Pharaoh Amenhotep II

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The ageing King Thutmosis III did take his son Amenhotep as a co-regent in the 51st year of his reign , and then shared the monarchy with him for a little more than two years .
Amenhotep II himself completed the desecration of Hatshepsut's monuments . In order to eliminate the claims of Hatshepsut , and her family line , her monuments were systematically adjusted: some were obscured by new work; some were damaged to remove any evidence of her name; and many were altered (by replacing the names of Hatshepsut by those of Thutmosis III or Thutmosis II) .
His reign lasted for nearly 30 years , during which Amenhotep II achieved military successes in the Levant , brought peace to Egypt together with its economic rewards and expanded the building of monuments honoring the gods .
The majority of Amenhotep II's reign was peaceful , providing a lengthy period of stability . A well-developed bureaucracy was in practice , and Amenhotep II appears to have made good use of the services of administrators . He encouraged men who had served his father to stay on . Several Middle Kingdom literary compositions were recopied at this time , suggesting a growing interest in cultural refinement rather than military courage .
Amenhotep II carried out two campaigns in Syria: one in the seventh year of his reign and the other in the ninth . Both campaigns are described on stelae left at Amada , Memphis , and Karnak . The first campaign concentrated on the defeat of chiefs and rebellions among recently acquired vassals . The seven defeated chiefs of the region of Takhsy , mentioned in the TT 85 of Amenemhep , were taken back to Thebes , head-down on the royal barge , where six were hung on the temple wall . One was carried all the way to Napata , in the Sudan , where his body was hung . In the ninth year of his reign , the second campaign was largely carried out in Palestine .
The importance of Amenhotep II's new alliance with Nahrin was underlined by its exposition in a column inscription from the Thutmoside columned hall , between the 4th and 5th pylons at Karnak . This location was significant , because the hall was venerated as the place where Thutmosis III received a divine oracle proclaiming his future kingship . In addition , the association of the hall with the Thutmoside line going back to Thutmosis I , the first king to venture to Syria , made it a logical place to boast of the Mitanni relationship .