New Kingdom

The last of the three great kingdoms of ancient Egypt (1550-1070 BC), in which Egyptian power extended into Syria and Palestine, and Nubia's resources were exploited. Among its great pharaohs were the conqueror Tuthmosis III, the heretic Akhenaten and the great builder Ramesses II; among its most spectacular legacies are the contents of the tomb of Tutankhamun. In the late New Kingdom the power of the temple priesthoods increased through royal grants of land, leading to the decline of royal authority and the loss of Egypt's empire in Nubia and the Near East.