Amenhotep III | King Amenophis III Facts, History Egypt’s Greatest Pharaohs kings | His life, reign, Tomb, and death, (1386-1353 BCE)…

Amenhotep III (Amenophis III) was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of The New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. He was the son of Thuthmosis IV and the father of Akhenaten and the grandfather of the Pharoah Tutankhamun.

Names and titles of King Amenhotep III

From the Old Kingdom onwards, each king had five names, of which two of them did not appear frequently on monuments.

  1. Birth name (nomen), was Amenhotep, heqa Waset (“Amun is Pleased, Ruler of Thebes)
  2. Throne name (prenomen), was Neb Maat Ra (“Lord of Truth is Re”)
  3. Horus name, Ka nakht kha em Maat (“Strong Bull, Arising in Thebes”)
  4. Nebty name, Semen hepu segereh tawy (“One establishing laws, pacifying the two lands”)
  5. Golden Horus name, Aa khepesh hui setjetiu (“Great of valour, smiting the Asiatics”).

Born: 1386 BC

Died: 1353 BC

Reign: 1391 BC to 1353 BC

Dynasty: 18th

Era: New Kingdom, Ancient Egyptian history

Predecessor Father: Thuthmosis IV (Thutmose IV)

Successor Son: Akhenaten

Mother: Mutemwiya (most probably daughter of the Mitannian King)

Wives:

  1. Queen Tiy (daughter of Tuya and Yuya) powerful military leader
  2. Sitamun
  3. Tadukhipa
  4. Gilukhipa
  5. Iset

Sons: 2 sons from the chief wife one died young and the second will be Akhenaten

Daughters: 4 daughters

  1. Sitamun
  2. Henuttaneb
  3. Iset
  4. Nebtah
  5. Beketaten

 

Tomb: Valley of the Kings, West Valley in Luxor, Egypt, WV 22(KV 22)

How did King Amenophis III come to power?

Thuthmosis IV died and his son Amenhotep III was crowned pharaoh when he was 12 years old. Amenhotep III was the son of one of the chief wives, queen Mutemwiya and the 9th king of the 18th Dynasty of the ancient Egyptian History.

Amenhotep III Reign

The reign of Amenhotep falls into two unequal parts

1st Decade

First years of the ruling Pharoah Amenhotep III (Amenophis III) reflecting a young and vigorous king. Promoting the sportsman image laid down by his processors and with some minor military activities. In his 5th Year of reign, he led a campaign against an area in Nubia called Akuyata and later he did not go himself but Amenhotep, son of Hapu his official did that.

Amenhotep III kept very good relation with the countries his father controlled and many of the alliances his father had made. Amenhotep III was an excellent diplomatic character and he used tactics never used before him. However, Amenophis III did his best to keep those relation in the right way, trade not control territories, prosper not force.

The king was very kind and generous his allies by offering gifts of gold and alabaster. Besides, the diplomatic marriage to the daughters of the rulers of his allies.

He married to the daughters and the sisters of the Mitanni king and Babylon (Powerful empires on the Euphrates River in northern Syria). He also married to a Hittite princess. But he refused to give any of the Egyptian princesses to foreigners. His answer was no Egyptian woman had ever been sent abroad, nor would they be under his leadership.

Amarna Letters show examples of Amenhotep III’s diplomatic correspondence with the rulers of Assyria, Mitanni, Babylon, and Hittites.

Last 25 Years

Last years of the ruling Pharoah Amenhotep III seem to be a period of prosperity, peace and great building works. The highly economy and the great wealth of Egypt during his reign led to outpouring of artistic talent in all aspects of the arts. Historians agree that Amenhotep III ruled Egypt during the culture apex of the Ancient Egyptian civilization and he enjoyed a unprecedented prosperity, political stability.

Was Amenhotep III a good pharaoh?

Amenhotep III was one of the most successful rulers of ancient Egyptian Pharaohs kings and worked alongside his chief queen and wife, Tiye, who helped him rule.

Why was Amenhotep III known as the controversial pharaoh?

Amenhotep III known as the controversial pharaoh because He maintained the honor of Egyptian women and refused all the requests of foreign rulers to marry to Egyptian women. Meanwhile, he claimed that no daughter of Egypt had ever been sent to a foreign land and would not be sent under his reign.

What was King Amenophis III monuments and building projects?

In his last 25 years and the help of his first assistant Amenhotep, son of Habu, the king engaged in great building works including

  1. Mortuary temple on Luxor West Bank of the Nile of which we still have the Colossi of Memnon.

The mortuary temple or the temple of millions of years was where he was going to be worshipped forever.

