History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Vol. 4 (eBook)

It is also stated that he worked regularly the quarries of Silsileh, but we do not know for what buildings the sandstone thus extracted was destined.* Karnak was also adorned with chapels, and with at least one colossus,** while several chambers built of the white limestone of Tûrah were added to Ombos. Thebes had thus every reason to cherish the memory of this pacific king.

      * A bas-relief on the western bank of the river representshim deified: Panaîti, the name of a superintendent of thequarries who lived in his reign, has been preserved inseveral graffiti, while another graffito gives us only theprotocol of the sovereign, and indicates that the quarrieswere worked in his reign.
** The chambers of white limestone are marked I, K, onMariette's plan; it is possible that they may have beenmerely decorated under Thûtmosis III., whose cartouchesalternate with those of Amenôthes I. The colossus is now infront of the third Pylon, and Wiedemann concluded from thisfact that Amenôthes had begun extensive works for enlargingthe temple of Amon; Mariette believed, with greaterprobability, that the colossus formerly stood at theentrance to the XIIth dynasty temple, but was removed to itspresent position by Thûtmosis III.
 

As Nofrîtari had been metamorphosed into a form of Isis, Amenôthes was similarly represented as Osiris, the protector of the Necropolis, and he was depicted as such with the sombre colour of the funerary divinities; his image, moreover, together with those of the other gods, was used to decorate the interiors of coffins, and to protect the mummies of his devotees.*

      * Wiedemann has collected several examples, to which itwould be easy to add others. The names of the king are inthis case constantly accompanied by unusual epithets, whichare enclosed in one or other of his cartouches: Mons.Kevillout, deceived by these unfamiliar forms, has made outof one of these variants, on a painted cloth in the Louvre,a new Amenôthes, whom he styles Amenôthes V.
 

      Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.
 

One of his statues, now in the Turin Museum, represents him sitting on his throne in the posture of a king giving audience to his subjects, or in that of a god receiving the homage of his worshippers. The modelling of the bust betrays a flexibility of handling which is astonishing in a work of art so little removed from barbaric times; the head is a marvel of delicacy and natural grace. We feel that the sculptor has taken a delight in chiselling the features of his sovereign, and in reproducing the benevolent and almost dreamy expression which characterised them.* The cult of Amenôthes lasted for seven or eight centuries, until the time when his coffin was removed and placed with those of the other members of his family in the place where it remained concealed until our own times.**

      * Another statue of very fine workmanship, but mutilated, ispreserved in the Gizeh Museum; this statue is of the time ofSeti I., and, as is customary, represents Amenôthes in thelikeness of the king then reigning.
** We know, from the Abbott Papyrus, that the pyramid ofAmenôthes I. was situated at Dr-ah Abou'l-Neggah, amongthose of the Pharaohs of the XIth, XIIth, and XVIIthdynasties. The remains of it have not yet been discovered.
 

It is shaped to correspond with the form of the human body and painted white; the face resembles that of his statue, and the eyes of enamel, touched with kohl, give it a wonderful appearance of animation. The body is swathed in orange-coloured linen, kept in place by bands of brownish linen, and is further covered by a mask of wood and cartonnage, painted to match the exterior of the coffin. Long garlands of faded flowers deck the mummy from head to foot. A wasp, attracted by their scent, must have settled upon them at the moment of burial, and become imprisoned by the lid; the insect has been completely preserved from corruption by the balsams of the embalmer, and its gauzy wings have passed un-crumpled through the long centuries.

Amenôthes had married Ahhotpû II, his sister by the same father and mother;* Ahmasi, the daughter born of this union, was given in marriage to Thûtmosis, one of her brothers, the son of a mere concubine, by name Sonisonbû.** Ahmasi, like her ancestor Nofrîtari, had therefore the right to exercise all the royal functions, and she might have claimed precedence of her husband. Whether from conjugal affection or from weakness of character, she yielded, however, the priority to Thûtmosis, and allowed him to assume the sole government.

