Amemophis III was the son of Thutmose IV by Mutemya, a princess, daughter of Artatama I, the Aryan king of Mitanni. Thutmose IV, himself (son of Amenhotep II), appears to have had an Asian mother (judging from her facial features). Thus, the reign of Thutmose IV can be seen as marking the beginning of a major infusion of foreign blood into the royal families of ancient Egypt, hitherto genetically insular and incestuously inbred (it was customary for centuries for kings to marry their sisters, half sisters). sisters, cousins or even their own daughters).
Amenophis III took as queen consort Tiy (the mother of his successor, the “crazy” Akhenaten), a woman who was a commoner. Tiy’s father Yuaa is believed to have been an educated Asian and settled in Egypt. He held the honorary position of overseer of the sacred cattle of Amun.
Queen Tiy and her father Yuaa wielded great influence at court, and the extreme opulence, splendor, and high culture of Amenophis III’s court were certainly largely due to his lavish Asian tastes.
Amenhotep was lucky to come to power at a time when the power of the New Kingdom was at its height. There was peace. The troublesome Asians had stopped giving trouble (most of the princes of the Asiatics had been coming to Egypt for their education since the reign of Thutmose III and had become very Egyptian). Amenhotep needed only one military campaign during his reign, which he successfully carried out in Nubia. The remainder of his reign was devoted to self-indulgent oriental opulence, luxury, indulgence and delight.
The king built a large palace on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. The artistic decoration of the palace reflected the tastes of Queen Tiy who, throughout her life, was a patron of scholars, thinkers and artists who spearheaded a short-lived revolution in which ancient Egyptian art acquired a quality and style more naturalistic.
Amenhotep’s new palace had spacious apartments with walls decorated with paintings depicting scenes from nature and Egyptian daily life exquisitely painted in vivid colors. Woven tapestries, beautiful vases in stained glass, porcelain, silver and gold adorned the apartments. Queen Tiy’s throne room is described as being 130 feet long and 40 feet wide (40 by 12 meters). The room was lavishly decorated with papyrus and lotus bud design pillars reaching to a sky blue ceiling with beautiful paintings of flocks of doves and golden crows in flight. The floor was richly carpeted with beautiful landscape paintings of swamps and Nile rivers. It featured naturalistic depictions of men hunting wild animals and fishing in the waters of the Nile. The throne room had a pair of towering majestic gilt thrones upon which raised bright wings of the royal vulture.
A balcony was attached to the throne room decorated with natural green scenery and colorful exotic flowers. The sprawling palace grounds had majestic trees, bushes, and exotic flowering plants in bright colors. The palace grounds provided a stunning evening view of the distant Theban hills to the west and a mile-long man-made lake was built to the east, surrounded by shade trees and flowers of great variety.
It is said that Amenhotep’s favorite evening pastime was sailing his purple and gold yacht, “Splendor of the Aten”, on the glittering water of the lake with his queen and children, while the young virgins sang like evening birds to the accompaniment of harps. of rope. , lyres, lutes and bagpipes.
Next to the king’s palace there were luxurious villas and beautiful gardens with swimming pools that accommodated their guests at lavish state banquets organized by the Queen. The splendor of Amenhotep’s state functions and banquets is said to be unparalleled in all of Egyptian history.
Queen Tiy had married the king when they were both teenagers. She remained her soul mate for her life and her name was usually associated with that of the king in official documents. The king, however, kept a huge harem. He married Gilu Khipa, daughter of King Sutarna of Mitanni, who came to Thebes with a retinue of more than 300 ladies and attendants.
The king, despite his lavish lifestyle, was an athletic man who enjoyed the outdoors and is credited with killing 102 lions on hunting expeditions in the first ten years of his reign.
Amenhotep III was a very active builder. He is credited with the colossal baboon statues of Hermopolis. He is also credited with the gallery of the sacred Apis bull at Saqqara. He erected 600 statues of Sekhmet, the lion goddess, at the Temple of Mut, south of Karnak, and finally a huge mortuary temple for himself on the west bank of the Nile at Malkata. The temple was, however, later dismantled by Meneptah (1212-1202 BC) to provide material for his own temple (a sacrilege you might think!). Meneptah, however, saved the colossal statues known to the Greeks as Memnon (the Greeks named Memnon “vocal Memnon” because of the wail that emanated from the statue in daylight expanding from cracks in the statue when heated in the afternoon sun).
The glorious reign of Amenhotep was riddled with disease in its last six years. The king, in his old age, suffered from a mysterious disease that no doctor or magician could cure.
