AMEHHOTEP III
Amenhotep III (Αμενωφις) reigned long and calmly: Syria, conquered by the campaigns of the previous kings, did not try to rebel against the king of Egypt; with the Asian states - Mitanni, Babylon, Assyria - he was in peaceful "relations, entered into family relations with their kings, sent them and received gifts from them; as for the south, in the 5th year of the reign of Amenhotep III there, the only campaign of this pharaoh, crowned with complete success, was undertaken. A poorly preserved inscription at Bubasta seems to be telling about this campaign. In style, it resembles the annals of Karnak of Thutmose III: here, too, is the council of war, the speech of the king, speech on the day of the coronation, etc. Quiet times allowed the king to intensively engage in his favorite business - building temples and other structures; he owns, among other things, the famous Memnonian colossus in Thebes and the sphinxes located on the embankment in Leningrad. His closest assistant in construction activities was the architect Amenhotep, the son of Hapu, whose memory remained for a very long time in Egypt as a great sage. Subsequently, he was numbered among the gods, and Josephus cites a quote from Manetho, where this Amenhotep is presented as an adviser to the king in spiritual matters, the culprit for the expulsion of lepers, the author of the prophecy about impending disasters; he is called "a partaker of the divine nature, due to wisdom and insight." The Greeks called him Amenophis, the son of Paapius, and even attributed to him the products of their own wisdom: in Deir el-Bahri, a calcareous ostracon was found, according to the paleography of the 3rd century BC. BC e., with a Greek text containing gnomic sayings, entitled Αμενωδςυ υποδηχαι sayings, allegedly Amenophis, but betraying their Greek character. A statue dedicated to him was found in Karnak, which tells about his official career and merits in the execution of royal construction work. In general, both architecture and sculpture, as well as small arts and crafts, achieved a high degree of elegance at this time. The great wealth that accumulated at the foot of the Theban god, the expansion of the horizons of the conquerors of cultural Asia, the extensive trade relations that seized the Greek islands, led to an increase in taste, a variety of artistic forms, an increase in demand and artistic needs.
Large scarabs have survived from Amenhotep III, serving him as if he were commemorative medals on the occasion of various outstanding events; so, they speak of his marriage to Tiya (she was the first queen, although she came from a simple title), then to the daughter of the king of Mitanni, Giluhipe; about hunting, which Amenhotep III loved to do; scarabs were cooked and commemorated grand opening a pleasure lake of 3,700 cubits in honor of Tiya. Thus, the king shared with his subjects messages about his personal life; his relationship with his beloved Tia is also completely unusual for an oriental despot. He loved to perform with her everywhere, and in official texts he often mentioned not only her name, but the names of her untitled parents, Yui and Tui, whose tombs and mummies in a luxurious setting were recently found by Davis among the royal tombs. At the scarab medal handed out on the occasion of the wedding with Tia, he said: “She is the wife of a mighty king, southern border which is Karoy, and the northern one is Naharina (Mesopotamia "). Thus, the pharaoh is no longer the all-world ruler, and next to him there are other kings: Naharins (Mitanni), Sennaara (Babylon), who, although they respect him, are still not subordinate to him; he has to call them in letters "brothers" and even enter into marriage with them. We can hardly be mistaken if we assume a political background in this: the pharaoh, despite all the pompous phrases of the official texts, was aware that keeping the source of wealth - Syria - is possible only on condition of good relations with the ancient contender for this area - Babylon and the recent one - Mitanni; the latter state also valued ties with Egypt, having in the rear the developing power of the Hittites. The Syro-Palestinian princes, desperate for the time being of the opportunity to again form a strong alliance, could enter into an agreement with one of the great Asian powers to regain freedom, and from the correspondence in Tell Amarna we know that they once turned to the king of Babylon for this, but the latter rejected their offer to become the head of a coalition hostile to Egypt. The letters of the Asian kings to the pharaoh are of great cultural and historical interest, and we will cite some of them. (Note that recently in one tomb of the 19th din., An image of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its office and archive was found).
From the documents of the neighbors independent of Egypt, let us first of all dwell on the letters from Babylon. Amenhotep III's contemporary was Kassite Karaindash II, who was succeeded by Kadashman Harbe; then there are Burnaburiash or Burraburiash I, Kurigalu I.
We have received two letters from Amenhotep III to Kadashman Harba, three letters from the latter to Amenhotep and one letter from Burnaburiash to him. Their content is negotiations, about marriage unions, about gifts, etc. Amenhotep wants to get a Babylonian princess into his harem. Kadashman-Harbe replies that he already has his sister and, oh, knows nothing about her fate. Babylonian ambassadors do not see her and did not recognize her in the woman whom Pharaoh showed them. "This is the daughter of some beggar, some gage or hanigalbatz, or perhaps from the land of Ugarit," the Babylonian king wrote in vexation, looking down at other Asian princes, not excluding the king of the great power Mitanni (Hanigalbat), a primordial enemy and a rival for supremacy over Assyria. Pharaoh complains about the bad faith of the ambassadors, who lie and do not give gifts, but hints that the Babylonian king wants to derive material benefits from the relationship. This time Amenhotep considers it not superfluous to give him a lesson and does not even accompany his letter with ordinary gifts. Kadashman Harbe complains about this and the fact that the pharaoh detained his ambassadors for too long and did not even fulfill an act of international courtesy - he did not invite them to some holiday (maybe his jubilee). However, the lesson worked, and he agreed without a word to send his daughter to Egypt. But he himself wants to get a princess from Egypt. To this the Pharaoh responded with a short reference to the article of the law: "The Egyptian princess cannot be given to anyone." Then Kadashman-Harbeshlet the following letter:
“Nimmuria (Nib-maat-Ra, the throne name of the pharaoh), the king of Egypt, my brother, Kadashman-Harba, king of Kardunias, your brother. Greetings to your house, your wives, your whole country, your chariots, your horses, your nobles, great greetings. You, my brother, did not want to marry your daughter off to me and answered: "The Egyptian princess never gave herself to anyone." Why is that? After all, you are a king - and you can act according to the desire of your heart, and if you betray her, who will contradict? When the answer was given to me, I wrote: there are many daughters and beautiful women; send me one of them; after all, who will say then: “this is not a princess”? But you didn't send. So, are you really thinking of seeking brotherhood and friendship and our rapprochement with such an answer? I just wrote to you about marriage in the form of strengthening brotherly and friendly relations. Why didn't my brother send me a wife? You really didn't send it. Maybe I should do the same? No, I have daughters: I am ready to give any for you ... As for the gold I wrote to you about, there was gold, a lot of gold, even before your ambassador arrived here; come him now, as soon as possible, in this harvest, or in the month of Tammuz, or in Aba; then I will finish the work undertaken by me (probably the construction) ...
If you don’t send money (by this date), and I am not able to finish the work, then why should you send it? What do I need gold for when I finish it? If you send me at least 3,000 talents then, I will not accept it, I will send it back and will not marry my daughter to you ”...
This ultimatum worked, and the Pharaoh, “learning” that the Babylonian king “was building new houses for himself,” sent him gifts when writing - a bed of precious wood, with jewelry made of ivory and gold, a seat made of the same material, etc. , promising to send "everything that will be valuable in the eyes of the ambassador," who will deliver the Babylonian princess.
From the king of Mitanni Tushratta, seven letters came to Amenhotep III, one to the queen Tia and two inventories of the dowry of his daughter Taduhipa. One of the letters was written in the Mitanni language and only recently was it read, it seems, somewhat more reliably, by Bork. The following inscription on one "historical" scarab of Amenhotep III has long been known: "Year 10 of Amenhotep (his wife Tiya, her father Yuya, her mother Tuya). A wondrous event with his majesty: the daughter of the prince of Naharin, Satarna Gilukhip, and the best of his wives 317 ”. Previously, these words were not understood; they were explained by the following letter from Tushratta to Amenhotep III:
“Nimmuria, king of Egypt, my brother. Tushratta, king of Mitanni, your brother. I'm doing well. Hello to you, hello to my sister Giluhipe, hello to your home, your wives, your sons, your nobles, your wines, your horses, your chariots and your country, great hello. When I ascended the throne of my father, I was still small, and Tukhi did evil to my country and killed his master. And so he would not allow me to maintain friendship with someone I value. But I, in view of his atrocities committed in my country, did not hesitate and executed the murderers of Artashshumar, my brother. Since you were good with my father, I sent you to tell me that my brother would hear about it and be glad. My father was friends with you and you probably loved him even more. And my father gave you my sister in the name of this love. And who else was as close to my father as you? And I donate even more than my brother - the whole country of the Hittites. When the enemies invaded my country, Teshub, the lord, delivered them into my hands, and I defeated them; there was no one among them to return home. I am sending the Hebe a war chariot, two horses, a boy and a girl from Hittite military booty, and as a gift for my brother - five chariots and five harnesses. As a gift to Gilukhipa, my sister - a pair of gold necklaces, a pair of gold; earrings ... a stone vessel filled with fragrant oil. As ambassadors I sent Galia and Tunipivri; may my brother let them go as soon as possible, so that I would sooner hear my brother's greetings and rejoice. May my brother maintain friendship with me and send ambassadors to me to bring me my brother's greetings. "
Thus, Tushratta, the son of Satarna and brother of Gilukhipa, tries to maintain friendly relations with Egypt that existed under his father, who gave Amenhotep his daughter in marriage. Tushratta later also gave his daughter to Egypt - probably for Amenhotep IV. It was very important for the king of Mitanni to maintain friendship with Egypt: his kingdom was threatened from the north by the Hittites, from the east by his vassals - the Assyrians; an ally had to be sought in the south; moreover, from the same place from the south, there was gold, in relation to which the northern neighbors of Egypt had the idea that it had no end in Egypt; This is evidenced by the following letter from Tushratta: “... I now asked my brother for gold and had two reasons for this: for the karashka (perhaps the tomb) of my grandfather Artatama, as a gift for the bride. So, let my brother send me gold in very large quantities, which could not even be numbered ... after all, in my brother's land there is as much gold as there is earth. May the gods arrange it so that there will be ten times more of him ... If my brother wants something for his house, I will give him ten times more than he demands - let him write and receive, for this land is his the land and this house is his home. " Amenhotep sent gold and gifts, but he kept reminding about the acceleration of Taduhipa's sending. Tushratta pulled and expressed his displeasure with the gifts in refined polite letters. Thus, by the way, he writes the following: “Mani, my brother's ambassador, appeared again for my brother's wife, the lady of Egypt. I read the tablet brought by him, heeded her words. And my brother's words were highly pleasant, as if I had seen him. I was very happy that day, that day and night were joyful for me. I will fulfill all the words of my brother. In the same year I will give my brother's wife, Lady of Egypt, and send her to my brother. Hanigalbat and Egypt will unite on that day. I gathered (everyone to watch my brother's gifts); they were sealed. It turned out that this is not gold. My brother's ambassadors wept and said: ... yes, this is not gold, but meanwhile there is more gold in Egypt than sand, and your brother loves you very much. ”In the end, the matter was settled, and Tushratta sent off his daughter with a huge dowry, the inventory of which was attached. Some magical object was also sent to make Pharaoh live for a hundred thousand years!
