Editing Thutmose II (section)

====Argument for a long reign====
[[File:Thutmose II in front of an offering table. From the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, Egypt. Neues Museum, Berlin.jpg|thumb|Thutmose II in front of an offering table. From the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, Egypt. Neues Museum, Berlin]]
Thutmose's reign is still traditionally given as 13 or 14 years. Although Ineni's autobiography can be interpreted to say that Thutmose reigned only a short time, it also calls Thutmose II a "hawk in the nest", indicating that he was perhaps a child when he assumed the throne.<ref name="Breasted, James Henry p. 47"/> Since he lived long enough to father two children—[[Neferure]] and [[Thutmose III]]—this suggests that he may have had a longer reign of 13 years in order to reach adulthood and start a family. The German Egyptologist [[Jürgen von Beckerath|J. Von Beckerath]] uses this line of argument to support the case of a 13-year reign for Thutmose II.<ref>[[Jürgen von Beckerath|J. Von Beckerath]], "Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten", ''Münchner Ägyptologische Studien 46'' (Philip von Zabern, Mainz: 1997)</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2016}} [[Alan Gardiner]] noted that at one point a monument had been identified by Georges Daressy in 1900,<ref>G. Daressy, ''Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte'' 1, 1900, 90(20)</ref> dated to Thutmose's 18th year, although its precise location has not been identified.<ref name="Gardiner, Alan p. 180">Gardiner, Alan. ''Egypt of the Pharaohs''. p. 180 Oxford University Press, 1964</ref> This inscription is now usually attributed to Hatshepsut, who certainly did have an 18th year. Von Beckerath observes that a Year 18 date appears in a fragmentary inscription of an Egyptian official and notes that the date likely refers to Hatshepsut's prenomen Maatkare, which had been altered from Aakheperenre Thutmose II, with the reference to the deceased Thutmose II being removed. There is also the curious fact that Hatshepsut celebrated her Sed Jubilee in her Year 16, which von Beckerath believes occurred 30 years after the death of Thutmose I, her father, who was the main source of her claim to power. This would create a gap of 13 to 14 years where Thutmose II's reign would fit in between Hatshepsut and Thutmose I's rule.<ref name="Beckerath Chronologie p. 121">[[Jürgen von Beckerath|J. Von Beckerath]], "Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten", ''Münchner Ägyptologische Studien 46'' (Philip von Zabern, Mainz: 1997), p. 121</ref> Von Beckerath additionally stresses that Egyptologists have no conclusive criteria to statistically evaluate the reign length of Thutmose II based on the number of preserved objects from his reign.<ref>J. von Beckerath, "Nochmals zur Regierung Tuthmosis' II", ''Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur'' 17 (1990), pp. 65–74</ref>

Catherine Roerig has proposed that tomb [[KV20]], generally believed to have been commissioned by Hatshepsut, was the original tomb of Thutmose II in the [[Valley of the Kings]].<ref>C. Roerig, "The Building Activities of Thutmose III in the Valley of the Kings", in E.C. Cline, D. O'Connor (eds.), ''Thutmose III: A New Biography'', Ann Arbor 2006, pp. 238–259</ref> If correct, this would be a major project on the part of Thutmose II, which required a construction period of several years and implies a long reign for this king. Secondly, new archaeological work by French Egyptologists at Karnak has produced evidence of a pylon and an opulent festival court of Thutmose II in front of the 4th pylon according to Luc Gabolde.<ref>Luc Gabolde, "La 'cour de fetes' de Thoutmosis II à Karnak", ''Cahiers de Karnak'' 9 (1993), pp. 1–100; Luc Gabolde, "Monuments décorés en bas relief aux noms de Thoutmosis II et Hatshepsout à Karnak", Mémoires publiés par les membres de l'Institut Français d'Archéology Orientale (MIFAO) 123 le Cairo 2005.</ref> Meanwhile, French Egyptologists at Karnak have also uncovered blocks from a chapel and a barque sanctuary constructed by Thutmose II there.<ref>Luc Gabolde, ''Monuments décorés en bas relief aux noms de Thoutmosis II et Hatshepsout à Karnak'', Mémoires publiés par les membres de l'Institut Français d'Archéology Orientale (MIFAO) 123 le Cairo 2005.</ref> Finally, Zygmunt Wysocki has proposed that the funerary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari was originally begun as Thutmose II's own mortuary temple. Thutmose III here later replaced depictions of Hatshepsut with those by Thutmose II in those parts of the temple that are proposed to have been executed by the latter king before Hatshepsut took over the temple following Thutmose II's death.<ref>Zygmunt Wysocki, "The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari: Its Original Form", ''Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo'' 42 (1986), pp. 213–228</ref> Thutmose II also contributed to the decoration of the temple of [[Khnum]] at [[Semna]].<ref>W. V. Davies, "Tombos and the Viceroy Inebny/Amenemnekhu", ''British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and the Sudan'' 10 (2008), 45f</ref>

A reconsideration of this new archaeological evidence would remove several arguments usually advanced in support of a short reign: namely the absence of a tomb that can be assigned to Thutmose II (prior to 2025), the absence of a funerary temple and the lack of any major works undertaken by this pharaoh.<ref>Thomas Schneider, "Contributions to the Chronology of the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period", ''Egypt and the Levant'' 20, 2010. p. 393</ref> Thutmose II's Karnak building projects would also imply that his reign was closer to 13 years rather than just three years.

The rediscovery of Thutmose II's tomb in 2022 and its subsequent confirmation in 2025, along with the adjudged size of his tomb, support the theory that Thutmose II reigned for 13 or 14 years.