The rediscovery of Thutmose III and Hatshepsut

Today, Thutmose III and Hatshepsut are among the best-known of all the pharaohs, as perhaps the greatest of all conquering kings, and the classic female monarch. However, like almost all pre-Saite rulers of Egypt (up to 664 BC), they had been utterly forgotten for millennia when the proto-Egyptologists of the early 19th century, newly armed with the ability once again to make use of hieroglyphic inscriptions, lifted the veil that had so long hidden them. Damnatio memoriae Menkheperra Thutmose III (c.1479-1425 BC) had remained an iconic figure of the past at least until Ptolemaic times. His images were prominent around the temples of Karnak, and were reinstated when walls were affected