While Amenhotep III was alive, the prestige of the Egyptian king was so high that, as we have seen, the Babylonian king asked to send him at least some woman from Egypt under the guise of a royal daughter. Apparently, in the eyes of his subjects, kinship with the pharaoh was a high honor. When he fell ill, Tushratta sent him to Egypt from Nineveh, which then depended on him, a statue of Istar, with the following letter: “So says Istar of Nineveh, mistress of all countries:“ to Egypt, to the country that I love, I am going. ” I send her to you, she went. Already in the days of my father, the mistress went to this land, and as then she was honored, so may my brother now honor her ten times more, and may he send her away and return her with joy. May Istar, mistress of heaven, preserve my brother and me for a hundred thousand years, and may she give us both great joy. Yes, we live in good harmony - Istar for me is my goddess, but for my brother she is not his deity. "
The cultural and historical interest of this letter is very great, and the facts reported by it do not stand alone. Obviously, in Egypt they believed in the power of Istar, and the last lines are intended to warn in a polite manner against the appropriation of the idol. However, he did not help against the disease, and Amenhotep III died. Tushratta then writes to his successor: “My father never refused me anything and did not cause me grief. When Nimmuria followed his destiny, it was announced and I found out; I cried that day, sat at night, did not eat anything and lamented. Oh, if my brother, beloved by me and who loved me, was alive! "... And among the Egyptians, the brilliant and pious Pharaoh was popular and left such a strong memory that the month of Tamenot was even named after him, which kept this name (for March) and in Christian times. Even in the Greco-Roman era, the cult of Amenhotep III was celebrated in Fayum under the name of the god Pramarr.
Tulor, The temple of Amenhotep III. Fl. Petrie, Six temples in Thebes (excavations at the Colossus of Memnon and the burial temple of Amenhotep III). V.V. Struve, St. Petersburg Sphinxes (Western class, division I.R. Archeol. Society VII, 1913). Davies, The tomb of Queen Tiyi. Lond., 1910 (magnificent edition with 35 tables). Sethe, Amenhotep, der Sohn des Hapu. A collection of Aegyptiaca in honor of Ebers, Wilsken, Zur agyptisch-hellenistischen Literatur (sayings of Amenophis, son of Payanius in Greek) - ibid. Rubenson, Pramarres, Aegypt. Xeitschrift, vol. 42 (1905). Moller, D. Dekret d. Amenophis, Sohnes d. Hapu SitjungsberichteBepn. academy, 1910. (Inscription from a burial temple, late origin).
Born in Thebes in 1388 BC. Son of Thutmose IV and his middle wife, Queen Mutemuya (Mut-ma-wa). Born into the Thutmose dynasty, who ruled Egypt by this time for 150 years.
Numerous surviving documents from the reign of Thutmose IV confirm that he was declared crown prince during his father's lifetime. Most likely, he ascended the throne at a very young age - he was not even ten years old; this fact is confirmed by many sources and is not surprising, given the fact that Thutmose IV died too early to have an heir in his mature years. In the guise of a child, the prince appears in the image from the tomb of the nobleman Hekaerneheh, on the statue of his mentor Sebekhotep, in the inscription of the 7th year of Thutmose IV on the rock in Konosso. A significant number of portraits of a king with extremely youthful and soft facial features go back to this early period his reign.
The first years of the king's reign, naturally, passed under the rule of the regent, most likely his mother, Queen Mutemuya. The accession of Amenhotep III, apparently, passed quickly and painlessly; in any case, none of the nobles of the court was removed from his office due to the change of the tsar. So, Ptahmes, the high priest of Amun, who took this position in the last years of the reign of Thutmose IV, with the accession to the throne of the new king also became the mayor of Thebes and the vizier.
From the first year of his reign, and possibly from the moment of accession to the throne, Teia became the wife of the young king. Apparently, she belonged to the provincial nobility and, perhaps, had a significant admixture of Nubian blood. Thus, a long tradition was broken. Usually, for the purity of blood, the pharaohs married their closest relatives, who received the title of "main wife", and their sons inherited the throne. But Amenhotep neglected the custom of his ancestors and elevated Teye above all his other wives, thereby violating the established tradition. Apparently, Thaye was an intelligent and energetic woman and must have had a great influence on her regal spouse.
At the beginning of the reign of Amenhotep, Egypt was at the height of its power. There were friendly relations with the kings of Mitanni, Babylonia, Cyprus, so the rule of Amenhotep was extremely peaceful. Only once Amenhotep undertook a campaign in Nubia to suppress the uprising that broke out there. The campaign of the 5th year, known from numerous sources, is described in detail in the text carved into the rock between Aswan and the island of File. Despite the statements - "In the fifth year, the king returned back. He triumphed this year in his first campaign, made through the despicable land of Kush. He set the borders according to his will. No king did anything like this, except for him, the brave Pharaoh, hoping on his strength (that is, Amenhotep III) "- the king, apparently participated only symbolically: traditionally, such campaigns were carried out under the leadership of a person with experience of military operations in the region, most often," the Tsar's son Kush. " Under the inscription are the names of six defeated peoples of the south, including the land of Kush.
It seems that the same campaign is narrated by the poorly preserved inscription in Bubastis and the stele of the king's son Kush Merimos, which he installed in Semna, at 2 rapids, on behalf of the king. It all started with the revolt of the "despicable hostile Kush" under the leadership of a certain leader Iheni, "a braggart surrounded by his army; he did not know the lion that was in front of him. This is Nebmaatra (the throne name of Amenhotep III), a terrible lion who seized the despicable Kush with a claw, tearing apart all his leaders in their valleys, lying in blood one on top of the other. " Despite the destruction of the upper part, the text of the stela of Merimos is more meaningful than the royal one, replete with details. Merimos recruited an army from the Nubians of North Nubia. This army was supposed to act together with the army of the pharaoh, which proves to what extent Lower Nubia managed to be Egyptian. On the anniversary of the celebration of the 5th year of Amenhotep's accession to the throne, a battle with the rebels took place in the country of Ibhet, which lies above 2 rapids. The latter were defeated. The Egyptians killed 312 and captured 740 Nubians. After punishing the inhabitants of the surrounding areas, in order to prevent further incidents of disobedience, Amenhotep went south. The Bubastis inscription reports that Egyptian troops reached the "Hua Heights" (location unknown, but these heights appear on the lists near Punt and were probably far to the south), where they camped in the Uneshei country, south of Hua. This was the extreme point of Amenhotep's movement to the south. Having erected his border plate near some "waters of Horus", which, allegedly, none of his predecessors had done, and having collected a large amount of gold in the country of Karai, Amenhotep returned to Egypt. This "first victorious campaign" of Amenhotep was, apparently, the only one in which he participated. And it is not entirely clear who, in fact, led the campaign, he himself or the Royal son of Kush Merimos.
The reign of Amenhotep was marked by grandiose construction. In front of the temple of Amun in Karnak, Amenhotep erected another pylon, built in the neighborhood, near a horseshoe-shaped lake, a temple to the wife of Amon - the goddess Mut. It is possible that the middle passage of the so-called Hypostyle Hall in Karnak, between two rows of gigantic columns 24 m high, goes back to Amenhotep III, and only later was expanded into a huge palace. In the south of Thebes, the temple of Ipet-Res (Luxor Temple) was built - one of the most exquisite creations of Egyptian architects. A majestic passage between two rows of stone columns 16 m high also led to it. Similar passages were erected by him in front of the neighboring Mut temple, and in front of the temple in Sulba (between the 2nd and 3rd rapids). All construction works in Karnak, Luxor and Thebes as a whole were supervised by two architects - two twin brothers Hori and Suti.
Amenhotep's country palace was built on the western bank of the Nile near the capital. It was a huge one-story building made of raw bricks, with excellent paintings on the ceilings, walls and floors. The palace complex also included courtiers' houses, workshops, and craftsmen's houses. The construction of this palace, which received the name "House of Jubilation", is not without reason associated with the celebration of the "Thirty Years of Reign" (heb-sed). A little north of the palace, a magnificent memorial temple for Amenhotep was built. Unfortunately, little of this building has survived. An alley of sphinxes carved from pink granite was created near this temple, and in front of its pylons were erected two huge statues of the pharaoh, the famous "colossi of Memnon", each of a solid stone block 21 m high and weighing more than 700 tons. The construction of this temple was supervised by the architect Amenhotep, the son of Hapu. The same Amenhotep from the quarries near Heliopolis delivered to Thebes two huge statues of his master for the national temple at Karnak. At least one of them was 24 m high.
The source of such an extensive construction activity of Amenhotep was the untold riches coming to Egypt from the conquered and dependent countries. These riches of Egypt were so great that Amenhotep could send large quantities of gold as gifts to his loyal allies - the kings of Mitanni and Babylon, the latter being convinced that there was as much gold in Egypt as sand in the desert. During the reign of Amenhotep, there was a prosperity of trade, which also brought huge income to the state, for Amenhotep in every possible way encouraged legal trade and properly taxed it. The art of Amenhotep's time combined the striving for the huge (gigantic columns and buildings), with strict harmony. And the images on the plane were given the outlines of unprecedented softness and smoothness.
