Ankhesenamun


Ankhesenamun was a queen of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Born Ankhesenpaaten she was the third of six known daughters of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti, and became the Great Royal Wife of her half-brother 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. Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun shared the same father but Tutankhamun's mother has recently been identified through DNA analysis as one of Akhenaten's sisters, a daughter of Amenhotep III.
Ankhesenamun was definitely married to one king; she was the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. It is also possible that she was briefly married to Tutankhamun's successor, Ay, believed by some to be her maternal grandfather. It has also been posited that she may have been the Great Royal Wife of her father, Akhenaten, after the possible death of her mother, and co-regent of Akhenaten's immediate successor, Smenkhkare.
Recent DNA tests released in February 2010 have also speculated that one of two late 18th Dynasty queens buried in KV21 could be her mummy. Both mummies are thought, because of DNA, to be members of the ruling house.

Early life

Ankhesenpaaten was born in a time when Egypt was in the midst of an unprecedented religious revolution. Her father had abandoned the old deities of Egypt in favor of the Aten, hitherto a minor aspect of the sun-god, characterised as the sun's disc.
She is believed to have been born in Waset, around year 4 of her father's reign but probably grew up in the new capital city of Akhetaten. The three eldest daughters – Meritaten, Meketaten, and Ankhesenpaaten – became the "Senior Princesses" and participated in many functions of the government and religion.

Later life

She is believed to have been married first to her own father. This was not unusual for Egyptian royal families. She is thought to have been the mother of the princess Ankhesenpaaten Tasherit, although the parentage is unclear.
After her father's death and the short reigns of Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten, she became the wife of Tutankhamun. Following their marriage, the couple honored the deities of the restored religion by changing their names to Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun. The couple appear to have had two stillborn daughters. As Tutankhamun's only known wife was Ankhesenamun, it is highly likely the fetuses found in Tutankhamun's tomb are her daughters. Some time in the ninth year of his reign, at about the age of eighteen, Tutankhamun died suddenly, leaving Ankhesenamun alone without an heir at about age twenty-one.
A blue glass ring of unknown provenance obtained in 1931 depicts the prenomen of Ay and the name of Ankhesenamun enclosed in cartouches. This indicates that Ankhesenamun married Ay shortly before she disappeared from history, although no monuments show her as a royal consort. On the walls of Ay's tomb it is Tey, not Ankhesenamun, who appears as queen. She probably died during or shortly after his reign and no burial has been found for her yet.

Hittite letters

A document was found in the ancient Hittite capital of Hattusa which dates to the Amarna period: the so-called "Deeds" of Suppiluliuma I. The Hittite ruler receives a letter from the Egyptian queen, while being in siege on Karkemish. The letter reads:
My husband has died and I have no son. They say about you that you have many sons. You might give me one of your sons to become my husband. I would not wish to take one of my subjects as a husband... I am afraid.

This document is considered extraordinary, as Egyptians traditionally considered foreigners to be inferior. Suppiluliuma I was surprised and exclaimed to his courtiers:
Nothing like this has happened to me in my entire life!

Understandably, he was wary, and had an envoy investigate, but by so doing, he missed his chance to bring Egypt into his empire. He eventually did send one of his sons, Zannanza, but the prince died, perhaps murdered, en route.
The identity of the queen who wrote the letter is uncertain. She is called Dakhamunzu in the Hittite annals, a possible transliteration of the Egyptian title Tahemetnesu. Possible candidates are Nefertiti, Meritaten, and Ankhesenamun. Ankhesenamun once seemed likely since there were no candidates for the throne on the death of her husband Tutankhamun, whereas Akhenaten had at least two legitimate successors. but this was based on a 27-year reign for the last 18th pharaoh Horemheb who is now accepted to have had a shorter reign of only 14 years. This makes the deceased Egyptian king appear to be Akhenaten instead rather than Tutankhamun. The phrase regarding marriage to 'one of my subjects' is possibly a reference to the Grand Vizier Ay or a secondary member of the Egyptian royal family line. Since Nefertiti was depicted as powerful as her husband in official monuments smiting Egypt's enemies, she might be the Dakhamunzu in the Amarna correspondence as Nicholas Reeves believes. Ankhesenamun may have been pressured by Ay to marry him and legitimise his claim to the throne of Egypt.

Mummy KV21A

DNA testing announced in February 2010 has speculated that her mummy is one of two 18th Dynasty queens recovered from KV21 in the Valley of the Kings.
The two fetuses found buried with Tutankhamun have been proven to be his children, and the current theory is that Ankhesenamun, his only known wife, is their mother. However, not enough data was obtained to make more than a tentative identification. Nevertheless, the KV21a mummy has DNA consistent with the 18th Dynasty royal line.

KV63

After excavating the tomb KV63 it is speculated that it was designed for Ankhesenamun due to its proximity to the tomb of Tutankhamun's KV62. Also found in the tomb were coffins, women's clothing, jewelry and natron. Fragments of pottery bearing the partial name Paaten were also in the tomb. The only royal person known to bear this name was Ankhesenamun, whose name was originally Ankhesenpaaten. However, there were no mummies found in KV63.

In popular culture

Ankhesenpaaten/Ankhesenamum appears as a fictionalized character in these works: