Amunhotep II (Part 6).
Around 1420 BCE, Amunhotep II was entering his last days on the throne. The King was in his early forties, and beginning to feel his age. It was time to look for a successor; but with so many children (10+) around, who was the King going to choose?
Bibliography
- Alexandra von Lieven, “Mortuary Ritual in the Valley of the Kings,” in Richard H. Wilkinson and Kent R. Weeks, The Oxford Handbook of the Valley of the Kings, 2016.
- Peter der Manuelian, Studies in the Reign of Amenophis II, 1987.
- Barbara A. Richter, “The Amduat and Its Relationship to the Architecture of Early 18th Dynasty Royal Burial Chambers,” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt (2008).
- G. Elliot Smith, The Royal Mummies, 2000.
By my assessment Amenhotep II was both morally abhorrent, and also a bad ruler even putting aside moral issues (which we shouldn’t do)
Burning alive the population of a village is not something that can be painted over, not to mention his genocidal deportation project.
I reject the notion that only in our modern moral framework is this abhorrent behaviour, and that by ancient standards he would not be judged.
Sure by the ancient standards of Egyptian royal propaganda he wouldn’t be, but I wonder, would the deported Canaanites think he was moral? Would the Syrians murdered by his campaigns think he was moral? These people have no way to communicate their voices forward, but I am doubtful. I find the general idea that ancient morality didn’t care about these things often puzzling, as it seems to ignore that our main window into this period is via the state apparatus.
Moving on from moral matters, he seems to be a failure in a practical sense too, his ‘military victories’ consisted of besting a few minor garrisons and militia’s, who no doubt abandoned their loyalties to him as soon as he departed back to Egypt.
Burning down random Syrian villages or besting local city states as a major power does not a military genius make.
Moreover domestically from what you’ve presented he seems like an unmitigated disaster.
Firstly he replaced a veteran administrator with an unqualified nobody solely because he was spooked at the idea of his administrator turning on him. This unqualified nobody would accomplish little of note, which is not surprising, he didn’t really have a chance.
Then we get to the crux of the issue, he failed to complete the most important job of a hereditary monarch, he selected no heir. This is an astonishing blunder and its only by chance this didn’t tear apart Egypt. Its so fundamental to the purpose of a monarchy, to provide that kind of ‘stability’ and he just, didn’t.
Wonderful episode, its so interesting to have this broader window into a kings family for once.