At the end of the reign of Amenhotep, unrest began in the Asian possessions of Egypt, the so-called popular movement of hapiru - outcasts who retired to the steppe and formed detachments of freemen. Hapiru opposed the royal power in general, and against the Pharaoh in particular. At this time, in the mountains, between Phenicia and Syria, a new state of Amurru arose, the main population of which was hapira. The creator of this kingdom, Abdi-Ashirta, pretended to be loyal to the pharaoh, out of caution, but at the same time, through his agents, he systematically called on the population to join the hapir and kill their mayors, loyal to the pharaoh, which happened here and there throughout Phenicia and Palestine. In some places, it came to the actions of individual armed groups of slaves. The Egyptian governors of Amurru did not immediately discover the hostile nature of Abdi-Ashirta's activities, as a result of which he was able to significantly expand his possessions.
In the 70s of the XIV century BC. e. in the north, a new danger arose for Egypt. The fortified Hittite kingdom began to claim hegemony in the region of Syria and Upper Mesopotamia. The Hittites invaded the possessions of Amenhotep's ally, the Mitannian king Tushratta. Tushratta succeeded in driving them out, and he even sent Amenhotep a chariot, a couple of horses and two slaves as a gift from among the spoils of the Hittites. But the Egyptian provinces in Syria were not spared. Akizzi, the vassal king of Katna, wrote to the Pharaoh that the Hittites invaded his territory in the Orontes valley, took away the image of Amon-Ra with the name of Amenhotep III, and, leaving, burned the city. Nukhasshe, further north, suffered a similar attack, and his king, Addu-Nirari, wrote a desperate letter to the pharaoh, pledging loyalty and asking for help against the attackers. Amenhotep was limited to sending small parts of the army. Apparently, to support in the struggle against the Hittites, Amenhotep's marriage with the daughter of the king of the country Artsava Tarhundaradus was outlined.
It was also restless inside the country, where the interests of two powerful groups collided: the metropolitan and local nominal nobility on the one hand and the new social strata and the new service nobility that had emerged from their midst, on the other. On the 30th anniversary of the reign of Amenhotep III, he appointed his son Amenhotep IV as his co-ruler. Towards the end of his life, Amenhotep III became very fat and suffered from some serious illness. To heal him from him, the Mitannian king Tushratta sent his Egyptian "brother" the idol of the goddess Ishtar of Nineveh, with a polite request to return it later. Queen Teye maintained her extraordinary position next to the pharaoh until his death, despite the fact that Amenhotep was married not only to foreign princesses, but also to several of his own daughters. It happens that on the same inscription there are the names of Amenhotep, "the king's wife" Teye and their daughter, the "king's wife" Sitamon (Si-Amana "Daughters of Amun").
Amenhotep reigned for 38 years and several months. His mummy, found along with the remains of many other kings and queens in the tomb-cache of his grandfather Amenhotep II in the Valley of the Kings, made it possible to establish that at the time of his death he was between 40 and 50 years old; it was not possible to determine the age more precisely.
The son who succeeded him was the third Amenhotep and the last great emperor. He was only a great-grandson, but already with him, a high wave of Egyptian power began to slowly fall, and he was not a person capable of preventing it. We find early evidence of the pampered character he later found in his relationship with his wife. Crown Prince, or at the very beginning of his reign, he married a remarkable woman of unknown origin named Tiye. Nothing points to its foreign origin, as is often claimed. In commemoration of the marriage, Amenhotep ordered the manufacture of a large number of scarabs, or sacred beetles, carved from stone and bearing a record of the event where the wife's untitled parents openly follow her name in the royal title itself, proclaiming her the wife of the pharaoh. The recording ends with the words: "She is the wife of a powerful king, whose southern border is in distant Karoi, and the northern one is in distant Naharin," as if with the aim of reminding everyone who would dare to point out the queen's humble origins, about the high position she now occupied. From the very beginning, the new queen began to exert a strong influence on Amenhotep III, and her name was immediately included by him in the official formula at the top of the royal documents. Her influence was felt throughout his reign and marked the beginning of a remarkable era, characterized by the prominence of queens in public affairs and in public ceremonies, a position that we find only under Amenhotep III and his immediate successors. We will talk about the significance of this fact later.
Amenhotep III entered the administration of his great empire very successfully. There was no excitement among the Asians at his accession to the throne, and he ruled surrounded by peace and incomparable splendor. However, by the end of the 4th year of his reign, the riots in Nubia called him south. In early October, he took advantage of the high water to sail through the rapids with his fleet. His governor in Nubia, Mermos, recruited an army from the Nubians, from the vicinity of Kubban and further 75 miles up the river to Ibrim. This army, together with the army of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, was supposed to act against the Nubians of the Upper Country, which is striking evidence of the extent to which Lower Nubia managed to undergo Egyptian influence. When the troops reached Ibhet, which lies at least above the second rapids, they faced the enemy and engaged him in battle, probably on the anniversary of the royal coronation, on the first day of the 5th year of his reign. They took 740 prisoners and killed 312 enemies, according to the entry on the triumphal plate they placed at the second rapids. Remote villages and wells were visited in small parties and locals punished in order to prevent further incidents of disobedience, after which Amenhotep went south for one month, taking with him captives and booty. Arriving at the "Hua Heights", a location unknown to us, which appear on the lists near Punt and were probably far to the south, perhaps above the rapids, the pharaoh camped in the country of Uneshek, south of Hua. This was the extreme point of Amenhotep's movement to the south. In the country of Kara, which, as the reader already knows, spreads around Napata, he collected a large amount of gold for his Theban buildings, and in Kebhu-Khor, or Lake Horus, he set a victory plate, but we cannot establish this place with accuracy. No doubt it was not too far from his father's border. This was the last major invasion of Nubia by the pharaohs. It was necessary to constantly punish distant tribes for their incessant predatory attacks on the Nile Valley, but the valley itself was completely conquered, up to the fourth rapids, and, moreover, up to the second rapids it was still extensively Egyptian - a process that was rapidly moving forward, while throughout the country, up to the fourth rapids, did not spread the Egyptian civilization. In all the major cities, Egyptian temples were built and Egyptian gods were worshiped there, Egyptian art was assimilated by Nubian artisans, and throughout the Upper Nile, crude barbarism took on the imprint of Egyptian culture. For all the native leaders, who were closely watched by the governor, were allowed to retain their titles and honors as before, and, no doubt, they continued to have, at least nominally, a voice in government affairs. We find them in the north up to Ibrim, which was the southern limit of the recruitment of auxiliary troops of Amenhotep III and, probably, was therefore the extreme point to which the local government exclusively of Egyptian officials extended to the south. The annual arrival in Thebes of the governor, carrying annual tribute from all the Nubian lands, became common for a long time.
In Asia, the rule of Amenhotep was generally recognized; even the Babylonian court did not challenge his supremacy in Canaan, in other words, in Syria-Palestine. And when the kings tried to involve the Babylonian king Kurigaletsu in an alliance directed against the pharaoh, he sent them a categorical refusal on the grounds that he was in alliance with the pharaoh, and even threatened them with war if their alliance would come true. While this is the Babylonian version - fair or not, it is difficult to say - it nonetheless testifies to Babylon's strong desire to maintain good relations with the Pharaoh. All the powers - Babylon, Assyria, Mitanni and Alasia (Cyprus) - did everything to gain the friendship of Egypt. Before us unfolds a picture of world politics, yet unprecedented in history. From the court of the Pharaoh, as the Center, many threads depart in all directions, connecting it with all the great powers of that time. The Amarna letters, perhaps the most interesting set of documents that have come down from the Ancient East, give us the opportunity to survey the kingdoms of Asia Minor, whose Kings play out, as on a stage, each of their roles in front of the great throne of the pharaoh. About 300 letters written in Babylonian cuneiform on clay tablets and discovered in 1888 in the capital of the son of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, in the place now known as Tel el-Amarna, from where the correspondence got its name. They refer to the reigns of Amenhotep III and his son and successor, Amenhotep IV or Akhenaten, and represent a strictly official correspondence between these pharaohs, on the one hand, and the kings of Babylonia, Nineveh, Mitanni, Alasia (Cyprus) and the Syrian-Palestinian vassals of the pharaoh , with another. Five letters (Amarna letters) have survived from the correspondence between Amenhotep III and Kallimma-Sin (Kadashman-Bel), the king of Babylonia: one from Pharaoh, and others from Callimma-Sin. The Babylonian king is constantly in need of gold and persistently encourages his Egyptian "brother" to send him a large amount of the precious metal, which, according to the Babylonian ambassadors, he says, is as much in Egypt as dust. Significant friction arises from Callimma-Sin's dissatisfaction with the amount of gold sent to him by Amenhotep. He points to the fact that Amenhotep received his father's daughter in marriage, and sees in this fact the basis for further obtaining gold. From the following letters we learn about negotiations in connection with the marriage between the daughter of Amenhotep and Kallimma-Sin or his son. Amenhotep is also in the closest relationship with the king of Mitanni, Shuttarna, the son of Artatama, with whom his father, Thutmose IV, maintained the most friendly ties. It is possible that Amenhotep was Shuttarna's nephew, from whom he got a daughter in marriage, named Gilukhipa. In commemoration of this union, Amenhotep ordered several scarabs to be made of stone with an inscription perpetuating the event and informing that the princess was accompanied by a retinue of 817 court ladies and servants. This happened in the 10th year of the reign of Amenhotep. After the death of Shuttarna, the union was supported by his son Dushratta, from whom Amenhotep subsequently married his son and successor to his daughter Taduhipa. The correspondence between the kings is very eloquent and characteristic of this kind of communication. Dusratta's letter to his Egyptian ally follows:
“Nimmurii, told to whom the king, the king of Egypt, my brother, my son-in-law, who loves me and whom I love, - Dusratta, great king, your father-in-law who loves you, king of Mitanni, your brother. It is good for me, may it be good for you, and for your house, my sister and your other wives, your sons, your chariots, your horses, your nobles, your country and all your possessions - may it be, indeed, very good. In the days of your fathers, they were on very friendly terms with my fathers, but you increased (this friendship) even more, and you were truly in very friendly terms as a father. Therefore, now, since you and I are on mutual friendly relations, you have made them ten times closer than it was with my father. May the gods be pleased that this friendship of ours flourishes. May Tishub (god of Mitanni), lord, and Amon keep them in the same form as they are now!
