At the time Thutmose became king, Nubia rebelled against Egyptian rule. Thutmose travelled up the Nile with his army and fought in the battle, personally killing the Nubian king. He returned to Thebes with the Nubian king's body hung from the front of his ship. In the third year of his reign he led a another expedition against Nubia. He ordered the canal at the first cataract to be made deeper to make it easier to get his ships upstream. The canal had been first built by Sesostris III of the 12th Dynasty. This helped make Nubia part of the Egyptian empire. This expedition is mentioned in two separate inscriptions by the king's son Thure: