=Aton is satisfied], d. c.1354 BC, king of ancient Egypt (c.1372-1354 BC), of the XVIII dynasty; son and successor of Amenhotep III (see under Amenhotep I ). His name at his accession was Amenhotep IV, but he changed it to honor the god Aton. He is important for religious innovations. He abandoned polytheism to embrace monotheism. He held that the...

• Khafre or Chephren , fl. 2565 BC, king of ancient Egypt, of the IV dynasty, and builder of the second pyramid at Giza. His face is perhaps that represented on the Great Sphinx. An obscure king, Dedefre,...

• Khufu or Cheops , fl. c.2680 BC, king of ancient Egypt, founder of the IV dynasty. He was king for 23 years and was famous as the builder of the greatest pyramid at Giza.

• Menes fl. 3200 BC, king of ancient Egypt, of the first dynasty, the first Egyptian ruler for whom there are historical records. According to tradition, he seems to have united the southern and northern...

• Menkaure or Mycerinus , fl. 2525? BC, king of ancient Egypt, of the IV dynasty; successor of Khafre. He built the third pyramid at Giza.

• Merneptah d. c.1215 BC, king of ancient Egypt, of the XIX dynasty; son and successor of Ramses II. He succeeded (1224 BC) to the throne when he was already advanced in years. He quelled a revolt in Syria...

• Mycerinus see Menkaure.

• Necho fl. 670 BC, lord of Saïs, Egypt. He was confirmed in his holding after the Assyrian conquest in 670; he was later taken to Nineveh in chains for plotting to revolt but was pardoned and restored...

• Neco see Necho.

• Nefertiti or Nefretete , fl. c.1372-1350 BC, queen of ancient Egypt; wife of Ikhnaton (XVIII dynasty) and aunt of Tutankhamen. She seems to have been divorced by Ikhnaton late in his reign. The exquisite limestone bust of Nefertiti (Berlin Mus.) has given rise to the tradition that...

• Nekhtnebf I Gr. Nectanebos I, king of ancient Egypt (379-361 BC), founder of the XXX dynasty. By the gallant defense of the fortresses of the Nile delta and then of Memphis, he saved his country from the Persian invasion of...

• Pepi I fl. c.2325 BC, king of ancient Egypt, of the VI dynasty. He was responsible for the rise of the official Uni. The reign of his son Pepi II (c.2275-c.2185 BC) is the longest recorded in history. It was successful because the powerful southern lords at Elephantine organized the Egyptian caravan trade route, which enabled expeditions to...

• Piankhi king of ancient Nubia (c.741-c.715 BC). After subduing Upper Egypt, he defeated (c.721 BC) Tefnakhte, lord of Saïs, who had just completed the conquest of Lower Egypt. Piankhi was also victorious at Memphis. He returned...

• Psamtik Lat. Psammetichus, d. 609 BC, king of ancient Egypt, founder of the XXVI dynasty. When his father, Necho , lord of Saïs under the Assyrians, was defeated and killed (663 BC), by the Nubian Tanutamon, Psamtik fled to his overlord, Assurbanipal , who reinstated (661) him at Saïs as viceroy of Lower Egypt. While Assurbanipal was busy in Babylonia and other regions, Psamtik shook off his Assyrian allegiance and became master of all Egypt...

• Ptolemy I (Ptolemy Soter) , d. 284 BC, king of ancient Egypt, the first ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (or Lagid dynasty), son of a Macedonian named Lagus. He was one of the leading generals of Alexander the Great, and...

• Ptolemy II (Ptolemy Philadelphus) , c.308-246 BC, king of ancient Egypt (285-246 BC), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy I and Berenice (c.340-281 BC). He continued his father's efforts to make Alexandria...

• Ptolemy III (Ptolemy Euergetes) , d. 221 BC, king of ancient Egypt (246-221 BC), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy II and the first Arsinoë. He plunged immediately into a war with Syria, where his sister, Berenice, was...

• Ptolemy IV (Ptolemy Philopator) , king of ancient Egypt (221-205 BC), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy III and Berenice of Cyrene. He had his mother, his brother, his uncle, and possibly his wife (who was his sister...

• Ptolemy IX (Ptolemy Alexander), d. 88 BC, king of ancient Egypt (107 BC-88 BC), of the Macedonian dynasty, brother of Ptolemy VIII. He was governor in Cyprus when called (110 BC) by his mother to be coruler...

• Ptolemy V (Ptolemy Epiphanes) , d. 180 BC, king of ancient Egypt (205-180 BC), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy IV. He succeeded to the throne as a small boy, and his reign began with disastrous civil wars. Invasions by...

• Ptolemy VI (Ptolemy Philometor) , d. 145 BC, king of ancient Egypt (180-145 BC), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy V. He became king when an infant, and his mother, Cleopatra, was regent. After her death, Antiochus IV of...

• Ptolemy VII (Ptolemy Physcon) , d. 116 BC, king of ancient Egypt (145-116 BC), of the Macedonian dynasty, brother of Ptolemy VI. He is also called Ptolemy Euergetes II. He was coruler with his brother and his brother's wife from 170-164 BC Trouble resulted in a settlement by which Ptolemy Physcon ruled Cyrene. On his...

