Pharaoh Horemheb

Horemheb was the last pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. His name means “Horus is in jubilation” . He ruled Egypt between 1323 and 1295 BC, after a period of political turmoil . Horemheb was a general and decided to build himself a magnificent tomb upon accessing the throne of Egypt. This tomb has become one of the main attractions of the Valley of the Kings since its discovery in 1905.

Horemheb came from the lower classes of Egypt and worked himself up through the ranks of the army to become commander-in-chief of the Egyptian military before becoming pharaoh . After his accession to the throne, he initiated a nation-wide campaign to erase his immediate predecessor’s names from history and revitalize the nation that had declined under Akhenaten’s rule. The heretical monotheist phraoh who shunned all the egyptians old gods. . He is generally considered a good pharaoh, but whether he is a hero or villain depends upon one’s view of Akhenaten’s reign and Horemheb’s reaction to it.

 

Horemheb continued the restoration of the traditional Amon religion that, Akhenaten, had replaced with the worship of the god Aton . He completed the dismantling of the temples of Aton built at Karnak in order to suppress what was considered an aberrant religion . At the same time, he restored many of the damaged reliefs and statues portraying the god Amon and erected three of the largest pylons at Karnak, as well as several other significant monuments in the Theban area . Horemheb brought stability and prosperity back to Ancient Egypt after the chaotic rule of the “Armana Kings”

 

It is not yet proven whether Horemheb had really exorcised the Amarna period; the great iconoclasm began only after his death . After Horemheb’s death, his vizier, the general Ramses I, became his successor and founded the 19th dynasty (1292–1190 bc)