When my brother sent his ambassador, Mani, saying: "My brother, send me your daughter to wife so that she may be the queen of Egypt," I did not grieve my brother's heart, and I always gave friendly orders. And, as my brother wished, I showed her to Mani. And he looked at her, and when he saw her he was very glad; and when he delivers it safely to my brother's country, may Ishtar and Amon make her meet my brother's wishes.
Gilia, my ambassador, delivered my brother's message to me; when I heard it, it seemed to me very good, and I, truly, was very happy and said: “As far as this concerns me, even if all the friendly relations that existed between both of us ceased, but only this message would exist, then we would continue to be friends forever. " And when I wrote to my brother, I said: "As far as this concerns me, we, truly, will be very friendly and very disposed towards each other"; and I said to my brother: "May my brother increase (our friendship) tenfold, compared with what it was with my father," and I asked my brother for a lot of gold, saying: "More than my father, may he give me may my brother send me. " You sent my father a lot of gold: namhar of pure (?) Gold and kira of pure (?) Gold you sent him; you sent me (only) a table of gold, which looks as if it were an alloy with copper ... So, let my brother send gold in very large quantities, without measure, and let him send me more gold than to my father - for in my brother's country gold is like dust ... "
So wrote to each other people who decided the fate of the whole of Western Asia. In response to similar requests, Amenhotep sent as a gift to the king of Assyria (Amarna letters) 20 talents of gold and thus acquired his friendship. The vassalage of the king of Alasia (Cyprus) continued, and he regularly sent large quantities of copper to the pharaoh, with the exception of one time when, as he himself says in his own defense, a plague visited his country. The relations between Egypt and Cyprus were so active that even the issuance of the property of a Cypriot citizen who died in Egypt was considered by both kings as a matter of course, and a messenger was sent to Egypt to receive the property and deliver it to Cyprus to the wife or son of the deceased (Amarna letters). Not wishing to compromise his proximity to Egypt, the island king warns the pharaoh against any alliance with Hatti or Babylonia - a policy that, as we will see below, was subsequently pursued by Babylonia itself.
Encountering worship and flattery from everywhere and being the object of diplomatic attention from all the great powers, Amenhotep had little reason to worry about his own and the Asian empire. His Syrian vassals were the grandchildren of people conquered by Thutmose III; they were brought up quite in the spirit of rapprochement with Egypt. So much time has passed since they enjoyed independence that they could present themselves as nothing more than vassals of Egypt. In an era of confusion and enmity, when force was the only refuge, such a situation in the end seemed to them to be a completely normal order of things and was not deprived of its benefits, since it relieved them of any fear of attacks from outside. In addition, the Egyptian upbringing in the capital of the pharaoh created many loyal servants for him among the sons of kings, who inherited their Syrian fathers, hostile or indifferent to Egypt. They declare their loyalty to Pharaoh in any case. Thus, Prince Akizzi of Katna writes to Amenhotep:
“My lord, here I am, your servant. I follow the path of my master and do not leave my master. Since my fathers became your servants, this country has become your country, the city of Katna has become your city, and I belong to my lord. My lord, when the troops and chariots of my lord came, food, drink, cattle, sheep, copper oil were brought for the troops and chariots of my king. "
Such letters began with the most despicable and humiliating flattery, the writer says: “To my sovereign king, my gods, my sun - Abimilki, your servant: seven and seven times I fall at the feet of my master. I am dust under the sandals of my lord-king. My lord is the sun, which rises over the countries every day, "etc. The vassals prostrate themselves before the Pharaoh not just seven times, but also" on the chest and back. " They are “the ground on which you walk, the throne on which you sit, your footstool,” even “your dog”; and one gives pleasure to call himself the groom of Pharaoh's horse.
All of them were in favor of Pharaoh, and when they took office, he sent them oils for anointing. They notify the court at the first sign of hostility from their brethren and are even empowered to pacify rebellious princes. Throughout the country in the largest cities are Egyptian garrisons consisting of infantry and chariots. But they are no longer recruited from the indigenous Egyptians alone, but largely also from the Nubians and Sherdens, nomadic bandit squads of sea pirates, perhaps the ancestors of the later Sardinians. From this time on, they entered the service of the Egyptian army in more and more numbers. These detachments of Amenhotep III were dependent on the kings, one of the manifestations of their devotion to the pharaoh was, as we have already seen, their written assurances of their readiness and diligence in the delivery of supplies. The government of Syria has thus achieved a resilience it has never enjoyed before. The roads were safe from robbers, caravans were sent from one vassal to another, and a single word from the pharaoh was enough to make any of the princes subject to him to prostrate himself. The tribute was paid as regularly as the collection of taxes in Egypt itself. In case of the slightest delay, it cost one of the representatives of the pharaoh who lived in large cities to appear near the offending city, so that the duty was made immediately. Amenhotep personally never had to wage a war in Asia. One day he appeared in Sidon, and one of his officials mentions prisoners taken by his majesty on the battlefield, but this could refer to his Nubian campaign.
It was considered sufficient, as we will see later, to send an army under the command of an experienced military leader who could do whatever was needed without difficulty. This went on for a whole generation, since the accession to the throne of Amenhotep III. Later, one of the vassal princes wrote to his son: "Truly, your father did not go on a campaign and did not survey the countries of his vassal princes" (Amarna letters).
Under such conditions, Amenhotep had the full opportunity to devote himself to those peaceful enterprises that occupied all other emperors who were in the same position. Trade has evolved as never before. The Nile from the Delta to the rapids was enlivened by ships filled with goods from all over the world delivered by the Red Sea fleet and long caravans that passed up and down the Isthmus of Suez carrying rich fabrics from Syria, spices and aromatic wood from the East, weapons and hammered vessels of the Phoenicians and many other things, the Semitic names of which were given hieroglyphic spelling and came into use among the inhabitants of the Nile. Along with overland trade across the isthmus, there were trade routes across the Mediterranean, traversed in all directions by heavily laden Phoenician galleys heading into the Delta, carrying patterned vessels or hammered bronze from Mycenaean trading settlements in the Aegean to the Nile fairs. On the other hand, the works of Egyptian artisans were found in the palaces of the island kings on Knossos, Rhodes and Cyprus, where several Egyptian monuments of that time were found. Scarabs and fragments of glazed earthen vessels with the names of Amenhotep III and Queen Tia were also found in mainland Greece, in Mycenae. The peoples of the northern Mediterranean felt the influence egyptian civilization, unusually intensively penetrated at that time to the north. Egyptian religious ceremonies were introduced in Crete, even under the direct supervision of an Egyptian priest. Mycenaean artists came under the powerful influence of the works exported from Egypt. Egyptian landscapes appear on their metalwork, and flexible animal forms, captured by Theban artists in their instantaneous positions, are now common in Mycenaean art. Superbly decorated Theban ceilings appear in tombs at Mycenae and Orchomenes. Even pre-Greek writing in Crete reveals traces of the influence of Nile hieroglyphs. The inhabitants of the Mycenaean world, the keftiu, who brought these works to their homeland, now constantly met in the streets of Thebes, where their own goods also influenced the art of Egypt. A huge amount of silver was brought by them from the north, and while under the Hyksos it was twice as valuable as gold, the latter has since become the most valuable circulating metal. The ratio of the value of gold to silver was approximately 1.5 to 1, and the value of silver fell rapidly until Ptolemaic times (3rd century BC), when the ratio became 12: 1.
Such trade required patronage and regulation. Predatory bands of Lycian pirates attacked the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, they daringly entered the harbors of Cyprus, plundering cities, and even landed on the shores of the Delta. Amenhotep was therefore compelled to establish a maritime police that guarded the coast of the Delta and allowed only peaceful traders into the river mouths. Local customs were under the jurisdiction of these same police officials, and all goods, except for those intended for the king, were taxed. The income received should have been quite significant, but we have no data to calculate it. All inland roads were equally guarded by the police, and all foreigners who could not clearly testify to their occupation were sent back, while legitimate trade was encouraged, guarded and properly taxed.
The influx of slaves, predominantly of the Semitic race, which began under Thutmose III, continued as before, and the main royal scribe distributed them throughout the country, adding them to the lists of the burdensome serf population. As a result of the mixing of many foreigners with natives, a strong influx of foreign blood began to be found in a new and complex type of face, according to the artists of the era.
