“Other erections of this distinguished monarch are the enclosure of the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, and the obelisks belonging to the same building, which the irony of fate has now removed to Rome, England, and America; the temple of Ptah at Thebes; the small temple at Medinet Abou; a temple at Kneph, adorned with obelisks, at Elephantine, and a series of temples and monuments at Ombos, Esneh, Abydos, Coptos, Denderah, Eileithyia, Hermonthis and Memphis in Egypt; and at Amada, Corte, Talmis, Pselus, Semneh, and Koummeh in Nubia. Large remains still exist in the Koummeh and Semneh temples, where Thothmes worships Totun, the Nubian Kneph, in conjunction with Usertesen III., his own ancestor. There are also extensive ruins of his great buildings at Denderah, Ombos, and Napata. Altogether Thothmes III. is pronounced to have ‘left more monuments than any other Pharaoh, excepting Rameses II.,’ and though occasionally showing himself as a builder somewhat capricious and whimsical, yet still on the whole to have worked in ‘a pure style,’ and proved that he was ‘not deficient in good taste.’
“There is reason to believe that the great constructions of this mighty monarch were, in part at least, the product of forced labours. Doubtless his eleven thousand captives were for the most part held in slavery, and compelled to employ their energies in helping towards the accomplishment of those grand works which his active mind was continually engaged in devising. We find among the monuments of his time a representation of the mode in which the services of these foreign bondsmen were made to subserve the glory of the Pharaoh who had carried them away captive. Some are seen kneading and cutting up the clay; others bear them water from a neighbouring pool; others again, with the assistance of a wooden mould, shape the clay into bricks, which are then taken and placed in long rows to dry; finally, when the bricks are sufficiently hard, the highest class of labourers proceed to build them into walls. All the work is performed under the eyes of taskmasters, armed with sticks, who address the labourers with the words: ‘The stick is in my hand, be not idle.’ Over the whole is an inscription which says: ‘Here are to be seen the prisoners which have been carried away as living captives in very great numbers; they work at the building with active fingers; their overseers are in sight; they insist with vehemence’ (on the others working), ‘obeying the orders of the great skilled lord’ (i.e., the head architect), ‘who prescribes to them the works, and gives directions to the masters; they are rewarded with wine and all kinds of good dishes; they perform their service with a mind full of love for the king; they build for Thothmes Ra-men-khepr a Holy of Holies for the gods. May it be rewarded to him through a range of many years.’”[4]
Colossal Head of Thothmes III.
“In person Thothmes III. does not appear to have been very remarkable. His countenance was thoroughly Egyptian, but not characterised by any strong individuality. The long, well-shaped, but somewhat delicate nose, almost in a line with the forehead, gives a slightly feminine appearance to the face, which is generally represented as beardless and moderately plump. The eye, prominent, and larger than that of the ordinary Egyptian, has a pensive but resolute expression, and is suggestive of mental force. The mouth is somewhat too full for beauty, but is resolute, like the eye, and less sensual than that of most Egyptians. There is an appearance of weakness about the chin, which is short, and retreats slightly, thus helping to give the entire countenance a womanish look. Altogether, the face has less of strength and determination than we should have expected, but is not wholly without indications of some of those qualities.”[5]
Thothmes III. died after a long and prosperous reign of fifty-four years, and when he was probably about sixty years old, his father having died when he was only an infant.