      * Ahhotpû II. may be seen beside her husband on severalmonuments. The proof that she was full sister of AmenôthesI. is furnished by the title of "hereditary princess" whichis given to her daughter Àhmasi; this princess would nothave taken precedence of her brother and husband Thûtmosis,who was the son of an inferior wife, had she not been thedaughter of the only legitimate spouse of Amenôthes I. Themarriage had already taken place before the accession ofThûtmosis I., as Ahmasi figures in a document dated thefirst year of his reign.
** The absence of any cartouche shows that Sonisonbû did notbelong to the royal family, and the very form of the namepoints her out to have been of the middle classes, andmerely a concubine. The accession of her son, however,ennobled her, and he represents her as a queen on the wallsof the temple at Deîr el-Baharî; even then he merely stylesher "Royal Mother," the only title she could really claim,as her inferior position in the harem prevented her fromusing that of "Royal Spouse."
 

      Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the photograph taken by ÉmilBrugsch-Bey.
 

He was crowned at Thebes on the 21st of the third month of Pirît; and a circular, addressed to the representatives of the ancient seignorial families and to the officers of the crown, announced the names assumed by the new sovereign. "This is the royal rescript to announce to you that my Majesty has arisen king of the two Egypts, on the seat of the Horus of the living, without equal, for ever, and that my titles are as follows: The vigorous bull Horus, beloved of Mâît, the Lord of the Vulture and of the Uraeus who raises itself as a flame, most valiant,—the golden Horns, whose years are good and who puts life into all hearts, king of the two Egypts, Akhopirkerî, son of the Sun, Thûtmosis, living for ever.* Cause, therefore, sacrifices to be offered to the gods of the south and of Elephantine,** and hymns to be chanted for the well-being of the King Akhopirkerî, living for ever, and then cause the oath to be taken in the name of my Majesty, born of the royal mother Sonisonbû, who is in good health.—This is sent to thee that thou mayest know that the royal house is prosperous, and in good health and condition, the 1st year, the 21st of the third month of Pirît, the day of coronation."

      * This is really the protocol of the king, as we find it onthe monuments, with his two Horus names and his solartitles.
** The copy of the letter which has come down to us isaddressed to the commander of Elephantine: hence the mentionof the gods of that town. The names of the divinities musthave been altered to suit each district, to which the orderto offer sacrifices for the prosperity of the new sovereignwas sent.
 

The new king was tall in stature, broad-shouldered, well knit, and capable of enduring the fatigues of war without flagging. His statues represent him as having a full, round face, long nose, square chin, rather thick lips, and a smiling but firm expression. Thûtmosis brought with him on ascending the throne the spirit of the younger generation, who, born shortly after the deliverance from the Hyksôs, had grown up in the peaceful days of Amenôthes, and, elated by the easy victories obtained over the nations of the south, were inspired by ambitions unknown to the Egyptians of earlier times. To this younger race Africa no longer offered a sufficiently wide or attractive field; the whole country was their own as far as the confluence of the two Niles, and the Theban gods were worshipped at Napata no less devoutly than at Thebes itself. What remained to be conquered in that direction was scarcely worth the trouble of reducing to a province or of annexing as a colony; it comprised a number of tribes hopelessly divided among themselves, and consequently, in spite of their renowned bravery, without power of resistance. Light columns of troops, drafted at intervals on either side of the river, ensured order among the submissive, or despoiled the refractory of their possessions in cattle, slaves, and precious stones. Thûtmosis I. had to repress, however, very shortly after his accession, a revolt of these borderers at the second and third cataracts, but they were easily overcome in a campaign of a few days' duration, in which the two Âhmosis of Al-Kab took an honourable part. There was, as usual, an encounter of the two fleets in the middle of the river: the young king himself attacked the enemy's chief, pierced him with his first arrow, and made a considerable number of prisoners. Thûtmosis had the corpse of the chief suspended as a trophy in front of the royal ship, and sailed northwards towards Thebes, where, however, he was not destined to remain long.* An ample field of action presented itself to him in the...