by
Damien F. Mackey
Emulating Senenmut
The career of Amenhotep son of Hapu appears to have been
modelled closely on that of the great man, Senenmut.
Amenhotep son of Hapu was a highly influential figure, whose fame reached down even into Ptolemaïc times. Horemheb, for one, may have been stylistically influenced by Amenhotep. For according to W. Smith and W. Simpson (The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt, Yale UP, 1998, p. 195): “The large grey granite statue of Horemheb in the pose of a scribe … is related stylistically to those of Amenhotep son of Hapu … Horemheb has the same plump, well-fed body and wears a long wig similar to that of the aged wise man …”.
Who really was this Amenhotep son of Hapu, upon whom there were bestowed “unprecedented” honours, investing him with virtually regal status?
Statuary and Privileges
Egyptologist Joann Fletcher offers us a glimpse of his extraordinary power (Egypt’s Sun King. Amenhotep III, Duncan Baird, 2000, p. 51):
In an unprecedented move, Amenhotep III gave extensive religious powers to his closest official and namesake, Amenhotep son of Hapu, not only placing the scribe’s statuary throughout Amun’s temple, but also granting his servant powers almost equal to his own: inscriptions on the statues state that Amenhotep son of Hapu would intercede with Amun himself on behalf of those who approached. The king’s chosen man, who was not a member of Amun’s clergy, could act as intermediary between the people and the gods on the king’s behalf, bypassing the priesthood altogether.
[End of quote]
In light of what we learned, however, in:
Solomon and Sheba
the powers accorded by pharaoh Amenhotep III to his namesake, the son of Hapu, were not “unprecedented”. All of this - and perhaps even more - had already been bestowed upon Senenmut, the ‘power behind the throne’ of Pharaoh Hatshepsut.
I have identified this Senenmut as King Solomon in Egypt.
We read in “Solomon and Sheba” of Senenmut’s quasi-royal honours (compare the son of Hapu’s “virtually regal status” above):
- SENENMUT IN HATSHEPSUT'S
KINGSHIP (REGNAL YEARS 7-16)
Hatshepsut's Coronation
In about the 7th year of Thutmose III, according to Dorman [52], Hatshepsut had herself crowned king, assuming the name Maatkare or Make-ra (‘True is the heart of Ra’). In the present scheme, this would be close to Solomon's 30th regnal year. From then on, Hatshepsut is referred to as ‘king’, sometimes with the pronoun ‘she’ and sometimes ‘he’, and depicted in the raiment of a king. She is called the daughter of Amon-Ra - but in the picture of her birth a boy is moulded by Khnum, the shaper of human beings (i.e. Amon-Ra) [53].
According to Dorman, Senenmut was present at Hatshepsut's coronation and played a major rôle there [54]. On one statue [55] he is given some unique titles, which Berlandini-Grenier [56] identifies with the official responsible for the ritual clothing of the Queen ‘the stolist of Horus in privacy’, ‘keeper of the diadem in adorning the king’ and ‘he who covers the double crown with red linen’. Winlock was startled that Senenmut had held so many unique offices in Egypt, including ‘more intimate ones like those of the great nobles of France who were honored in being allowed to assist in the most intimate details of the royal toilet at the king's levees’ [57].
The rarity of the stolist titles suggested to Dorman [58] ‘a one-time exercise of Senenmut's function of stolist and that prosopographical conclusions might be drawn’, i.e., he had participated in Hatshepsut's coronation.
….
