Amenhotep was the

High Priest of Amun The High Priest of Amun or First Prophet of Amun ('' ḥm nṯr tpj n jmn'') was the highest-ranking priest in the priesthood of the ancient Egyptian god Amun. The first high priests of Amun appear in the New Kingdom of Egypt, at the beginnin ...

towards the end of the

Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XX, alternatively 20th Dynasty or Dynasty 20) is the third and last dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1189 BC to 1077 BC. The 19th and 20th Dynasties together constitut ...

, serving under

Ramesses IX Neferkare Setepenre Ramesses IX (also written Ramses) (originally named Amon-her-khepshef Khaemwaset) (ruled 1129–1111 BC) was the eighth pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He was the third longest serving king of this Dynasty after ...

, Ramesses X and

Ramesses XI Menmaatre Ramesses XI (also written Ramses and Rameses) reigned from 1107 BC to somewhere between 1078 BC and 1068 BC and is generally considered the tenth and final pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt and as such, the last king of the Ne ...

. He was the son of

Ramessesnakht Ramessesnakht was High Priest of Amun during many years in the 20th Dynasty. He was appointed as the High Priest at Thebes under Ramesses IV. He served in office until the reign of Ramesses IX. It was during Ramessesnakht's tenure that the ...

, the previous high priest of Amun. It is not beyond dispute who succeeded him in office. For a long time it was assumed that he was followed by the High Priest

Herihor Herihor was an Egyptian army officer, vizier, and eventually a ruler of Upper Egypt as High Priest of Amun at Thebes (1080 BC to 1074 BC) during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses XI. Chronological and genealogical position Traditionally his career ...

. However, Karl Jansen-Winkeln has suggested that Amenhotep was instead succeeded by the High Priest

Piankh Piankh or Payankh was a High Priest of Amun during the 21st Dynasty. Piankh has been assumed to be a son of Herihor and the heir to the Theban office, however recent studies have shown that Piankh was actually Herihor's Predecessor. Piankh also he ...

. We know the names of several of his brothers and a sister: * his (eldest?) brother, the prophet of Amun Meribast II * his brother, the Chief Steward Usimarenakth II * his sister Aatmeret I * his brother, the Second Prophet of Amun Nesamun I (see below) High Priest Amenhotep

The "Transgression against the High Priest"

From several references in the Tomb Robbery Papyri ( Pap. Mayer A; Pap. B.M. 10383; Pap. B.M. 10052) it can be deduced that, sometime prior to the start of the era known as the Wehem Mesut, the

Viceroy of Kush The Kingdom of Kerma in Nubia was a province of ancient Egypt from the 16th century BCE to 11th century BCE. During this period, the region was ruled by a viceroy who reported directly to the Egyptian Pharaoh. Initially the position was titled " ...

Pinehesy attacked Thebes and removed the High Priest Amenhotep from office. During the first decades of the 20th century there was much confusion about both the date of what became called "the Suppression" and about the exact role played by Pinehesy. Whereas an early Egyptologist as

Wilhelm Spiegelberg Wilhelm Spiegelberg (25 June 1870, Hannover – 23 December 1930, Munich) was a German Egyptologist. He specialized in analyses of Demotic and hieratic text. Spiegelberg grew up as the second oldest of four brothers in a German Jewish family. He ...

assumed that it was Amenhotep himself who rebelled, Sethe showed that Amenhotep was the victim rather than the oppressor. More often than not "the Suppression" was placed in the reign of Ramesses IX or in the early years of Ramesses XI. It is now commonly accepted that the suppression took place only shortly before the Wehem Mesut, which started in year 19 of Ramesses XI. It has been suggested that this "Renaissance" may have been proclaimed to mark the end of a troublesome period of which the removal from office of Amenhotep was a part. In a very detailed study, Kim Ridealgh has shown that the traditional translation "suppression" of the Egyptian term "''thj''" is misleading, since it suggests that Amenhotep was somehow besieged and/or robbed of his freedom. The term rather denotes a more general act of aggression. Therefore, a more neutral translation like "transgression against the High Priest" is to be preferred. It is not known who exactly ended "the transgression". It seems certain, however, that Pinehasy fled south and managed to maintain a powerbase in

