Ankhesenamun

Ankhesenpaaten was born in a time when Egypt was in the midst of an unprecedented religious revolution (c. 1348 BC). 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 (present-day Thebes), around year 4 of her father's reign but probably grew up in the new capital city of Akhetaten (present-day Amarna). The three eldest daughters – Meritaten, Meketaten, and Ankhesenpaaten – became the "Senior Princesses" and participated in many functions of the government and religion.

Partially restored alabaster jar with 2 handles. It bears the cartouches of Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun. 18th Dynasty. From Gurob, Fayum, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

Tutankhamun receives flowers from Ankhesenamun.

She is believed to have been married first to her own father.[4] This was not unusual for Egyptian royal families. She is thought to have been the mother of the princess Ankhesenpaaten Tasherit (possibly by her father or by Smenkhkare), although the parentage is unclear.[1]

Ankhesenamun in hieroglyphs
Ankhesenpaaten (anḫ s n pa itn) Translation, Living for Aten
Ankhesenamun (anḫ s n imn) Translation, Living for Amun
Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Tutankhamen Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

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.[5] The couple appear to have had two stillborn daughters.[2] 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.[5]

A blue glass ring of unknown provenance obtained in 1931 depicts the prenomen of Ay and the name of Ankhesenamun enclosed in cartouches.[6] This indicates that Ankhesenamun married Ay shortly before she disappeared from history, although no monuments show her as a royal consort.[7] On the walls of Ay's tomb it is Tey (Ay's senior wife), not Ankhesenamun, who appears as queen. She probably died during or shortly after his reign and no burial has been found for her yet.

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.[8]

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![9]

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.[10]

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 (The King's Wife). Possible candidates are Nefertiti, Meritaten,[3] 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' (translated by some as 'servants') 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.[11] Ankhesenamun may have been pressured by Ay to marry him and legitimise his claim to the throne of Egypt (which she eventually did).[12]

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.[13]

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.[13]

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 (one with an imprint of a woman on it), 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.

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

• in the Belgian series, Het Huis Anubis, as The Vengeful Wife of Tutankhamun
• as the main character in Christian Jacq's novel La reine soleil, and in the animated film adaptation of the same name
• as a main character in The Twelfth Transforming by Pauline Gedge
• in the manga series Red River by Chie Shinohara, in relation to the Hittite Letters event
• a character in Nefertiti by Michelle Moran, as the third of her six daughters
• as the central character in Lucille Morrison's The Lost Queen of Egypt, from early childhood to her vanishing from history, showing that she ultimately engineered her own disappearance to protect herself. Allen Drury has a similar explanation for Ankhesenamon in his book Return to Thebes, the sequel to A God Against the Gods.
• the main character in the novel Tutankhamun and the Daughter of Ra by Moyra Caldecott
• Her name is used as the love of Imhotep, the titular mummy in the original 1932 film The Mummy, which was made after the publicity surrounding the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. She is portrayed by Zita Johann. In the 1999 remake The Mummy and its sequel The Mummy Returns she is played by Patricia Velásquez. In the 1932 film, her name is spelled Ankh-es-en-amon. In the 1999 film, it is spelled Anck-su-namun.
• The novel Pillar of Fire by Judith Tarr deals in large part with the life of Ankhesenamun.
• in P.C. Doherty's Akhenaten trilogy where she is implicated in Tutankhamun's death and is to marry a Hittite prince
• as a major character in The Murder of King Tut, a murder mystery based on speculation about her husband's death by James Patterson and Martin Dugard
• as a major character in Tutankhamun: the Book of Shadows, and Egypt: the Book of Chaos, by Nick Drake
• in Tut on Spike she is played by Sibylla Deen

• Akhenaten, King of Egypt by Cyril Aldred (1988), Thames & Hudson.