Amenhotep

son of Hapu, Sage, reign of Amenophis III, c.1417-1379 BC.

    Amenhotep, son of Hapu, was one of the most highly revered figures of the New Kingdom. Under *Amenophis III, he held the titles of 'King's Scribe', 'Scribe of Recruits', and 'Overseer of all the works of the King'. As royal architect, he was responsible for the construction of the Temple of Luxor and also for the erection of the Colossi of Memnon, the massive statues of Amenophis III which flanked the entrance to his funerary temple on the west bank at Thebes. He also supervised the great estates of Sitamun, the daughter of *Amenophis III and *Queen Tiye.

    Amenhotep's birthplace was the town of Athribis, and he was related to the vizier *Ramose. After his death, Amenhotep was accorded the unprecedented honour of being given a mortuary temple in western Thebes which was endowed in perpetuity by a royal decree. Such temples were usually only built for kings, but Amenhotep's monument equalled those of the kings and here he received a cult as a god.

    Later generations revered him as a great sage; he was worshipped as a god of healing and had a sanatorium in the temple at Deir el Bahri, where the sick came in search of a cure. Under Ramesses IV, his mortuary cult was maintained alongside those of the dead, deified kings and in the Ptolemaic Period, he was worshipped as a god. Scenes in the temple at Deir el Medina show him as a god in the company of *Imhotep, and in the unfinished temple of Thoth at Medinet Habu, he appears with Thoth (god of learning) and *Imhotep, receiving the cult from the king. Proverbs which were translated into Greek reputedly preserved his wisdom; he was also the possessor of a large stone statue which is now in the Cairo Museum.

BIBL. Robichon, C. and Varille, C. Le temple du scribe royal Amenhotep, fils de Hapou 1. Cairo: 1936.

Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Egypt by Rosalie and Antony E. David

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(fl. c. 1390–1360 BC)

   Overseer of works for Amenhotep III. He was born in Athribis and was likely responsible for the construction of many of the king’s monuments, including his mortuary temple at Thebes and his Nubian temple at Soleb, where he was commemorated. He was buried at Thebes. Amenhotep, son of Hapu, acquired a reputation for wisdom and was deified after his death, being worshipped in his own mortuary temple.

   See also Memnon, Colossi of.

Historical Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt by Morris L. Bierbrier