And even more startling is this:
…. of special interest is the astronomical information in tomb 353, particularly the ceiling of Chamber A [75]. Senenmut's ceiling is the earliest astronomical ceiling known. We are reminded again of Solomon's encyclopaedic knowledge of astronomy and calendars (Wisdom 7:17-19). The ceiling is divided into two parts by transverse bands of texts, the central section of which contains the names ‘Hatshepsut’ and ‘Senenmut’ [76]. The southern half contains a list of decans derived from coffins of the Middle Kingdom period that had served as ‘a prototype’ for a family of decanal lists that survived until the Ptolemaïc period; whilst ‘The northern half is decorated with the earliest preserved depiction of the northern constellations; four planets (Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn) are also portrayed with them, and the lunar calendar is represented by twelve large circles’. [77]
In tomb 71 at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, · the sarcophagus itself is carved of quartzite in a unique oval form adapted from the royal cartouche shape. Dorman [78] says ‘... the sarcophagus seemed to be yet another proof ... of the pretensions Senenmut dares to exhibit, skirting dangerously close to prerogatives considered to be exclusively royal’. Winlock [79] would similarly note that it was ‘significantly designed as almost a replica of royal sarcophagi of the time’,
- one of the painted scenes features a procession of Aegean (Greek) tribute bearers, the first known representation of these people [80] - the only coherent scene on the north wall of the axial corridor portrays three registers of men dragging sledges that provide shelter for statues of Senenmut, who faces the procession of statues.
Senenmut had presented to Hatshepsut ‘an extraordinary request’ for ‘many statues of every kind of precious hard stone’, to be placed in every temple and shrine of Amon-Ra [81]. His request was granted. Meyer [82] pointed to it as an indication of his power.
[End of quotes]
Titles
Amenhotep son of Hapu, likewise, had some most imposing titles
Hereditary prince, count, sole companion, fan-bearer on the king's right hand, chief of the king's works even all the great monuments which are brought, of every excellent costly stone; steward of the King's-daughter of the king's-wife, Sitamen, who liveth; overseer of the cattle of Amon in the South and North, chief of the prophets of Horus, lord of Athribis, festival leader of Amon. ….
Several inscriptions outline his career and show how he rose through the ranks.
Amenhotep started off as a king's scribe as mentioned on his statue:
I was appointed to be inferior king's-scribe; I was introduced into the divine book, I beheld the excellent things of Thoth; I was equipped with their secrets; I opened all their [passages (?)]; one took counsel with me on all their matters.
After distinguishing himself, Amenhotep was promoted to the position of Scribe of Recruits.
... he put all the people subject to me, and the listing of their number under my control, as superior king's-scribe over recruits. I levied the (military) classes of my lord, my pen reckoned the numbers of millions; I put them in [classes (?)] in the place of their [elders (?)]; the staff of old age as his beloved son. I taxed the houses with the numbers belonging thereto, I divided the troops (of workmen) and their houses, I filled out the subjects with the best of the captivity, which his majesty had captured on the battlefield. I appointed all their troops (Tz.t), I levied -------. I placed troops at the heads of the way(s) to turn back the foreigners in their places.
Amenhotep mentions being on a campaign to Nubia.
I was the chief at the head of the mighty men, to smite the Nubians [and the Asiatics (?)], the plans of my lord were a refuge behind me; [when I wandered (?)] his command surrounded me; his plans embraced all lands and all foreigners who were by his side. I reckoned up the captives of the victories of his majesty, being in charge of them.
Later he was promoted to "Chief of all works", thereby overseeing the building program of Pharaoh Amenhotep III
His connections to court finally led to Amenhotep being appointed as Steward to Princess-Queen Sitamen.
[End of quotes]
Official Relationship to Amon
The son of Hapu was, as we read above, “overseer of the cattle of Amon in the South and North … [and] festival leader of Amon”. ….
Now regarding Senenmut, as I wrote in “Solomon and Sheba”:
Historians claim ‘Steward of Amon’ was the most illustrious of all Senenmut's titles. This would be fitting if he were Solomon, and Amon-Ra were the Supreme God, the ‘King of Gods’, as the Egyptians called him. Senenmut was also ‘overseer of the garden of Amon’ (see Appendix A). Like Solomon, a king who also acted as a priest, Senenmut's chief rôle was religious. He was in charge of things pertaining to Amon and was ‘chief of all the prophets’. Solomon, at the beginning of his co-regency with David, had prayed for wisdom and a discerning mind (I Kings 3:9). On the completion of the Temple, he stood ‘before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, [he] spread forth his hands towards heaven’ (I Kings 8:22). Likewise, Senenmut is depicted in Hatshepsut's temple with arms up-stretched to heaven, praying to Hathor, the personification of wisdom.
