# Amenhotep III Source: https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs/amenhotep-iii Language: en # Amenhotep III A king whose monumental building programme reshaped Thebes. **Reign**: c.1390–1352 BCE **Dynasty**: 18th Dynasty **Period**: New Kingdom **Also written**: Amenophis III · Nebmaatre · Amenhetep III · أمنحوتب الثالث · نب ماعت رع ## Who they were The son of Thutmose IV, who came to the throne as a boy and ruled for thirty-eight years at the point where the empire his predecessors had won was paying for itself. His Great Royal Wife was Tiye, who is unusually prominent in the record and was not of royal birth. ## Why they matter Amenhotep III built extensively at Luxor Temple and Karnak. His west-bank royal temple, marked by the Colossi of Memnon, was one of the major temple complexes of ancient Thebes. Numerous statues of Sekhmet are associated with his reign. ## What happened Amenhotep III’s long reign gave Thebes an extensive royal building programme. At Luxor Temple he commissioned courts and halls; on the west bank his commemorative temple and the palace complex at Malkata served different parts of royal life and ceremony. In his thirtieth regnal year he celebrated a jubilee, a festival renewing royal power, associated with the Malkata complex. The Colossi of Memnon mark the entrance to his much larger temple. Damage and reuse altered that building, so its two famous statues are a starting point for understanding the reign, rather than its full architectural legacy. ## What they built in Luxor Luxor Temple — the sanctuary, the hall, the sun court and the Great Colonnade, which he began. His mortuary temple (a temple for royal commemoration and divine worship, active during a king’s life and after death) on the west bank, of which the Colossi of Memnon were the entrance gateway figures. The Third Pylon (a monumental gateway formed by two massive towers) at Karnak. The palace city at Malkata. And the Sekhmet statues that stand in rows in the Mut precinct. ## Where to meet them The Colossi of Memnon are him, twice, seated: he is the figure and the temple behind them was his. In Luxor Temple, the sun court — the square colonnaded court behind the Great Colonnade — is the clearest surviving piece of his architecture in the city. And in the Luxor Museum stands the quartzite statue of him found in 1989 in a pit beneath that same court: the polish on the stone is original, and it will change how you look at everything else you saw that day. How we label claims ## What is disputed Each claim below carries its evidence class. A claim marked interpretation or uncertain is not a weaker version of a fact — it is a different kind of statement, and the note says why. - Uncertain That he ruled jointly with his son Akhenaten for a long period at the end of his reign. Museum labels help connect his statues with their findspots and original settings. Compare the stone, pose and royal names rather than assuming every large statue represents the same ruler. - Uncertain Why several hundred Sekhmet statues were made. The number is exceptional and demands an explanation, and several have been offered — a statue for each day of the year and each night, a ritual to avert plague, or the king’s own health. The statues themselves carry epithets rather than a stated purpose, and no proposal is established. Who added what ## Before and after [18th Dynasty **Thutmose III** c.1479–1425 BCE Seventeen campaigns, and an empire that outlasted him by two hundred years. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs/thutmose-iii) [18th Dynasty **Amenhotep III** c.1390–1352 BCE A king whose monumental building programme reshaped Thebes. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs/amenhotep-iii) [18th Dynasty **Akhenaten** c.1352–1336 BCE The king who shut the temples — and whose own buildings were used as rubble. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs/akhenaten) [18th Dynasty **Tutankhamun** c.1336–1327 BCE A short reign, a remarkable burial and an extraordinary legacy for the study of ancient Egypt. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs/tutankhamun) Tomb ## Their tomb No tomb in this directory is recorded to them. [Tomb directory](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/tombs) Continue reading ## Explore the connections 1–1 / 8 [Temple · East bank ### Luxor Temple A temple of Amun in the heart of today’s city, shaped by royal ritual and the annual Opet festival. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/luxor-temple)[Monument · West bank ### Colossi of Memnon Two seated figures of Amenhotep III mark the entrance area of a once vast royal temple. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/colossi-of-memnon)[Temple complex · East bank ### Karnak Temple Complex Two thousand years of building, rebuilding and royal ambition, gathered around the temples of Amun. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/karnak)[Museum · East bank ### Luxor Museum A museum that brings objects from ancient Thebes into focus, from royal sculpture to reconstructed temple reliefs. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/luxor-museum)[God ### Amun The hidden god of Thebes, who became king of the gods and the state god of an empire. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/amun)[God ### Sekhmet The lioness — plague and healing held in the same goddess. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/sekhmet)[God ### Ra The sun — and the night journey that every royal tomb in the valley is a map of. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/ra)[History ### Karnak: Finding Your Way Through the Layers Karnak grew through additions, rebuilding and reuse. Compare the western pylons, central obelisks and eastern Festival Hall; walking east does not follow a simple newest-to-oldest sequence. ](https://luxor101.com/journal/karnak-in-the-order-it-was-built) Sources & further reading 5 Tier 1 The Met’s Joint Mission to Malqata — Amenhotep III’s jubilee and palace site The Metropolitan Museum of Art Tier 2 The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw Oxford University Press Tier 1 The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project — field reports The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project Tier 1 [The Epigraphic Survey — the recording of Medinet Habu and Luxor Temple](https://isac.uchicago.edu/research/publications/epigraphic-survey) Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, University of Chicago Official page indexed · checked 2026-09-19 Tier 2 The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, Richard H. Wilkinson Thames & Hudson Source review is incomplete. Consultation dates are shown only for checked references. Published works and institutional references for further reading. [Sources and review status](mailto:corrections@egyptmore.com?subject=Luxor101%20correction) [Pharaohs](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs)