Ankhesenamun - letter to
King Suppiluliumas Was Ankhesenamun murdered?
premature babies born to Ankhesenamun. From: http://ib205.tripod.com/ankhesenamun.html
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Ankhesenamun – Ancient Egypt's Lost Princess
Tragic Forgotten Wife of the Boy Pharaoh, Tutankhamen
Oct 16, 2009
If it wasn't for the discovery of Tutankhamen’s all-but-intact tomb, this king of relatively small importance would have remained in obscurity. Had their tombs not long since been plundered, Tutankhamen would have paled against the great reigns of far more productive kings. But his legacy endures; fuelled not only by his intoxicating treasures but also the scent of mystery that intrigues even the most casual of amateur Egyptologists. Not the least of these mysteries concerns his wife, the Princess Ankhesenamun – at once depicted with her king in some of history’s most intimate artwork but ultimately shunned from his burial chamber and almost completely sweep from the pages of time.
Ankhesenamun – Early Life in the Royal Court
Ankhesenamun was born into a hugely influential chapter of royal history; she the third daughter of heretic pharaoh Akhenaton and his time-less wife, Nefertiti. Her name at birth, Ankhesenpaaten (She who lives through the Aten) reflects her father’s history changing monotheist reign. He would throw out generations of multiple god worship for that of his one true deity, the sun god Aten.
Although probably born in Thebes the princess, at an early age, moved to the newly established royal court in Amarna. This desert city represented the heart of Akhenaton’s religious and cultural revolution; ushering in an era of distinctive artistic flair that today defines the period. Many relief carvings of the time depict Ankhesenamun, along with her sisters and family, in decidedly unpretentious scenes never before depicted in Egyptian art.
There is much muddying of the royal lines of ascension but it is believed that, following the death of Nefertiti, Akhenaton married Ankhesenamun’s elder sister Meritaten. Subsequently, Meritaten, who died in childbirth, is superseded and Ankhesenamun becomes her father’s wife and queen of all Egypt.
An elusive character, Smenkhare serves as co-regent during Akhenaton’s reign. Elusive in that his lineage is far from clear. Some have gone so far as suggest that he was, in fact, Nefertiti – yet it is more likely that he was Akhenaton’s son via his marriage to another of his wives, Kiya. Following Akhenaton’s death Smenkhare reigned as full pharaoh and married Ankhesenamun; who was very possibly his half-sister.
Marriage to Tutankhamen
Upon Smenkhare’s death, he too disappears from the records. Ankhesenamun marries yet again to her most famous of husbands; she is still only thirteen years old. Her husband and successor to the throne is eight, the boy king Tutankhamen. The royal couple would initially live in Amarna but then as religious traditions are again reinstated they move back to Thebes; changing their names in reflection of the Aten’s demotion.
• It is believed that the reign that followed lasted ten years and produced at least two still-born heirs; the tiny mummified remains of two girls were found within Tutankhamen’s excavated tomb.
• Tutankhamen’s administration was unexceptional but for its brevity; it was the events following his death that broke with tradition and left many unanswered questions.
• Tutankhamen dies suddenly at the age of eighteen; many long theorized murder but recent examination of his remains point to possible fatal infection following a leg fracture.
• His official advisor, Ay, rapidly ascends to power. He is perhaps Ankhesenamun’s grandfather and had long had influence over the affairs of Tutankhamen’s court.
• Tutankhamen’s burial is hastily arranged and seems to lack the tradition and respect that someone of his standing would usually be attributed.
• Ankhesenamun is noticeably absent from the tomb; tradition dictates that her personal belongings should be present but she is barely mentioned.
Ankhesenamun enters into what is the final of her incestuous relationships by marrying her grandfather, Ay and again becoming queen. This being the case, it is strange that no official monuments or references can be found in her name. One ring that describes her marriage to Ay has been discovered but this seems scant testimony to such a historically connected woman. Even the discovery of Ay’s tomb shed little light on her years following Tutankhamen’s death. Its walls are decorated with images of Tey, another of Ay’s wives but there is nothing of Ankhesenamun.
No further mention is made to her and no tomb has ever been discovered. If the theory is correct and she was married to four of the Amarna period’s prominent pharaohs then it would be assumed she deserved some elevated reverence; but instead she vanishes - completely and without trace.
