Amenhotep, son of Hapu (Huy) (fl. 14th century B. C.E.) Court official of the Eighteenth Dynasty A revered sage and scholar, he served in the reign of AMENHOTEP III (r. 1391-1353 B. C.E.). Amenhotep, son of Hapu, was one of only a few commoners to be deified in ancient Egypt. Also called Huy, he was from the Delta area of athribis, born around 1460 b. c.e. He rose through the ranks of government service, including the office of scribe of the military, and then served as a commander, and eventually as a general. Amenhotep also supervised the building projects of Amenhotep III. When he died
A statue of the famed sage Amenhotep, Son of Hapu; he is distinctive because of his flowing hair; now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. (S. M. Bunson.)
Around 1380 B. C.E., at the age of 80, a funerary chapel was erected for him beside Amenhotep III’s temple.
Amenhotep, Son of Hapu, was depicted in many statues placed in karnak temple, a royal favor in that age. He is shown usually with long wavy hair instead of a formal wig. His association with the god amun brought about a claim by the temple priests of the Twenty-first Dynasty (1070-945 B. C.E.) that Amenhotep had divine origins. He was deified alongside imhotep, the architect of the step PYRAMID of DJOSER (r. 2630-2611 B. C.E.). Clinics or shrines were developed for their cults, and ceremonies were conducted in their memory throughout Egypt.
Amenia (fl. 14th century b. c.e.) Woman of the court in the Eighteenth Dynasty
She was the commoner wife of horemhab (r. 1319-1307 B. C.E.). Amenia married Horemhab when he was a military man, serving in Egypt’s army and attaining the rank of chief of the forces and king’s deputy in the reign of tut’ankhamun (r. 1333-1323 b. c.e.). Horemhab was also decorated for valor by akhenaten (r. 1353-1335 b. c.e.) in ’amarna.
Horemhab built a vast tomb for himself and Amenia in saqqara, the Memphis necropolis, while he was a military officer. This tomb, recently uncovered, depicts Horemhab as a commoner, although the uraeus, the symbol of royalty, was added to some of his figures there during his reign. Amenia was buried in Saqqara, probably dying before Horemhab took the throne of Egypt. Queen MUTNODJMET (1), who became Horemhab’s Great Wife, was buried beside Amenia in Saqqara rather than having a tomb in the royal necropolis at thebes.
Ameni-A’amu (fl. 19th century b. c.e.) Mysterious royal personage in the Thirteenth Dynasty
He is historically associated with amenemhet iii (r. 1844-1797 B. C.E.). A small pyramid at dashur is inscribed with his name and royal insignias. These inscriptions appear to place him in the reign of Amenemhet iii, perhaps as the designated heir to the throne.
Amenirdis (1) (fl. eighth century b. c.e.) Royal woman of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty
She was the sister of piankhi (1) (750-712 b. c.e.) and the daughter of kashta and Queen pebatma. As a royal princess, Amenirdis was adopted by shepenwepet (1) as her successor in the role of god’s wife of amun or Divine Adoratrice of Amun, the office of high priestess and political representative of the ruling family This role, carried out in thebes, descended over the years from the title of God’s Wife held by New Kingdom queens starting with ’ahmose-nefertari, the wife of ’ahmose i (r. 1550-1525 B. C.E.). The high priestess presided over a harem of Amun’s devotees and conducted ceremonies.
Amenirdis could not marry while serving as Divine Adoratrice of Amun, adopting her successor, shepenwepet (2). When she retired, however, she married her brother, shebitku (r. 698-690 b. c.e.) and bore Shepenwepet III. Statues have been recovered depicting Amenirdis in royal regalia. Like other high priestesses, she built a tomb in karnak. Some priestesses were buried in a necropolis called “the vineyard of Anubis.” Such women held considerable political power over Upper Egypt, the southern territories, serving as a “voice” of the god Amun and thus able to dictate many policies. They were recruited mostly from the ranks of the royal families of Egypt and wore the crowns and ornaments of queens.
Amenirdis (2) (fl. seventh century b. c.e.) Royal woman of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty
Amenirdis was destined to become a god’s wife of amun or a Divine Adoratrice of Amun, a high priestess of the deity at thebes. She was designated as the successor of the high priestess shepenwepet (2). When psammatichus I (r. 664-610 b. c.e.) came to power, however, he sent a large fleet of ships to Thebes, bearing his daughter NITOCRIS (2), who then assumed the role of Divine Adoratrice, an act that overthrew the Nubian control of Egypt. Amenirdis, a member of the overthrown family of NECHO I (r. 672-664 b. c.e.), was ousted from Thebes. Her role was ended because she no longer had the political base necessary to influence Egypt’s affairs.
