Kamose

Kamose was the last king of the Seventeenth Dynasty, reigning from Thebes over Upper Egypt. He ruled about 1554 to 1550 BC, with dates uncertain by about a decade. He was the son of Seqenenre Tao and Queen Ahhotep I, taking power following his father's violent death and preceding his younger brother Ahmose I, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty.

Kamose dedicated his brief reign of around four years to open warfare against the Hyksos Fifteenth Dynasty. Determined to unite the two halves of Egypt, he led a fleet and army northward past Middle Egypt to challenge the Hyksos capital at Avaris. He also secured his southern frontier by campaigning into Lower Nubia.

Historians understand Kamose's achievements primarily through his own royal inscriptions. Significant texts include the victory stelae set up at Karnak Temple, which describe his council of cautious advisers and his subsequent naval expeditions, as well as a military stela erected at Buhen fortress in Nubia. His burial was later discovered at Dra Abu el-Naga in western Thebes.

Monuments

• Karnak victory stelae
• Buhen stela

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Try the name on the Cartouche Desk, or see where the reign falls on the timeline.