The innumerable riches that had accumulated in the chests of Pharaoh Amenhotep III for more than a century also began to exert a profound influence, which, as under the same conditions in later history, was far from beneficial. On New Year's Day, the king bestowed upon his nobles many valuable gifts that would have delighted the pharaohs of the pyramid era themselves. In one similar case, the chief treasurer delivered to the monarch "chariots of gold and silver, statues of ivory and ebony, necklaces of all kinds of precious stones, military weapons and products of all kinds of artisans", consisting of 13 statues of the king, 7 images of the monarch in the form of a sphinx , 8 sumptuous necklaces, 680 ornate shields and 230 exquisite quivers, 360 bronze swords and 140 bronze daggers - both inlaid with precious metal - 30 ivory wands with gold and silver knobs, 220 whips with ivory hilts bones and ebony, 7 skillfully made chests, many fans, armchairs, vases and a lot of small objects. In ancient times, the monarch awarded a loyal nobleman with land that, in order to become profitable, had to be properly cultivated and managed, due to which the simplicity and healthy rural life of large estates then prevailed; now the favorites received movable property as a gift, for the use of which they did not need to spend labor. The luxury and ostentatious life of the capital has replaced the ancient rural simplicity and its enduring primordial virtues. From Pharaoh to the most humble scribe, this change was reflected even in the costume. A simple linen apron from thighs to knees, which was once satisfied by everyone, including the king, was replaced by an intricate suit with a long pleated hem and a rich tunic with long sleeves. Instead of the unassuming head hairstyle of the ancient era, there was a carefully curled wig that went down to the shoulders, and the once bare feet were dressed in elegant sandals with pointed and curled toes. If a sovereign nobleman at the court of the Amenemkhets or Senuserts had happened to walk the streets of Thebes in the days of Amenhotep III, then he would hardly have been able to say in which country he unexpectedly found himself, while his own old-fashioned costume, preserved only in the circle of priests, would have caused the same amazement among the well-dressed Thebans of that era. He would have felt no less strange than an Elizabethan noble on the streets of modern London. Everywhere he would find graceful palaces and sumptuous villas with delightful gardens and summer houses set around vast temples such as the Nile Valley dweller had never seen before. The wealth and labor of slaves from Asia and Nubia were quickly transformed into majestic buildings, in Thebes day after day they worked to create a new and fundamental page in the history of world architecture. Amenhotep himself devoted himself ardently and with enthusiasm to these works and provided at the disposal of his architects with everything they needed in order to develop their art more fully than was ever possible before. Among them were highly gifted people, and one of them, who bore the same name as the king, earned such wide fame for his wisdom that his aphorisms circulated in Greek after about 1200 years among the "sayings of the seven wise men", and at the time The Ptolemies began to worship him as a god, placing him among the innumerable deities of Egypt under the name "Amenhotep, son of Hapu."
In the hands of such people, the ancient and traditional elements of the Egyptian building were imbued new life, and new forms began to be combined, revealing a previously unknown beauty. In addition, the unprecedented means and working hands that were at the service of new architects made it possible to operate with such enormous dimensions, which by themselves were capable of making a building into the highest degree impressive. But of the two forms of temples that developed at this time, the smaller one is of no less interest than the larger one. It was a simple rectangular altar or sanctuary 30 or 40 feet long and 14 feet high; at both ends there was a door, and a colonnade was going around, yet, on the whole, about half the height of the temple walls rose on the foundation. A door between two graceful columns, a façade well positioned in a waning perspective of the side colonnades, and everything in general is so proportional that the experienced eye immediately recognizes the hand of a master who knows the value of simple basic lines. It is not surprising that the architects of Napoleon's expedition, who introduced her modern world, were delighted and thought that they had discovered in it a prototype of a Greek temple surrounded by a colonnade; and indeed there is no doubt that the architecture of Greece was influenced by this form. Another, and more extensive type of temple, which received the greatest development at that time, differs sharply from the above and, perhaps, mainly in that all of its colonnades are placed inside and are invisible from the outside.
The Holy of Holies is still surrounded by a series of chambers, more extensive than before, due to the needs of the rich and complex ritual that developed during this era. In front is a vast, pillared hall, often called the hypostyle, and in front of this last is a huge front courtyard surrounded by a pillared portico. In front of the courtyard there are two towers (collectively called the "pylon"), which form the facade of the temple. Their walls are inclined inward, at the top they are crowned with a concave cornice, and between them is the main door of the temple. Although sandstone and limestone masonry usually does not contain large boulders, there are still huge monolithic architraves, 30 or 40 feet long and weighing 100 or 200 tons. Almost all surfaces, excluding the columns, are covered with reliefs: outside the king is depicted during a battle, inside - he, who worships the gods; all surfaces, with a few exceptions, are brightly painted. In front of the huge double doors of Lebanese cedar, clad in bronze, towered, one on each side, two obelisks, rising high above the towers of a pylon, with their backs on either side of the door placed colossal statues of the King, each carved from a single piece. All these elements, known before the reign of Amenhotep III, were so used and located in general by his architects that a completely new type of temple was created, which was destined to survive as one of the most noble and widespread forms of architecture up to the present day.
In Luxor, the old southern suburb of Thebes, which by this time had grown into a whole city, there was a small temple of Amun, built by the kings of the XII dynasty. Amenhotep III, probably at the beginning of his reign, broke it and built a new sanctuary, surrounded by chambers and having a hall in front, like the sanctuary of Thutmose I at Karnak. Its architects added to it a magnificent front yard with the most wonderful colonnades that are now preserved in Egypt. Having gained confidence in their strength, they decided to erect in front of the whole complex of buildings a new and most magnificent hall that they had ever dared to build, and it, apparently, should have been preceded by an even more extensive courtyard. In the great hall, along the longitudinal center line, were placed in two rows giant columns, completely surpassing in size all those ever erected in Egypt. And despite their size, they did not lose in beauty at all, having perfect proportions in all respects and being hung with graceful capitals in the form of blossoming papyrus flowers. These pillars were taller than those on either side of them, thereby forming a high roof above the middle sail, or nave, and lower roofs above the side sails, and the gap between the roofs was occupied on either side by large stone windows located hardly. This is how the basic elements of the basilica and cathedral were created, which we owe to the Theban architects Amenhotep III. Unfortunately, the huge hall was not completed during the king's life, and his son was too ardent opponent of Amun to complete the work of his father. His later successors piled up the splendid nave with drums of columns of side sails that had never been set, and the whole is now the sad ruins of an unfinished work of art, the first example of an architectural type for which the modern world cannot but be grateful.
Amenhotep began to unite into one whole all the large buildings of the city, which were until then scattered. He placed in front of the Karnak temple a massive pylon, decorated with unprecedented luxury, lapis lazuli slabs were erected on either side, and about 1200 pounds of malachite were used for inlay, in addition to a large amount of gold and silver. A wide alley led from the river to the pylon, on both sides of which there were two high obelisks, and in front of the pylon the architect of Pharaoh Amenhotep placed his colossus, the largest ever erected, carved from a solid block of hard sandstone 67 feet high, delivered up the the river with a whole army of people from a quarry near modern Cairo. The king also built a temple to the Theban goddess Mut where his ancestors had already begun to build it, south of Karnak, and dug a lake near it. Then he laid out a magnificent garden in a gap of more than a mile and a half between the Karnak and Luxor temples, and he connected them with an alley of ram-headed sphinxes, carved out of stone and each having a statue of a pharaoh between their front paws. In general, the impression should have been extremely grandiose: bright colors of polychrome architecture, columns and gates lined with gold, silver-plated alley slabs and huge obelisks, clad in sparkling metal, dominating everything, towering high above the lush foliage of motionless palms and tropical trees, framing the whole - all this should have produced an impression both with a multitude of details and with the amazing grandeur of the whole, about which the gloomy ruins of these structures that have come down to us, no matter how impressive they seem, say very little. Just as it was in Athens in the days of glory, the state was fortunate enough to have people with a receptive and creative mind, in which the greatness of Egypt was so deeply imprinted that they were able to embody it in images full of beauty, dignity and splendor. Thebes quickly became an empire-worthy capital - the first monumental city of antiquity. Likewise, the western plain on the other side of the river, behind which the conquerors rested, would not be affected by comparison with the splendor of Karnak and Luxor. Along the foot of the steep rocks, starting from the modest chapel of Amenhotep I, a majestic chain of funeral temples of the emperors stretched from north to south. At the southern end of this chain, closer to the river, Amenhotep III erected his own memorial sanctuary, the most extensive temple of his reign. Two giant colossus of the king, about 70 feet high, each carved from a single block and weighing more than 700 tons, not counting a couple of obelisks, stood in front of a pylon, to which an alley of jackals, carved from stone, led from the river. Many other large statues of the pharaoh were located along the courtyard colonnade. A huge slab of sandstone 30 feet high, lined with gold and precious stones, marked the honorable "royal place" where Amenhotep stood during the performance of official religious rites; another slab, more than 10 feet high, contained a listing of everything the king had done for Amun. The walls and floor of the temple, adorned with gold and silver, were of the most incredible splendor. The fine taste and technical dexterity required for such applied artisan work have now reached a degree of classical excellence never subsequently surpassed by Egyptian art. For their sheer size, some of these works are astonishing; for example, bronze hinges and other accessories of the huge cedar doors of the pylon weighed several tons in total and required unprecedented shapes for their casting; covering the doors themselves with bronze sheets, elegantly laid with precious metal in the form of a figure of a deity, required a combination of artistic abilities with mechanical art, which is not too common even today.
Statues of Amenhotep III, the so-called "Colossi of Memnon"
At the same time, sculpture flourished as never before. Although attention has now begun to turn to details that required infinite patience and painstaking painstaking care, such tedious work did not deaden the free creativity of the sculptors of the 18th dynasty; the ancient method of general transmission of basic lines has not been forgotten. In the works of this century, sophistication, sophistication and flexibility appear, which until then were absent even in the best works, although, perhaps, the striking individualism of the portraits of the Old Kingdom was not so pronounced now. These properties were manifested in works so colossal in size that the mere fact that the sculptor could do it is remarkable in itself, although not all colossal portrait statues are satisfactory in terms of the above properties. Especially in relief, the artists of the era were masters. Take a look at the attached relief - now in the Berlin Museum - the image of the grief of the two orphaned sons of the High Memphis priest, accompanying the body of their father to the tomb, and notice how skillfully the artist opposed him with the severe importance and conditional appearance of the first nobles of the state who followed them, and how these latter, in turn, differ sharply from the petitemeter of the era, which diligently corrects the scented strands of its complex wig. The person who created the work, which has come down to us only in this small fragment, was a depiction of a complex and mature culture, an observer of life, his creation paints at the same time the tension and deep mystery of human grief, notes the inevitability and cruel indifference of the official convention and does not forget at the same time show the vanity of topical fashions. Here he tells us from the centuries-old given a mature contemplation of life, which finds a sympathetic response in every cultural observer. This fragmentary sketch not only surpasses everything that remains of other Eastern peoples, but also belongs to a class of works that were completely absent anywhere else at that time. This is one of the earliest examples of sculpture, representing an understanding of life and a sense of individual traits (arising, as is commonly thought, for the first time in Greek sculpture), in which art finds its highest expression.
