The Annals of Thutmose III are composed of numerous inscriptions of ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

ian military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 records gathered from the 18th dynasty

Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...

 campaigns of Thutmose III

Thutmose III

Thutmose III was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of Thutmose's reign he was co-regent with his stepmother, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh...

's armies in Syro-Palestine. These recordings can be found on the inside walls of the chamber housing the "holy of holies" at the great Karnak Temple of Amun

Amun

Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...

. Measuring just 25 meters in length and 12 meters wide, the space containing these inscriptions presents the largest and most detailed accounts concerning military exploit

Exploit

Exploit can mean:*Exploit *Exploit *Exploit *Exploit *Exploit, a 2009 Adobe Flash game by Gregory Weir*The Exploits River, the longest river on the island of Newfoundland-See also:...

s of all Egyptian Kings.

Campaigns

The most detailed and extravagant inscription on the wall at Karnak describes the first campaign

Military campaign

In the military sciences, the term military campaign applies to large scale, long duration, significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of inter-related military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war...

, in year 23, of Thutmose III, which was the Battle of Megiddo

Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC)

The Battle of Megiddo was fought between Egyptian forces under the command of Pharaoh Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the king of Kadesh. It is the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail. Megiddo is also the first recorded use of the...

. Before his death, Thutmose III would partake in a total of seventeen campaigns. The remainder of Thutmose III's campaign inscriptions contain only brief information and one can clearly see a difference in their descriptive styles. While the Megiddo campaign focuses heavily on details, the other campaign inscriptions seem to focus on the prizes of war

War

War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...

. As the years of Thutmose III's reign pass, the inscriptions on the wall at Karnak become less descriptive.

Historical significance

While the Annals of Thutmose III help us to piece together ancient Egypt's past, Spalinger makes a good point in examining the literary aspects of the inscriptions as well as the historical aspects. As the years of Thutmose III's reign progress for example, Spalinger describes the less descriptive, list-like inscriptions as society becoming more organized. Using this less historical approach, he describes how a constant flow of war loot

Looting

Looting —also referred to as sacking, plundering, despoiling, despoliation, and pillaging—is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...

 and foodstuffs most likely played a factor in seemingly missing segments. Also it should be noted that these inscriptions could not be seen by the general public

General Public

General Public were a band formed by The Beat vocalists, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, and which included former members of Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Specials and The Clash...

because of their placement in the Karnak Temple of Amun.

External links

• Digital Karnak UCLA