ankh8

And so the daring maneuver of the queen availed nothing and only had more tragic consequences. Ay won out, even marrying Ankhesenamun, a true king's daughter, to lend him legitimacy. However, after that she abruptly disappears and the woman who is depicted as Ay's queen in his royal tomb is the same wife he had when he was a commoner. This power struggle between Ankhesenamun and Ay--and perhaps Horemheb, too--is the scenario that makes the most sense to me, particularly given the fact that the Hittite prince was murdered before he could cement this most formidable alliance with the widow of Tutankhamun. And so Ankhesenamun does not get a foreign husband. She gets the elderly , Ay, who was possibly her own grandfather. That is why I believe Manetho (according to Josephus) has "Akencheres" again after "Rathotis". And that is why he gives this individual the same approximate reign, as the previous "Akencheres"--because it is the same person, but who adds on four more months of reign.

Perhaps that is how long Ankhesenamun lasted on her own before she married Ay--just four months--the time it took to mummify and bury Tutankhamun. After that, Ay having died or been deposed, the general, Horemheb, takes the stage in a starring role.

One cannot help but think that Ankhesenamun really may have looked forward to marrying Prince Zannanza, even though he was a foreigner and therefore an unsuitable spouse for a queen of Egypt, because she may have viewed it as her one chance to get a man who was neither too young nor too old and, best of all, not related to her in any way.

Footnotes to text: [But out of order, as the text has been modified from the longer original]

[1]It is my opinion that the most compelling argument for such a co-regency is the mummy of Akhenaten's mother, Queen Tiye, anatomical signs dictating that she must have been under fifty at death.

[3] The French scholar, Marc Gabolde, has published a 300 page study of the period from year12 of Akhenaten to the accession of Tutankhamun, D'Akhenaton a Toutankhamon (Paris, 1998). He cites the remnants of textual evidence that the child depicted in the scenes is born of Nefertiti, the Chief Wife of Akhenaten.

[4] Harris, J.R., 'Neferneferuaten Regnans', Acta Orientalia 36 (1974), 11 ff; Samson, Julia, "Nefertiti and Cleopatra, Queen-Monarchs of Ancient Egypt" (London, 1997)

[21]The ancient historians say there were five female pharaohs of dynastic Egypt. Manetho, himself, seems to have written that, in the Second Dynasty, a law was handed down allowing women to succeed (presumably if there was no male heir). Mentioned by the ancients are "Nitocris" (Neith-iqert) of Dynasty VI, "Skemiophris" (Sebeknofrure), Dynasty XII, "Amessis" or "Amensis" (Hatshepsut), Dynasty XVIII, and "Akencheris" (Ankhkheperure?), Dynasty XVIII. Also mentioned is a "Thoueris" of Dynasty XIX, supposedly a man, but who may be confused with Tawosret, a putative daughter of King Merenptah who declared herself queen with full pharaonic titles. Most of the five "woman kings" ushered out their own dynasties, with the exception of Hatshepsut.

[23]Allen, James P., "Akhenaten's Mystery Co-regent and Successor", KMT's, "Amarna Letters", Vol. One, Fall 1991.

[24]Dodson, Aidan, "King's Valley Tomb 55 and the Fates of the Amarna Kings", Amarna Letters, Vol. Three, KMT Publications.

[27] Ankhesenamun, as "Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten", may have had some funerary equipment in readiness, but why this queen would never have been interred as a "pharaoh" is only too obvious.

[28] Graffito from tomb of Pawah.

[29]John Bennett, "The Restoration Inscription of Tutankhamun," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 25 (1939)

[33] The possibility that Ankhesenamun resided at Memphis and Ay at Thebes may be a factor that enabled her to have a brief autonomy.

[34] Thinking they were next. However, Mursilis did not understand the personal motives of the queen.

[35] Phonologically, this almost certainly corresponds to "Nebkheperure".

[36] Albrecht Goetze's translation is included in the ANET for the letter "Suppiluliumas and the Egyptian Queen", p. 319, and p.395 mentions the murder of the prince on his way to Egypt, in the "Plague Prayers of Mursilis"