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AN IMPORTANT TUTHMOSIDE FAMILY

 

Amenhotep III, his wife, the Royal Bride Tiy, and Amenhotep IV-Akhenaton, were father, mother and son; for many reasons, probably the most important family of the XVIII dynasty.

 

 

 



This dark blue faience scarab  in imitation of lapis lazuli has horizontally arranged, the  prenomen of Amenhotep III: Nb-MAat-Ra followed by the epithet  mry Ra. This translates: Amenhotep, beloved of Ra  which is a rare epithet.

 

Only one parallel has been found with this epithet among a considerable number of scarabs of Amenhotep III. See: PETRIE1. This scarab is surely contemporary with the reign of Amenhotep III, (1390-1352 a.C.),  also suggested by it's the shape.

 

Amenhotep III, son of Tuthmosis IV, was the ninth king of this dynasty. His reign was largely peaceful ; he preferred  diplomacy and political marriages with related alliances to war.  One knows about only one campaign in Nubia against plunderers during his fifth regnal year, while his Asiatic territories were in peace. Amenhotep III was a great builder and during his reign the empire was enriched with splendid monuments, mostly planned by his namesake architect Amenhotep son of Hapu. Of his magnificent funerary temple, collapsed in consequence of an earthquake, there remain in situ only two colossal statues in poor condition, called in Ptolemaic times the Colossuses of Memnon.

 

He reigned about 38 years. One knows about his jubilees in the 30th , 34th  and 37th  regnal years. He died in his 39th  regnal year and he was buried in the Valley of The Kings  (tomb KV22), but his mummy was found in the grave of  Amenhotep II, transferred there by priests of XXth dynasty to protect it from pillage and acts of vandalism.

 

This yellow glazed steatite scarab has vertically arranged, on the right, the cartouche of the queen Tiy (principal wife of Amenhotep III), and on the left  the inscription: Hmt nswt wr <t> anxtj = the Great Royal Wife, the living (or may she live).

Cfr.: NEWBERRY2; PETRIE, SCN3; PETRIE, Historical4.

 

This scarab too is surely datable to XVIII dynasty, the reign of Amenhotep III, because of  its shape, the engraving style and quoted parallels.

 



Queen Tiy exerted much influence over the court.  Since the first appearance  of her name on the first  of five  commemorative scarabs issued by Amenhotep III (the only one without date, but probably dating back to the moment of enthronement), she continued to be associated with her husband in the scenes and on the inscriptions during the whole of his reign. She gave birth to six children at least, four girls and two boys: a Tuthmosis who died very young and Amenhotep IV later , Akhenaton. It's believed that the queen was a counsellor of her son , and her daughter-in-law Nefertiti.

 

This apple green glazed steatite scarab is a rare colour.Horizontally arranged, free in the field, we see  the prenomen of Amenhotep IV (then Akhenaton): Nfr-xpr-wra wan Ra = Handsome of  figure like Re, the sole of Re. This piece should be dated to between 1353 and 1347 B.C., namely not later than the sixth regnal year of the king, because only at that time did he change his name into Akhenaton.

 

Cfr.: PETRIE5; BEN-TOR6;HALL7; FRASER8. Surely datable to XVIII dynasty, reign of Akhenaton.

 



Scarabs bearing the name of this king are quite rare whether this was because during the Amarna period scarab-seals were out of fashion, or because of the damnatio memoriae

Scarabs by Franco Magnarini, section 3>>>>