(fl. 15th century B.C.E.) Military general of the Eighteenth Dynasty
Amenemhab served TUTHMOSIS III (r. 1479–1425 B.C.E.) and AMENHOTEP II (r. 1425–1401 B.C.E.) and had a long and distinguished military career. His wife served as a nurse for the royal family, and she probably introduced him to Tuthmosis III. His tomb on the western shore of the Nile at THEBES provides elaborate autobiographical inscriptions that contain detailed accounts of Tuthmosis III’s vigorous campaigns. Amenemhab followed this warrior pharaoh across many lands as Egypt forged an empire. On one occasion, when Tuthmosis III recklessly started elephant hunting, Amenemhab cut off the trunk of a maddened bull elephant that charged the pharaoh. He received the third “Gold of Valor” award for this feat.
On another battlefield, Amenemhab saw the enemy release a young mare into the ranks of the oncoming Egyptian cavalry. Such a mare was designed to bring about a mating frenzy among the Egyptian stallions. Amenemhab slit open the belly of the mare, thus reducing the animal’s allure. He dismembered it at the same time, using the stench of blood and gore to further enrage the Egyptian steeds in their charge. Ever at the side of Tuthmosis III, Amenemhab outlived that pharaoh and served his son and heir, Amenhotep II, a man who delighted in military life and in hand-to-hand combat in the field.