The courageous exploits of Pharaoh Amenhotep III also inspired the sculptors of the era with the most complex combinations they ever dared to. The battle scenes on the magnificent chariot of Thutmose IV present an unprecedented complexity of drawing, and this trend continues into the 19th dynasty. Although the life of animals is not very suitable for the works just mentioned, nevertheless, the perfection achieved in the sculpting of animal forms by sculptors of that time, in the same way marks the highest level achievements of Egyptian art, and Ruskin even insisted with his usual conviction that the two lions of the era of Amenhotep III - now in the British Museum - are the most perfect embodiment of the greatness of the animal that has come down to us from antiquity. Although he may overestimate in his enthusiasm, nevertheless it should not be forgotten that these noble works were intended for a remote provincial sanctuary in Soleb, in Upper Nubia. If such work adorned the courtyard of an insignificant Nubian temple, then what were the sculptures in the mortuary sanctuary of the pharaoh himself in Thebes? But this splendid structure, probably the greatest creation of all Egyptian art, was completely destroyed. Only the two time-damaged colossus guarding the entrance still gaze out onto the plain; one of them bears the Greek scribbles of curious tourists from the Roman Empire who came here to listen mysterious soundwhich they published every morning. A hundred paces behind them lies a huge slab that fell in two, once inlaid with gold and precious stones, which indicated the "royal place", and on it you can still read the words of Amenhotep concerning the temple: "My Majesty created this for millions of years. I know that it will remain on earth. " Later we will have the opportunity to talk about how the royal temple fell victim to the atheism of the degenerate descendants of Amenhotep 200 years after his death. The best examples of painting of the era were in the Palaces, which, being made of wood and adobe bricks, perished. We have already noted the subtle flair that made it possible for the artist, depicting animals and birds, to catch their instantaneous position and reached the highest expressiveness in the next kingdom. Pharaoh, in the depiction of his battles, demanded, as we have seen, an incomparably more complex drawing than that which was known in ancient times, the art of composition was appreciated most of all. Battle scenes in the temples of the era have died, but there is no doubt that they existed, since we have a similar composition on the chariot of Thutmose IV
Decorated with such works, the western Theban plain presented a majestic view to the eyes of the observer, ascending from the river along the alley of sculptured jackals of Amenhotep III. To the left, behind the temple and closer to the rocks, could be seen the royal palace, built of wood and painted with bright colors. It was very light and airy, the façade was decorated with masts with bunches of colored ribbons at the top, and above the entrance was a magnificent balcony with handrails covered with pillows and graceful columns, on which the king was shown to his favorites on solemn occasions. The art that created such a delightful building was as exclusive in its aesthetic perfection as in its technique. The countless works of applied art that now fill European museums show with what endless splendor and exquisite beauty the royal palace was furnished and decorated. Magnificent vessels of gold and silver with figures of people and animals, plants and flowers at the edges sparkled on the royal table amid crystal goblets, glass vases and gray porcelain vessels decorated with pale blue designs. The walls were covered with carpets, so fine workmanship and so exquisite in color and design that connoisseurs recognize them in no way inferior to the creations of the best modern masters. Along with colored floors decorated with scenes from the life of animals, the walls were covered with pale blue tiles, the rich color of which shone through the intricate patterns of gold leaf, glazed figures were used to fill large surfaces. All this was done with a subtle and thoughtful understanding of the overall colorful impression. With the refinement of its art, this era is reminiscent of the century of Louis XV, and the palace reflected the spirit of the times in all respects.
Amenhotep III's wife, Tia (Teye)
Image by falkue
In the same place, Amenhotep set up a special estate for his wife Tiya, he dug in the fence a large lake about a mile long and more than 1000 feet wide, and on the day of the celebration of the twelfth anniversary of his coronation, he opened the floodgates to fill it and sailed along it in a barge with his wife, just as we read it in the description of the magnificent fantastic festivities in The Thousand and One Nights, in the days of the unchanging Harun ar-Rashid. Music was more perfect than ever before, as art had made progress since the time of unassuming antiquity. The harp became a large instrument, about the height of a man, and had about 20 strings; the lyre was borrowed from Asia. The complete orchestra consisted of harp, lyre, lute and double flute. To commemorate the celebration, a new series of scarabs, or beetles-amulets, inscribed with a summary of the event were issued. Lavish festivities were now common in Thebes and enriched the life of the rapidly growing capital with a kaleidoscopic succession of paintings that can only be compared with similar periods in Babylon or in Rome during the era of the emperors. The religious celebrations of the "seventh month" coped with such splendor that it quickly acquired the epithet "the month of Amenhotep", and this name, due to constant use, became common in later centuries and is still in a distorted form among the inhabitants of Egypt who use it, not knowing exactly nothing about his royal ancestor, whose name was immortalized in him. Literature undoubtedly flourished during that era, but, unfortunately, too few works from the XVIII dynasty survived. We read an excerpt from the triumphal hymn in honor of Thutmose III, and we will also get acquainted with the wonderful hymn to the sun of Akhenaten. But the surviving stories, songs and legends that flourished since the rise of the empire, almost without exception, belong to the 19th dynasty.
One of the king's favorite pastimes was hunting, and he indulged in it with an unprecedented enthusiasm. When his huntsmen were informed of the appearance of a herd of wild animals among the hills bordering the Delta, he left the Memphis palace in the evening, sailed north all night and early in the morning reached the location of the herd. A large detachment of soldiers, with the help of village children, then surrounded the herd and drove them into a large corral, a method practiced in earlier times. In one case, the beaters counted at least 170 pieces of game inside the fence. Having entered the corral in a chariot, the king personally killed 56 wild animals on the first day, and this number increased further, probably by 20 with the repeated beating, which followed after four days of rest. Amenhotep considered this feat worthy of perpetuation and ordered to make a number of scarabs with a record of the event. When the ten years of the lion hunts of Amenhotep III were celebrated, the king endowed the court nobles with a similar reminder of his valor, which, after the usual royal title of his own and his wife, concluded the following words: “The number of lions that his majesty struck with his own arrows, from the first year to on the tenth - ferocious lions - 102 ". About 30 or 40 of these scarabs have survived to this day in memory of lion hunts.
A completely new trend can be seen in all this. The divine pharaoh is constantly depicted in the sphere of human relations, the events of the royal house become public domain, the name of the queen, although not of royal blood, constantly appears in official documents next to the name of the pharaoh. Constant relations with the peoples of Asia are gradually forcing the king to descend from his ancient superhuman position, acceptable only in the Nile Valley, to a less provincial and more modern relationship with his neighbors in Babylonia and Mitanni, who call him "brother" in their letters. The pharaoh, hunting lions and poisoning wild bulls, is truly far from the godlike and unattainable immobility of his divine ancestors. It was as if the Chinese Emperor or the Tibetan Dalai Lama unexpectedly exposed their personal affairs in a series of medals! Without a doubt, Amenhotep III broke with tradition. He built a temple in Memphis, where he was worshiped as a god, and expanded the Nubian temple in Soleb also for his own cult in connection with the cult of Amun. His wife was also worshiped as a goddess in the Nubian temple at Sedeing. Thus, Amenhotep was still a god in Nubia. In reality, he had long since broken with the court and priestly fiction. Consciously or not, but only he took a new point of view, which should inevitably lead to a sharp conflict with the inertness of tradition, almost invincible in the eastern country.
In the meantime, everything was going well, the lines of the impending internal struggle were not clearly marked, and the pharaoh had not yet seen the first hints of external revolts. As a true "Caesar divus" he commanded the splendor of Thebes. In the 30th year of his reign, he celebrated the anniversary of his appointment as crown prince, coinciding with his accession to the throne. Probably, during this festival, obelisks were erected in front of the tsar's funeral temple. To make the holiday even more impressive, the chief treasurer, presenting to the king a report on an unusually rich harvest, from Nubia to Naharina, reported a significant increase in income, and this made the king happy that all the provincial officials of the treasury were received by him at an audience and awarded rich gifts. The second jubilee, probably 34, passed, as far as we know, without incident, and in 36, when the third jubilee was celebrated, the old monarch was still able to receive his court in an audience and hear his congratulations.
Ominous signs of impending turmoil, meanwhile, appeared on the northern horizon. The Hittites invaded Mitanni, but the Mitannian king Dushratta managed to expel them and send Amenhotep a chariot and a couple of horses, not counting two slaves, as a gift from the number of spoils he received from the Hittites. But the Egyptian provinces were not spared. Akizzi, the vassal king of Katna, wrote to him that the Hittites had invaded his territory in the Orontes Valley. carried away the image of Amon-Ra with the name of Amenhotep and, leaving, burned the city. Nukhashshi, lying further north, suffered a similar attack, and his king Hadadnirari wrote a desperate letter to Amenhotep with assurances of loyalty and asking for help against the attackers. All this did not happen without the indifference of the treacherous vassals of the pharaoh, who sought to conquer the territory in their own favor. Later famous Aziru and his father Abdashirta were the leaders of the movement, they entered Katna and Nukhashshi from the south and plundered them. Their like-minded people at the same time threatened the Oubi region of Damascus. Akizzi from Katna and Rib-Addi from Byblos quickly informed Amenhotep III about the falling away of his vassals; Akizzi wrote, crying for quick help: “Oh my lord! Just as Damascus in the land of Ubi stretches out its hands at your feet, so Katna stretches out its hands at your feet. "
The situation was incomparably more dangerous than it seemed to Pharaoh. Amenhotep III did not understand the seriousness of the Hittite offensive, especially since Akizzi assured him of the devotion of the kings of Naharina in such words: “Oh, my lord! Just as I love my lord the king, the king Nukhashshi, the king of Nii, the king of Senzar and the king of Kinanata love him, for all these kings are the servants of my lord the king. " Amenhotep, instead of immediately moving with the entire army into Northern Syria, as Thutmose III would have done, limited himself to sending part of the army. The latter, of course, did not bother with a hasty suppression of the rebellious kings and the rapid suppression of their hostile actions against their loyal vassals. She proved to be completely unable to stop the movement to the south of the Hittites, who occupied a point in Northern Naharin, which was extremely important for their further plans to conquer Syria. In addition, the long absence of the pharaoh in Syria affected the Egyptian prestige there, and from the very day when the king left Sidon for the last time, it is now established that a new danger began to approach his Asian dominions. The invasion of the Khabiri Semites began from the desert, akin to those who from time immemorial periodically flooded Syria and Palestine. It took on such dimensions that it fully deserves the name of resettlement. Even during the life of Amenhotep III, it became threatening, and later Rib-Addi, from Byblos, wrote to his son: "Since your father returned from Sidon, the country was in the power of the Khabiri."