The career of Amenhotep son of Hapu in relation to Egypt reminds me in many ways of that of that other quasi-royal (but supposed commoner), Senenmut, or Senmut, at the time of Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Amenhotep son of Hapu is in fact so close a replica of Senenmut that I would have to think that he had modelled himself greatly on the latter.
Senenmut was to pharaoh Hatshepsut also a Great Steward, and he was to princess Neferure her mentor and steward.
So was Amenhotep son of Hapu to pharaoh Amenhotep III a Great Steward, and he was to princess Sitamun (Sitamen) her mentor and steward.
Again, as Senenmut is considered by scholars to have been a commoner, who, due to his great skills and character, rose up through the ranks to become scribe and architect and steward of Amun, so is exactly the same said about Amenhotep son of Hapu.
Each seemed to be a real ‘power behind the throne’.
Son of Hapu, like Senenmut, is thought not to have (married or to have) had any children.
Mirror image of Horemheb
“The large grey granite statue of Horemheb in the pose of a scribe … is related stylistically to those of Amenhotep son of Hapu … Horemheb has the same plump, well-fed body and wears a long wig similar to that of the aged wise man …”.
W. Smith and W. Simpson
Amenhotep son of Hapu, Horemheb, contemporaneous, having lived during the reign of Amenhotep III. And in Part One:
it was observed:
Horemheb, for one, may have been stylistically influenced by Amenhotep. For according to W. Smith and W. Simpson (The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt, Yale UP, 1998, p. 195): “The large grey granite statue of Horemheb in the pose of a scribe … is related stylistically to those of Amenhotep son of Hapu … Horemheb has the same plump, well-fed body and wears a long wig similar to that of the aged wise man …”.
Using information on “Amenhotep son of Hapu” as provided by Anneke Bart:
I shall point out some comparisons between him and Horemheb (for whom I shall be drawing largely from Arianna Sacco’s article “Soldier, scribe, king: the career of Horemheb”).
Some of his titles:
Hereditary prince, count, sole companion, fan-bearer on the king's right hand, chief of the king's works even all the great monuments which are brought, of every excellent costly stone; steward of the King's-daughter of the king's-wife, Sitamen, who liveth; overseer of the cattle of Amon in the South and North, chief of the prophets of Horus, lord of Athribis, festival leader of Amon
Horemheb’s titles (“In this tomb, Horemheb is given 90 titles, most of which are military”):
But Horemheb progressed also in his administrative career, becoming scribe and chief registrar of recruits, as well as royal messenger to foreign lands. He was awarded the title, “Royal messenger at the front of his army to the southern and northern lands”. Other titles included: “Crown Prince, Fan-bearer on the Right Side of the King, and Chief Commander of the Army”, “Attendant of the King in his footsteps in the foreign countries of the south and the north”, “Sole Companion, he who is by the feet of his lord on the battlefield on that day of killing Asiatics”.
Family background and career:
Amenhotep called Huy, son of Hapu was a very influential noble from the time of Amenhotep III. Amenhotep was the son of Hapu (Hapi) and the Lady Itu.
Amenhotep called Huy, son of Hapu was a very influential noble from the time of Amenhotep III. Amenhotep was the son of Hapu (Hapi) and the Lady Itu.
Horemheb’s origins unknown:
Early military career
The original name of Horemheb may have been Paatenemheb. His family came from Herakleopolis Magna. However, nothing is known for sure about the origins of the king.
Horemheb doesn't speak of his parentage, which suggests that he was probably of modest origin and that he was a self-made man. One knows that his family was from Herakleopolis, close to the entry of the Fayum, whose tutelary god was Herishef, a god with the head of a ram.
Nevertheless no monument of this city makes allusion to Horemheb, and it seems that he had no particular devotion for its god, no more that he erected a place of cult worship there for his family (at least nothing has been found).
Several inscriptions outline his career and show how he rose through the ranks.
Horemheb rose through the ranks:
Horemheb’s career started in the army during the reign of Akhenaten.
He may have led an attack against the Nubians, who lived in the extreme south. He managed to secure a number of military successes in Nubia. Evidence for these military victories are reflected in his titles and the representations in his tomb at Saqqara, described further down in this article.
