Amenhotep II

Lore & Background

Amenhotep was the son of Thutmose IV and his minor wife Mutemwiya. He was born probably around 1401 BC. Later in his life, Amenhotep commissioned the depiction of his divine birth to be displayed at Luxor Temple. Amenhotep claimed that his true father was the god Amun, who had taken the form of Thutmose IV to father a child with Mutemwiya. In Regnal Year 2, Amenhotep married Tiye, the daughter of Yuya and Thuya. Tiye was the Great Royal Wife throughout Amenhotep's reign. Many commemorative scarabs were commissioned and distributed during Amenhotep's noon. On the "marriage scarabs," Amenhotep affirmed his divine power and the legitimacy of his wife. With Tiye, Amenhotep fathered at least two sons, Crown Prince Thutmose and Amenhotep IV (later called Akhenaten). In addition, several daughters are frequently credited to the couple: Sitamun, Henuttaneb, Iset, Nebetah, and Beketaten. Most of the daughters appear frequently on statues and reliefs from Amenhotep's reign. However, Nebetah is attested only once, on a colossal limestone group of statues from Medinet Habu, and Beketaten only appears in Amarna. Amenhotep is also sometimes credited as the father of Smenkhkare or Tutankhamun, with varying proposals for their mothers, but these theories are not as accepted as his other, known children. In addition to Tiye, Amenhotep had several other wives. In Regnal Year 10, Amenhotep married Gilukhepa, the daughter of Shuttarna II of Mitanni. He later married Tadukhepa, daughter of Tushratta of Mitanni, in or around Regnal Year 36 of his reign. Other wives, whose names are unknown, included: a daughter of Kurigalzu, king of Babylon; a daughter of Kadashman-Enlil, king of Babylon; a daughter of Tarhundaradu, ruler of Arzawa; and a daughter of the ruler of Ammia (modern-day Syria). Finally, he married at least two of his daughters, Sitamun and Iset, in the last decade of his reign. Jar-label inscriptions from Regnal Year 30 indicate that Sitamun was elevated to the status of Great Royal Wife by that time. Although shunned by common Egyptians, incest was not uncommon among royalty. A sculpture restored by Amenhotep for his grandfather, Amenhotep II, shows Sitamun with a young prince beside her. This has led to theories that Sitamun was the mother of Smenkhkare and/or Tutankhamun.