  1. Big temple in Soleb in Nubia

Amenhotep III built the temple at Soleb in order to commemorate the Hed-sed festival which is depicted on the temple walls

  1. A very huge palace at Malkata in western Thebes with a very huge lake for his wife Tiye.

Amenhotep built a palace on the west bank of the Nile at Malkata when he moved from Memphis to Thebes. Palace of Malkata became later his son Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti home and probably the birthplace of King Tutankhamen.

  1. Amenhotep III had even sent out commemorative scarabs to tell the world about this lake
  2. The majority of Luxor temple
  3. 3rd Pylon in Karnak temple
  4. Building in Memphis, the oldest Capital
  5. The Obelisk Court of Amenhotep III between the third and the 4th Pylons.

What gods did Amenhotep III worship?

It was known that the king is Horus on earth, the son of God and the representative of God on earth. But Amenhotep III became a bit of a god in his own day and he carried the title the ‘Dazzling Sun Disk of All Lands.

In other words, Amenhotep III’s primary devotion, however, was to Amun-Ra a combination of Amun of Thebes and Ra sun god.

In the beginning of the 18th Dynasty, Amun was the most dominant above all the rest. The Pharaoh and the other officials would devote themselves to worshipping Amun, in order to succeed with their campaigns.

Moreover, it seems it was a gentle shift in the religion because Aten or sun disk was gradually becoming important. The king called Tiye boat ‘The Aten Gleams that meant Amenhotep III’s reign was the beginnings of a new cult to arise. Although Amenhotep’s son, Akhenaten, has become well-known for his belief and his spreading of the worship of the Aten. In fact, Amenhotep III started and Akhenaten spread it.

He moved the capital to Akhetaten and built temples for the sun god Aten. Unfortunately, after his death, people went back to the old religion and Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun and open once more the old temples of Amun.

 Interesting Facts About, Builder of Memnon Colossi

  • King Amenhotep III was born in 1388 BC and died in 1353 BC
  • He reigned Egypt between 1391 BC to 1353 BC
  • Amenhotep III ruled the Egyptian Empire for about 42 Years
  • Amenophis III (Amenhotep III) was the son of Thutmosis IV and the father of Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV), and the great-grandson of the legendary Pharaoh Thutmosis III.
  • He became pharaoh at around the age of 12
  • Queen Ty, The Great Royal wife was the wife of Amenhotep III and the mother of Akhenaton
  • Although Amenhotep married many foreign princesses
  • He was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
  • His name Amenhotep means “Amun is Satisfied
  • Amun was the main god during his reign
  • There are more than 250 statutes for his right now
  • Amenhotep III was one of the most successful ancient Egyptian Pharaohs during the ancient Egyptian history
  • One of his mesmerizing palaces is the palace at Malkata which is located on the west bank of the Nile near Thebes. This astonishing place contains many rooms, a festival hall, gardens, a lot of libraries, kitchens, conference rooms, and Amun Temple.
  • The king’s reign was a great prosperity and security stability
  • His Mummy was found in El Deir El Bahari Cache in 1881 with 45more kings.
  • His tomb in the Valley of the Kings carries the Number KV22.

Amenhotep III Death

After almost 40 years on the throne of Egypt, the king died in around 1354 BC and his tomb was found on the Valley of the Monkeys or the West Valley of the Kings. He was succeeded by his son Amenhotep IV(Akhenaten). Later on, the foreign rulers as Tushratta wrote the Queen Tiy wish to keep good relation with the Egyptian court as it was during the king’s reign.

Tomb in the West Valley of the Kings | KV22

The King tomb was discovered in 1799 by archaeologist Prosper Jollois and Edouard de Villiers in the Valley of the Monkeys or the West Valley.

The tomb is unique in that it has two subsidiary burial chambers for the pharaoh’s wives Tiye and Sitamen (who was also his daughter) with a pit for the canopic equipment. The tomb is decorated with the Imy dwat (burial chamber J) and representations of the deceased with deities.

Tomb Plane

  1. Entry corridors and stairways
  2. Well chamber
  3. Well shaft chamber
  4. Upper pillared hall
  5. Corridor and stairways
  6. Antechamber
  7. Burial chamber
  8. pillars with Amenhotep before various deities.
  9. Side chamber
  10. Side chambers
  11. Side chambers
  12. Side chamber
  13. Side chamber

Pc

In case you like to learn more about the Pharaonic history and Pharaonic tombs and Pharaonic temples during the New Kingdom, while discover the ancient Egyptian civilization