Horemheb ascendant
During the reign of Tutankhamun (r. 1336–1327 BC), Horemheb progressed in his military career and became the commander of all the army.
Amenhotep started off as a king's scribe as mentioned on his statue:
I was appointed to be inferior king's-scribe; I was introduced into the divine book, I beheld the excellent things of Thoth; I was equipped with their secrets; I opened all their [passages (?)]; one took counsel with me on all their matters.
After distinguishing himself, Amenhotep was promoted to the position of Scribe of Recruits.
... he put all the people subject to me, and the listing of their number under my control, as superior king's-scribe over recruits. I levied the (military) classes of my lord, my pen reckoned the numbers of millions; I put them in [classes (?)] in the place of their [elders (?)]; the staff of old age as his beloved son. I taxed the houses with the numbers belonging thereto, I divided the troops (of workmen) and their houses, I filled out the subjects with the best of the captivity, which his majesty had captured on the battlefield. I appointed all their troops (Tz.t), I levied -------. I placed troops at the heads of the way(s) to turn back the foreigners in their places.
Ample evidence above of Horemheb as king’s scribe.
Amenhotep mentions being on a campaign to Nubia.
I was the chief at the head of the mighty men, to smite the Nubians [and the Asiatics (?)], the plans of my lord were a refuge behind me; [when I wandered (?)] his command surrounded me; his plans embraced all lands and all foreigners who were by his side. I reckoned up the captives of the victories of his majesty, being in charge of them.
Horemheb campaigned in Nubia and against Asiatics:
Horemheb’s career started in the army during the reign of Akhenaten. He may have led an attack against the Nubians, who lived in the extreme south. He managed to secure a number of military successes in Nubia. Evidence for these military victories are reflected in his titles and the representations in his tomb at Saqqara, described further down in this article.
Horemheb ascendant
During the reign of Tutankhamun (r. 1336–1327 BC), Horemheb progressed in his military career and became the commander of all the army. He was responsible for campaigns into Nubia and Asia. Mostly, the Egyptian efforts were focused on Syria, where the Hittites had wrested control from the Egyptians over Amurru and Karkemish.
The goal of the Egyptian campaigns in the region was to re-establish Egyptian rule over Palestine and Lebanon. These campaigns turned into further successes for Horemheb and, as with the Nubian expeditions, the victories secured here were quickly reflected in the honorary titles bestowed on him.
Later he was promoted to "Chief of all works", thereby overseeing the building program of Pharaoh Amenhotep III
Horemheb was “uppermost of all works of the king and Regent to the young king”:
His connections to court finally led to Amenhotep being appointed as Steward to Princess-Queen Sitamen.
Horemheb was “Steward of the Lord of the Two Lands”.
Mortuary temple edictAn inscription on a limestone stela records how Amenhotep son of Hapu was allowed to build a mortuary temple right next to the temple of Amenhotep III. This type of honor is exceedingly rare.
Year 31, fourth month of the first season, sixth day, under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Lord of the Two Lands, Nibmare, L.P.H.; Son of Re, of his body, Lord of Diadems, Amenhotep (III), L.P.H.
On this day, one (=the king) was in the ka-chapel of the hereditary prince, count, king's-scribe, Amenhotep. There were brought in: the governor of the city, and vizier, Amenhotep, the overseer of the treasury, Meriptah, and the king's-scribes of the army.
One said to them in the presence of his majesty, L.P.H.: "Hear the command which is given, to furnish the ka-chapel of the hereditary prince, the royal scribe, Amenhotep, called Huy, Son of Hapu, whose excellence is [extolled (?)] in order to perpetuate his ka-chapel with slaves, male and female, forever; son to son, heir to heir; in order that none trespass upon it forever.
Year 31, fourth month of the first season, sixth day, under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Lord of the Two Lands, Nibmare, L.P.H.; Son of Re, of his body, Lord of Diadems, Amenhotep (III), L.P.H.
