Amarna succession

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The succession of kings at the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt is a matter of great debate and confusion. There are very few contemporary records that can be relied upon, due to the nature of the Amarna Period and the reign of Akhenaten and his successors and possible co-regents. It is known that Akhenaten reigned for seventeen years, and it was previously believed that in the last 3 or 4 years, he had two co-regents: Smenkhkare, who was possibly his brother or son, and Neferneferuaten, who was either one of his daughters or his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti. It is unknown in which order they followed each other, and neither of their reigns lasted long, for Tutankhamun succeeded not long after Akhenaten's death.

The last dated appearance of Akhenaten and the Amarna family is in the tomb of Meryre II, and dates from second month, year 12 of his reign. [1] After this the historical record is unclear, and only with the succession of Tutankhamun is it somewhat clarified.

However, the coregency theory has been called into question by the December 2012 announcement of the discovery of a Year 16 III Akhet day 15 inscription dated explicitly to Akhenaten's reign which mentions, in the same breath, the presence of Queen Nefertiti--or the "Great Royal Wife, His Beloved, Lady of the Two Lands, Neferneferuaten Nefertiti"--in its third line. [2] The badly legible five line text, found in a limestone quarry at Deir el-Bersha "mentions a building project in Amarna"--Egypt's political capital under Akhenaten and was deciphered and published by Athena Van der Perre in a 2014 article. [3] This means that Nefertiti was still Akhenaten's living wife late in this pharaoh's 16th year (and second last year); [4] thus, the Amarna pharaohs Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten could only have succeeded to the throne in Akhenaten's 16th year in a brief 9 month coregency or have had an independent reign of their own over Egypt which lasted for around two full years after this king's death.

The royal line of the dynasty died out with Tutankhamun, for two foetuses found buried in his tomb are likely to have been his daughters, according to a 2008 investigation. [5]

Sources

The Coregency Stela, found in a tomb in Amarna possibly shows his queen Nefertiti as his coregent, ruling alongside him.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akhenaten</span> 18th Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh

Akhenaten, also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning c. 1353–1336 or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Before the fifth year of his reign, he was known as Amenhotep IV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nefertiti</span> Wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten

Nefertiti was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for their radical overhaul of state religious policy, in which they promoted the earliest known form of monotheism, Atenism, centered on the sun disc and its direct connection to the royal household. With her husband, she reigned at what was arguably the wealthiest period of ancient Egyptian history. After her husband's death, some scholars believe that Nefertiti ruled briefly as the female king known by the throne name, Neferneferuaten and before the ascension of Tutankhamun, although this identification is a matter of ongoing debate. If Nefertiti did rule as Pharaoh, her reign was marked by the fall of Amarna and relocation of the capital back to the traditional city of Thebes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiye</span> Queen consort of Egypt

Tiye was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III, mother of pharaoh Akhenaten and grandmother of pharaoh Tutankhamun; her parents were Yuya and Thuya. In 2010, DNA analysis confirmed her as the mummy known as "The Elder Lady" found in the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV35) in 1898.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nefertiti Bust</span> Ancient sculpture from Egypt

The Nefertiti Bust is a painted stucco-coated limestone bust of Nefertiti, the Great Royal Wife of Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten. It is on display in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smenkhkare</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Smenkhkare was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of unknown background who lived and ruled during the Amarna Period of the 18th Dynasty. Smenkhkare was husband to Meritaten, the daughter of his likely co-regent, Akhenaten. Since the Amarna period was subject to a large-scale condemnation of memory by later Pharaohs, very little can be said of Smenkhkare with certainty, and he has hence been subject to immense speculation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiya</span> Queen consort of Egypt

Kiya was one of the wives of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Little is known about her, and her actions and roles are poorly documented in the historical record, in contrast to those of Akhenaten's ‘Great royal wife’, Nefertiti. Her unusual name suggests that she may originally have been a Mitanni princess. Surviving evidence demonstrates that Kiya was an important figure at Akhenaten's court during the middle years of his reign, when she had a daughter with him. She disappears from history a few years before her royal husband's death. In previous years, she was thought to be mother of Tutankhamun, but recent DNA evidence suggests this is unlikely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ay (pharaoh)</span> Egyptian pharaoh of the late 18th Dynasty (14th century BCE)