• Ptolemy VIII (Ptolemy Lathyrus) , d. 81 BC, king of ancient Egypt (116-107 BC, 88-81 BC) of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy VII and the younger Cleopatra. He is also called Ptolemy Soter II. His mother ruled jointly with...

• Ptolemy X (Ptolemy Alexander), d. 80 BC, king of ancient Egypt (80 BC), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy IX. His stepmother, Cleopatra Berenice, was joint ruler with her father, Ptolemy VIII, and...

• Ptolemy XI (Ptolemy Auletes) , d. 51 BC, king of ancient Egypt (80-58 BC, 55-51 BC), of the Macedonian dynasty, illegitimate son of Ptolemy VIII. He is also called Ptolemy Neos Dionysus. He succeeded Ptolemy X to the throne,...

• Ptolemy XII 61?-47 BC, king of ancient Egypt (51-47 BC), of the Macedonian dynasty; son of Ptolemy XI. On the death of his father he was under the guardianship of Pompey. He was completely overshadowed from...

• Ptolemy XIII d. 44 BC, king of ancient Egypt (47-44 BC), the last of the Macedonian dynasty, but for his sister, Cleopatra. He was a child when his brother Ptolemy XII drowned. Julius Caesar married him to Cleopatra...

• Ptolemy XIV (Ptolemy Caesarion), 47-30 BC, son of Cleopatra and (almost certainly) Julius Caesar. He became joint ruler with his mother, but played no role in the great and tragic events that brought Egypt and Cleopatra to their doom. Fearing that he might...

• Rameses or Ramesses: see Ramses. For Rameses in the Bible, see Raamses.

• Ramses Rameses, or Ramesses , name of several kings of ancient Egypt of the XIX and XX dynasties. The kings of the XX dynasty, all named Ramses but the first, are often, on that account, called Ramessides...

• Sesostris I d. 1926 BC, king of ancient Egypt, 2d ruler of the XII dynasty; son and successor of Amenemhet I. He was coregent with his father from 1980 BC; from 1971 to 1926 he was sole ruler. His reign was notable...

• Seti I d. 1290 BC, king of ancient Egypt, of the XIX dynasty; son and successor of Ramses I. He succeeded to the throne c.1302 BC Invading Palestine and Syria, Seti I reduced them again to tributary...

• Sheshonk I d. c.929 or 924 BC, king of ancient Egypt, founder of the XXII (Libyan) dynasty. Originally a commander of mercenaries at Heracleopolis, he assumed (c.950 BC) royal authority when the weak dynasty...

• Shishak see Sheshonk I.

• Shoshenk I see Sheshonk I.

• Snefru fl. c.2780 BC, king of ancient Egypt, last king of the III dynasty; predecessor of Khufu. Snefru began commerce across the open sea with Phoenicia, for the cedar logs of Lebanon, and built ships...

• Taharka or Tirhakah , d. 663 BC, king of ancient Egypt, last ruler of the XXV dynasty; son of Piankhi. Before he was king, he led the Egyptians against Sennacherib, who disastrously defeated him. Seizing (688 BC) the...

• Thutmose I or Thothmes I , d. 1495 BC, king of ancient Egypt, third ruler of the XVIII dynasty; successor of Amenhotep I. He became king c.1525. In a great campaign he subjugated the valley of the Nile up to the Third Cataract (below the present Dongola). Syria occupied his attention, and he at least temporarily subdued the country as far as the Euphrates River. His son and successor, Thutmose II, reigned from c.1495 to 1490 BC Unlike Hatshepsut , his half-sister whom he married, Thutmose II did not have a royal mother. Before long Hatshepsut gained equal power and relegated him to the background, calling herself "king." At the death of Thutmose II, Hatshepsut became regent for Thutmose III, his son by a minor queen. She relegated Thutmose III to an inferior position for 22 years while she ruled Egypt. At her death (1468), he emerged as the sole ruler of Egypt and as a great conqueror...

• Tirhakah see Taharka.

• Tiy fl. 1385 BC, queen of ancient Egypt, wife of Amenhotep III (see under Amenhotep I ). Of humble origin, she was remarkable for her influence in state affairs in the reigns of her husband and of Ikhnaton...

• Tiy fl. 1167 BC, queen of ancient Egypt, wife of Ramses III (see under Ramses ). To gain the throne for her son, Pentewere, she led a palace conspiracy to displace her aging husband. At the last minute the plot was discovered, and 32 important courtiers were executed for...

• Tutankhamen or Tutenkhamon , fl. c.1350 BC, king of ancient Egypt, of the XVIII dynasty. He was the son-in-law of Ikhnaton and succeeded to the throne after a brief reign by Ikhnaton's successor. Under Ikhnaton the god Amon had been replaced by Aton, and the reaction in favor of Aton ended under Tutankhamen; thus, the...

• Uni fl. c.2325 BC, Egyptian official of the VI dynasty. His career is known through his private inscription. After rising from an obscure court position to a position of command, he defeated the...