Akhenaten also called Amenhotep IV
Son of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and his Great Royal Wife Tiy, Akhenaten is shown as a deformed, effeminate character, who has proved of great interest to Egyptologists since he first became known to them in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Given the birth name Amenhotep, after his father, Akhenaten began his reign as Amenhotep IV, changing his name to Akhenaten in year 5 of his reign. The early years of his reign were spent in Thebes, but in year 5 he began building his new city of Akhetaten dedicated to his favourite god, the Aten. Akhenaten, as he became known, spent the rest of his life living in his new city of Akhetaten, built on the site of modern day Amarna.
Despite his strange feminine shape, Akhenaten was married to the ‘Great Royal Wife’ Nefertiti and fathered six daughters by Nefertiti. His life appears to have been spent in his new city worshipping the [[Aten]], rewarding his nobles or playing with his children. These images of a Pharaoh are unusual, as previously, Egyptian kings had always been shown as brave, unemotional men. Akhenaten was changing the rules.
Akhenaten has been accused of destroying the old established Egyptian religion, and of bringing Egypt to its knees diplomatically and economically. Here again, there is no unequivocal evidence of any such destruction and scenes of foreign tribute shown in the rock tombs at Akhetaten would suggest that Egypt was still incredibly powerful at the end of Akhenaten’s reign. There is no contemporary evidence of the people of Egypt abandoning their old gods either.
Much has been written about Pharaoh Akhenaten, and arguments have raged over whether he ruled alone or as a co-regent with his father. The latest research has shown that there was a full co-regency of 11/12 years, and that Akhenaten died very soon after his father.
Plague was rife throughout Egypt and its neighbouring countries in the late 18th dynasty and it is seems likely that several members of the royal family died of this disease soon after entertaining foreign guests at the city of Akhetaten. His third daughter Ankesenpaaten, later known as [[Ankhesenamen]] survived, and married the future Pharaoh Tutankhamen.
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For everyone interested in the Amarna period of Ancient Egyptian History.
Ankhesenpa-aten – Jezebel or tragic Queen?
Photos above: Newberry’s ring and Suppiliuma
Of the many stories surrounding the aftermath of the Amarna period, the mysteries surrounding the fate of Ankhesenpa-aten are some of the most fascinating. When her husband, Tutankhamen died, did she try to sell herself to a Hittite prince to retain control of Egypt? Did she marry Aye, the ageing successor to Tutankhamen? Or did she just fade away?
Ankhesenpa-aten was the third daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. She is clearly shown in the many family scenes uncovered when the site of the ancient city Akhetaten was uncovered in the nineteenth century. She is believed to have been born in Waset (present-day Thebes), but grew up in her father’s new city of Akhetaten (present-day Amarna).
After her father’s death, Ankhesenpa-aten married the young Tutankhaten, and both soon changed their names to Ankhesenamen and Tutankhamen. She is shown in many scenes as a doting wife, ministering to her husband – more often as a mothering figure, but clearly devoted to her young husband.
Tutankhamen died, aged around eighteen. Ankhesenamen could not have been more than twenty one years old. What happens to her is a mystery.
In The Deeds of Suppiliuma as told by his son Mursilli, we read of an extraordinary event. Suppiluliuma I was king of the Hittites (ca. 1344 – 1322 BC?) He achieved fame as a great warrior and statesman, successfully challenging the Egyptian empire for control of the lands between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. The “Deeds of Suppiluliuma”, compiled after his death by his son Mursilli is an important primary source for the king’s reign. One of Suppiluliuma’s letters, addressed to Akhenaten, was preserved in the Amarna letters (EA 41) archive at Akhetaten. It expresses his hope that the good relations which existed between Egypt and Hatti under Akhenaten’s father, Amenhotep III would continue into Akhenaten’s new reign.
The Deeds were translated in full by Hans Gustav Guterbock and published in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies in 1956.
