Amenhotep's Worth

Amenhotep III has always been one of my favourite pharaohs; he reigned from the 1380s-1350s BC. On his watch, Egypt bloomed artistically, and we may still enjoy some of his legacy in the world’s museums. This large head of his is displayed at London, and is rather agreeable in its proportions and style.

Three times in his reign did he revive the old Sed festivals from the Old Kingdom as a way of proving his worth to the population. It seems to have involved travelling around the country and ceremonially knocking on temple doors, as well as receiving various crowns to wear. At their conclusions, he was proclaimed a god, for having been found suitably worthy. Interestingly, the Armana Letters, a surviving collection of clay tablets sent between Egypt and her neighbours, reveal that he suffered from painful toothache in his later life. I guess no-one informed his teeth about his new divine status, thrice confirmed.

In the fifth of Revelation, the Apostle John witnesses a remarkable scene in which no-one is found able to open a special scroll, which is securely fastened and sealed. Consequently, he weeps, until he beholds ‘a Lamb, as though it had been slain’. Those in heaven joyfully sing:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,

And to open its seals;

For You were slain,

And have redeemed us to God by Your blood

Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

And have made us kings and priests to our God;

And we shall reign on the earth.”

Amenhotep’s regal splendour is but a lit match before the blazing sun of Christ’s worth and majesty. No pharaoh created a people, and no pharaoh died to redeem them. What a blessed people we are, and how utterly worthy the King whom we serve.