(1) Great Commanders of the Bronze Age

Early Bronze Age (3300 BC-2100 BC)

Sharrukin of Akkad (2360 BC-2279 BC) -

Rimush (2330 BC-2270 BC) -

Manishtushu (2330 BC-2255 BC) -

Naram-Sin (2280 BC-2218 BC) -


Middle Bronze Age (2100 BC-1550 BC)

Sesostris III (1900 BC-1839 BC) -

Shamshi-Adad I (1860 BC-1776 BC) -

Hammurabi (1810 BC-1750 BC) -

Hattusili I (1600 BC-1556 BC) -


Late Bronze Age (1550 BC-1300 BC)

Mursili I (1560 BC-1526 BC) -

Ahmose I (1570 BC-1514 BC) -

Amenhotep I (1550 BC-1506 BC) -

Thutmose I (1530 BC-1493 BC) - Son of the Pharaoh Amenhotep I. His reign saw massive expansion into Syria and the first contact between the Egyptians and the Mitanni. When Thutmose I became king around 1506 BC, the Nubians rebelled. Thutmose I moved his army up the Nile and supposedly killed the rebel king in battle. He had the rebel king's body hung from his ship on his return voyage to Waset. At the start of the second year of his reign, he led a campaign into Syria and marched as far as the Euphrates where he placed a stele. This was the farthest that an Egyptian army had ever marched and the pharaoh celebrated his success by hunting elephants in the land of Niy in northern Syria. The Syrian cities pledged allegiance and gave tribute to Pharaoh. However when his army returned to Egypt they stopped paying tribute and began to prepare for further Egyptian invasions. This expedition might also have put him at odds with the Mitanni (at that time probably ruled by Shuttarna I). Also in the second year of his reign Thutmose I ordered construction of a fortress at Tombos near the third cataract of the Nile. In his third year he again campaigned in Nubia, extended Egyptian control past the second cataract, and ordered the construction of a canal at the first cataract. Egyptian control of Nubia now extended as far as Buhen in the third cataract. In the fourth year the Nubians rebelled once again. As a result the Egyptians invaded Nubia as far as the fourth cataract, which an inscription at Kurgus confirms. He then secured his control over the southern regions with massive construction projects, such as expanding the temple at Khnum and appointing officials to govern those areas.

Thutmose II (1505 BC-1479 BC) -

Parshatatar (1500 BC-1450 BC) - The third Great King of Mitanni, his reign saw rapid expansion of the empire across Mesopotamia and Syria, taking major cities like Aleppo and Alalakh. He then crossed into Anatolia and took Kizzuwatna (Cilicia). Late in his reign the Egyptians under the young Thutmose III invaded Syria and defeated the coalition of the King of Kadesh at Megiddo. The Mitanni had given support to Kadesh and Megiddo and refused to give tribute to the Egyptians. The Egyptians then invaded Syria, bypassed Aleppo and crossed the Euphrates. They laid waste to Mitanni and forced the unprepared nobles to hold out in their cities and in the mountains. Although a major setback, Mitanni survived and the Egyptians withdrew. Parshatatar seems to have died around that time at an old age.

Thutmose III (1481 BC-1425 BC) -

Shaushtatar (1470 BC-1420 BC) - The son of Parshatatar, he became king when Mitanni faced a crisis from the Egyptian invasion. Thutmose III bypassed the fortified city of Aleppo and crossed the Euphrates in order to raid Mitanni lands. The Mitanni were unprepared and were forced to defend in their walled cities and in the hills until the Egyptians ended their campaign. After surviving this onslaught it seems that Shaushtatar reclaimed large portions of Syria from Thutmose III and again subjugated Alalakh and Kizzuwatna, who had taken advantage of the disorder to become independent. Then after securing the west he turned east and conquered Assyria and Nuzi in the Tigris regions, possibly even going as far to the south-east as Arrapha. Shaushtatar was most likely also giving support to cities in Syria and Canaan which wanted to resist the Egyptians. He probably died at the start of the reign of Amenhotep II, as his son Artatama I attempted to negotiate peace with that pharaoh. Shaushtatar was remembered as the restorer of Mitanni.

Amenhotep II (1450 BC-1397 BC) -

Suppiluliumas I (1370 BC-1322 BC) -

Mursili II (1340 BC-1295 BC) -

End of Bronze Age (1300 BC-1100 BC)

Seti I (1324 BC-1279 BC) -

Muwatallis II (1310 BC-1270 BC) -

Adad-Nirari I (1310 BC-1264 BC) -

Ramesses II (1303 BC-1213 BC) - While his recklessness caused him to suffer a major defeat at Kadesh, his reign as Pharaoh was still a significant portion of military history, especially in the Bronze Age. He commanded five campaigns into Canaan and Syria. His first campaign against the Canaanites was successful. His second was a resounding defeat at the hands of the Hittites at Kadesh, and led to the loss of Syria and the revolt of the Canaanites. Albeit he was capable enough to save himself from total disaster and hold off when the Hittites attacked his camp. His third campaign was an overwhelming success against the Canaanites, Edomites and Moabites and led to him retaking Damascus from Prince Hattusili and advancing as far as the mountains of Lebanon. His fourth and fifth campaigns in Syria were somewhat successful, he did advance into the north as far as the Orontes River and took Dapur and Tunip. However the Hittites adopted an attrition strategy and withdrew, only to recapture their territory when the Egyptians returned home. After decades of warfare Ramesses and Hattusili finally negotiated peace and made an alliance of mutual defense against Assyria. Aside from this Ramesses also campaigned in the Nubian and Libyan frontiers and defeated the Sherden pirates which raided the Nile Delta. When he died, he was the longest reigning Pharaoh in Egyptian history.

Hattusili II (1300 BC-1237 BC) -

Shalmanu-ashared I (1285 BC-1234 BC) -

Tukulti-Ninurta I (1265 BC-1196 BC) -

Ramesses III (1217 BC-1155 BC) -