Reader's Guide

Amenhotep probably became pharaoh when he was between the ages of 6 and 12. While it is likely that a regent would have ruled until he came of age, none is attested in the surviving records. In Regnal Year 11, Amenhotep commanded the construction of an artificial lake at Tiye's hometown of Djakaru. He then celebrated a Festival of Opening the Lake in the third month of Inundation, day sixteen, and rowed the royal barge Aten-tjehen on the lake. This event was commemorated on at least eleven commemorative scarabs. From other scarabs, Amenhotep is known to have killed either 102 or 110 lions in the first ten years of his reign. Amenhotep III is known to have participated in only one military campaign. In Regnal Year Five, he led a victorious campaign against a rebellion in Kush. At the time, Amenhotep would have been between 11 and 17 years old. This victory was commemorated by three rock-carved stelae found near Aswan and Saï in Nubia. The official account of Amenhotep's military victory emphasizes his martial prowess with the hyperbole typical of the period. There is a significant attestation for the court officials who served during Amenhotep's reign, primarily through the discovery of their tombs in the Theban Necropolis. Among these court officials were the viziers Ramose, Amenhotep, Aperel, and Ptahmose. Other officials included the treasurers Ptahmose and Merire; the high stewards, Amenemhat Surer and Amenhotep (Huy); and the Viceroy of Kush, Merimose. Amenhotep, son of Hapu held many offices during the reign of Amenhotep the pharaoh, but is best known for receiving the right to build his mortuary temple behind that of the king. Amenhotep, son of Hapu, was deified after his death and was one of the few non-royals to be worshiped in such a manner. The palace of Malkata was built in the 14th century BC and its ancient name was Per-Hay, "House of Rejoicing". The Malakata palace was known as the Tjehen-Aten or "the City of the dazzling Aten" or Sun Disk under Amenhotep III. Built mostly out of mud-brick, it was Amenhotep's residence throughout most of the later part of his reign. Construction began around Regnal Year 11 and continued until the king moved to the palace permanently around Regnal Year 29. Once completed, it was the largest royal residence in Egypt. Amenhotep III adopted the royal epithet "Aten-Tjehen", which means "the Dazzling Sun Disk", in his 30th Regnal Year, showing his increased interest in the Aten god and elevated it from a minor god to the solar disc by giving it royal patronage. Amenhotep III presumably wished to diminish the power of the Amun priesthood but not to the radical extent of his son, Akhenaten. Amenhotep III did not promote the Aten as an exclusive god in his own reign and his main religious devotion was still towards Amun-Ra, a combination of Thebes' deity Amun and the northern Egyptian sun god Ra in his reign...even if he did name "a royal boat as well as a Theban palace after Aten" (known as Malkata) and named his youngest daughter by his great royal wife Tiye with the name Beketaten meaning 'Handmaid of Aten'. A main reason the cult of Aten failed under Akhenaten was "due to its lack of afterlife beliefs. The traditional Osirian cult offered an opportunity for Egyptians to access an idealised vision of one’s life on Earth after they had died in the Field of Reeds or A’Aru. This was replaced with a continued existence in the present." Amenhotep celebrated three Sed festivals in Regnal Years 30, 34, and 37, each at Malkata palace in Western Thebes. A temple of Amun and festival hall were built especially for the celebrations. The Sed festival was a tradition that dated to the Old Kingdom, consisting of a series of tests that demonstrated the pharaoh's fitness for continuing as ruler of Egypt. Based on indications left by Queen Tiye's steward Khenruef, the festival may have lasted two to eight months. Amenhotep wanted his Sed Festivals to be far more spectacular than those of the past. He appointed Amenhotep, son of Hapu to plan the ceremony, potentially because he was one of the few courtiers still alive to have served at the last Sed Festival, held for Amenhotep II. In preparation for the first Sed Festival, Amenhotep, son of Hapu enlisted scribes to gather information from records and inscriptions, most found in ancient funerary temples, describing the appropriate rituals and costumes. Temples were built and statues erected up and down the Nile. Craftsmen and jewelers created ornaments commentating the event including jewelry, ornaments, and stelae. The scribe Nebmerutef coordinated every step of the event. He directed Amenhotep to use his mace to knock on the temple doors. Beside him, Amenhotep-Hapu mirrored his effort like a royal shadow. The king was followed by Queen Tiye and the royal daughters. When moving to another venue, the banner of the jackal god Wepwawet, "Opener of Ways" preceded the King. The king changed his costume at each major activity of the celebration. One of the major highlights of the festival was the king's dual coronation. He was enthroned separately for Upper and Lower Egypt. For Upper Egypt, Amenhotep wore the white crown but changed to the red crown for the Lower Egypt coronation. After the Sed festival, Amenhotep transcended from being a near-god to one divine. The king may have later traveled across Egypt following the festival, potentially reenacting the ceremony for different audiences. Few Egyptian kings lived long enough for their own celebration. Those who survived used the celebration as the affirmation of transition to divinity. Diplomatic correspondence from Amenhotep's reign are partially preserved in the Amarna Letters, a collection of documents found near the city of Amarna. The letters come from the rulers of Assyria, Mitanni, Babylon, Hatti, and other states, typically including requests by those rulers for gold and other gifts from Amenhotep. The letters cover the period from Year 30 of Amenhotep until at least the end of Akhenaten's reign. In Amarna Letter EA 4, Amenhotep is quoted by the Babylonian king Kadashman-Enlil I in firmly rejecting the latter's entreaty to marry one of this pharaoh's daughters: "From time immemorial, no daughter of the king of Egy[pt] is given to anyone." Amenhotep's refusal to allow one of his daughters to be married to the Babylonian monarch may indeed have followed from Egyptian royal custom, which allowed a claim upon the throne through descent from a royal princess. It could also be viewed as a diplomatic stratagem to enhance Egypt's prestige, as Amenhotep himself married t

Did You Know?

• Amenhotep III claimed his true father was the god Amun, who took the form of Thutmose IV to father a child with Mutemwiya.
• He killed either 102 or 110 lions in the first ten years of his reign, as recorded on commemorative scarabs.
• He married at least two of his own daughters, Sitamun and Iset, in the last decade of his reign.
• The palace of Malkata, built mostly of mud-brick, was the largest royal residence in Egypt once completed.
• In Amarna Letter EA 4, Amenhotep III is quoted as saying, 'From time immemorial, no daughter of the king of Egypt is given to anyone.'

