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Thutmose II in hieroglyphs: Hatshepsut's husband and his lost tomb
25 October 2026
Thutmose II's throne name is ꜥꜣ-ḫpr-n-rꜥ, Aakheperenre, "great is the form of Ra", written with the sun disc, a column, a scarab and a water ripple. His birth name, ḏḥwty-ms, Thutmose, means "Thoth is born": an ibis on a standard for the god Thoth, and three fox skins for ms, "born".
He was the son of Thutmose I, the husband of his half-sister Hatshepsut and the father of Thutmose III. His reign, around 1490 BC, was short and left few monuments. In 2025 Egyptian officials confirmed a tomb in the hills west of the Valley of the Kings as his, the first royal tomb identified at Luxor since Tutankhamun's in 1922.
Four signs write Aakheperenre
The sun disc (N5) is Ra, set at the top of the cartouche in his honour. The wooden column (O29) is ꜥꜣ, "great". The scarab beetle (L1) is ḫpr, "form" or "to come into being". The water ripple (N35) is n, "of". Read in order: ꜥꜣ-ḫpr-n-rꜥ.
The scarab is the family mark of the early 18th Dynasty. His father was Aakheperkare, his son Menkheperre, his grandson Aakheperure. Each name uses the same beetle with a different word beside it, so check the column and the ripple to be sure you are reading Thutmose II.
Thoth leads the birth name
The ibis on a standard (G26) is Thoth, god of writing and wisdom, written first. The three fox skins tied together (F31) are ms, "to be born", and the folded cloth (S29) adds s. Together, ḏḥwty-ms, "Thoth is born", which the Greeks heard as Tuthmosis.
Four kings of the dynasty bore it. Thutmose II was the son of Thutmose I by a minor wife, Mutnofret, and became heir after his older brothers died.
Hatshepsut ruled beside him and after him
Thutmose II married Hatshepsut, his half-sister and the daughter of Thutmose I's chief queen. They had a daughter, Neferure. His only known son, the future Thutmose III, was born to a lesser wife named Iset. Reliefs at Karnak show Hatshepsut beside her husband, and some Egyptologists think she was the real power behind the throne.
After his death she ruled for the young Thutmose III, then took the throne herself. On several monuments she replaced his name with her own. How long Thutmose II reigned is argued: older books say about thirteen years, many scholars now think only two or three.
His soldiers fought in Nubia while he stayed at home
A stela on the road between Aswan and Philae, dated to his first year, records a revolt in Nubia put down by his army. Generals led the campaigns in Nubia, Sinai and Syria. Few of his buildings survive. His main work at Karnak was a limestone gateway, finished under Thutmose III and later taken down. Its blocks, carved with his names, have been recovered from later foundations. He also built at Elephantine, Semna and Kumma.
A mummy labelled with his name was found in 1881 in the royal cache at Deir el-Bahari. Whether the label is right is still debated.
His tomb was found under a waterfall
In 2022 a joint Egyptian and British team led by Piers Litherland was digging in the Western Wadis, the dry valleys beyond the Valley of the Kings. They found a tomb, called Wadi C-4, at first thought to belong to a royal wife, below a cliff where water pours down in rare storms. Floods had filled it with mud and wrecked it. Fragments of plaster from a blue ceiling with yellow stars, and and spells from the Amduat, a book reserved for kings, pointed to a royal owner.
Alabaster jar pieces carried the names of Thutmose II as the deceased king and of Hatshepsut as his great royal wife. In February 2025 the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the tomb as his. It had been emptied in antiquity, probably after a flood, and the team is still looking for where its contents were taken.
Questions
Was Hatshepsut married to Thutmose II?
Yes. She was his half-sister and his great royal wife. After he died she ruled first for his son Thutmose III and then as king herself.
When was Thutmose II's tomb found?
The tomb was found in 2022 in the Western Wadis near Luxor, and confirmed as his in February 2025, from jar fragments naming him and Hatshepsut.
What does Thutmose mean?
"Thoth is born", or "born of Thoth". Thoth was the ibis-headed god of writing and wisdom.
Glossary
- birth name
- The name a king was given at birth, written in the second cartouche after the title "son of Ra". Egyptologists also call it the nomen.
- cartouche
- An oval ring drawn around a royal name, a loop of rope tied at one end. Kings wrote their two main names in cartouches.
- dynasty
- A line of kings counted together, usually one family. Egyptologists number Egypt's kings in about 30 dynasties, following the priest Manetho.
- mummy
- A body dried and wrapped in linen so that it would last. Egyptians believed the spirit needed it in the afterlife.
- relief
- A carving on a flat surface. In raised relief the background is cut away. In sunk relief the figures are cut into the stone.
- scarab
- The dung beetle, sign of the rising sun and of the word ḫpr, "to come into being". Carved scarabs were used as seals and amulets.
- stela
- An upright stone slab carved with words and pictures, set up in tombs and temples or to mark a border.
- throne name
- The name a king took when he came to the throne, written in the first cartouche after the title "King of Upper and Lower Egypt". Egyptologists also call it the prenomen.
- tomb
- A burial place: a pit, a mastaba, a pyramid or rooms cut into rock. Its chapel was where the family brought offerings.
- Valley of the Kings
- A desert valley on the west bank at Luxor where the New Kingdom kings were buried in tombs cut into the rock, Tutankhamun among them.
People in this article
Where to see it
- Karnak Temple site
- Valley of the Kings site
Sources
More to read
- Senusret I in hieroglyphs: Kheperkare, his White Chapel and his obelisk Senusret I in hieroglyphics: his cartouche Kheperkare read sign by sign, the White Chapel at Karnak and the obelisk of Heliopolis still standing in Cairo.
- Amenemhat III in hieroglyphs: Nimaatre, two pyramids and the Labyrinth Amenemhat III in hieroglyphics: Nimaatre and Amenemhat read sign by sign, the Black Pyramid's capstone in Cairo, and his tomb by the Labyrinth at Hawara.
- Unas in hieroglyphs: the king whose pyramid first spoke Unas in hieroglyphics: his cartouche read sign by sign as Wenis, the first Pyramid Texts at Saqqara, and the reliefs of his long causeway.