 Amenhotep III Pharaoh of EgyptDied at Abt. 1344 BC [Neet3.FTW] Amenhotep III, king of Egypt (1386-1349 BC), of the 18th Dynasty, builder of extensive architectural works, including portions of the temple of Luxor and the so-called Colossi of Memnon. His reign was one of peace and prosperity, when Egyptian power was at its height. Amenhotep's diplomatic correspondence is preserved in the Amarna Letters, a collection of some 400 clay tablets found in Tall al 'Amarinah in 1887. Akhenaton, Egypt's great religious reformer, was his son. "Amenhotep III," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. ------- The ninth king of the 18th dynasty was the son of Thutmose IV and Queen Mutemwiya. He married Tiy, daughter of Yuya, who was a chancellor of the north and was a priest of Hermonthis and Amon. Egypt was enjoying a peaceful time during Amenhotep’s reign, thus allowing him to concentrate on more artistic renewals. He married daughters of foreign kings, including a Mitanni princess and one from Babylon. This solidified his international standings. During his reign he enlarged many temples. He built Malkata on the western shore of Thebes, south of Medinet Habu. This complex was a miniature city with offices, houses, chambers, chapels and apartments. Close to Malkata he built a lake for his queen. Next to the lake he built a palace for his harem and a palace for Queen Tiy. He built the famous Colossi of Memnon and is accredited with building the Temple of Luxor. Amenhotep spent years improving Karnak, by adding temples and a row of sphinxes that linked it to the temple of Amon at Luxor. Amenhotep died in his mid fifties. His heir was the infamous Akhenaten. Source: www.touregypt.com Married/ Related to:  Tiy of EgyptBorn at Abt. 1391 BC, died at Abt. 1353 BC [Neet3.FTW] Tiy was a queen of the 18th Dynasty, married to Amenhotep III (1391-1353 B.C.). The daughter of Yuia, a priest of Akhmin, and Tuia, a servant of the queen , Mutemwiya, Tiy likely married Amenhotep while he was a prince. She is believed to have been only 11 or 12 years old at the time of the marriage.. She was intelligent and diligent, the first queen of Egypt to have her name on official acts, including the announcement of the king's marriage to a foreign princess. After giving birth to Akhenaten and a number of royal daughters, Tiy urged her oldest daughter, Princess Sitamun, to marry the king. It is believed that she did this in order to ensure royal heirs to the throne Amenhotep III built a pleasure palace for Tiy and for the members of the royal family at Malkata, on the western shore of Thebes. He retired to his own palace with his women and allowed her to see to the affairs of state with counselors and officials. Tiy was mentioned by the kings of several other lands in their correspondence, having been made known to them in her official dealings. She was widowed at the age of 48. Akhenaten retired to 'Amarna, and for a time Tiy lived there. Depictions of her show a forceful woman with a sharp chin, deep-set eyes and a firm mouth. Source: www.touregypt.net Child: 1. Akhenaton Pharaoh of "Amenhotep IV" EgyptDied at Abt. 1336 BC [Neet3.FTW] Born as Amenhotep IV, he changed his name within a few years of becoming Pharaoh. -------- Akhenaton or Ikhnaton, also called Amenhotep IV, pharaoh of Egypt from about 1350 to 1334 BC. Akhenaton was the son of Amenhotep III and Tiy, and husband of Nefertiti, whose beauty is now famed through celebrated portrait busts of the period. Akhenaton was the last important ruler of the 18th dynasty and notable as the first historical figure to establish a religion based on the concept of monotheism. He established the cult of Aton, or Aten, the sun god or solar disk, which he believed to be a universal, omnipresent spirit and the sole creator of the universe. Some scholars believe that the Hebrew prophets' concept of a universal God, preached seven or eight centuries later in a land that Akhenaton once ruled, was derived in part from his cult. After he established the new religion, sometimes referred to as solar monotheism, he changed his name from the royal designation Amenhotep IV to Akhenaton, meaning "Aton is satisfied." He moved his capital from Thebes to Akhetaton (now the site of Tall al 'Amarinah), a new city devoted to the celebration of Aton, and he ordered the obliteration of all traces of the polytheistic religion of his ancestors. He also fought bitterly against the powerful priests who attempted to maintain the worship of the state god Amon, or Amen. This religious revolution had a profound effect on Egyptian artists, who turned from the ritualistic forms to which they had been confined, to a much more realistic representation of nature as evidence of the all-embracing power of the sun, Aton (see Egyptian Art and Architecture). A new religious literature also arose. This blossoming of culture, however, did not continue after Akhenaton's death. His son-in-law, Tutankhamen, moved the capital back to Thebes, restored the old polytheistic religion, and Egyptian art once more became ritualized. Source: "Akhenaton," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. ----------- The tenth king of the 18th Dynasty was perhaps the most controversial because of his break with traditional religion. Some say that he was the most remarkable king to sit upon Egypt’s throne. Akhenaten was traditionally raised by his parents, Amenhotep III and Queen Tiy (1382-1344 B.C.) by worshipping Amen. Akhenaten, however, preferred Aten, the sun god that was worshipped in earlier times. Early in his reign he changed his name to Akhenaten, meaning “He Who is of Service to Aten” and renamed his queen to Nefer-Nefru-Aten, which is “Beautiful is the Beauty of Aten.” The king and his queen, leaving Thebes behind, built elaborate buildings at Akhenaten (Amarna) “The Horizon of Aten.” He then sent his officials around to destroy Amen’s statues and to desecrate the worship sites. These actions were so contrary to the traditional that opposition arose against him. The estates of the great temples of Thebes, Memphis and Heliopolis reverted to the throne. Corruption grew out of the mismanagement of such large levies. Akhenaten died in the 18th year of his reign. His successor, Horemhab, claimed his reign began from the date of Amenhotep III, thus wiping out the entire rule of Akhenaten. Source: www.touregypt.net | |||