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

at least until year 10 of the Renaissance, when he is mentioned in a letter by the High Priest of Amun

. It is not known for certain whether the High Priest, Amenhotep, survived Pinehasy's violent action. However, Wente published a heavily damaged inscription from

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

in which a High Priest (name lost, but almost certainly Amenhotep) looks back at a period when he was ousted from office. The text is highly suggestive of Amenhotep having been restored to his former position after an appeal to the king. If Amenhotep was succeeded by Herihor, Amenhotep's pontificate must have been over by year 5 of the Renaissance at the very latest, since, on that model, this is the year in which the priest Wenamun set out on his journey to

Byblos Byblos ( ; ), also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl (, Lebanese Arabic, locally ), is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000BC and continuously inhabited ...

. Because the ''

Story of Wenamun The Story of Wenamun (alternately known as the Report of Wenamun, The Misadventures of Wenamun, Voyage of Unamūn, or nformallyas just Wenamun) is a literary text written in hieratic in the Late Egyptian language. It is only known from one incom ...

'' mentions Herihor as High Priest, by that time Amenhotep must already have been dead. However, it is not certain whether the anonymous "year 5" of the Story of Wenamun actually belongs to the Renaissance.

, the other candidate for the succession, is first securely attested in year 7 of the Wehem Mesut. If the career of Herihor fell before that of Piankh (which is now disputed by Jansen-Winkeln and a growing number of Egyptologists), this would leave very little time for a career of Amenhotep after the transgression.

The "Tale of Woe"

In 1962, G. Fecht published the theory that Papyrus Moscow 127, popularly known as the "

Tale of Woe Tale may refer to: * Narrative, or story, a report of real or imaginary connected events * TAL effector (TALE), a type of DNA binding protein * Tale, Albania, a resort town * Tale, Iran, a village * Tale, Maharashtra, a village in Ratnagiri distri ...

" or the "Letter of Wermai" was in fact a

roman à clef A ''roman à clef'' ( ; ; ) is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people and the "key" is the relationship between the non-fiction and the fiction. This m ...

, containing veiled references to the transgression against Amenhotep by the Viceroy Pinehesy, with the name Wermai interpreted as a

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, ph ...

on a similar-sounding pontifical title. If Fecht is right, the Tale of Woe provides additional evidence that Amenhotep returned to office. The theory of Fecht has recently been taken up again by Ad Thijs. He suggests that the "Letter of Wermai" may have been "a propagandistic weapon, aimed at discrediting Panehsy, who in the years following the suppression must still have posed a serious threat to Amenhotep."

Nesamun

The Second Prophet of Amun Nesamun, a brother of Amenhotep, also lays claim to the position of High Priest of Amun. He does so in an inscription on the base of a statue of his father Ramessesnakth. However, he can neither have preceded nor succeeded his brother: * during the first phase of the pontificate of Amenhotep, it was a certain Tjanefer who is attested as Second Prophet of Amun, showing that Nesamun only became prominent later. * in the famous Oracle of year 7 of the Whm Mswt Nesamun is still presented as Second Prophet, together with the High Priest of Amun Piankh. However, it has been pointed out that Piankh more or less stands aside while Nesamun fulfills the role normally played by the acting High Priest. It has been postulated that Nesamun may have acted as 'temporary' High Priest to replace his brother during the transgression against the latter by the

Pinehesy.Ad Thijs, The Second Prophet Nesamun and his claim to the High-Priesthood, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur (SAK) 38 (2009), 343-353. Such a scenario might explain why he was apparently allowed by the High Priest Piankh to perform the role normally played solely by the High Priest of Amun.

The "Transgression against the High Priest"

The "Tale of Woe"

Nesamun

References

Further reading