There is little known about Ankhesenamun (meaning “She lives through
Amun” or “Living through Amun”). She was initially known through her
birth name of Ankhesenpaaten (meaning “She lives through the Aten”
or “Living through the Aten”) in her earlier years of life. Written,
throughout history, are variations of her name as this was altered
during her marriage to Tutankhamun. She was approximately thirteen
years old when she married Tutankhamun who was most likely her
half-brother. Tutankhamun was probably around eight years old at the
time that this marriage occurred. This history timeline is known as
the Amarna Period.
The alteration of names for both Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun
occurred as they changed their form of worship from one God to
another. Their reign initially included the worship of the God Aten
(known as “The Sun-Disc) and this eventually changed to the worship
of the God Amun (known as the “The Hidden One”). Sometimes
Ankhesenamun is written as Ankhesenamon, Ankhesenamum, and other
variations on the name.
What is known about Ankhesenamun is that she was born the third
daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. History tells us that there
were at least six known daughters born to this famous couple;
Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten, Nefernefruaten ta-Sherit,
Nefernefrure, and Setepenre. The first three daughters appear to
have had a more prominent position in the family hierarchy as they
are depicted more frequently in pictures than the last three
daughters.
It appears that Akhenaten, Ankhesenamun’s father, may have attempted
to father children with the first three eldest daughters. It is
suggested that Ankhesenamun’s second eldest sister may have died
giving child birth. This is deducted from a scene found in the royal
tomb which portrays a vivid display of this occurrence (a woman
dying due to child birth). It is almost likely that Akhenaten also
fathered children from his other two daughter’s Meritaten and
Ankhesenamun. Those children carried the names of their respective
mothers with the addition of “ta-sherit” (junior) after their names.
Including “ta-sherit” to the name of children who had the same name
as their respective mothers, appeared to be the standard practice of
that time.
As Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s queen, disappears from history, Akhenaten
marries the eldest daughter Meritaten. She now becomes the Chief
Queen after her mother Nefertiti. Also during Akhenaten’s reign he
names Smenkhkare as co-regent (a person who would reign in
conjunction with him). It was sometimes the practice of Kings or
Pharoahs to name co-regents during their reign. Co-regents tended to
be son’s or proposed heirs to the throne. During this time,
Akhenaten decides to wed Meritaten (his daughter and current wife)
to Smenkhkare for his wife. Akhenaten then takes Ankhesenamun, the
third daughter, as his next new wife. Ankhesenamun now becomes the
Chief wife of Akhenaten for a short period.
It appears that shortly after, both Meritaten and Akhenaten die and
then Smenkhkare marries Ankhesenamun. History shows that they are
married for approximately one to three years and then Smenkhkare
also dies. Tutankhamun is named the next pharaoh and Ankhesenamun
and Tutankhamun are then married. Although both are still children,
Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun go on to rule Egypt over the next ten
years. During the ten years Ankhesenamun gives birth to two children
(both girls). Both girls are born premature and die. One of the
children is now known to have had a condition called Spengel’s
deformity in conjunction with spina bifida and scoliosis. The two
mummy encasements were found during the excavation of Tutankhamun’s
tomb.
During their reign, history shows that Tutankhamun had an official
adviser named Ay who most likely was the grandfather of
Ankhesenamun. In addition, it seems that Ay most likely took
advantage of the fact that both Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun were
very young and he most probably had a heavy hand in molding and
shaping Tutankhamun’s thinking in the early years. This likely
occurred as changes and decisions during those early years of
Tutankhamun’s rule carried the weight of a more-versed and
more-mature ruler and could not have been done by a child of eight
years old.
As Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun began to mature, Tutankhamun
suddenly died for no apparent reason. Tutankhamun was about 18 years
of age when he passed away and once again Ankhesenamun was left
without a husband. The standard mourning period was 70 days and it
appears that several major things occurred during this timeframe; 1)
Tutankhamun’s burial site seems to have been put together in a
haphazardly way, 2) Ankhesenamun is not mentioned or depicted at the
burial site or are there any personal items of Ankhesenamun buried
with Tutankhamun as this was the standard practice of including
“wifely items” with the dead pharaohs, and 3) History now shows us
that Ankhesenamun may have tried to contact the Hittite King
Suppiluliumas for help. King Suppiluliumas was a well-known enemy of
Egypt at that time.
Upon further review of Tutankhamun’s burial site, it seems that the
walls were not fully painted as would have been fitting for a
pharaoh of that time. Why? It also appears that many of the items
found in the tomb were borrowed and did not belong strictly to
Tutankhamun. Again the question is why? Speculation is that Ay, who
was most probably in control of the burial procedures, was in a
hurry to get everything completed and sealed as he may have been the
person responsible for Tutankhamun’s death. Why does speculation
lean toward that theory? Most likely because he had much control
over the rule of Egypt during Tutankhamun’s rule until the boy king
began to mature. He probably wanted him out of the way. In addition,
history shows that he married Ankhesenamun shortly after Tutankhamun
died and thereby became Egypt’s new pharaoh. Upon review of
Tutankhamun’s skull, there is some evidence that Tutankhamun may
have died a more brutal death than once thought and Ay is at the top
of the list as a possible murderer.
In addition, the standard practice of that time would have been to
mention and provide many items of the “Chief wife” of a pharaoh in a
burial site. Unfortunately, there is little mention of Ankhesenamun
at the burial site. The fact that any personal items belonging to
Ankhesenamun at Tutankhamun’s tomb are missing make things even more
suspicious. Why would this occur? Could it be that Ay may have been
planning to take Ankhesenamun (most probably his granddaughter) as
his wife and thereby become the new Pharaoh? It would not have been
fitting to have his new wife depicted in Tutankhamun’s tomb. By
marrying Ankhesenamun he would then have a direct link to the throne
and be more readily accepted as Egypt’s new ruling pharaoh.
The third suspicious piece to this puzzle is a letter sent to a
Hittite King named Suppiluliumas from an Eqyptian queen. There is
speculation that the letter could have been sent from another queen
because the names referenced in the letter do not specifically
mention Ankhesenamun or Tutankhamun but rather use the names
Dahamunzu and her dead husband Niphururiya. However, upon further
review of the Hittite phonetic translations of Egyptian language at
that time, it would have been translated to point towards
Ankhesenamun as the queen asking for help and Tutankhamun as the
king having died. The letter states, “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. Never shall I pick out a
servant of mine and make him my husband!...I am afraid!” Why would
Ankhesenamun be afraid? Could it be that she knew that Ay had
contributed to her husband’s death? Could it be that she had seen Ay
depicted in Tutankhamun’s tomb wearing the royal crown’s of Egypt
with his name clearly written in hieroglyphs as the presiding priest
over Tutankhamun’s picture?
Upon receiving the request for help from the Eqyptian queen, King
Suppiluliumas sent Hattusa-zita, a chamberlain, to verify that this
was a true request and not a plan of treachery. Hattusa-zita
returned verifying that this was not a scheme but rather a true plea
for help. King Suppiluliumas then sent his youngest son Zanannza to
marry the Egyptian queen (more than likely Ankhesenamun). Upon
entering Egypt the whole group was murdered.
Ankhesenamun was left with no other alternative than to marry Ay who
was at least 40 years her senior. A blue-glass finger ring has since
been found containing both Ankhesenamun and Ay’s engraved names.
This is further evidence that this marriage took place after
Tutankhamun’s death. Shortly thereafter, Ankhesenamun disappears
from history and even in Ay’s tomb there is no evidence that she was
the chief wife.
Rather, it is Tiy who appears in Ay’s tomb. But as history writes itself, Ankhesenamun had married 4 pharaohs in her short lifetime; Akhenaten (her father), Smenkhkare (more than likely her half brother), Tutankhamun (more than likely her half brother), and Ay (probably her grandfather).
