AMENHOTEP III

flourished 14th century BC byname Amenhotep The Magnificent king of Egypt (reigned 139053 BC) in a period of peaceful prosperity, who devoted himself to expanding diplomatic contacts and to extensive building in Egypt and Nubia. In the fifth year of his reign Amenhotep conducted campaigns against a territory called Akuyata, far to the south of Egypt. Thereafter his reign was peaceful, except for some disturbances in the Nile River delta, which Amenhotep, son of Hapu, the king's most prominent official, quelled by carefully regulating access into Egypt by land and sea. Amenhotep III in his early years enjoyed hunting in the tradition of his father, Thutmose IV, and grandfather, Amenhotep II, and on two occasions issued large commemorative scarabs to proclaim his feats. Early in his reign he married Tiy, who, though a commoner, was a shrewd and able woman. She became the chief queen and the mother of the reforming king Akhenaton. In the 11th year of his reign, Amenhotep ordered the excavation of a large artificial basin near her native city, Akhmim, 100 miles (160 km) north of Luxor. Utilizing the talents of Amenhotep, son of Hapu, the king engaged in a great construction program, which included the mortuary temple in western Thebes, of which only the Colossi of Memnon survive, and a major temple in Nubia. The king also built the main portions of the temple of Luxor and a pylon in the temple of Karnak, both in ancient Thebes. He also constructed many buildings in Memphis. Amenhotep carried on lively diplomatic exchanges with the other great contemporary powers, as confirmed by the Amarna Letters (diplomatic archive of Amenhotep III and Akhenaton), which reveal that Egyptian gold was exchanged for horses, copper, and lapis lazuli from Asia. He contracted political marriages with the sisters and daughters of the kings of Mitanni (a powerful empire on the Euphrates River in northern Syria) and Babylon, to consolidate alliances, and sought to marry a Hittite princess as well. Diplomatic correspondence was also sent to Assyria, Cyprus, and a number of Egypt's Syrian vassals. Late in Amenhotep's reign, Tushratta, the ruler of Mitanni, forwarded a divine image to Egypt, to cure the ailing king. Queen Tiy played a great role in his last days, and Tushratta even corresponded with her after her husband's death.