Amunhotep III

Episode 19 The Fabulous 18th Dynasty

The History of Ancient Egypt

Professor Robert Brier

Film Review

The 18th dynasty was the high point of Egyptian civilization. It had a sizeable middle class, which was largely devoted to running the government.

Amunhotep II (1453-1419) – repeatedly invaded Nubia to seize Numbian gold. He was memorialized for bringing back seven Nubian warrior corpses and tacking them to the wall of his temple.

Thuthmosis IV (1419-1386 BC) – erected a stella between the sphinx’s paws describing his ascent to the throne. The 1000-year sphinx, which was covered in sand up to its neck, spoke to him a dream promising to make him king if he removed the sand. He ruled for 35 years, launching numerous foreign military campaigns and erecting the tallest obelisk still standing today (105 feet).

Amunhotep III (1386-1349) – ruled from two capitols: Thebes (modern day Luxor), a religious capitol used for religious ceremonies, and Memphis, the seat of the ruling bureaucracy. Egypt was the richest and most powerful under Amunhotep III because he was a skilled diplomat and traded Egyptian (ie Nubian gold for horses, copper, cedars and luxury foods, as well as developing the coal mines at Waddi Hammmamat.* Our knowledge of his reign comes from the 100-200 commemorative scarabs he sent out across Egypt, as well as to Syria, Palestine and Nubia. Three to four inches long, they featured a carved beetle (a good luck symbol) on top with the announcement in hieroglyphs on the bottom. Examples include the announcement of his wedding to Queen Tiye (the daughter of a prominent general), his successful hunts (eg the day he caught 56 wild bulls and the 102 lions he killed over ten years), the pleasure lake he built for Queen Tiye to sail her boat on, and his marriage to  marries a foreign princess.

*The modern day skyline of Luxor dates from the major public building program (temples and an extensive palace complex) of Amunhotep III. Homer called it the 100 gated Thebes.

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/1492791/1492834