المصادر في آخر الcaption Amenhotep II was one of the most brutal and physically imposing pharaohs of Egypt's 18th Dynasty. He famously bragged about his bloodlust in military inscriptions, claiming to have personally killed seven Syrian rebel kings with his bare hands and hanging their severed heads from his royal ship. The Trophies: Upon returning from his northern military campaigns in the Levant, he hung the corpses of his defeated enemies along the walls of both Thebes and the Nubian city of Napata as terrifying examples to his subjects. The "Athlete King": Standing unusually tall for his time (nearly 6 feet), he was a massive physical presence who carved inscriptions of himself boasting about shooting arrows through reinforced, 4-finger-thick copper targets and rowing his riverboat faster than 200 members of the Egyptian navy. Captives: During his Asiatic campaigns, his armies captured thousands of prisoners—including 3,600 Apiru in his Year 9 campaign—to be brought back as enslaved labor to power Egypt's empire. Cruel Punishments: Executions for extreme crimes like tomb raiding were carried out without mercy, often by beheading or drowning. Despite ruling with an iron fist and cultivating a reputation as a merciless warrior, his actual mummy reveals that he survived a life "lived hard". Examinations of his well-preserved body show healed physical injuries, blows, and strain sustained during his lifetime, but he ultimately died of natural causes. Egyptian Books and Primary Sources"الفراعنة المحاربون: دبلوماسيون وعسكريون" (Warriors Pharaohs: Diplomats and Military) by ⁠Dr. Hussein Abdel-Basir: Written by a prominent Egyptian Egyptologist, this book examines the mummy and reign of Amenhotep II. It details his athletic "macho" build, his lifelong obsession with archery, and how he viewed going to war as a "fun sport." The Amada and Elephantine Stelae (Primary Egyptian Inscriptions): While not modern books, these are the original primary texts carved by Amenhotep II's scribes. Translated in anthologies worldwide, these stone slabs are where the pharaoh explicitly brags about smashing the heads of the seven Syrian princes, hanging them from his royal barge, and pinning them to the walls of Thebes and Napata. "موسوعة مصر القديمة" (Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt) by Salim Hassan: This massive, foundational multi-volume encyclopedia by the father of Egyptian Egyptology provides the most exhaustive Arabic-language analysis of Amenhotep II’s Year 3 and Year 9 Asiatic campaigns, breaking down the exact lists of thousands of Syrian and Apiru captives brought back to Egypt. Amenhotep II and His Time: The Discovery of the Pharaoh's Tomb edited by Patrizia Piacentini and Christian Orsenigo Ancient Records of Egypt (Volume II: The Eighteenth Dynasty) by James Henry Breasted Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt by Peter A. Clayton The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity by Salima Ikram and Aidan Dodson #pourtoi #creatorsearchinsight #ancientegypt #pharaoh #creepyfacts - @merikare_