The Hittite Letters
One possible reason that she has so completely been erased from history is treason. There is some evidence that following Tutankhamen’s death she tried to contact the Hittite King Suppiluliumas for assistance. The suggestion is that for reasons unknown Ankhesenamun felt alienated from her people and instead turned to their then enemy, the Hittites. A document was uncovered that dates to the approximate epoch of the Amarna period. Although unsigned, its author could tantalizingly bring some of the timelines strange events into cohesion.
'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." [1]
King Suppiluliumas duly verified the authenticity of the royal request and sent his youngest son, Zanannza to marry the Egyptian queen. Upon entering Egypt, the prince and his entire entourage were ambushed and murdered.
Was the ‘subject’ that the letters author referred to, Ay? Was she in fear that he had already began to steal power? Or perhaps the attribution of the letter to Ankhesenamun is merely wishful thinking by those trying to solve a puzzle that seems to have no combination.
Resources:
El Mahdy, Christine; ‘Tutankhamen - The life and death of a Boy King’. (1999)
Desroches-Noblecourt, Christiane; ‘Tutankhamen’. (1972)
Related Articles:
Akhenaten and Ancient Egyptian Religion
Understanding Ancient Egyptian Chronology
Ancient Egyptian Burial Customs
Sources:
Ankhesenamun -Tutankhamen’s Queen; Phizackerley, Kate [1]
Her name is found written as: kiya, kaia, kia
and kiw
Kiya had a unique title only used by her: hemet mereryt aat
- Great Beloved Wife.
She was however never called Great Royal Wife. She never wore a uraeus,
and her name was never enclosed in a cartouche. On the other hand Kiya is
known to have had a sunshade and was depicted with Akhnetane and a
daughter. The latter seem to indicate she played an important role at
court.
The origins of this Queen are rather mysterious. Some think she may have
been the Mitanni Princess Tadukhepa, daughter of King Tushratta. Others
have suggested she may be a daughter of Aye and Tey. But there is no
evidence one way or the other.
Thought by some to be the mother of Tutankh(u)aten and possibly of
Smenkhare.
Kiya disappears
Around Year XVI another important figure disappeared from the scene, Akhenaten's second wife, Kiya. In texts, Kiya is given the lengthy title 'the greatly beloved wife of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferkheperure-Wa'enre, child of the Aten, who lives now and forever more'. She is never referred to as 'Royal Wife', as this was a title reserved exclusively for Nefertiti. Kiya's abnormally elaborate title, as long as Nefertiti's, may have been given to her to compensate for what was in fact a secondary status.
'...there is strong reason to believe that Kiya was princess Tadukhipa of Mitanni...'
On jar inscriptions, Kiya is mentioned simply as 'the Great Lady (of Naharina)'. As Naharina was also known as Mitanni, there is strong reason to believe that Kiya was princess Tadukhipa of Mitanni, sent to the Egyptian court late in the reign of Akhenaten's father, Amenhotep III, by Tushratta of Mitanni (Naharina). After a few years in the old pharaoh's harem, she was put into that of his son. During the reign of Akhenaten, relations between Egypt and Mitanni soured, as one Amarna Letter tells us (Armana Letter EA 29), and it is likely that Kiya paid the price for these diplomatic upheavals.
Her final destiny is uncertain. In Amarna her official monuments were re-dedicated to two of Akhenaten's daughters - Merytaten and Ankhesenpaaten. Her coffin and canopic jars, discovered in Tomb 55 of the Valley of the Kings, were reused for the burial of Akhenaten. It is possible that Kiya returned to Mittani when her father was assassinated, leaving a daughter in Egypt. Following Kiya's disappearance, her daughter's name (which contained the suffix -aten) was effaced from the monuments to Kiya and replaced by the names of fictional children of Akhenaten's daughters. There are clear indications that this princess, the daughter of Kiya, was in reality the 'royal daughter' Baketaten, depicted in the tomb of the Noble 'Huya' at Amarna.
Pt. I - Ankhesenpaaten
The King and Queen of Egypt were in transition. They were either in the process or had just completed the move from Malkata to the new palaces in Akhet-Aten, the new capital of Egypt. The young king, Amenhotep IV, was changing his name to honor his God -- he would henceforth be known as Neferkheperure-Wa'enre Akhenaten. The King was abandoning the old gods of Egypt, in favor a Aten, a minor sun-god who was the physical Sun Disk. The King particularly hated Amun, the King of the Gods, and the greedy priesthood thereof, centered in Waset (Thebes). The queen, the beautiful Nefertiti, would have the appellation Neferneferuaten added to her name; she was also pregnant with the royal couple's third child.
