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| "Now when this majesty arose as king, the temple of the gods and goddesses beginning from Elephantine to the marshes of the Delta...had fallen into neglect. Their shrines had fallen into desolation and became land overrun with the rata-plants. Their sanctuaries were as they had never been, their halls were a trodden path The land was in confusion, the gods forsook this land..." [29] However, we will not enter into the religious implications of all this and return to the important consideration of the tender age of the king of Egypt. Regarding the reign of Tutankhamun, I believe scholars have been all too quiet on one point: They can accept very readily that Thutmose III needed a regent when his father died and can even be placid about the fact that Hatshepsut was "Senior King" so long after Thutmose had reached his majority. But nobody seems to think that little Tutankhamun, if it is held so certainly that he was eight when he acceded, required a regent, too. People say "Tutankhamun was a puppet with Ay probably pulling the strings"--but there is always an Ay. Even the court of Thutmose III had one, if not several. The reason I think that a female regent was probably thought a very good thing in ancient Egypt was that she could be counted on to take the advice of men--but no man would have too much power over the immature heir. Then, ultimately, she could be relied upon to give way to the latter. However, in the case of Hatshepsut, all this backfired. But every woman is not a Hatshepsut. Under the circumstances, it makes very good sense to me that we should seek such a regent at the end of the 18th Dynasty. However, that is not to say that Ay did not play a forceful, if not vital, part in this particular government. That is why, I think Manetho gives the woman-king "Akencheres" twelve years and a month of rule (as reported by Josephus). It is nothing more than a combination of her first three years as regent and the next nine as wife of the king, Tutankhamun. Because after three years the heir was of sufficient age to assume his kingship--and be married.[In ancient Egypt people were wed as early as 10 or 12]. It is not until her husband has died that the troubles of Ankhesenamun really seem to begin. Certainly, after the demise of Tutankhamun, the queen makes it clear that she is willing and able to assist another young man in becoming King of Egypt. Ankhesenamun has no son and is obviously trying to establish herself as the living heir of the royal house at the same time that Ay, the chancellor, was attempting to gain control. [33] If that is true, there can be no better reason for her to send to Hatti for a son of a powerful king to underwrite her plans. Ankhesenamun understood the political climate of the day and knew that marrying the Hittite was her only chance to remain the first lady of the land even though, with a husband, she could not actually be "pharaoh". This is the famous letter that was written to an astonished King Suppiluliumas and is from the annals compiled by his son, Mursilis, who wrote: CONTINUE |