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Amenhotep, son of Hapu 31

His tomb in the Valley of the Kings proved to be a reported that the northern statue of Amenhotep III emit-
treasure house of Egyptian history. The AM DUAT prayers ted a soft bell-like sound at each dawn. In the early third
are depicted on the walls in compelling reliefs. The burial century B.C.E. the Roman emperor Septimius Severus
chamber of his tomb, found undisturbed, was used by ordered repairs on the upper part of that statue, which
priests of later dynasties as a storehouse for other rescued were performed crudely, and as a result the singing sound
mummies of the New Kingdom (1550–1070 B.C.E.). This stopped forever.
tomb had an early styled entry stairwell, corridors, Amenhotep III celebrated three HEB-SEDS, normally
antechambers, pillared halls, and a decorated sunken used to denote 30 years of rule. He constructed a palace,
burial chamber. Magazines and well shafts were included Per-Hay, “the Mansion of Rejoicing,” for this event.
in the design. One of Amenhotep II’s sons shared the Queen Tiye and the massive bureaucracy of Egypt main-
tomb. tained foreign and domestic affairs, while Amenhotep
See also MUMMY CACHES. lolled in Malkata, and the military might of Egypt sup-
pressed any rebellions against the empire. The pharaoh
could spend his time building on the Nile and erecting
Amenhotep III (Nebma’atré) (d. 1353 B.C.E.) Ninth monuments in his honor at his leisure.
pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty
He was quite obese in his later years. His portraits,
The son of TUTHMOSIS IV and Queen MUTEMWIYA, Amen- already sculpted in the style that would blossom in the
hotep III reigned from 1391 B.C.E. until his death. As a ’AMARNA PERIOD, depict him as having a snub nose, full
young man, Amenhotep III married TIYE (1), the daughter lips, and almond-shaped eyes. Troubled with severe
of Hurrian master of horse at THEBES. Together they ruled tooth decay, a dynastic period condition, Amenhotep
an empire that extended from northern Sudan to the became ill. An ally, King TUSHRATTA of Babylon, sent
Euphrates River. His mother, Mutemwiya, is believed by him a statue of Ishtar—the Babylonian goddess of heal-
some scholars to have been the daughter of ARTATAMA, the ing—to restore his vigor and to demonstrate friendly
MITANNI king, given to Egypt as part of Tuthmosis IV’s
concern.
treaties with that nation. Amenhotep III’s birth was Amenhotep III’s tomb in the VALLEY OF THE KINGS, on
recorded in the temple in LUXOR, given divine intervention the western shore of Thebes, has three main corridors.
and divine patronage. Tiye, whom he had married before The tomb chamber has a pillared hall, and the various
ascending the throne, bore him AKHENATEN (Amenhotep chambers are all highly decorated. The red granite lid
IV), and princesses SITAMUN (2), BAKETAMUN, HENUTTANEB, used on the sarcophagus for the burial of Amenhotep III
NEBETAH, ISET (3), and other children. Amenhotep III mar- was usurped by SETI I (1306–1290 B.C.E.) of the Nine-
ried Iset and Sitamun when they came of age. teenth Dynasty. Amenhotep III’s mummy was discovered
A vast series of commemorative scarabs issued by the in the tomb of AMENHOTEP II. Modern scholars, however,
pharaoh provide a portrait of his first 12 years on the do not believe that this embalmed body is truly Amen-
throne. One SCARAB memorializes the arrival of GILUKIPA hotep III. There is considerable debate about the actual
(or Khirgipa), a Mitanni princess who came with an identity of several recovered remains.
entourage of more than 300 Mitannis to be his wife. Her
niece, TADUKHIPA, arrived at the end of Amenhotep’s reign Suggested Readings: Fletcher, J. Chronicle of a Pharaoh:
and possibly married Akhenaten. These Mitanni royal The Intimate Life of Amenhotep III. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford
women were sent to Egypt by King Shuttarna II, who was University Press, 2000; O’Connor, D., and E. Cline, eds.
their relative. Amenhotep III, Perspectives on His Reign. Ann Arbor: Uni-
The addition of such women to AMENHOTEP III’s versity of Michigan Press, 1998.
harem led to the construction of a new palace to the
south of MEDINET HABU, on the western shore of the Nile
at THEBES, called MALKATA, or “the Place Where Things Amenhotep IV See AKHENATEN.
Are Picked Up,” by modern Egyptians. This palace was
actually a miniature city with several royal compounds, Amenhotep, son of Hapu (Huy) (fl. 14th century
an artificial lake reportedly dug and filled within a matter B.C.E.) Court official of the Eighteenth Dynasty
of weeks, and a harbor. Shrines and temples, as well as A revered sage and scholar, he served in the reign of
bureaucratic offices, were part of the complexes. AMENHOTEP III (r. 1391–1353 B.C.E.). Amenhotep, son of
Tributes and trade profits provided Amenhotep III Hapu, was one of only a few commoners to be deified in
with unending wealth as he built many shrines and mon- ancient Egypt. Also called Huy, he was from the Delta
uments, many of which have not survived. Among these area of ATHRIBIS, born around 1460 B.C.E. He rose through
monuments are the COLOSSI OF MEMNON, two gigantic the ranks of government service, including the office of
statues of Amenhotep III that were part of his mortuary scribe of the military, and then served as a commander,
temple. The Greeks named the statues after Memnon, the and eventually as a general. Amenhotep also supervised
Trojan hero slain by Achilles. Strabo, the historian, the building projects of Amenhotep III. When he died

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