Amenhotep II's upbringing was carefully guided by his warrior father, with great emphasis on physical strength, skills of warfare, and sportsmanship. Amenhotep never tired of boasting of his feats in these skills, and he was even buried with his great bow.

Amenhotep's first campaign was against uprisings in northern Syria, during which he extracted loyalty oaths from other Asiatic princes. Returning from Asia, he forwarded the body of a rebel Asiatic chief to the Nubian capital, where it was hung on the town wall as an example. His second campaign was less ambitious, reaching only to the Sea of Galilee (Galilee, Sea of), but after it Amenhotep received gifts from Mitanni, Babylon, and the Hittites (Hittite). No further northern wars occurred, which suggests that a balance of power had been achieved.

Within Egypt, many of his father's administrators continued to serve Amenhotep, and the king completed some buildings begun by Thutmose III. He also built a number of new sanctuaries in Upper Egypt and Nubia and added his mortuary temple in western Thebes. Amenhotep's mummy was discovered in the Valley of the Kings (Kings, Valley of the) at Thebes, in his fine well-preserved tomb, which had been used as one of the caches for the safekeeping of royal mummies that had been reembalmed in the 21st dynasty (Egypt, ancient) (1075–c. 950 BCE) following the closure of the Valley of the Kings.