Massive head of pharaoh unearthed in Egypt

[Amelia]

MSNBC.com

Massive head of pharaoh unearthed in Egypt

Expedition has unearthed wealth of artifacts and statuary in buried ruins

By Hadeel Al-Shalchi

The Associated Press

Sun., Feb. 28, 2010

CAIRO - Archaeologists have unearthed a massive red granite head of one Egypt's most famous pharaohs who ruled nearly 3,400 years ago, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities announced Sunday.

The head of Amenhotep III, which alone is about the height of a person, was dug out of the ruins of the pharaoh's mortuary temple in the southern city of Luxor.

The leader of the expedition that discovered the head described it as the best preserved sculpture of Amenhotep III's face found to date.

"Other statues have always had something broken: the tip of the nose, the face is eroded," said Dr. Hourig Sourouzian, who has led the led the Egyptian-European expedition at the site since 1999. "But here, from the tip of the crown to the chin, it is so beautifully carved and polished, nothing is broken."

The head is part of a larger statue found several years ago, along with the parts of the body, the back slab, and the ceremonial beard which Souruzian says will soon be connected with the head.

Amenhotep III, who was the grandfather of the famed boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun, ruled from 1387-1348 B.C. at the height of Egypt's New Kingdom and presided over a vast empire stretching from Nubia in the south to Syria in the north.

Sourouzian said the pharaoh was famous for leading Egypt at the peak of its ancient civilization, when peace and luxury were prevalent throughout the kingdom. Craftsmen were also honing their artistic techniques during the period, which may explain the symmetrical features of the unearthed head.

"But he may have looked exactly as this statue and he may have been a very beautiful, very handsome man," Sourouzian told the Associated Press.

Amenhotep III's massive mortuary temple was largely destroyed, possibly by floods, and little remains of its walls.

The expedition, however, has unearthed a wealth of artifacts and statuary in the buried ruins, including two statues of Amenhotep made of black granite found in March.

[phkrause]

This is really cool Amelia, thanks for the article.

pk

[karl]

Craftsmen were also honing their artistic techniques during the period, which may explain the symmetrical features of the unearthed head.

"But he may have looked exactly as this statue and he may have been a very beautiful, very handsome man," Sourouzian told the Associated Press.

It's encouraging to know Amenhotep "may" have looked like this.

[Amelia]

TU

[Gail]

Originally Posted By: Amelia

Craftsmen were also honing their artistic techniques during the period, which may explain the symmetrical features of the unearthed head.

"But he may have looked exactly as this statue and he may have been a very beautiful, very handsome man," Sourouzian told the Associated Press.

It's encouraging to know Amenhotep "may" have looked like this.

He had the money for the best airbrushing Egypt had at the time

[karl]

Originally Posted By: karl

It's encouraging to know Amenhotep "may" have looked like this.

He had the money for the best airbrushing Egypt had at the time

Wonder how much it cost to get blown up the size of a billboard back then?

[John317]

Some interesting information on Amenhotep III

Amenhotep III

Pharaoh of Egypt

Reign 1391–1353 or

1388–1351 BC, 18th Dynasty

Predecessor Thutmose IV

Successor Akhenaten

Royal titulary[show]

Prenomen: Nebmaatre

The Lord of Truth is Re[2]

Consort(s) Tiye, Gilukhepa, Tadukhepa

Children Akhenaten, Prince Thutmose, Sitamun, Iset, Henuttaneb, Nebetah, Smenkhkare (?), Beketaten

Father Thutmose IV

Mother Mutemwiya

Died 1353 BC or 1351 BC

Burial WV22

Monuments Malkata, Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, Colossi of Memnon

Amenhotep III (sometimes read as Amenophis III; meaning Amun is Satisfied) was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC[4] after his father Thutmose IV died. Amenhotep III was the son of Thutmose by Mutemwia, a minor wife of Amenhotep's father.[5]

His lengthy reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity and artistic splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of her artistic and international power. A 2008 list compiled by Forbes magazine found Amenhotep III to be the twelfth richest person in human history.[6] When he died (probably in the 39th year of his reign), his son reigned as Amenhotep IV, later changing his royal name to Akhenaten.

Family

The son of the future Thutmose IV (the son of Amenhotep II) and a minor wife Mutemwiya, Amenhotep was born around 1388 BC.[7] He was a member of the Thutmosid family that had ruled Egypt since the reign of Thutmose I, almost 150 years previously.