Ay was the penultimate pharaoh of ancient Egypt's 18th Dynasty. He held the throne of Egypt for a brief four-year period in the late 14th century BC. Prior to his rule, he was a close advisor to two, and perhaps three, other pharaohs of the dynasty. It is speculated that he was the power behind the throne during child ruler Tutankhamun's reign. His prenomenKheperkheperure means "Everlasting are the Manifestations of Ra," while his nomenAy it-netjer reads as "Ay, Father of the God." Records and monuments that can be clearly attributed to Ay are rare, both because his reign was short and because his successor, Horemheb, instigated a campaign of damnatio memoriae against him and the other pharaohs associated with the unpopular Amarna Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meritaten</span> Great Royal Wife, Kings Daughter

Meritaten, also spelled Merytaten, Meritaton or Meryetaten, was an ancient Egyptian royal woman of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Her name means "She who is beloved of Aten"; Aten being the sun-deity whom her father, Pharaoh Akhenaten, worshipped. She held several titles, performing official roles for her father and becoming the Great Royal Wife to Pharaoh Smenkhkare, who may have been a brother or son of Akhenaten. Meritaten also may have served as pharaoh in her own right under the name Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ankhesenamun</span> Royal Wife of Tutankhamun

Ankhesenamun was a queen who lived during the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. Born Ankhesenpaaten, she was the third of six known daughters of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti. She became the Great Royal Wife of Tutankhamun. The change in her name reflects the changes in ancient Egyptian religion during her lifetime after her father's death. Her youth is well documented in the ancient reliefs and paintings of the reign of her parents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atenism</span> Religion founded by Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten

Atenism, also known as the Aten religion, the Amarna religion, and the Amarna heresy, was a religion in ancient Egypt. It was founded by Akhenaten, a pharaoh who ruled the New Kingdom under the Eighteenth Dynasty. The religion is described as monotheistic or monolatristic, although some Egyptologists argue that it was actually henotheistic. Atenism was centred on the cult of Aten, a god depicted as the disc of the Sun. Aten was originally an aspect of Ra, Egypt's traditional solar deity, though he was later asserted by Akhenaten as being the superior of all deities. In the 14th century BC, Atenism was Egypt's state religion for around 20 years, and Akhenaten met the worship of other gods with persecution; he closed many traditional temples, instead commissioning the construction of Atenist temples, and also suppressed religious traditionalists. However, subsequent pharaohs toppled the movement in the aftermath of Akhenaten's death, thereby restoring Egyptian civilization's traditional polytheistic religion. Large-scale efforts were then undertaken to remove from Egypt and Egyptian records any presence or mention of Akhenaten, Atenist temples, and assertions of a uniquely supreme god.

The Amarna Period was an era of Egyptian history during the later half of the Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen was shifted to Akhetaten in what is now Amarna. It was marked by the reign of Amenhotep IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten in order to reflect the dramatic change of Egypt's polytheistic religion into one where the sun disc Aten was worshipped over all other gods. The Egyptian pantheon was restored under Akhenaten's successor, Tutankhamun.

Penthu was an Egyptian noble who bore the titles of sealbearer of the King of Lower Egypt, the sole companion, the attendant of the Lord of the Two Lands, the favorite of the good god, king's scribe, the king's subordinate, First servant of the Aten in the mansion of the Aten in Akhetaten, Chief of physicians, and chamberlain. These titles alone show how powerful he would have been in Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meryre II</span> Ancient Egyptian official

Meryre II was an ancient Egyptian noble known as the superintendent of Queen Nefertiti, and held the title of royal scribe, steward, overseer of the two treasuries, overseer of the royal harem of Nefertiti. He had a tomb constructed at Amarna, although his remains have never been identified. The tomb has the last dated appearance of Akhenaten and the Amarna family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neferneferuaten Tasherit</span> Kings Daughter

Neferneferuaten Tasherit or Neferneferuaten the younger was an ancient Egyptian princess of the 18th Dynasty and the fourth daughter of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neferneferure</span> Kings Daughter

Neferneferure was an ancient Egyptian princess of the 18th Dynasty. She was the fifth of six known daughters of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti.

