Amenhotep II (), also called Amenophis II ( 1443 BC - 1401 BC) was the seventh pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He inherited a vast kingdom from his father Thutmose III, and held it by means of a few military campaigns in Syria; however, he fought much less than his father, and his reign saw the effective cessation of hostilities between Egypt and Mitanni, the major kingdoms vying for power in Syria. His reign is usually dated from 1425 to 1401 BC. His consort was Tiaa, who was barred from any prestige until Amenhotep's son, Thutmose IV, came into power.
Family and early life
Amenhotep II was born to Thutmose III and a minor wife of the king: Merytre-Hatshepsut. He was not, however, the firstborn son of this pharaoh; his elder brother Amenemhat was originally the intended heir to the throne since Amenemhat was designated the "king's eldest son" and overseer of the cattle of Amun in Year 24 of Thutmose's reign.Eric Cline & David O'Connor (editors), Thutmose III: A New Biography, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2006. p.415 However, between Years 24 and 35 of Thutmose III, both queen Satiah and prince Amenemhat died, which prompted the pharaoh to marry the non-royal Merytre-Hatshepsut.Cline & O'Connor, p.415 She would bear Thutmose III a number of children including the future Amenhotep II. Amenhotep II was born and raised in Memphis in the north, instead of in Thebes, the traditional capital.Gardiner, Alan. Egypt of the Pharaohs. p. 198. Oxford University Press, 1964. While a prince, he oversaw deliveries of wood sent to the dockyard of Peru-nūfe in Memphis, and was made the Setem, the high priest over Lower Egypt. Amenhotep has left several inscriptions touting his athletic skills while he was a leader of the army before his crowning. Amenhotep was no less athletic than his powerful father. He claims to have been able to shoot an arrow through a copper target one palm thick, and that he was able to row his ship faster and farther than two hundred members of the navy could row theirs. Some scepticism concerning the truth of these claims has been expressed among Egyptologists.
Amenhotep II acceded to the throne on the first day of the fourth month of Akhet, but his father died on the 30th day of the third month of Peret. If an Egyptian crown prince was proclaimed king but did not take the throne on the day of his father's death, it meant that he served as the junior coregent during his father's reign. A coregency with Thutmose III and Amenhotep II is believed to have lasted for two years and four months.Charles C. Van Siclen. "Amenhotep II," The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Ed. Donald Redford. Vol. 1, p.71. Oxford University Press, 2001.
When he assumed power, Amenhotep II was 18 years old according to an inscription from his Great Sphinx stela:
"Now his majesty arose as king, as a fine youth, who was well-developed, having completed eighteen years upon his thighs in bravery. He was one who knew every work of Mentu, without equal on the battlefield. He was one who knew horses; one whose like did not exist in this numerous army. There was not one there who could draw his bow, nor could he be approached in running."Urk. IV. 1279.8-10
After becoming pharaoh, Amenhotep II married a woman of uncertain parentage named Tiaa. As many as nine sons and one daughter have been attributed to him. Amenhotep II's most important son was Thutmose IV, who succeeded him; however, there is significant evidence for his having many more children, with some accounts identifying 10 sons and one daughter. Princes Amenhotep, Webensenu, and Nedjem are all clearly attested, and Amenemopet, Amenemhat, Khaemwaset, and Aakheperure as well as a daughter, Iaret, are also possible children. This evidence of numerous siblings supports the theory, argued by scholars such as Douglas Petrovich, that Thutmose IV was not the original heir to the throne. The Dream Stele is frequently cited as political propaganda designed to justify his legitimacy over his elder brothers, who may have had stronger claims to the crown.
Papyrus B.M. 10056, which dates to sometime after Amenhotep II's 10th year, refers to a king's son and setem-priest Amenhotep. This Amenhotep might also be attested in a stele from Amenhotep II's temple at Giza, however the stele's name has been defaced so that positive identification is impossible. Stele B may belong to another son, Webensenu. Webensenu's name is otherwise attested on a statue of Amenhotep's chief architect, Minmose, and his canopic jars and a funerary statue have been found in Amenhotep II's tomb. Another Giza stele, stele C, records the name of a Prince Amenemopet, whose name is otherwise unattested. The same statue with the name Webensenu on it is also inscribed with the name of prince Nedjem, who is otherwise unattested.
There are other references to king's sons from this period who may or may not be sons of Amenhotep II. Two graffiti from Sahel mention a king's son and stable master named Khaemwaset, but specifically which king is his father is unknown. A figure with the name Amenemhet is recorded behind a prince Amenhotep in Theban tomb 64, and assuming this Amenhotep is indeed the king's son from B.M. 10056, Amenemhat would also be Amenhotep II's son. Additionally, a prince Aakheperure is mentioned in a Konosso graffito alongside a prince Amenhotep, and if one again assumes that this Amenhotep was the same person as the one in B.M. 10056, Aakheperure would also have been Amenhotep II's son. However, in both these cases the figure identified as Amenhotep has been identified by some as possible references to the later King Amenhotep III, which would make these two princes sons of Thutmose IV. In addition to sons, Amenhotep II may have had a daughter named Iaret, but she could have also been the daughter of Thutmose IV.