Under such threatening circumstances, the aged Pharaoh, whom we can rightly call Amenhotep the Magnificent, was close to death. His "brother" from Mitanni, with whom he was still on friendly terms, probably aware of his years and infirmity, sent a second image of the Nineveh Ishtar to Egypt, no doubt in the hope that the well-known goddess could expel the evil spirits, guilty of the illness of Amenhotep, and restore health to the aged king. But it was all in vain. Around 1375 BC BC, after about 36 years on the throne, Amenhotep the Magnificent died and was buried in the same place as all of his other ancestors-emperors - in the Valley of the Kings.
- Pharaoh of the XVIII dynasty Ancient egypt, who ruled about 1388 - 1351. BC e. Son of Thutmose IV and Queen Mutemuya (Mut-ma-wa). Amenhotep III was born in Thebes. Numerous surviving documents from the reign of Thutmose IV confirm that he was declared crown prince during the life of his father, and ascended the throne at a very young age, when he was not even ten years old. In the guise of a child, the prince appears in the image from the tomb of the nobleman Hekaerneheh, on the statue of his mentor Sebekhotep, in the inscription of the 7th year of the reign of Thutmose IV on the rock in Konosso. A significant number of portraits of the king with extremely youthful and soft facial features date back precisely to the early period of his reign.The first years of the king's reign, most likely, passed under the rule of the regent - his mother, Queen Mutemuya. Apparently, the coming of Amenhotep III to the throne was painless, because there were no personnel changes among the nobles of the court in connection with the change of the pharaoh. For example, Ptahmes, the high priest of Amun, who took this position in the last years of the reign of Thutmose IV, with the accession to the throne of Amenhotep III also became the mayor of Thebes and the vizier.
The reign of Amenhotep III is regarded as one of greatest periods the flourishing of ancient Egyptian civilization, as evidenced by the grandiose temple complexes and excellent monuments of sculpture, as well as many works of art considered masterpieces of the best Egyptian collections of museums in the world.
From the moment of accession to the throne, Teie became the wife of the young king. Apparently, she belonged to the provincial nobility and, possibly, had a significant admixture of Nubian blood. Usually, for the purity of blood, pharaohs married their closest relatives, who received the title of "main wife", and their sons inherited the throne. Amenhotep III neglected this custom of his ancestors and elevated Thaye above all his other wives. Thaye, according to sources, was very smart and energetic, must have had a great influence on her royal spouse, and Amenhotep III himself reckoned with his wife more than was customary, and not only in family matters.
At the beginning of the reign of Amenhotep III, Egypt was at the height of its power. His dominion in Asia With the kings of Mitanni, Babylonia, Cyprus, there were friendly relations, so the rule of Amenhotep was extremely peaceful. Diplomatic marriages are gaining great popularity: Amenhotep III was married to the sister and daughter of the Babylonian king Kadashman Harba I, the daughter of the Babylonian king Kurigalsu I, the daughter of the Babylonian king Kadashman-Elil I. Also, Amenhotep III was twice married to the Mitannian princesses: in 10 months: of his reign, he married the daughter of the king of Mitanni Shuttarna I Kelu-hebe (Giluheppa), and on the 36th - the granddaughter of Shuttarna I, daughter of Tushratta - Tadu-hebe (Taduheppa).
The reign of Amenhotep III was marked by a grandiose construction. In front of the temple of Amun in Karnak, Amenhotep III erected another pylon, built a temple to the wife of Amon, the goddess Mut, near the horseshoe-shaped lake. In the south of Thebes, Amenhotep III built the Luxor Temple (Iput-Resit), one of the most exquisite creations of Egyptian architects, to which a majestic passage between two rows of stone columns 16 m high led. Similar passages were erected by him in Sulbe (between the 2nd and 3rd rapids).
The country palace of Amenhotep III was built on the western bank of the Nile near the capital. It was a huge one-story building made of raw bricks, with excellent paintings on the ceilings, walls and floors. The palace complex included courtiers' houses, workshops, and craftsmen's houses. The construction of this palace, which received the name "House of Jubilation", is not without reason associated with the celebration of the "Thirty Years of Reign" (heb-sed). A little north of the palace, a magnificent memorial temple for Amenhotep III was built. Unfortunately, little of this building has survived. An alley of sphinxes carved from pink granite was created near this temple, and in front of its pylons were erected two huge statues of the pharaoh, the famous "colossi of Memnon", each of a solid stone block 21 m high and weighing more than 700 tons. The construction of this temple was supervised by the architect Amenhotep, the son of Hapu. From the quarries near Heliopolis, he delivered to Thebes two huge statues of his master for the state temple in Karnak, one of which had a height of 24 m. memorial temple in the west of Thebes, like a king. Centuries later, he was ranked among the pantheon of Egyptian gods, and the Greeks introduced him to the host of their sages.
On the 30th anniversary of the reign of Amenhotep III, he appointed his son Amenhotep IV as co-ruler. Towards the end of his life, Amenhotep III became very fat and suffered from some serious illness. Queen Teye retained her extraordinary position next to the pharaoh until his death, despite the fact that Amenhotep was married not only to foreign princesses, but also to several of his own daughters.
Amenhotep III was the father of two sons from the main wife Teye: the first son was Crown Prince Thutmose, who died before his father, the second son, Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten), inherited the throne.
Amenhotep III and Teye also had four daughters: Sitamon, Henuttaneb, Isis or Iset, Nebetah. Their names, with the exception of Nebetah, often appear on statues and reliefs during their father's reign. Nebetah is attested only once in known chronological records on a colossal group of limestone statues at Medinet Abu.
Amenhotep III reigned for 38 years and several months.
Amenhotep III - Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who ruled approximately in 1388 - 1351 BC. e., from the XVIII dynasty. FROM son of Thutmose IV and Queen Mutemuyi(Mut-ma-wah).
The reign of Amenhotep III became one of the greatest periods of the heyday of ancient Egyptian civilization. Evidence of this is the grandiose temple complexes and excellent monuments of sculpture, exquisite toilet items and many other works of art that are considered masterpieces of the best Egyptian collections of museums in the world. Despite the abundance of this evidence, Amenhotep III is still a figure, in many ways, mysterious and controversial. On the one hand, he, like no one else, venerated the traditional Egyptian gods and erected luxurious temples for them, on the other hand, it was in his era, when the royal self-deification reached unprecedented proportions, that the roots of the forthcoming Amarna reform lie.
Amenhotep III was born in Thebes... Numerous surviving documents from the reign of Thutmose IV confirm that he was declared crown prince during his father's lifetime. Most likely, he ascended the throne at a very young age - he was not even ten years old; this fact is confirmed by many sources and is not surprising given the fact that Thutmose IV died too early to have an heir in his mature years. In the guise of a child, the prince appears in the image from the tomb of the nobleman Hekaerneheh, on the statue of his mentor Sebekhotep, in the inscription of the 7th year of Thutmose IV on the rock in Konosso. A significant number of portraits of a king with extremely youthful and soft facial features date back precisely to this early period of his reign.
The first years of the king's reign, of course, passed under the rule of the regent, most likely, his mother - Queen Mutemuya. The accession of Amenhotep III, apparently, passed quickly and painlessly; in any case, none of the nobles of the court was removed from his office due to the change of the tsar. So, Ptahmes, the high priest of Amun, who took this position in the last years of the reign of Thutmose IV, with the accession to the throne of the new king also became the mayor of Thebes and the vizier.
From the first year of his reign, and possibly from the moment of accession to the throne, Teie became the wife of the young king. Apparently, she belonged to the provincial nobility and, perhaps, had a significant admixture of Nubian blood. Thus, a long tradition was broken. Usually, for the purity of blood, pharaohs married their closest relatives, who received the title of "main wife", and their sons inherited the throne. But Amenhotep neglected the custom of his ancestors and elevated Teye above all his other wives, thereby violating the established tradition. Apparently, Thaye was an intelligent and energetic woman. and must have had a great influence on her royal consort.
Perhaps the marriage of Amenhotep III with the daughter of an unknown head of cattle yards of one of the provincial temples, which caused disapproval of the priests and the "old" capital nobility, was one of the first clear signs of who the pharaoh favored in the country. Thaya, sources say, was very smart. Inscriptions on scarabs - images of sacred beetles dedicated to the sun god - testify that Amenhotep III reckoned with his wife more than was customary, and not only in family matters. Such disregard for ancient institutions, naturally, caused displeasure among the Pharaoh's advisers - the priesthood, that is, those circles that usually stood closest to the king. They felt left out.
Hike to Nubia
At the beginning of the reign of Amenhotep, Egypt was at the height of its power. There were friendly relations with the kings of Mitanni, Babylonia, Cyprus, so the rule of Amenhotep was extremely peaceful. Only once Amenhotep undertook a campaign in Nubia to suppress the uprising that broke out there. The campaign of the 5th year, known from numerous sources, is described in detail in the text carved into the rock between Aswan and the island of File. Despite the statements - “In the fifth year the king returned back. He triumphed this year on his first campaign across the despicable land of Kush. He set boundaries at his will. Not a single king did anything like this, except for him, a brave pharaoh hoping for his strength (that is, Amenhotep III) "- the king, apparently, participated only symbolically: traditionally, such campaigns were carried out under the leadership of a person with experience of military operations in the region, most often, "the king's son Kush". The names of the six defeated peoples of the south, including the land of Kush, are placed under the inscription.
