Immortal Egypt | Amenhotep III - Egypt's Greatest Pharaoh
Joann explores the magnificent Colossi of Memnon built under Egypt's greatest pharaoh, Amenhotep III. Joann explores the dizzying heights of Egypt's civilisation, and the lives of the workers and artisans caught up in Egypt's most ambitious building projects: the Valley of the Kings.
2021-02-19 19:00:00 - Odyssey
Amenhotep III ("Amun is Satisfied"), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1388 to 1349 BC, after his father Thutmose IV died. Amenhotep was Thutmose's son by a minor wife, Mutemwiya.
His reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity and splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of its artistic and international power. When he died in the 38th or 39th year of his reign he was succeeded by his son Amenhotep IV, who later changed his name to Akhenaten.
Amenhotep was the son of Thutmose IV and his minor wife Mutemwiya. He was born probably around 1401 BC. Later in his life, Amenhotep commissioned the depiction of his divine birth to be displayed at Luxor Temple. Amenhotep claimed that his true father was the god Amun, who had taken the form of Thutmose IV to father a child with Mutemwiya.