22. Saving Her Son’s Throne
When Ahhotpe’s son came of age, he took the reins of power, chased out the Hyksos, and reunified Egypt. As Ahmose I, he went on to found the Eighteenth Dynasty, during which the Egyptian Empire reached its zenith, stretching from Syria in the north to Nubia in the south, and from Mesopotamia in the west to the Libyan deserts in the west.
Hyksos-sympathizing rebels attempted to seize the throne while Ahhotpe’s son was busy in the south warring with Nubians. So she rallied loyal troops, personally led them in fighting off the rebels, and foiled their attempt. For that, she was rewarded with the “Golden Flies of Valor“, Ancient Egypt’s highest military award for courage – the Pharaohs’ version of America’s Medal of Honor or Britain’s Victoria Cross. It was discovered in her tomb, along with weapons and jewelry, thousands of years later.