Ahmose I
Founder of Egypt's 18th Dynasty, expeller of the Hyksos
- Reigned
- c. 1539–1514 BCE (dates debated)
- Dynasty
- Founder of the 18th
- Known for
- Expelling the Hyksos; taking Avaris
- Monument
- Tempest Stele, Karnak
The pharaoh who drove out the Hyksos, founded the New Kingdom, and erected the Tempest Stele describing darkness and storms.
What is Ahmose I known for?
Ahmose I reigned around 1539 to 1514 BCE (other chronologies differ). He finished the war against the Hyksos, foreign rulers of the Nile Delta, captured their capital Avaris, and pursued them into Palestine. His reign begins the New Kingdom.
He erected the Tempest Stele at Karnak. Its fragments were found in the 1940s and 1950s and reassembled. It describes a storm with darkness and rain that ruined tombs and temples around Thebes, and the king's repairs. Some scholars, including Robert Ritner and Nadine Moeller in 2014, have linked it to the eruption of Thera (Santorini); others think it describes an ordinary storm or is metaphorical. Radiocarbon dates for Thera are earlier than most dates for Ahmose, so the link is debated.
His Tempest Stele is cited for days of darkness possibly linked to the Thera eruption.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Ahmose I'Reference
- Wikipedia, 'Tempest Stela'Reference
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