Amenken (fl. 15th century b. c.e.) Financial official of the Eighteenth Dynasty
He served amenhotep ii (r. 1427-1401 b. c.e.) as a high official in the royal treasury of Egypt, concerned with the tabulation and the distribution of gifts to court favorites and NOME officials. The pharaohs presented outstanding servants with golden collars and other costly insignias of honor on feast days. Amenken was buried in thebes.
Amenmesses (Menmire) (fl. c. 1214 b. c.e.) Sixth ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty, recorded as a usurper He took the throne of seti ii (r. 1214-c. 1204 b. c.e.). His name, Amenmesses, meant “Fashioned by Amun, God of Thebes.” He ruled only four years, possibly as an interlude ruler between merenptah and Seti II, who was the crown prince and designated heir. Amenmesses was possibly the son of merenptah and Queen takhat (1). Records give her only the title of “King’s Mother,” not that of a royal wife of rank. He is believed to have married baketwerel, but no documentation supports this. Three bodies discovered in Amenmesses’ tomb in the valley OF THE KINGS on the western shore of Thebes have not been identified. He is also recorded as marrying tia (2), the mother of siptah. Amenmesses did not rule in the north, where Seti II controlled the Delta and the dynastic capital of per-ramesses.
He had the backing of the Theban priests, including the high priest, Roma-Ray, who had considerable power in the name of the god amun. Amenmesses also controlled NUBIA, modern Sudan. How he died at the end of four years is unknown. He simply disappeared from the scene, and seti ii usurped his statues and monuments. some cartouches were even removed from his tomb in Thebes, at biban el-moluk, and some chambers were vandalized. The tomb has three corridors, a square chamber, and four pillared halls.
Amenmose (fl. 16th century b. c.e.) Prince of the Eighteenth Dynasty
He was the son of tuthmosis i (r. 1504-1492 b. c.e.) and Queen ’ahmose (1), and an older brother of Queen-Pharaoh HATSHEPSUT (r. 1473-1458 b. c.e.). Records indicate that he was general of Egypt’s armies. He predeceased Tuthmosis I. Amenmose had a brother, wadj-MOSE, who also died before he could inherit the throne from his father. Amenmose was buried in the royal necropolis on the western shore of thebes.
Amennakht (fl. 12th century b. c.e.) Official of the Twentieth Dynasty
Amennakht served ramesses iii (r. 1194-1163 b. c.e.) as a supervisor of tomb artists and craftsmen. These artists resided in a special community near the valley of the KINGS on the western shore of the Nile at thebes. The community was called deir el-medina, once known as “the Place of the Servitors of Truth.” Amennakht was a trained scribe who served as an overseer for the workers in the royal tombs. He and his fellow servitors of the PLACE OF TRUTH were able to build personal tombs of unusual size, ornately decorated. They donated their skills in providing one another with exquisitely painted gravesites.
Amenpanefer (fl. 11th century b. c.e.) Tomb robber of the Twentieth Dynasty
Amenpanefer committed his crimes in the reign of RAMESSES XI (r. 1100-1070 b. c.e.) in thebes. A stone carver who labored in the tombs of the valley of the KINGS at Thebes, he was arrested by authorities and taken in for questioning after a rash of tomb robberies. Amen-panefer confessed to being part of a nefarious gang that preyed upon the mummies of Egypt’s dead pharaohs. He described how he and eight coconspirators dug a tunnel and broke into the tomb of sobekemsaf iii (a Seventeenth Dynasty ruler). They stole jewels and then set fire to the royal mummy Queen nubkhas (2) (Seventeenth Dynasty) received the same destructive treatment from Amenpane-fer and his fellow criminals. Amenpanefer and his cohorts faced harsh sentences when condemned. Most grave robbers were executed, not just for stealing and vandalism, but also for the crimes of blasphemy and impiety.
See also tomb robbery trial.
Amenti The mythological domain of the dead described as located spiritually in the west, considered to be the residence of the god OSIRIS, this was a luxurious paradise of lakes, trees, and flowers, an abode of peace for all eternity for those deemed worthy of such rewards.
See also eternity; mortuary rituals.
World History
