8/12/2019 The Commemorative Scarabs Amenofis III

1/2

THE COMMEMORATIVE SCARABS AMENOFIS III (PP. 343/344)

On five different occasions, in commemoration ofevents in his personal history, Amenhotep rV_kued a series

of scarabs inscribed on the under side, recording the following

matters:

I. Marriage with Tiy ;11. Wild Cattle Hunt;

111. Ten Years7 Lion-Hunting ;

IV. Marriage with Kirgipa;

V. Construction of Pleasure Lake.

ULepsius, Denkmder, 111, 88. The above are all that can safely be identified.

See also fragment of a list at Karnak (Lepsius, Denkmiiler, Text, 111, g), containing

also Naharin ( ?) and Shinar.

As far as we know, he was the only king who did this,

although small scarabs referring in two or three words to

great events were issued by other kings; e. g., Thutmoie I11

thus refers to the erection of obelisks (8 625) and the captureof Kadesh.I. MARRIAGE WITH TIY a

8/12/2019 The Commemorative Scarabs Amenofis III

2/2

This marriage took place before the year 2 when

Tiy is already queen (see next scarab). The origin of the

powerful Tiy is obscure; Maspero thinks her a native

Eg~ptiana,n~d this is the most probable conclusion, but the

persistent publication of the names of her untitled parentsc on

these and other scarabs is in that case remarkable, although

paralleled by scarabs of the Thirteenth Dynasty. This

difficulty is, however, not relieved by supposing her of

foreign birth. It is incredible that anyone could identify

her with Kirgi~a,o~n whose marriage scarab she already

appears in the titulary as queen. She is the first queen

who is thus recognized by the regular insertion of her name

in the titulary. The innovation was continued by Amenhotep

IV, who inserted his queen's name in the same way.

His ephemeral successors show the same inclination, and

the whole period from the time of Arnenhotep I11 to theclose of the Eighteenth Dynasty is characterized by the

aAt least twelve of these scarabs are in the different collections of Europe;

see list, Wiedemann, Aegyptische Geschicl tte, 393, n. 6; text: Mariette, Album &Bouleq, PI. 36; Rosellini, Monumenti Stori ci, 44; Budge, The Mummy, 242,

234; Maspero, Struggle of the Nations, 315; translated from the last three.

bMaspero,Struggle of the Nations, 315, n. 1, where full bibliography is given.=The tomb of these two people, Yuya and Thuya, was discovered this year

(1905) in the Valley of the Kings' Tombs at Thebes by Mr. Theodore M. Davisof Newport. It was filled with the most magnificent mortuary furniture, and still

contained the bodies of Yuya and Thuya.

dThe absurd story of the king's meeting and falling in love with Tiy on ahunting expedition in Mesopotamia, which has been added to the English edition

of Brugsch's Egypt under the Pharaohs (zrq), it is hardly necessary to say is totallywithout documentary foundation.

mention and prominent representation of the queens on

all state occasions, in such a manner as is never found

later.862. Live . . . . .a King Amenhotep (111), who is given life, (and)the Great King's-Wife Tiy (Tyy), who liveth. The name of her father

is Yuya (Ywy '), the name of her mother is Thuya (Twy '). She is

the wife of a mighty king whose southern boundary is as far as Karoy

(K -r -y) (and) northern as far as Naharin (N-h-ry-n ').