On this day, one (=the king) was in the ka-chapel of the hereditary prince, count, king's-scribe, Amenhotep. There were brought in: the governor of the city, and vizier, Amenhotep, the overseer of the treasury, Meriptah, and the king's-scribes of the army.
One said to them in the presence of his majesty, L.P.H.: "Hear the command which is given, to furnish the ka-chapel of the hereditary prince, the royal scribe, Amenhotep, called Huy, Son of Hapu, whose excellence is [extolled (?)] in order to perpetuate his ka-chapel with slaves, male and female, forever; son to son, heir to heir; in order that none trespass upon it forever.
“[Horemheb] also usurped the mortuary temple of Ay at Medinet Habu for his own, rebuilding it on a much larger scale”:
At Luxor, he continued the work of Amenhotep III and Tutankhamun, usurping the latter's monuments both there and elsewhere. Perhaps much of the work completed during the reign of Tutankhamun was actually commissioned by Horemheb for today, many of the statues and reliefs bearing Horemheb's cartouches was actually work completed during Tutankhamun's reign.
Amenhotep son of Hapu would go down in history as a god. He was worshipped for centuries and there are inscriptions showing Amenhotep was venerated as a healer.
“Once Ramses II was on the throne, Horemheb was deified” (Charlotte Booth, “Horemheb: The Forgotten Pharaoh”, 2012).
Huy connection
Doherty will discuss what he calls “three versions of the Nubian campaign”: i.e. one in the tomb of Tutankhamun, one in the tomb of Huy, and one in the tomb of Horemheb. …
But his complete separation of these last two, which I consider to belong to the one general, will necessitate from him this somewhat convoluted explanation ….
It is commonly agreed that Huy was another name for Amenhotep son of Hapu.
To give just these two examples (Margaret Bunson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, p. 31): “Amenhotep, son of Hapu, was one of only a few commoners to be deified in Egypt. Also called Huy …”. And (Fayza M. H. Haikal, “Amenhotep Son of Hapu- Oxford eEncyclopedia of the Ancient World”: https://www.academia.edu/4440012/Amenhotep_Son_of_Hapu-_Oxford_eEncyclopedia_of_the_Ancient_World “Born at Athribis in the Delta near modern Benha in the time of Tuthmosis III (or Amenhotep II) from a father called Hapu and a mother called Itu, Amenhotep son of Hapu’ s (also known as Huy …)”.
Now, there was a most notable general Huy at the time of Tutankhamun and Horemheb whom I identified in my thesis as Horemheb himself. So, given that Horemheb was a virtual mirror-image of Amenhotep son of Hapu, as discovered in Part Two:
then Huy may turn out to be a name-link connecting Horemheb to Amenhotep son of Hapu.
I drew the connection between Horemheb and general Huy in my university thesis:
(Volume One, pp. 242-244):
Horemheb as General Huy
With regard to the highly successful Nubian campaign effected during the reign of Tutankhamun, Horemheb is thought to have played a rôle only secondary to Huy. And Horemheb was entirely absent from Tutankhamun’s burial, according to Doherty,[1] who has told of Ay’s sinister part in the entire funerary rites.[2] Horemheb’s presumed absence though may be a misconception, based on what might be a one-dimensional view of this multi-dimensional official. He was I believe to the fore in both the Nubian campaign and the funeral; but not under the actual name of ‘Horemheb’.
…. Horemheb is perhaps also the multi-titled Huy, “one of Ay’s close lieutenants”,[3] who was at the forefront of both the Nubian campaign and Tutankhamun’s funeral.
