(Djeserkare) (d. 1504 B.C.E.) Second ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty
Amenhotep I was one of the most handsome and popular of the ancient pharaohs, whose name meant “Amun is Content.” He reigned from 1525 B.C.E. until his death and was the son of ’AHMOSE and Queen ’AHMOSE-NEFERTARI, who possibly served as regent at the start of Amenhotep I’s reign. He was not the original heir. Records indicate that he outlived two older brothers to inherit the throne from ’Ahmose.
In his first regnal year, or perhaps during the time of ’Ahmose-Nefertari’s regency, Egypt faced an invasion and had to defeat a confederation of Libyan tribes on the nation’s western borders. A royal army, probably led by Amenhotep I personally, went south to halt expansion of the Nubians in the area below ASWAN, in modern Sudan. Amenhotep restored and refurbished the FORTRESSES on the Nile south of the first cataract, bastions dating in some instances to the Middle Kingdom (2040–1640 B.C.E.). He also installed a governor for that region, a noble named Turi, who was entrusted with the duties of maintaining order, promoting trade, and gathering tribute for the throne.
Within Egypt, Amenhotep I initiated building projects at the temple of KARNAK in THEBES. This temple, one of the most remarkable religious complexes in the world, covered 250 acres. The building programs of Amenhotep I added to the original shrine, begun in the Middle Kingdom, and set the standard for later pharaohs of the New Kingdom (1550–1070 B.C.E.), who continued the work there for centuries. Because of his military defenses and his building programs, Amenhotep was very popular during his lifetime. He also used the SINAI mines and the various quarries. Egypt, unified and free of the Asiatic HYKSOS (defeated by ’Ahmose), prospered. His popularity only increased after his death in 1504
B.C.E. He and Queen ’Ahmose-Nefertari were proclaimed the patron deities of Thebes. A shrine was dedicated to them on the western shore of the Nile at the capital, Thebes. AH’HOTEP (2), a sister of Amenhotep I, was his Great Wife, or ranking queen. Secondary consorts were ’AHMOSE MERYTAMON and SATKAMOSE. Ah’hotep bore the son and heir, but the child died in infancy. Because there was no one to succeed him, Amenhotep chose TUTHMOSIS I from among his military officials. Tuthmosis was probably from a secondary royal line. A relative named ’Ahmose was given to Tuthmosis as consort to consolidate his claims and to link him in yet another fashion to the royal family.
Amenhotep I was the first pharaoh to separate his tomb from his mortuary temple and burial complex. Normally the MORTUARY TEMPLES of the pharaohs were erected at the gravesites to allow priests to make daily offerings and to conduct rituals of eternal rest for the deceased. Looters reached the burial chambers of such complexes, tearing apart the mummies and sometimes burning them. Amenhotep wanted to escape destruction at the hands of such grave robbers, who were possibly given aid by the priests themselves, in return for a share in the goods. His original tomb is now unknown but was listed in the inspection done by RAMESSES IX (1131–1112 B.C.E.) as being located at Dra Abu el-Nuga. Amenhotep I’s mummy was rewrapped by priests of the Twenty-first Dynasty (1070–945 B.C.E.) after his original tomb was vandalized, taken to DEIR EL-BAHRI, and placed in the mummy cache there. During this second burial, delphiniums were used to adorn his remains, along with other red, yellow, and blue flowers. A wasp settled onto one of the flowers and died there, keeping the pharaoh company through the centuries.
Amenhotep I was five and one-half feet tall, with a long, oval skull and sloping forehead. His strong jaw marks him as the son of ’Ahmose. Statues of him were carried through the streets of Thebes as an oracle, or prophet, called “the judge of the living and the dead.” The cult of Amenhotep I continued through the Twentieth Dynasty (1196–1070 B.C.E.).
