The Egyptian king Thutmose III (1504-1450 BC) reestablished Egyptian rule in Palestine and Syria and set the empire on a firm foundation for almost a century.

The son of Thutmose II by a concubine named Ese (Isis), Thutmose III succeeded to the throne on the death of his father but was for many years kept in the background by his aunt Queen Hatshepsut. However, he later counted his reign from the beginning of his partnership with Hatshepsut and by Year Twenty he was depicted as on a level of equality with his aunt, whom he presumably supplanted in that year or very soon after.

During the period of Hatshepsut's dominance the petty rulers of Palestine and Syria had taken the opportunity to cast off the Egyptian yoke imposed upon them by Thutmose I. In a series of brilliant campaigns extending from his twenty-second year onward, Thutmose III reestablished...