[6] A probable son of Psusennes I and his queen Mutnedjmet,[7] Amenemope succeeded his purported father's long reign after a period of coregency.

Amenemope's authority was fully recognized at Thebes – at this time governed by the High Priest of Amun Smendes II and then by his brother Pinedjem II[13] – as his name appears on funerary goods of at least nine Theban burials, among these is the Book of the Dead of the "Captain of the barque of Amun", Pennestawy, dating to Amenemope's Year 5.

[14] All versions of Manetho's Epitome reports that Amenophthis (Amenemope's Hellenised name) enjoyed 9 years of reign, a duration more or less confirmed by archaeological sources.

According to the analysis of his skeleton performed by Dr. Douglas Derry, Amenemope was a strongly-built man who reached a fairly advanced age.

[14][19] His undisturbed tomb was rediscovered by French Egyptologists Pierre Montet and Georges Goyon in April 1940, just a month before the Nazi invasion of France.