Amenhotep I

Amenhotep I was the second pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled for about 21 years, from 1526 to 1506 BC. He inherited the kingdom formed by his father’s military conquests and maintained dominance over Nubia and the Nile Delta but probably did not attempt to maintain Egyptian power in the Levant. He continued the rebuilding of Upper Egypt and revolutionized mortuary complex design by separating his mortuary temple from his tomb, setting a trend in royal funerary monuments which would persist throughout the New Kingdom. After his death, he was deified as a patron god of the workers in the Theban necropolis. He was a son of Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari, but had at least two elder brothers, Ahmose-ankh and Ahmose Sapair, and was not expected to inherit the throne. However, sometime in the eight years between Ahmose I’s 17th regnal year and his death, his heir apparent died and Amenhotep became crown prince. He then acceded to the throne and married his sister, Ahmose-Meritamon, as his Great Royal Wife. Another wife’s name, Sitkamose, is attested on a nineteenth dynasty papyrus. He is thought to have had one son by Ahhotep II, Amenemhat, who died while still very young. With no living heirs, Amenhotep was succeeded by Thutmose I, whom he married to his sister, Ahmose.