Ankhkheperure-Merit-Neferkheperure/Waenre/Aten Neferneferuaten was a name used to refer to a female king who reigned toward the end of the Amarna Period during the Eighteenth Dynasty. Her gender is confirmed by feminine traces occasionally found in the name and by the epithet Akhet-en-hyes, incorporated into one version of her nomen cartouche. She is distinguished from the king Smenkhkare who used the same throne name, Ankhkheperure, by the presence of epithets in both cartouches. She is suggested to have been either Smenkhkare's wife, Meritaten or, his predecessor's widow, Nefertiti. If this person is Nefertiti ruling as sole king, it has been theorized by Egyptologist and archaeologist Zahi Hawass that her reign was marked by the fall of Amarna and relocation of the capital back to the traditional city of Thebes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coregency Stela</span> Ancient Egyptian stela

The Coregency Stela is an ancient Egyptian stela dating from the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. It consists of seven limestone fragments, which were found in a tomb at Amarna. The tablet shows the figures of Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Meritaten. At some time after the stela was made, Nefertiti's name had been chiselled out and was replaced with Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten, the name of Akhenaten's co-regent. At the same time Meritaten's name was replaced with that of Ankhesenpaaten, Akhenaten and Nefertiti's third daughter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt</span> Dynasty of Egypt from c. 1550 to 1292 BCE

The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty spanned the period from 1550/1549 to 1292 BC. This dynasty is also known as the Thutmosid Dynasty for the four pharaohs named Thutmose.

The Amarna Era includes the reigns of Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun and Ay. The period is named after the capital city established by Akhenaten, son of Amenhotep III. Akhenaten started his reign as Amenhotep IV, but changed his name when he discarded all other religions and declared the Aten or sun disc as the only god. He closed all the temples of the other Gods and removed their names from the monuments. Smenkhkare, then Tutankhamun, succeeded Akhenaten. Discarding Akhenten's religious beliefs, Tutankhamun returned to the traditional gods. He died young and was succeeded by Ay. Many kings did their best to remove all traces of the period from the records. The Amarna art is very distinctive: the royal family was portrayed with extended heads, long necks and narrow chests. They had skinny limbs, but heavy hips and thighs, with a marked stomach.

References

  1. James P. Allen. "The Amarna Succession" (PDF). p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 1, 2013. Retrieved 2008-06-23., reprinted from Brand, Peter and Cooper, Louise, Causing His Name to Live: Studies in Egyptian Epigraphy and History in Memory of William J. Murnane (Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 37), (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2009).
  2. Athena Van der Perre, "Nofretetes (vorerst) letzte dokumentierte Erwähnung," in: Im Licht von Amarna - 100 Jahre Fund der Nofretete. [Katalog zur Ausstellung Berlin, 07.12.2012 - 13.04.2013]. (December 7, 2012-April 13, 2013) Petersberg, pp.195-197
  3. Athena Van der Perre, The Year 16 graffito of Akhenaten in Dayr Abū Ḥinnis. A Contribution to the Study of the Later Years of Nefertiti, Journal of Egyptian History. 7 (1), (2014) pp.72-73
  4. Athena Van der Perre, The Year 16 graffito of Akhenaten in Dayr Abū Ḥinnis. A Contribution to the Study of the Later Years of Nefertiti, Journal of Egyptian History. 7 (1), (2014) pp.77
  5. Khanna, Aditi (2008-09-01). "Bodies found in the tomb of 'boy king' Tutankhamun's tomb are twin daughters". Times Online. London. Retrieved 2008-09-01.