Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- PROLOGUE The Birthplace of Amenhotep III
- 1 An Heir Unapparent
- 2 The Making of an Heir Apparent
- 3 Thutmose IV and King's Son Amenhotep in Nubia
- 4 Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!
- 5 Establishing Divine Might and Divine Right
- 6 “The First Campaign of Victory”: Amenhotep III's River War
- 7 The Spoils of War
- 8 The King's First Two Wives
- 9 The Lost Years
- 10 Bringing Heaven to Earth to See the Living Gods: Building the King's Religious Monuments at Thebes
- 11 Per Hai (“The House of Rejoicing”) at Malkata
- 12 Beneath The Divine Falcon's Wings a New World Takes Shape
- 13 The First Jubilee Festival (Heb-Sed)
- 14 Raising Up Old Officials and Buying a New Bride
- 15 International Trade in Princesses and Other Goods
- 16 A Mixed Forecast: Dazzling Sun and Dark Clouds
- 17 The Last Hurrah
- 18 Whose Heaven Is It? The Reign of Akhenaten and Beyond
- EPILOGUE One God Left Standing
- Notes and References
- Glossary of Ancient Personal Names
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Establishing Divine Might and Divine Right
(Reign of Amenhotep III, ca. 1391–1388 B.C.)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- PROLOGUE The Birthplace of Amenhotep III
- 1 An Heir Unapparent
- 2 The Making of an Heir Apparent
- 3 Thutmose IV and King's Son Amenhotep in Nubia
- 4 Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!
- 5 Establishing Divine Might and Divine Right
- 6 “The First Campaign of Victory”: Amenhotep III's River War
- 7 The Spoils of War
- 8 The King's First Two Wives
- 9 The Lost Years
- 10 Bringing Heaven to Earth to See the Living Gods: Building the King's Religious Monuments at Thebes
- 11 Per Hai (“The House of Rejoicing”) at Malkata
- 12 Beneath The Divine Falcon's Wings a New World Takes Shape
- 13 The First Jubilee Festival (Heb-Sed)
- 14 Raising Up Old Officials and Buying a New Bride
- 15 International Trade in Princesses and Other Goods
- 16 A Mixed Forecast: Dazzling Sun and Dark Clouds
- 17 The Last Hurrah
- 18 Whose Heaven Is It? The Reign of Akhenaten and Beyond
- EPILOGUE One God Left Standing
- Notes and References
- Glossary of Ancient Personal Names
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Opening Northern Limestone Quarries and Founding a Cemetery for Bulls
It was the eternal duty of a newly crowned pharaoh to refresh and refurbish the temples studding Egypt's landscape. Considering the hundreds of local village and town gods and goddesses as well as major deities in all their various guises and permutations, there must have been hundreds of shrines and temples requiring Amenhotep III's attention. During the next 38 years, not only would many receive major additions and/or be completely renovated but entirely new temples would rise from scratch. Amenhotep III was to become the most prolific builder in Egypt's history. There is hardly a king, emperor, or national leader in premodern world history who can match him. He truly earned his ancient sobriquet menwy (monument man).
Before he could build, however, he needed to supply his contractors with the necessary materials. He started right away in Year 1, on day 1 of the third month of summer, by opening new limestone quarry chambers at Deir el Bersha in Middle Egypt. His dated inscription mentions a monument to wise god Thoth at nearby Hermopolis (its classical name coming from Hermes, the Greek equivalent of Thoth). That monument must be the Thoth temple at neighboring El Ashmunein, where architectural remains from early in the reign have been found. Much later, in preparation for one of his jubilees, Amenhotep would add four colossal, brown, quartzite baboons (one of Thoth's avatars) standing with their paws raised as if shrieking toward the rising sun at dawn.
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- Amenhotep IIIEgypt's Radiant Pharaoh, pp. 61 - 69Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012