Amenhotep I

Followed his father’s politics, consolidating and extending

He was the son of Ahmose I and queen Ahmes-Nefertari, and the second monarch of the 18th Dynasty. According to several sources, his approximately 21-year.
The reign’s historical events are hardly known. Globally, the new sovereign continued his father’s policies, maintaining and expanding the throne, most notably by completing the cleanup of the Delta after the invading Hyksos were evicted, and by dispatching expeditions to Nubia and possibly Asia.

Amenhotep I

like his father, devoted the most of his architectural efforts to the Theban region, although this does not exclude the discovery of remnants of his work elsewhere. One of his key political issues was the restoration of the wrecked structures, the resurrection of a clergy, the relaunch of the cults, and most likely the development of the “Daily” Divine Ritual, which would be necessary in the temples in the future.
In all of these endeavours, he is ably aided by his mother Ahmes-Nefertari, who was already powerful during the reign of her husband Ahmose I and sees her son’s rule as a continuation of that power.

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King Amenhotep I, second ruler of Dynasty 18th

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Amenhotep I

Architectural

Amenhotep I, like most of his New Kingdom predecessors, added architectural features to the temple of Amun at Karnak. The axis of this temple was parallel to the Temples of Hatshepsut and Mentuhotep II, and it was located across the river from and slightly north of Deir el-Bahri.

Amenhotep I

She assumed all of the royal titles and names that she had written in the feminine grammatical form, but had herself represented as a male pharaoh. Hatshepsut, as pharaoh, embarked on a number of large-scale construction projects, primarily in the Thebes region.

 
Amenhotep I

Statue of Deified Amenhotep I

In honour of its creator, the deified pharaoh Amenhotep I, various commemoration festivals were celebrated each year in the artists’ town of Deir el-Medina. His complex statue rests on top of a palanquin, which was used during processions, as shown by the horizontal beams. A goddess with spread wings, a striding sphinx wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, a so-called ba-bird, and a striding lion guard the palanquin. Even while the image does not exactly depict a celebration, it does show the kind of sculptures that are carried during such occasions.

AmenhotepI-StatueHead_MuseumOfFineArtsBoston

As an offering, the tall arrangement of flowers on the right was delivered. In paintings of festivities or presenting events, such flowers are frequently seen. The flowers held symbolic meaning in addition to their ornamental attributes and pleasant aroma, as their name, ankh, also means “life.”

Amenhotep I

Sculptor Qen worshipping Amenhotep I and Ahmose-Nefertari

Qen was one of the elite “servants in the Place of Truth,” a society of painters and artisans in charge of building and decorating the tombs of the New Kingdom pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings. In 1862, near the Deir el-Medina workmen’s hamlet, this stela was uncovered in Qen’s tomb. Qen’s titles were “sculptor of Amun in the Place of Truth” and “sculptor of Amun in Karnak,” implying that he specialised in relief carving, according to the stela.

In the bottom register of the stela, Qen, his wife Nefertari, and their two sons, Merymery and Huy, pay respect to the two sitting figures above. Amenhotep I, the second pharaoh of Dynasty 18, and his mother Ahmose-Nefertari are shown here. By Dynasty 19, these two deified royal family members had become patrons of the Theban necropolis, particularly of the labourers and their families.

 
The wooden sarcophagus of Amenhotep I

Death and burial

Amenhotep’s original tomb was either robbed or deemed unsafe, and his bones were moved multiple times for safety concerns. It was unearthed among the mummies of many New Kingdom kings and nobles in or after the late 22nd dynasty in the Deir el-Bahri Cache above the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, and is presently held in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. 

Amenhotep I

During the 21st dynasty, his mummy was not stolen, and the monks who transported it took great care to maintain the cartonnage. Because of its exquisite facial mask, Amenhotep’s mummy is the sole royal mummy that has not been unwrapped and examined by modern Egyptologists.

F.A.Q

What was Amenhotep I famous for?

Amenhotep I, also known as Amenophis I, was the son of Ahmose I, the founder of the 18th dynasty, and ruled from 1524 to 1503 BC. In Nubia, he successfully enlarged Egypt’s borders. Amenhotep’s campaigns in Nubia are confirmed by the histories of two warriors.

What did Amenhotep I look like?

“Amenhotep I had a narrow chin, a little narrow nose, curly hair, and somewhat projecting upper teeth,” comparing him to his father [Ahmose I].

Did Amenhotep I get married?

Amenhotep He had no sons, despite the fact that I was a prosperous ruler. Tuthmosis, who was not a relative, became the next king. By marrying the appropriate woman, he rose to the throne. He married the daughter of Ahmose and Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, therefore he married a royal woman and became king as a result.

Who ruled after Amenhotep?

Thutmose I

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