Amenhotep Son of Hapu's Monuments

Amenhotep III's deification created a nebulous and unstated vacuum between himself and members of his court because he was now a step above mere king. Therefore, as a result of his becoming a god, his officials rose up a notch, not in title per se, but certainly in terms of eternal real estate and statuary. One was endowed with a temple of his own, others acquired tombs of a size and opulence just a step away from temples themselves. Their statuary was carved in the finest, hardest, most intractable stones, none of it colossal but a great deal of it larger than life.

Amenhotep son of Hapu received the nearly unprecedented gift of his own memorial temple, behind his king's and beside those built for Thutmoses II and III in the kings’ row of royal cult temples. Royal workshops associated with Amenhotep III's monument had apparently been razed and relocated in favor of the great official's shrine. A bird's-eye view places Amenhotep son of Hapu's memorial at the hub of a circle encompassing Kom el Hettan, Malkata palace, the Valley of the Nobles, and the Valley of the Kings. In Amenhotep son of Hapu's afterlife, his spirit could view all that he had accomplished and join in on the various festivals parading right past his front pylon. Two centuries later, Ramesses III built his own temple just a few paces away to the south. Its modern name, Medinet Habu (“Hapu's Town”), does homage to its neighbor.