The part of the translation that has aroused so much interest reads:
“But when the people of Egypt heard of the attack on Amka, they were afraid. And since, in addition, their lord Nibhururiya had died, therefore the queen of Egypt, who was Dahamunza sent a messenger to my father and wrote to him thus ‘My husband died. A son I have not. But to thee, they say, the sons are many. If thou wouldst give me one son of thine, he would become my husband. Never shall I pick out a servant of mine and make him my husband! ——— I am afraid’”
When the texts were first translated, the Lord was thought to be Amenhotep III Neb maat re, but it was later taken to be Tutankhamen, Neb-kheper-u-re. The identity of Dahamunza has never been explained. Whilst Amenhotep III had many wives, most of whose names we do not know, we only know of Ankhesenamen as wife of Tutankhamen. No-one has ever suggested that Dahamunza be translated as Ankhesenamen. It has been suggested that Dahamunza simply means “Queen”, but the sentence would not make sense:
“the queen of Egypt, who was Queen”. If we are to set aside assumptions, the identity of this queen must remain a mystery – if she ever existed.
This story is being related by Mursilli, Suppiluliuma’s son. The story does not make sense, and we could be forgiven for thinking that this is an embroidered tale, related to justify Suppiluliuma’s later attacks on Egypt. The story ends with Zannanza, Suppiluliuma’s son and presumably Mursilli’s brother, being sent top Egypt, only to be murdered as he crossed the border!
There are huge flaws in this story. Once Suppiluliuma had read the letter from Egypt’s queen, he was suspicious. He thought it might be a trap and called together a “Great Council”. He told them “Such a thing has never happened to me in my whole life!” He queried the story, and asked the council if the queen really had no son.
At this point we must question the evidence. As Egypt’s neighbour, did the leader of the Hittites not know the Egyptian royal family? The two countries were often at war and each must have had spies in the other camp. Yet Suppiluliuma appears not to know. He sends a messenger to Egypt to find out.
The Deeds go on to explain that “when it became Spring, Hattusaziti (the messenger) came back”. He brought another message from this Queen, who appears indignant at having her word doubted. When it became Spring!
When Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen, and unwrapped his mummy, flowers were found around his neck. Flowers that only bloomed in Spring. So there was at least a year between the burial of Tutankhamen and the second indignant letter from Dahamunza. It would have taken a couple of months for her first letter to have reached Suppiluliuma, so it was most likely written eighteen months before Zannanza was finally sent to marry her.
On the wall of Tutankhamen’s burial chamber there is a scene showing Aye performing the “opening of the mouth” ceremony. Aye is already King. The mummification process takes 70 days. So, before Dahamunza’s first letter ever reached Suppiluliuma, Aye was crowned King —- and if we believe Percy Newberry, Ankhesenamen was already married to him.
In the early part of the 20th Century, Percy Newberry was shown a ring, supposedly found in an Antiquities shop in Cairo. It showed the cartouche of Aye next to that of Ankhesenamen. The implication was that Ankhesenamen married Aye to give him the right to take the throne of Egypt. As Aye was King less than 70 days after the death of Tutankhamen, if this marriage took place it had to have been earlier than that.
Even if Dahamunza was Ankhesenamen, and assuming she wrote her first letter to Suppiluliuma before she married Aye, why did she write the second letter a year later? And didn’t the Hittite messenger who returned from Egypt with the second letter notice that the lady in question had been queen for the past year or so?
Percy Newberry’s ring had no provenance, though. It was supposedly “found” in a shop and disappeared soon afterwards. It cannot be considered to be reliable evidence.
On the walls of Aye’s tomb it is Tey (Aye’s longstanding wife), not Ankhesenamen, who appears as queen. She probably died during or shortly after his reign and as of yet no burial has been found for her, but there is no mention of Ankhesenamen as his wife.
So, what happened to Ankhesenamen? It is doubtful that she could be identified as Dahamunza, and Newberry’s ring has no provenance. She appeared devoted to Tutankhamen, and it is most likely that she simply faded away.
Perhaps she returned to her childhood home of Akhetaten to live out her days with her younger sisters. Recent excavations have uncovered a tomb which appears to have belonged to one of these sisters. Perhaps hers is the image carved as a bust and now on display in the Berlin museum —- claimed to be the likeness of her mother, Nefertiti.
This book is not a fringe book relating to ancient Egypt, but rather one which sets out to actually dispel many of the myths and pure speculation surrounding the Amarna period. It will encourage serious debate amongst general readers interested in ancient Egypt, academics and scholars alike. The life of people living at the time, and the many intriguing events surrounding the royal families of the 18th dynasty (c.1300 BCE) in particular has fascinated people for generations. Many of these traditions were apparently broken at the end of the 18th dynasty, with the advent of the so called heretic Pharaoh , Akhenaten. Superficially there seem to be many more questions than answers.
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