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.