Dynastic Bonds and the Harem of a King

Amenhotep III's family life was as layered as his political ambitions. Born around 1401 BC to Thutmose IV and a minor wife named Mutemwiya, he later crafted a divine origin narrative for himself, claiming the god Amun had assumed his father's form to conceive him. In his second regnal year, he wed Tiye, daughter of Yuya and Thuya, who served as his Great Royal Wife for the entirety of his rule. Their union produced at least two sons—Crown Prince Thutmose and the future Akhenaten—along with several daughters including Sitamun, Henuttaneb, Iset, Nebetah, and Beketaten. Beyond Tiye, the king maintained a diplomatic harem that included daughters of Mitannian and Babylonian rulers, as well as a princess from Arzawa and one from Ammia. In the final decade of his reign, he took two of his own daughters, Sitamun and Iset, as wives—a practice tolerated among royalty despite being repugnant to common Egyptians. Jar-label inscriptions from year 30 confirm Sitamun had been elevated to Great Royal Wife status by that point, and a restored sculpture depicting her with a young prince has fueled speculation about her possible motherhood of Smenkhkare or Tutankhamun.

A Court of Splendor and Administrative Mastery

The administrative machinery of Amenhotep III's court was remarkably well-documented, largely thanks to the discovery of officials' tombs in the Theban Necropolis. The king was served by a succession of viziers—Ramose, Amenhotep, Aperel, and Ptahmose—alongside treasurers, high stewards, and a Viceroy of Kush named Merimose. Among the most remarkable figures in his court was Amenhotep, son of Hapu, who accumulated multiple high offices and was ultimately granted the extraordinary privilege of constructing his own mortuary temple directly behind the king's. After his death, this non-royal official was deified, a distinction shared by very few individuals in all of Egyptian history. The king's personal residence, the palace of Malkata, known as Per-Hay or "House of Rejoicing," was built primarily of mud-brick beginning around year 11 and was not fully completed until roughly year 29, when the pharaoh moved in permanently. At that point it stood as the largest royal residence in all of Egypt, and under the king's solar epithet it was also called the Tjehen-Aten, the City of the Dazzling Sun Disk.

Martial Feats and Royal Spectacle

Despite the overwhelming emphasis on peace and prosperity in his surviving records, Amenhotep III did engage in military action. In his fifth regnal year, while still a teenager between eleven and seventeen, he personally led a successful campaign to suppress a rebellion in Kush. The victory was immortalized through three rock-carved stelae discovered near Aswan and the island of Saï in Nubia, with the official narrative employing the kind of martial hyperbole characteristic of the period's royal propaganda. Beyond this single campaign, the king cultivated an image of personal prowess through other means. Commemorative scarabs distributed during his reign record that he killed either 102 or 110 lions within his first ten years on the throne. In year 11, he also oversaw the construction of an artificial lake at Djakaru, his queen Tiye's hometown, and celebrated a Festival of Opening the Lake by personally rowing the royal barge Aten-tjehen across its waters. This event was commemorated on at least eleven separate scarabs, underscoring how the king used public spectacle and carefully staged ceremonies to reinforce his divine authority and connection to the solar deity.

The Seeds of Religious Revolution

Amenhotep III's relationship with the cult of the Aten represents a crucial transitional moment in Egyptian religious history. In his thirtieth regnal year, he adopted the royal epithet Aten-Tjehen, "the Dazzling Sun Disk," effectively elevating the Aten from a minor solar deity to one bearing royal patronage. He named a royal boat and his Theban palace after the deity, and even gave his youngest daughter by Tiye the name Beketaten, meaning "Handmaid of Aten." Yet his devotion remained fundamentally anchored in Amun-Ra, the combined Theban and northern solar god, and he never promoted the Aten as an exclusive object of worship. Scholars suggest he likely sought to curb the growing political power of the Amun priesthood without the radical break his son would later enact. When Amenhotep III died in his thirty-eighth or thirty-ninth regnal year, his son Amenhotep IV—soon to rename himself Akhenaten—succeeded him, pushing the solar cult to an extreme that ultimately failed. The father's measured elevation of the Aten thus laid the groundwork for the most dramatic religious upheaval in pharaonic history.

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