Horemheb was the commander in chief of the army under the reigns of Tutankhamun and Ay, and even though he was a commoner, he became the final pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty.
Horemheb had begun his military career during the chaotic reign of Akhenaten, when ascended to the throne his name was Amenhotep IV, In the fifth year of his reign Akhenaten abruptly changed his observance from the cult of Amun to that of Aten, he closed all the temples, the ancient Egyptian Gods 'earthly homes' and he insisted that there was only one God, the Aten. Akhenaten ignored developments beyond Egypt’s borders and even most events outside of his palace at Akhetaten, he brought Egypt to the verge of chaos and used most of its wealth to fulfil his own dreams
After his death, it was declared that Akhenaten was a heretic pharoah, his son Tutenhaten changed his name to Tutenkhamun and became pharoah. Because of Tutenkhamuns young age, he was nine years old when he ascended to the throne, he was guided by both Ay and Horemheb. It is thought that Tutankhamun even intended for Horemheb to be the sovereign because he made him the 'Hereditary Crown Prince' before his death.
Horemheb eventually took the throne after Ay’s death, he became the king after a military coup, his throne name, Djeserkheperure Setepenre, means "Holy are the Manifestations of Re, showing his support of the God Amun. Once Horemheb became king, he recommenced rebuilding the earthly home of the major God, Amun Ra (at Karnack Temple) that had been desecrated during Akhenaton’s revolution. The image below is actually an image of Tutenkhamun, but Horemheb has erased Tutenkhamuns name and replaced it with his own, also it is interesting to notice that the image has the look of Armarna art, not traditional Ancient Egyptian art.
To strengthen his rise to pharaoh Horemheb married a songstress of Amun, the lady named Mutnodjmet, who was the sister of Akhenatens beautiful wife Nefertiti. Mutnodjmet was Horemhebs second wife, but she sadly died in child birth.
After his accession to the throne it was considered that Horemheb was the ruler who brought stability back to Ancient Egypt after the turmoil of Akhenatens reign, who had abolished the worship of Amun Ra and all the major gods, closing the temples in favour of worshipping one God, the Aten, and creation of a new capitol by Akhenaten known at Akhetaten during the Armarna Period, which saw many changes including the art work of the temples and tombs
During the Amenhoteps reign he changed his name to Akhenaten, and to express his devotion to the Aten, and he created a temple outside the boundaries of the Precinct of Amon-Re, Karnack Temple to its east. This temple in the complex was named Gempaaten, which means 'The Sun Disc is Found in the Estate of the God Aten' Very little of Akhenatens buildings remain; they were built quickly, using Talatat blocks, and could therefore easily be demolished . There is a wall of Akhenatens Talatat on display in Luxor Museum. Once Horemheb became Pharaoh he demolished all the monuments created by Akhenaten, which would deny Akhenaten an eternal afterlife, and he used the rubble in his own building projects, and he also usurped monuments of Tutankhamun and Ay. Horemheb built two pylons in the precincts of Karnack temple, the ninth and tenth pylon, and a gateway for himself. Amenhotep III who was the father of Akhenaten, and grandfather of Tutankhamun originally began the construction on the tenth pylon, but only the lowest courses were completed before his death. Amenhotep 111 was considered to be a great King, unlike his son Akhenaten. In an effort to erase the memory of Akhenaten’s heresy, Horemheb took down Akhenaten’s temple, and filled his ninth pylon with the blocks of Akhenaten's temple. The pylon towers depict Horemheb in the classic Egyptian style, with Horemheb symbolically much larger than the enemies that he is 'smiting' To express that the King is powerful and has cast down his enemies. The walls of the court were inscribed with scenes showing Horemheb making the journey to the exotic foreign land called Punt and returning with fabulous treasures.
It was during the reign of Horemheb that the first attempts were made to eradicate Akhenaten out of Egyptian history, Horemheb began repairing the temples of Amun, as well as restoring its priesthood. however, realizing the problems that this powerful priesthood caused for previous kings, he chose military men who's loyalties he could trust to be appointed as priests. Horemheb also usurped all of Tutankhamen’s monuments. Every monument that Tutankhamen had been advised to erect, Horemheb erased the name of Tutankhamun and replaced with his own name.
When Horemheb died without an heir, he choose his faithful comrade-in-arms, Pa-Ramessu to rule, Pa-Ramessu became known as Ramses 1, he was the father of Seti 1 and Grandfather of Ramses the Great. Rameses 1 mummy can be seen in the Military wing of Luxor Museum.
Horemheb had two tombs, the one he commissioned for himself when he was a General at Saqqara, and when he became king he had another tomb (KV 57) created in the Valley of the Kings, which was unfinished by the time of his death. The entrance to the tomb was discovered by Davis and his co-worker Edward R. Ayrton on the 25th February 1908.
The decoration of the tomb, which used raised relief work on a base of blue paint, is of a high quality. On its discovery, by Davis, the tomb was found to still contain several items of interest. These included a red granite sarcophagus and a calcite canopic chest, the mummy of Horemheb has never been found
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