Pharaoh
Thutmose III began a reign in which the Egyptian Empire reached its greatest expanse by reinforcing the long-standing Egyptian presence in the
Levant. After waiting impatiently for the end of his regency by the Egyptian Pharaoh
Hatshepsut, he immediately responded to a revolt of local rulers near Kadesh in the vicinity of modern-day
Syria. As Egyptian buffer provinces in the land of the Amurru along the border with the Hittites attempted to change their vassalage, Thutmose III dealt with the threat personally. The Canaanites are thought to have been allied with the
Mitanni and Amurru from the region of the two rivers between the headwaters of the Orontes and the Jordan. The driving and main force behind this revolt was the King of
Kadesh. The powerful fortress of Kadesh offered protection to him and the city. The King of Megiddo, with an equally strong fortress, joined the alliance. The importance of Megiddo was its geographical location along the southwestern edge of the
Jezreel Valley just beyond the
Mount Carmel ridge and the Mediterranean. From this location, Megiddo controlled the
Via Maris, the main trade route between Egypt and
Mesopotamia. The Egyptian inscriptions of the campaign on the Temple of Karnak come from a daily journal kept by the scribe Tjaneni during the campaign. In the Egyptian account Thutmose gathered an army of
chariots and
infantry numbering between ten and twenty thousand men. As the Egyptians mustered their forces, the king of Kadesh gathered many tribal chieftains from Syria, Aram and Canaan around him, estimated at between ten and fifteen thousand men, entered
Megiddo and set his forces at the waters of
Taanach. He expected that the Egyptians would come by way of Taanach via Dothaim, the main route from the Mediterranean lowlands into the Valley of
Kishon, and from Egypt to Mesopotamia. The Egyptian army assembled at the border fortress of
Tjaru (called
Sele in Greek) and arrived ten days later at the loyal city of
Gaza. After one day's rest, it marched north for eleven days to the city of
Yehem (now Khirbet Yemmeh, south of
Jatt). Here, Thutmose sent out
scouts. To continue northeast from Yehem, the army had to pass the
Carmel mountain range, beyond which lay the Jezreel Valley and the city and fortress of Megiddo, where the rebel forces had gathered. There were three possible routes from Yehem to Megiddo. Both the northern route, via
Zefti and
Yokneam, and the southern route, by way of
Taanach, were safer but longer routes. The central route, via Aruna (modern
Wadi Ara), was more direct but risky; it followed a narrow ravine, and the troops could only travel single-file. If the enemy waited at the end of the ravine, the Egyptians would risk being cut down piecemeal. The army leaders pleaded with him not to take the difficult road but to take either of the safer routes. Instead, with information from the scouts, Thutmose III decided to take the direct path to Megiddo. He believed that if his generals advised him to take the easier routes, then his enemy would assume he would do so, so he decided to do the unexpected. The King of Kadesh had left large infantry detachments guarding the two more likely paths, and virtually ignored the Aruna route. Ignoring the danger of spreading out his army in the mountains where leading elements might be subject to enemy ambush in narrow mountain passes, and his main force still far behind in Aruna, unable to come to their aid, Thutmose took the direct route through Aruna (Wadi Ara). To reduce the risk, Thutmose himself led his men through Aruna. His light infantry and the mounted bowmen known as
haibrw moved in quickly to eliminate any rebel
pickets, leaving the main force of chariots to follow. With the city lightly guarded by the enemy, Thutmose led a quick assault, scattered the rebels and entered the valley unopposed. Now, the Egyptian army had a clear path to Megiddo, with the main forces of the rebel army far away to the northwest and southeast. ==Battle and siege==