11th Dynasty
Mentuhotep II
Reign c.2055–2004 BCE
The reunifier whose temple gave Deir el-Bahari an early royal landmark.
In Luxor
Pharaohs
Meet the rulers and royal women behind Luxor’s monuments.
Start with Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari and Amenhotep III at Luxor Temple and the Colossi of Memnon. At Karnak, compare work made for Seti I and Ramesses II; the Ramesseum belongs to Ramesses II. The other profiles introduce rulers and royal women whose monuments, images and disputed histories help connect the places you visit.
Browse rulers by dynasty, in reign order. Open a profile for their monuments, the evidence and the questions historians still debate.
11th Dynasty
12th Dynasty
12th Dynasty
Senusret I
Reign c.1965–1920 BCE
The oldest building you can walk around at Karnak is his, and it was found inside a pylon.
In Luxor
18th Dynasty
18th Dynasty
Thutmose I
Reign c.1504–1492 BCE
The soldier king usually named as the first buried in the Valley of the Kings.
18th Dynasty
Thutmose III
Reign c.1479–1425 BCE
Seventeen campaigns, and an empire that outlasted him by two hundred years.
18th Dynasty
Hatshepsut
Reign c.1473–1458 BCE
A king who was a woman, and whose name was later cut out of her own walls.
18th Dynasty
Amenhotep III
Reign c.1390–1352 BCE
A king whose monumental building programme reshaped Thebes.
18th Dynasty
Akhenaten
Reign c.1352–1336 BCE
The king who shut the temples — and whose own buildings were used as rubble.
18th Dynasty
Tutankhamun
Reign c.1336–1327 BCE
A short reign, a remarkable burial and an extraordinary legacy for the study of ancient Egypt.
In Luxor
18th Dynasty
Ay
Reign c.1327–1323 BCE
The courtier who outlived two kings and then wore the crown himself, briefly.
In Luxor
18th Dynasty
Horemheb
Reign c.1323–1295 BCE
The general who took the throne and set about deleting the four reigns before him.
19th Dynasty
19th Dynasty
Seti I
Reign c.1294–1279 BCE
A ruler whose finely worked reliefs reward a close look at Egyptian carving.
19th Dynasty
Ramesses II
Reign c.1279–1213 BCE
Sixty-six years on the throne, and his name cut into everything within reach.
20th Dynasty
20th Dynasty
Ramesses III
Reign c.1184–1153 BCE
The king behind Medinet Habu, whose reign left records of both military ambition and economic strain.
Royal women beyond the throne
These profiles belong alongside the pharaohs, with their own roles clearly identified.
Royal women beyond the throne
Nefertari
A royal woman remembered through an exceptionally rich painted tomb.
In Luxor