Doherty has described the Nubian campaign, with Tutankhamun as merely a passive onlooker by contrast with the real power in Egypt at the time:[4]
If Tutankhamun was not the real leader in the projected campaign against Kush then who was? General Horemheb must have played a part: paintings from his tomb at Sakkara portray the general bringing Nubian captives before Pharaoh and receiving [his] approval and approbation …. Horemheb was involved in the Nubian campaign and displayed his exploits both in his tomb at Sakkara and on the stela describing the events which led to his own coronation as Pharaoh. Nevertheless, his nose may have been put out of joint, for the real star [sic] of Tutankhamun’s Nubian campaign was … the court official … Huy … Viceroy of Nubia and Huy unashamedly described his achievements in his own tomb paintings … These paintings place Huy very much at the heart of affairs. …
But this Huy was, I suspect, Horemheb himself. And this makes it almost certain that he was therefore the same also as Amenhotep Huy, king’s son of Kush, not to be confused with Amenhotep/Haya …. Whilst Doherty can only conclude about the Nubian campaign:[5] “Very little if any mention is made of General Horemheb’s role”, the situation of course takes on a completely different aspect when Horemheb is equated with Huy. General Huy, as Doherty tells it, had returned victorious from Nubia as a virtual pharaoh (if he had not been that already before he had departed):[6]
Huy’s tomb also gives an insight into the power structure at Thebes. He is not bashful in viewing himself as Viceroy, or even more. One scene … depicts Huy’s return almost as a Pharaoh holding the flail as well as the crook. He may pay homage to Tutankhamun but Huy’s tomb pictures also illustrate Nubian tributes being presented directly to the Viceroy … nosing the ground … in front of [him].
… The inescapable conclusion … is that Huy saw himself very much in charge. He is active while the Pharaoh is passive.
He does not receive the seal of office directly from the Pharaoh but from another powerful official which can only be Ay. Tutankhamun can be depicted as a warlike chieftain in the pictures on the fan found in his tomb. He may have had body armour buried with him but, as far as Huy was concerned, Huy was the victor of Nubia and, rather than Huy basking in Pharaoh’s glory, the positions are reversed.
Doherty will discuss what he calls “three versions of the Nubian campaign”: i.e. one in the tomb of Tutankhamun, one in the tomb of Huy, and one in the tomb of Horemheb.[7] But his complete separation of these last two, which I consider to belong to the one general, will necessitate from him this somewhat convoluted explanation:[8]
On one level these different versions can be amusing but they do betray the tensions [sic] at Tutankhamun’s court. Huy, in his paintings, claims the credit, whilst General Horemheb presents an alternate [sic] version. There is no evidence of two Nubian campaigns. Horemheb may have gone ahead to prepare the ground for Huy or may have acted in concert with him. Nevertheless, the inescapable conclusion is that both [sic] men claimed the glory for … a victorious campaign.
Horemheb as Huy certainly also attended Tutankhamun’s funeral. Doherty again:[9]
Huy, who was also present at Tutankhamun’s mysterious burial, rejoiced in some of the highest titles in the land. He was not only Viceroy of Nubia but ‘Divine Father’, one of the ‘Fanbearers on the King’s Right Hand’, ‘Supervisor of the Amun’s Cattle in the land of Kush’, ‘Supervisor of the Land of Gold of the Lord of the Two Countries’ … His Majesty’s Brave in the Cavalry.
…. Horemheb had other astonishing titles as well [e.g. ‘King’s Deputy in All Countries’, ‘King’s Elect’, ‘The Greatest Amongst the Favourites of the Lord of the Two Countries’, ‘The True Scribe Well Beloved of the King’].[10] Courville marvelled at the nature of Horemheb’s titles and privileges.[11] That Horemheb was already at least quasi-pharaoh during the reign of Tutankhamun is quite apparent from the fact that Horemheb’s cartouche has been found together with that of Tutankhamun on commemorative stone slabs found at the base of sphinxes as part of the Avenue of Sphinxes at Karnak.[12]
[End of quotes]
It is highly unlikely that, along with the Machiavellian Ay, there were two quasi-pharaohs, Horemheb and Huy, even whilst Tutankhamun was ruling as pharaoh.
[1] Op. cit, p. 151.
[2] Ibid, ch. 4.
[3] Ibid, p. 105.
[4] Ibid, pp. 119-120.
[5] Ibid, p. 120.
[6] Ibid, pp. 121-122. Emphasis added.
[7] Ibid. p. 121.
[8] Ibid, p. 122.
[9] Ibid, p. 120.
[10] Ibid, p. 124.
[11] Op. cit, p. 288.
[12] J. Zwick, ‘The Age of Pharaoh Haremhab’, with reference to KMT Magazine, Vol. 10, Summer, 1999, p. 38.
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