Two more sons had been attributed to Amenhotep II in the past; however, they have since been proven to be of other parentage. Gauthier catalogued one Usersatet, the "King's son of Kush," (i.e. Viceroy of Nubia) as a son of Amenhotep II, as well as one Re; however, both are now known to be unrelated to the royal family. Usersatet merely served as Amenhotep's chief official in Nubia and was not a blood relative of the king.
Dates and length of reign
Amenhotep's coronation can be dated without much difficulty because of a number of lunar dates in the reign of his father, Thutmose III. These sightings limit the date of Thutmose II's accession to either 1504 or 1479 BC.Edward F. Wente, Thutmose III's Accession and the Beginning of the New Kingdom, p.267. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, The University of Chicago Press, 1975. Thutmose died after 54 years of reign,Breasted, James Henry. Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. II p. 234. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1906. at which time Amenhotep would have acceded to the throne. Amenhotep's short 2 year coregency with his father would then move his accession two years and four months earlier, dating his accession to either 1427 BC in the low chronology,Shaw, Ian; and Nicholson, Paul. The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. p.28. The British Museum Press, 1995. or in 1452 BC in the high chronology. The minimum length of his reign is indicated by a wine jar inscribed with the king's prenomen found in Amenhotep II's funerary temple at Thebes; it is dated to this king's highest known date—his Year 26—and lists the name of the pharaoh's vintner, Panehsy.Der Manuelian, op. cit., pp.42-43 Mortuary temples were generally not stocked until the king died or was near death; therefore, Amenhotep may not have lived much later beyond his 26th year.Redford, JNES Chronology, p.119 There are alternate theories which attempt to assign him a reign of up to 35 years, which is the absolute maximum length he could have reigned. In this chronology, he reigned from 1454 to 1419. There are certain problems facing these theories which cannot be resolved. In particular, this would mean Amenhotep II died when he was 52, but an X-ray analysis of his mummy has shown him to have been around 40 when he died. Accordingly, Amenhotep II is usually given a reign of 26 years and said to have reigned from 1427 to 1401 BC.
However, it should be stressed that there are substantial gaps in clearly attested Year dates known for Amenhotep II's reign. The monumental evidence only "gives clear proof for Year 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 23 [of this ruler], hence it is not far-fetched to assume that the Year 26 [wine] amphora" does refer to this king's reign.David Aston Radiocarbon, Wine Jars And New Kingdom Chronology Ägypten und Levante 22-23, 2012, p.293 This evidence alone shows that even a well known pharaoh who ruled Egypt for at least 25–26 years such as Amenhotep II had a long 14 year time gap in attested years between his 9th and 23rd regnal years. The only date that can indirectly be fitted into this large time gap to Amenhotep II is a Year 18 or possible Year 19 date based on Papyrus Leningrad (St. Petersburg) 1116A that lists grain allotments for a coming psdntyw feast and other occasion.Peter Der Manuelian, "The End of the Reign and the Accession of Amenhotep II" in E. Cline & D. O'Connor (eds.), Thutmose III--A New Biography, Univ. of Michigan Press, 2006, pp.418 While mentioning no king directly, the papyrus features early New Kingdom palaeography, mentions "Peru-Nefer (the "dockyard" and royal residence once thought to be near Memphis), and bears the prenomen of Akheperure" which was the royal name of Amenhotep II. These three facts combined, as Peter Der Manuelian writes, "all speak for a secure dating. The papyrus may be chronologically pinpointed further to Amenhotep's eighteenth, nineteenth, or twentieth year. Line 19 of the text mentions an allotment on II smw 30 "from the grain of year 18," possibly indicating that the papyrus dates to year 19"Peter Der Manuelian, "The End of the Reign and the Accession of Amenhotep II" in E. Cline & D. O'Connor (eds.), Thutmose III--A New Biography, Univ. of Michigan Press, 2006, pp.418-419
The Jewish historian Josephus, in his book Contra Apionem which translated Manetho's Aegyptiaca, assigns Amenhotep II, a certain Amenophis a reign of 30 years and 10 months.Josephus © 2011–2023 by Peter Lundström — Some Rights Reserved — V. 4.0 Therefore, it is eminently possible that Amenhotep II could have reigned for 5 years more after his Year 26 date given that Amenhotep II ruled unattested for more than a decade between his 9th and 23rd regnal years. Significantly, as the British Egyptologist David Aston writes "inscriptions at Karnak refer to both a Heb sed and a renewal of the Heb sed under Amenophis II, and since a king usually celebrated his first Heb sed festival in Year 30, and his second Year 34," these inscriptions may suggest a minimum reign of 30+ years for Amenhotep II.David Aston Radiocarbon, Wine Jars And New Kingdom Chronology Ägypten und Levante 22-23, 2012, p.299
Donald Redford, in contrast, in his 1986 book Pharaonic King Lists, Annals and Day Books, Mississauga, 1986, pp. 179–183, believes that Heb sed references recorded on the pillars of various Karnak monuments of Amenophis I, Tuthmosis III, Amenophis II and Tuthmosis IV are nothing but “pillar benedictions” being simply copies of those found on the pillars of the small bark temple of Sesostris I, and thus have no chronological worth. However, since Amenhotep II has a Year 26 inferred from a wine amphora, this pharaoh only had to rule for another 5 years or 8 years after his Year 26 to have a reign of 31 or 34 years which is quite possible since he ruled unattested in the historical records for 14 years between his 9th and 23rd regnal years.