During his reign, Ahmose completed the conquest and expulsion of the Hyksos from the Nile Delta, restored Theban rule over Lower- and Upper Egypt, and successfully reasserted Egyptian power in its formerly subject territories of Nubia and Canaan.

[25] He then reorganized the administration of the country, reopened quarries, mines and trade routes and began massive construction projects of a type that had not been undertaken since the time of the Middle Kingdom.

The priest and historian Manetho author of a history of Egypt written in the 3rd century BC during the reign of Ptolemy II (283 – 246 BC), the now lost Aegyptiaca (Αἰγυπτιακά), considered the final expulsion of the Hyksos after nearly a century and the restoration of native Egyptian rule over the whole country a significant enough event to warrant the start of a new dynasty.

[35] Ahmose began the conquest of Lower Egypt held by the Hyksos starting around the 11th year of Khamudi's reign, but the sequence of events is not universally agreed upon.

Almost everything known comes from a brief but invaluable military commentary on the back of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, consisting of brief diary entries,[37] one of which reads: Regnal year 11, second month of shomu, Heliopolis was entered.

These records indicate that Ahmose I led three attacks against Avaris, the Hyksos capital, but also had to quell a small rebellion further south in Egypt.

[46] Details on this particular campaign are scarce, as the source of most of the information, Ahmose, son of Ebana, served in the Egyptian navy and did not take part in this land expedition.

[48] With the re-unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under Ahmose, a renewal of royal support for the arts and monumental construction occurred.

Ahmose reportedly devoted a tenth of all the productive output towards the service of the traditional gods,[49] reviving massive monumental constructions as well as the arts.

However, as the defeat of the Hyksos occurred relatively late in Ahmose's reign, his subsequent building program likely lasted no more than seven years,[50] and much of what was started was probably finished by his son and successor Amenhotep I.

Gold and silver were received from Nubia, lapis lazuli from distant parts of central Asia, cedar from Byblos, and in the Sinai the Serabit el-Khadim turquoise mines were reopened.

[53] The art during Ahmose I's reign was similar to the Middle Kingdom royal Theban style,[57] and stelae from this period were once more of the same quality.

Based on style, a small limestone sphinx that resides at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, has also been tentatively identified as representing Ahmose I.

[59] One of the earliest glass beads found contains the names of both Ahmose and Amenhotep I, written in a style dated to about the time of their reigns.

[52] According to an inscription at Tura,[53] he used white limestone to build a temple to Ptah and the southern harem of Amun, but did not finish either project.

Bietak found fragmentary Minoan-style remains of the frescoes that once covered the walls of the palace; there has subsequently been much speculation as to what role this Aegean civilization may have played in terms of trade and in the arts.

It also became the center for a newly established professional civil service, where there was a greater demand for scribes and the literate as the royal archives began to fill with accounts and reports.

[62] Having Thebes as the capital was probably a strategic choice as it was located at the center of the country, the logical conclusion from having had to fight the Hyksos in the north as well as the Nubians to the south.

[66] According to Josephus in Contra Apionem and Theophilus of Antioch in his Apologia ad Autolycum, Manetho's Aegyptiaca stated that the pharaoh who expelled the Hyksos from Egypt was named "Tethmôsis" and reigned for 25 years and 4 months.

[68][43] At the opposite, according to the Byzantine scholar George Syncellus, Sextus Julius Africanus wrote that the Aegyptiaca reported the king to be named "Amôs".

Syncellus also notes that Eusebius in his Chronicon told that an "Amôsis" or "Amoses"—depending on the version of Eusebius—is mentioned in the Aegyptiaca as reigning 25 years and founding the eighteenth dynasty from Thebes.

One of these structures also bears bricks stamped with the name of Chief Treasurer Neferperet, the official responsible for re-opening the stone quarries at el-Ma'asara (Tura) in Ahmose's year 22.

Along this axis are several key structures: 1) a large pyramid dedicated to his grandmother Tetisheri which contained a stele depicting Ahmose providing offerings to her; 2) a rock-cut underground complex which may either have served as a token representation of an Osirian underworld or as an actual royal tomb;[78] and 3) a terraced temple built against the high cliffs, featuring massive stone and brick terraces.

The Giza plateau offered plenty of room for building pyramids; but this was not the case with the confined, cliff-bound geography of Thebes and any burials in the surrounding desert were vulnerable to flooding.

One of the meanings of Amun's name was the hidden one, which meant that it was now theologically permissible to hide the Pharaoh's tomb by fully separating the mortuary template from the actual burial place.

[82] A short description of the mummy by Gaston Maspero sheds further light on familial resemblances: ...he was of medium height, as his body when mummified measured only 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) in length, but the development of the neck and chest indicates extraordinary strength.

The face exactly resembles that of Tiûâcrai [Seqenenre Tao] and the likeness alone would proclaim the affinity, even if we were ignorant of the close relationship which united these two Pharaohs.

[48] The identity of this mummy (Cairo Museum catalog n° 61057) was called into question in 1980 by the published results of Dr. James Harris, a professor of orthodontics, and Egyptologist Edward Wente.

[84] The mummy is now in the Luxor Museum alongside the purported one of Ramesses I, as part of a permanent exhibition called "The Golden Age of the Egyptian Military".

Even if there was one, it would have made no difference to the chronology of the period because in this kind of institution Amenhotep would have begun counting his regnal dates from his first year as sole ruler.