Hatshepsuts sucessful reign was followed by that of the great warrior
pharaoh, Thutmose III.
It is a tribute to Hatshepsuts ability, that she had been able to keep this able
young soldier under her thumb even after he came of age. The new kings
frustration at having been kept from his rightful throne for so long was quickly
shown by his having Hatshepsuts name erased from all public inscriptions and
replaced either with his own name or those of his ancestors.
Thutmose III spent much of his reign restoring Egyptian power in Syria and Palestine.
He waged six campaigns there, and another eleven against the Hurrians who had settled down to found the powerful kingdom of Mitanni. Much of this required long drawn out sieges, such as that of Megiddo, which lasted eleven months and involved building a wooden palisade and moat to completely cut the city off.
Sometimes trickery was used. At the siege of Joppa, Egyptian troops supposedly got into the city by hiding in grain bags going in through the gates. At other times, the Egyptians found themselves involved in some pretty hard fighting. Thutmose III reign was one of extream millitary expertise.
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