Amenhotep III fathered two sons with his Great Royal Wife Tiye, a great queen known as the progenetor of monotheism[8]. via the Crown Prince Thutmose who predeceased his father, and his second son, Akhenaten, who ultimately succeeded him to the throne. Amenhotep also may be the father of a third child—called Smenkhkare, who later would succeed Akhenaten, briefly rule Egypt as pharaoh, and who is depicted as a woman.[9]

Amenhotep III and Tiye may also have had four daughters: Sitamun, Henuttaneb, Isis or Iset, and Nebetah.[10] They appear frequently on statues and reliefs during the reign of their father and also are represented by smaller objects—with the exception of Nebetah.[11] Nebetah is attested only once in the known historical records on a colossal limestone group of statues from Medinet Habu.[12] This huge sculpture, that is seven meters high, shows Amenhotep III and Tiye seated side by side, "with three of their daughters standing in front of the throne--Henuttaneb, the largest and best preserved, in the centre; Nebetah on the right; and another, whose name is destroyed, on the left."[10]

Vase in the Louvre with the names Amenohotep III and Tiye written in the cartouches on the left, (and Tiye's on the right).Amenhotep III elevated two of his four daughters—Sitamun and Isis—to the office of "great royal wife" during the last decade of his reign. Evidence that Sitamun already was promoted to this office by Year 30 of his reign, is known from jar-label inscriptions uncovered from the royal palace at Malkata.[10] The lineage of the royal line of Egypt was traced through its women and the religion of Ancient Egypt was interwoven inexorably with the right to rule. It must be stressed that Egypt's theological paradigm, therefore, encouraged a male pharaoh to accept royal women from several different generations as wives to strengthen the chances of his offspring to succeed him.[13] The goddess Hathor herself was related as first the mother, and later wife and daughter of Ra when he rose to prominence in the pantheon of the Ancient Egyptian religion.[10] Hence, Amenhotep III's marriage to his two daughters should not be considered as incest in our contemporary conception of marriage. Sitamun may have actually been the youngest daughter of Amenhotep III's father Thutmose IV, making her the half-sister of Amenhotep III and not his daughter.

Amenhotep III is known to have married Gilukhepa, the first of a series of diplomatic brides and the daughter of Shuttarna II of Mitanni, in the tenth year of his reign.[14] Around Year 36 of his reign, he also married Tadukhepa, the daughter of his ally Tushratta of Mitanni.[15]

... Life

Amenhotep III enjoyed the distinction of having the most surviving statues of any Egyptian pharaoh, with over 250 of his statues having been discovered and identified. Since these statues span his entire life, they provide a series of portraits covering the entire length of his reign.

....Amenhotep appears to have been crowned while still a child, perhaps between the ages of 6 and 12. It is likely that a regent acted for him if he was made pharaoh at that early age. He married Tiye two years later and she lived twelve years after his death. His lengthy reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity and artistic splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of her artistic and international power. Proof of this is shown by the diplomatic correspondence from the rulers of Assyria, Mitanni, Babylon, and Hatti which is preserved in the archive of Amarna Letters; these letters document frequent requests by these rulers for gold and numerous other gifts from the pharaoh. The letters cover the period from Year 30 of Amenhotep III until at least the end of Akhenaten's reign. In one famous correspondence—Amarna letter EA 4--Amenhotep III is quoted by the Babylonian king Kadashman-Enlil I in firmly rejecting the latter's entreaty to marry one of this pharaoh's daughters:

“ "From time immemorial, no daughter of the king of Egy[pt] is given to anyone."[19] ”

Amenhotep III's refusal to allow one of his daughters to be married to the Babylonian monarch may indeed be connected with Egyptian traditional royal practices that could provide a claim upon the throne through marriage to a royal princess, or, it be viewed as a shrewd attempt on his part to enhance Egypt's prestige over those of her neighbours in the international world.[citation needed]

The pharaoh's reign was relatively peaceful and uneventful. The only recorded military activity by the king is commemorated by three rock-carved stelas from his fifth year found near Aswan and Sai Island in Nubia. The official account of Amenhotep III's military victory emphasizes his martial prowess with the typical hyperbole used by all pharaohs.

“ "Regnal Year 5, third month of Inundation, day 2. Appearance under the Majesty of Horus: Strong bull, appearing in truth; Two Ladies: Who establishes laws and pacifies the Two Lands;...King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Nebmaatra, heir of Ra; Son of Ra: [Amenhotep, ruler of Thebes], beloved of [Amon]-Ra, King of the Gods, and Khnum, lord of the cataract, given life. One came to tell His Majesty, "The fallen one of vile Kush has plotted rebellion in his heart." His Majesty led on to victory; he completed it in his first campaign of victory. His Majesty reached them like the wing stroke of a falcon, like Menthu (war god of Thebes) in his transformation...Ikheny, the boaster in the midst of the army, did not know the lion that was before him. Nebmaatra was the fierce-eyed lion whose claws seized vile Kush, who trampled down all its chiefs in their valleys, they being cast down in their blood, one on top of the other."[20]

