King Amenhotep I

18th Dyn.

Limestone, painted

Turin Museum

Second Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt.

His reign is generally dated from 1526 to 1506 BC.

He was a son of Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari, but had at least two elder brothers, Ahmose-ankh and Ahmose Sapair, and was not expected to inherit the throne.

However, sometime in the eight years between Ahmose I's 17th regnal year and his death, his heir apparent died and Amenhotep became crown prince.

He then acceded to the throne and ruled for about 21 years.

It was probably Amenhotep I who founded the artisans village at Deir el-Medina, whose inhabitants were responsible for much of the art which filled the tombs in the Theban Necropolis for the following generations of New Kingdom rulers and nobles.

The earliest name found there is that of Thutmose I, however Amenhotep was clearly an important figure to the city's workmen since he and his mother were both its patron deities.

It appears that during Amenhotep I's reign the first water clock was invented.

Amenhotep's court astronomer Amenemheb took credit for creating this device in his tomb biography, although the oldest surviving mechanism dates to the reign of Amenhotep III.

This invention was of great benefit for timekeeping, because the Egyptian hour was not a fixed amount of time, but was measured as 1/12 of the night.

When the nights were shorter in the summer, these waterclocks could be adjusted to measure the shorter hours accurately.