It seems that the same campaign is narrated by the poorly preserved inscription in Bubastis and the stele of the king's son Kush Merimos, which he installed in Semna, at the 2nd rapids, on behalf of the king. It all started with the revolt of the "despicable hostile Kush" led by a certain leader Iheni, "a braggart surrounded by his army; he did not know the lion that was before him. This is Nebmaatra (the throne name of Amenhotep III), a terrible lion who seized the despicable Kush with his claw, tearing all his leaders in their valleys apart, lying in blood one on top of the other. "
Despite the destroyed upper part, the text of the stela of Merimos is more meaningful than the royal one, replete with details. Merimos recruited an army from the Nubians of North Nubia. This army was supposed to act together with the army of the pharaoh, which proves to what extent Lower Nubia managed to be Egyptian. On the anniversary of the celebration of the 5th year of the accession to the throne of Amenhotep, a battle with the rebels took place in the country of Ibhet, which lies above the 2nd rapids. The latter were defeated. The Egyptians killed 312 and captured 740 Nubians.
After punishing the inhabitants of the surrounding areas, in order to prevent further incidents of disobedience, Amenhotep went south. The Bubastis inscription reports that Egyptian troops reached the "Hua Heights" (location unknown, but these heights appear on the lists near Punt and were probably far to the south), where they camped in the Uneshei country, south of Hua. This was the extreme point of Amenhotep's movement to the south. Having erected his border plate near some "waters of Horus", which, allegedly, none of his predecessors had done, and having collected a large amount of gold in the country of Karai, Amenhotep returned to Egypt. This "first victorious campaign" of Amenhotep was, apparently, the only one in which he participated. And it is not entirely clear who, in fact, led the campaign, he himself or his governor in Nubia Merimos.
Diplomatic marriages
In Asia, the rule of Amenhotep was generally recognized. The kings of such great powers as Mitanni and the Babylonian kingdom, cursed favor with the pharaoh and sent their sisters and daughters to his harem. Thus, Amenhotep was married to the sister and daughter of the Babylonian king Kadashman-Harba I, the daughter of the Babylonian king Kurigalsu I, the daughter of the Babylonian king Kadashman-Elil I. Also, Amenhotep was twice married to the Mitannian princesses. In the 10th year of his reign, he married Kelu-hebe (Giluheppa), the daughter of King Mitanni Shuttarna I, and in the 36th year, Tadu-hebe (Taduheppa), the granddaughter of Shuttarna I, daughter of Tushratta.
ABOUT great influence Amenhotep says the fact that the Babylonian king Kurigalsu I, when the Syrian kings tried to involve him in an alliance against the pharaoh, sent them a categorical refusal on the grounds that he was in an alliance with the pharaoh, and even threatened them with war if their union will come true. The king of Cyprus was in vassal dependence on Amenhotep and regularly sent him a large amount of copper, except for one time, when, as he himself says in his own defense, a plague visited his country. More than twenty objects with the names of Amenhotep III and Teye, found on the islands of the Aegean Sea, testify to the short-term renewal of Egypt's ties with the region.
Construction activity
The reign of Amenhotep was marked by a grandiose construction. In front of the temple of Amun in Karnak, Amenhotep erected another pylon, built in the neighborhood, near the horseshoe-shaped lake, a temple to the wife of Amon - the goddess Mut. It is possible that the middle passage of the so-called Hypostyle Hall in Karnak, between two rows of gigantic columns 24 m high, goes back to Amenhotep III, and was only later expanded into a huge palace. In the south of Thebes, the temple of Ipet-Res (Luxor Temple) was built - one of the most exquisite creations of Egyptian architects. A majestic passage between two rows of stone columns 16 m high also led to it. Similar passages were erected by him in front of the neighboring Mut temple, and in front of the temple in Sulba (between the 2nd and 3rd rapids). All construction works in Karnak, Luxor and Thebes as a whole were supervised by two architects - two twin brothers Hori and Suti.
Amenhotep's country palace was built on the western bank of the Nile near the capital. It was a huge one-story building made of mud bricks, with excellent paintings on the ceilings, walls and floors. The palace complex also included courtiers' houses, workshops, and craftsmen's houses. The construction of this palace, which received the name "House of Jubilation", is not without reason associated with the celebration of the "thirty years of reign" (heb-sed). A little north of the palace, a magnificent memorial temple for Amenhotep was built. Unfortunately, little has survived from this building.
An alley of sphinxes sculpted from pink granite was created near this temple, and in front of its pylons were erected two huge statues of the pharaoh, the famous "Colossi of Memnon", each of a solid stone block 21 m high and weighing more than 700 tons. The construction of this temple was supervised by the architect Amenhotep, the son of Hapi. The same Amenhotep from the quarries near Heliopolis delivered to Thebes two huge statues of his master for the national temple at Karnak. At least one of them was 24 m high.
State wealth
The source of such an extensive construction activity of Amenhotep was the untold riches coming to Egypt from the conquered and dependent countries. These riches of Egypt were so great that Amenhotep could send large quantities of gold as gifts to his loyal allies - the kings of Mitanni and Babylon, the latter being convinced that there was as much gold in Egypt as sand in the desert. During the reign of Amenhotep, there was a prosperity of trade, which also brought huge income to the state, for Amenhotep in every possible way encouraged legal trade and properly taxed it. The art of Amenhotep's time combined the striving for the huge (gigantic columns and buildings), with strict harmony. And the images on the plane were given the outlines of unprecedented softness and smoothness.
During the reign of Amenhotep III, Egypt maintained contacts with Punt. In the tomb of Amenmes (TT89), the mayor of Thebes and a very high-ranking nobleman, an image of the typical gifts of Punt has been preserved, accompanied by local leaders. Another Amenmes, a simple scribe, also reported the arrival of a flotilla from Punta to Egypt in the period before the 36th year of the king's reign.
Deification of the king
Amenhotep, reveling in his dominion over the "world", reached in self-deification to the cult of his own idols. True, this worship of the Pharaoh was planted mainly in Nubia, where, together with Amon, a magnificent temple in Sulba was dedicated to the king, but in Memphis divine honors were given to the royal idol. In Nubia, in neighboring Sulba Sedenga, a temple was built, in which, as a goddess, the beloved wife of the Pharaoh, Queen Teye, was honored. The dignified builder Amenhotep, the son of Hapi, who died, most likely, after the 30th year of the reign of the pharaoh, was built a memorial temple in the west of Thebes, like a king. Centuries later, he was numbered among the pantheon of Egyptian gods, and the Greeks introduced him "Amenophis, son of Paanias" to the host of their sages.
Since ancient times, the Pharaohs have been compared with the sun and called them “sons of Ra (the sun),” but no one before Amenhotep called himself so stubbornly as he - the visible Sun. This idea of \u200b\u200boneself as a bright sun echoed the insistent emphasis on one's adherence to "truth" (Maat). Of the five royal names, three were dedicated to her: in the first name, the king called himself "Shining in Truth", in the second - "Establishing the Laws", the fourth, usually state name, - "Neb-Maat-Ra" meant "Lord of Truth, the Sun". Near the main temple of the capital in Karnak, the pharaoh erected a special temple, all the same "Pravda", the "daughter of the Sun" Maat.
Unrest in Asian dominions
At the end of the reign of Amenhotep, unrest began in the Asian possessions of Egypt, the so-called popular movement of hapiru - outcasts who retired to the steppe and formed detachments of freemen. Hapiru opposed the royal power in general, and against the Pharaoh in particular. At this time, in the mountains, between Phenicia and Syria, a new state of Amurru arose, the main population of which was hapira. The creator of this kingdom, Abdi-Ashirta, pretended to be loyal to the pharaoh, out of caution, but at the same time, through his agents, he systematically called on the population to join the hapir and kill their mayors, loyal to the pharaoh, which happened here and there throughout Phenicia and Palestine. In some places, it came to the actions of individual armed groups of slaves. The Egyptian governors of Amurru did not immediately discover the hostile nature of Abdi-Ashirta's activities, as a result of which he was able to significantly expand his possessions.
Hittite threat
In the 70s of the XIV century BC. e. in the north, a new danger arose for Egypt. The fortified Hittite kingdom began to claim hegemony in the region of Syria and Upper Mesopotamia. The Hittites invaded the possessions of Amenhotep's ally, the Mitannian king Tushratta. Tushratta succeeded in driving them out, and he even sent Amenhotep a chariot, a couple of horses and two slaves as a gift from among the spoils of the Hittites. But the Egyptian provinces in Syria were not spared. Akizzi, the vassal king of Katna, wrote to the Pharaoh that the Hittites invaded his territory in the Orontes valley, took away the image of Amon-Ra with the name of Amenhotep III, and, leaving, burned the city. Nukhasshe, further north, suffered a similar attack, and his king, Addu-Nirari, wrote a desperate letter to the pharaoh, pledging loyalty and asking for help against the attackers. Amenhotep was limited to sending small parts of the army. Apparently, to support in the struggle against the Hittites, Amenhotep's marriage with the daughter of the king of the country Artsava Tarhundaradus was outlined.
Situation in the country
It was also restless inside the country, where the interests of two powerful groups collided: the metropolitan and local nominal nobility on the one hand and the new social strata and the new service nobility that had emerged from their midst, on the other. On the 30th anniversary of the reign of Amenhotep III, he appointed his son Amenhotep IV as his co-ruler. Towards the end of his life, Amenhotep III became very fat and suffered from some serious illness. To heal him from him, the Mitannian king Tushratta sent his Egyptian "brother" the idol of the goddess Ishtar of Nineveh, with a polite request to return it back later. Queen Teye maintained her extraordinary position next to the pharaoh until his death, despite the fact that Amenhotep was married not only to foreign princesses, but also to several of his own daughters. It happens that on the same inscription there are the names of Amenhotep, “the king’s wife” Teye and their daughter, “the king’s wife” Sitamon (Si-Amana “Daughters of Amon”).
Amenhotep reigned for 38 years and several months. His mummy, found along with the remains of many other kings and queens in the tomb-cache of his grandfather, Amenhotep II in the Valley of the Kings, made it possible to establish that at the time of his death he was between 40 and 50 years old; it was not possible to determine the age more precisely.