Tutmosis IV - Definition

Menkheperura Thutmose IV (died 1390 BC; sometimes spelled Thutmosis) was the 8th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1400 to 1390 BC.

Thutmose IV was born to Amenhotep II and Tiy; little is known about his brief ten-year rule. He suppressed an uprising in Nubia around 1392 BC and was referred to in stele as the Conqueror of Syria, but little else has been pieced together of his military exploits. Like most Thutmosids he built on a large scale. He completed an obelisk started by Thutmose III, which at 32 m (105 ft.) was the tallest ever erected in Egypt, at the Temple of Karnack.

Thutmose IV's most celebrated accomplishment was the restoration of the Sphinx at Giza and subsequent commission of the Dream Stele. According to Thutmose IV's account on the Dream Stele while out on a hunting trip, he stopped to rest under the head of the Sphinx, which was buried up to the neck in sand. He soon fell asleep and had a dream in which the Sphinx told him that if he cleared away the sand and restored it he would become the next Pharaoh. After completing the restoration he placed a tablet with the Dream Stele on it between the two paws of the Sphinx.

Some Egyptologists theorize that because Amenhotep II did not name Thutmose IV his co-ruler, he did not intend for him to be his successor and that the restoration of the Sphinx and text of the Dream Stele sealed his legitimacy.

Thutmose's names in Egyptian hieroglyphs are shown above right. The technical transliteration of this name is dḥwty-ms, which could be realised as Djehutymes. However, his name is more often rendered Thutmose, Thutmoses or Thutmosis after the Greek spelling of the name. His name means "Thoth bore him". Upon his accession to the throne, Thutmose took a praenomen. Transliterated mn-ḫprw-r‘, and realised as Menkheperure, this name means "Establisher of the forms of Ra".

See also: List of Pharaohs