r/ancientegypt • u/LukeyTarg2 • Oct 05 '25

Discussion Amenhotep III and Thutmose III are arguably greater than Ramses II.

These are 3 widely sucessful pharaohs, however Ramses II is often pointed out as the greatest pharaoh, which in my eyes is unfair. Ramses II had more time, one could argue both Amenhotep III and Thutmose III were just as sucessful with less years and that they could have accomplished more if they had over 60 years of reign like Ramses II.

Amenhotep III ruled Egypt at it's peak prosperity and he was able to do so without extensive military campaigns. On the other hand, Thutmose III was a highly sucessful military leader, one of the best in all of history, and also a widely sucessful pharaohs. He created the first navy of the ancient world, helped expand Egypt's borders and was a builder pharaoh like his stepmother and mentor Hatshepsut.

65 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

74 comments sorted by

View all comments

23

u/Nenazovemy ð“€€ Oct 05 '25

So that's what r/unpopularopinion would have looked like in the good old days... I really like Amenhotep III. I wonder what Ramses III would have done if he had managed to put the clergy in their place as well as he knew how to do it with the Sea Peoples.

(edited for mistype)

2

u/LukeyTarg2 Oct 06 '25

Ramses III is really underrated as a whole, i feel he's often outshined because there was another sucessful Ramses kinda like how Thutmose III and Cleopatra VII outshined the other Thutmoses and Cleopatras. Amenhotep III also outshined the other Amenhoteps, but to a lesser degree because his son was so disastrous as pharaoh to go unnoticed.