wooden bust of elder Tiy, Great Royal Wife of Amenhotep III,

mother of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) and grandmother of Tutankhamun

 

How manifold it is, what thou hast made, They are hidden from the face (of man), O sole god, like whom there is no other, Thou didst create the world according to thy desire...--hymn to Aten, 18th dynasty.

 

Founded in 1550BC by the pharaoh Ahmose from Upper (Southern) Egypt following the expulsion of the Asiatic Hyksos, the 18th Dynasty would last until 1292BC. Ushering in a renewed kingdom that had thrown off foreign domination, 18th Dynasty began a stage of temple building, wealth accumulation and power consolidation, helping turn Egypt into an Empire. Numerous famous names would take the throne during this time—from Thothmoses I-IV, to Queen Hatshepsut. But it would be the last family to rule Egypt that would truly be remembered, as the Blood of the Sun.

Amenhotep III, whose name meant Amun is Satisfied, took the throne of Egypt in 1391BC following the death of his father Thothmoses IV. An able ruler, Amenhotep III's lengthy reign was a period of renewed prosperity and artistic achievement. It is during this period that Egypt became not just a regional state, but an international power. Diplomatic correspondences from the rulers of Western Asian kingdoms such as Assyria, Mitanni, Babylon and Hatti all document the rulers of these foreign lands extolling the virtues of the pharaoh, and pledging their allegiance.

 

bust of Amenhotep III, 18th dynasty

 

Amenhotep III was also a warrior, commanding military campaigns as far away as Nubia, in an attempt to bring the southern kingdom back under Egypt's control. His fame may be seen in the many monuments that depict him. Of the many rulers of Egypt, Amenhotep III boasts the most surviving statues—well over 250 bearing his likeness. As a builder, he was responsible for completing the Third Pylon at Karnak and erected over 600 statues of the lioness-headed goddess Sekhmet in the Temple of Mut.

If Amenhotep III remains one of the most well-known rulers of ancient Egypt, his chief wife is not far behind. Tiy, who bore the title of Great Royal Wife, was the daughter of Tuya and Yuya—members of the nobility from Upper (southern) Egypt. She married Amenhotep III during the second year of his reign, and quickly became his chief consort. The lavish nature in which the pharaoh celebrated his union with Tiy became evident not only in the many writings towards her, but the lasting monuments he built in her favor.

 

bust of Tiy, the Great Royal Wife at a young age

 

Tiy would appear regularly beside Amenhotep III in statues, depicted as his equal—near unheard of in most of pharaonic Egyption history. Tombs, temples and royal stelaes bear her name, which is often paired with her husband's on many numerous other objects. Amenhotep III devoted a number of shrines to her worship, including a fanciful temple dedicated to her in Nubia, where she was revered as a form of the cow-horned goddess Het-Heru (Hathor). In a most spectacular tribute, Amenhotep III would build his wife a magnificent palace complex complete with a mile long artificial lake.

Of Tiy, Egyptologists David O'Connor and Eric Cline note:

No previous queen ever figured so prominently in her husband's lifetime…. elements in her portraiture, such as the addition of cows' horns and sun disks--attributes of the goddess Hathor--to her headdress, and her representation in the form of a sphinx--an image formerly reserved for the king--emphasize her role as the king's divine, as well as earthly partner.

Tiy would bear Amenhotep III at least seven children—three sons, Thothmoses, Amenhotep IV and Smenkhare, and five daughters, Sitamun, Henuttaneb, Aset, Beketaten and Nebetah. Thothmoses, with the title Crown Prince, would die before he could take the throne. It would be passed on to the second son, Amenhotep IV. Taking the throne upon the death of his father Amenhotep III, his mother Tiy would arrange for his marriage to Nefertiti—a princess in the royal court who would become his Chief Royal Wife. The two would begin a religious revolution that would shake the foundations of Egypt.

 

Amenhotep IV, later to become Akhenaten

 

The Egypt Amenhotep IV inherited was at the height of its power, with domestic wealth and sway over numerous foreign states. However such a large and complex state was mired in bureaucracy, controlled in great part by the very powerful priest class, namely those of the god Amun. The power of the pharaoh, a god in his own right, was checked and held by this priesthood, who at times had to be appeased in order to maintain stability.

Perhaps to challenge this power, perhaps from a genuine spiritual conversion, Amenhotep IV and Nefertiti would establish the cult of a new god—Aten. Represented by the sun disc, Aten would become a singular god especially linked to the pharaoh, who changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten—He who is beneficial to the Aten.

Egyptian religious practices were centralized to worship Aten, diminishing and even attempting to do away with the numerous other gods. The worship of Aten was becoming, in a sense, monotheistic. A city was even built to Aten, to be the new capital. Akhenaten and Nefertiti would oversee the construction of some of the most massive temple complexes in ancient Egypt, including one at Karnak, close to the old temple of Amun.

 

stela of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and family worshiping the Aten

 

As the king and queen pushed and popularized this new god, and their own worship, the priesthood of Amun began to view them as a threat, watching as their own power eroded. The conflict would grow over time. And as Akhenaten became consumed with his new god, the kingdom would go neglected. Governors complained of the inadequacy of the rulers, and foreign vassal states began to assert their independence from Egypt. Upon the end of Akhenaten and Nefertiti's reign, a young pharaoh would take the throne, hoping to undo what was regarded as a tumultuous time in the kingdom—Tutankhamun.

 

Young Tutankhamun with wife Ankhesenamun


Tutankhamun, Living Image of Amun, came to power following Akhenaten—who is likely his father possibly through a royal sibling marriage to his mother, the princess Beketaten. Born during the time of the religious revolution, his name was at first Tutankhaten. However, ascending the throne at the young age of 9, his Tjati (vizier/advisor) would convince the boy-king to get back into the good graces of the Amun priesthood, and do away with the increasingly unpopular Aten. With the worship of the new god gone, Egypt returned to its traditional religious practices. Tutankhamun would marry Ankhesenamen, who became his Chief Royal Wife at the age of 12. However he would die mysteriously and suddenly at the age of 18.

 

With the death of Tutankhamun the 18th Dynasty would come to a close, with his advisor Ay and later a military officer Horemheb becoming rulers. Horemheb would choose his Tjati (vizier/advisor) Ramesses I as a successor, giving a new family the throne and ushering in the powerful 19th Dynasty. Because of the conflict over the religious revolution of Aten, numerous figures of the late 18th Dynasty were stricken from the records by priests and later rulers.

Statues were mutilated, names were etched from stone and their memories were to be forgotten. Ironically, the very attempt to so conceal and do away with this dynasty would only serve to make it more popular than ever to those who would come across it several thousand years later. In this way the names of Amenhotep III, Tiy, Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Tutankhamun, would become some of the most famous in all of Egyptian history.

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