Amenhotep kept his vast empire in check through a mixture of diplomacy, royal intermarriage and cunning. He undertook a great building programme, including harbours, canals and his great funerary temple at Thebes – the largest in Egypt.

He was the first Pharoah to send out royal bulletins, carved on stone tablets and was a lover of art and antiquities.

He was also a skilful politician; while continuing to embellish the state temple of Amun at Karnak, he quietly countered the growing power of Amun’s clergy by promoting a new religion: the worship of the ancient sun god Re (or Ra).