Seqenenre Tao, (also
Seqenera Djehuty-aa or
Sekenenra Taa), called
The Brave, ruled over the last of the local kingdoms of the
Theban region of Egypt in the
Seventeenth Dynasty during the
Second Intermediate Period. He probably was the son and successor to
Senakhtenre Ahmose and Queen
Tetisheri. The dates of his reign are uncertain, but he may have risen to power in the decade ending in
1560 BC or in
1558 BC (based on the probable accession date of
Ahmose I, the first ruler of the
eighteenth dynasty, see
Egyptian chronology). With his queen,
Ahhotep I, Seqenenre Tao fathered two pharaohs,
Kamose, his immediate successor who was the last pharaoh of the seventeenth dynasty and
Ahmose I who, following a regency by his mother, was the first pharaoh of the eighteenth. Seqenenre Tao is credited with starting the opening moves in the war of liberation against the
Hyksos, which was ended by his son Ahmose.