Hiero Lens

Timeline › 18th Dynasty

Amenhotep son of Hapu c. 1390–1352 BC

Scribe and architect of Amenhotep III

A scribe from Athribis who rose to run Amenhotep III's great building works, probably including the Colossi of Memnon. His statues show him as a scribe with a papyrus on his lap; after his death he was honoured as a wise man and healer, like Imhotep.

Only kings and queens wrote their names in a cartouche, so Amenhotep son of Hapu's name is written without one.

Name: Amenhotep

imn-ḥtp: “Amun is content”

Sign by sign

  1. Flowering reed M17i The sound i.
  2. Game board Y5mn To remain, to endure (as in Amun).
  3. Ripple of water N35n The sound n; also means 'of, to'.
  4. Bread on an offering mat R4ḥtp Offering; peace, to be content.
  5. Bread loaf X1t The sound t; also the feminine ending.
  6. Stool Q3p The sound p.

Names of gods (Ra, Amun, Ptah) are written first out of respect, even when they are read later. Dates are approximate; we follow Ian Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000).