Amenhotep III - solar and royal ideology

The reign of Amenhotep III represents one of the most crucial period of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Over the course of this dynasty, royal ideology, as a major means of power of the Egyptian ruler, was constantly being developed and underwent significant alterations. One long lasting debate has focused on the possibility that Amenhotep III was already deified during his lifetime, but up to now no detailed study that would analyse contemporary documents, whether connected to the king himself or related to his officials, has taken place. The aim of this thesis was to find and answer to this question by means of an analysis of written and iconographic sources from both the royal sphere as well as the domain of the officials. The result of this research, based among others on an in-depth study of the names, epithets and iconography of the ruler, indicates that Amenhotep III was already deified during his life and it allows even the definition of his divine characteristics and aspects as a solar god. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org