83: Amunhotep II & The Brat Pack

Amunhotep II (Part 5): How to Make Friends and Rule the Nile Valley. The pharaoh Amunhotep II has a reputation for cronyism: he put his childhood friends into positions of power, and removed trusted officials from office at a whim. Does he deserve this reputation? We go in search of an answer, exploring the lives of some noteworthy men who rose to prominence in this time... See photos of the tomb of Sennefer (TT96, aka "Tomb of the Vineyards" on Wikimedia Commons. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.com. Select Bibliography: Peter der Manuelian, Studies in the Reign of Amenophis II, 1987. M. Eaton-Krauss, “The Fate of Sennefer and Senetnay at Karnak and in the Valley of the Kings,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 1999. JJ Shirley, “Crisis and Restructuring of the State: From the End of the Middle Kingdom to the Advent of the Ramesses,” in Ancient Egyptian Administration, 2013. JJ Shirley, The Culture of Officialdom: An examination of the acquisition of offices during the mid-18th Dynasty, PhD Thesis, 2005. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices