THE COMMEMORATIVE SCARABS AMENOFIS III (PP.

343/344)
On five different occasions, in commemoration of
events 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 capture
of Kadesh.
I. MARRIAGE WITH TIY a
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 the
close 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 Geschicltte, 393, n. 6; text: Mariette, Album &
Bouleq, PI. 36; Rosellini, Monumenti Storici, 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. Davis
of 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 a
hunting 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 totally
without 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 ').