....Scientists believe that in his final years he suffered from arthritis and became obese. It has generally been assumed by some scholars that Amenhotep requested and received from his father-in-law Tushratta of Mitanni, a statue of Ishtar of Nineveh--a healing goddess—in order to cure him of his various ailments which included painful abscesses in his teeth.[27] A forensic examination of his mummy shows that he was probably in constant pain during his final years due to his worn, and cavity-pitted teeth. However, more recent analysis of Amarna letter EA 23 by William L. Moran, which recounts the dispatch of the statue of the goddess to Thebes, does not support this popular theory. The arrival of the statue is known to have coincided with Amenhotep III's marriage with Tadukhepa, Tushratta's daughter, in the pharaoh's 36th year; letter EA 23's arrival in Egypt is dated to "regnal year 36, the fourth month of winter, day 1" of his reign.[28] Furthermore, Tushratta never mentions in EA 23 that the statue's dispatch was meant to heal Amenhotep from his maladies. Instead, Tushratta merely writes,

“ Say to Nimmureya (ie: Amenhotep III), the king of Egypt, my brother, my son-in-law, whom I love and who loves me: Thus Tušratta, the king of Mitanni, who loves you, your father-in-law. For me all goes well. For you may all go well. For your household for Tadu-Heba (ie: Tadukhepa), my daughter, your wife, who you love, may all go well. For your wives, for your sons, for your magnates, for your chariots, for your horses, for your troops, for your country, and for whatever else belongs to you, may all go very, very well.

Thus Šauška of Nineveh, mistress of all lands: "I wish to go to Egypt, a country that I love, and then return." Now I herewith send her, and she is on her way. Now, in the time, too, of my father,...[she] went to this country, and just as earlier she dwelt there and they honored her, may my brother now honor her 10 times more than before. May my brother honor her, (then) at (his) pleasure let her go so that she may come back. May Šauška (ie: Ishtar), the mistress of heaven, protect us, my brother and me, a 100,000 years, and may our mistress grant both of us great joy. And let us act as friends. Is Šauška for me alone my god(dess), and for my brother not his god(dess)?[29]

”

....The contents of Amarna letter EA21 from Tushratta to his "brother" Amenhotep III strongly affirms this solution. In this correspondence, Tushratta explicitly states,

“ I have given...my daughter (Tadukhepa) to be the wife of my brother, whom I love. May Šimige and Šauška go before her. May they m[ake he]r the image of my brother's desire. May my brother rejoice on t[hat] day. May Šimige and Šauška grant my brother a gre[at] blessing, exquisi[te] joy. May they bless him and may you, my brother, li[ve] forever.[32] ”

Death

An authentic sphinx of Amenhotep III, now adorning Universitetskaya Embankment in Saint Petersburg, RussiaAmenhotep III's highest attested reign date comes from a pair of Year 38 wine jar-label dockets from Malkata;[33] though he may have lived briefly into an unrecorded 39th Year and died before the wine harvest for that year arrived.[34]

Amenhotep III was buried in the Western Valley of the Valley of the Kings, in Tomb WV22. Sometime during the Third Intermediate Period his mummy was moved from this tomb and was placed in a side-chamber of KV35 along with several other pharaohs of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth dynasties where it lay until discovered by Victor Loret in 1898.

An examination of his mummy by the Australian anatomist Grafton Elliot Smith concluded that the pharaoh was aged between forty and fifty years old at death.[35] His chief wife, Tiye, is known to have outlived him for at least twelve years as she is mentioned in several Amarna letters dated from her son's reign as well as depicted at a dinner table with Akhenaten and his royal family in scenes from the tomb of Huya, which were made during Year 9 and Year 12 of her son's reign.[36][37]

Foreign leaders communicated their grief at the pharaoh's death, with Tushratta saying:

“ When I heard that my brother Nimmureya had gone to his fate, on that day I sat down and wept. On that day I took no food, I took no water.[38] ”

When Amenhotep III died, he left behind a country that was at the very height of its power and influence, commanding immense respect in the international world; however, he also bequeathed an Egypt that was wedded to its traditional political and religious certainties under the Amun priesthood.

[Neil D]

"Some things"????

You couldn't give us another page or two....could you????

[Amelia]

I liked it. Thank you John.

[Gail]

Fascinating!

[phkrause]

John thanks for the history, I loved reading your post brother.

pk

[doug yowell]

A really important guy and,3400 years later all they can find of him is a big facsimile of his head. 3500 years later and they're still trying to get rid of Moses!! As for this massive head of pharoah, I've seen the men's room at Dodger Stadium and it's a lot bigger.