They already had two daughters: the much-much loved princesses Meritaten (called "Mayati") and Meketaten. The girls were active children: Mayati was about five years old, Meketaten was probably about three or four, but her exact birth year is not clear. Everyone hoped that Akhenaten and Nefertiti's third child would be a son, a prince -- an heir.
Some time in Regnal Year 5 or 6, in Malkata or even Akhet-Aten, the third child of the King and Queen of Egypt was born. Another girl: Ankhesenpaaten (AHNK-es-en-pa-AH-ten, "She Lives Through the Aten" or "Living Through the Aten") was born. The Prince Smenkhkare, a younger brother or even son (by a minor wife, possibly Kiya) of Akhenaten, was still the heir.
The three eldest girls -- Meritaten, Meketaten, and Ankhesenpaaten -- were the "Senior Princesses;" as each was born she accompanied her parents in various statues and reliefs around the new city. All of the girls were treasured, but Meritaten -- Mayati -- as the eldest, seems to have been the family favorite. By year 12 (or even as early as year 10) they had been joined by three "Junior Princesses," Nefernefruaten ta-Sherit (named after Nefertiti), Nefernefrure, and Setepenre. These girls are less visible then their elder sisters, and appear only in tombs of nobles and in decorations in the palace -- the elder three were portrayed all over Akhet-Aten. Also in this time, another prince makes an appearance. During the years 7-9, little Prince Tutankhaten was born. He is closely related to Smenkhkare, and was probably a brother or half-brother of the elder prince. Tutankhaten's parents were possibly Akhenaten and Kiya, but there are other theories as well.
Ankhesenpaaten would have grown up in the nursery, probably learning to read and write (although women, even royal women, were not often literate, evidence exists that suggests the Amarna Princesses were), and even painting -- dabs of color were found on the walls of the nursery in the palace, suggesting the six little princesses were encouraged to express their creativity by painting on the walls -- the marks are clearly the dabblings of young children. Her closest companions would have been her sisters, the two young princes (whoever their parents were) and her nurse -- menat, in Egyptian -- the lady Tia. Tia has the distinction of being the only menat of the Amarna princesses who name is known. A talatat block exists that names her as "Nurse of the King's Daughter, Ankhesenpaaten, Tia."
In Regnal Year 12, when Princess Ankhesenpaaten was about six or seven, there was a great festival in Akhet-Aten. Gifts and tribute were brought to Pharaoh from far and wide -- a plague may have also come with them. By year fourteen, Meketaten had died, Setepenre, Neferneferure (and possibly Nefernefruaten ta-Sherit) had ceased to be mentioned. The King's Mother Tiye, the Great Royal Wife Nefertiti, and the King's Favorite Kiya have also ceased to be mentioned. The only members of the Royal Family we can say with confidence at the time were still alive was the King, Akhenaten, the two princes, Smenkhkare and Tutankhaten, and Akhenaten's first and third daughters, Meritaten and Ankhesenpaaten.
Meketaten may have died in childbirth. If this was the case, Akhenaten was probably the father. If Meketaten, the second daughter, had died giving birth to her father's child (remember, this was not taboo in ancient Egyptian royal families, as repugnant as it may seem today, close family marriages were common -- but ONLY in the royal family), it stands to reason that Meritaten would have been elevated to a Royal Wife of Akhenaten as well. The mysterious princess Meritaten ta-Sherit may be a daughter of this union. In about year fifteen or sixteen, Akhenaten took Ankhesenpaaten (who was about 10 years old) as his wife, and the problematic princess Ankhesenpaaten ta-Sherit may have been the daughter of Ankhesenpaaten and her father. However, the "ta-Sherits" are only mentioned a few times, and their parentages are not clear.
The later years of Akhenaten's year are full of mysteries, and since this is focused on Princess Ankhesenpaaten, we will not get into all of them here. Ankhesenpaaten may have been the Great Royal Wife of Akhenaten and/or Smenkhkare (co-regent of Akhenaten) briefly, before she was thirteen years old. Her true life as a queen of Egypt did not begin however, until the deaths of Akhenaten and his co-regent. The twelve or thirteen-year-old princess was the member of the royal family left; well, there was one other, but he was a child of Pharaoh and a minor wife, only "half-royal," but he was the only male heir. The young Princess Ankhesenpaaten and the little Prince Tutankhaten (aged about nine) were married. And thus began the reign of the legendary boy-king.
Pt. II - Ankhesenamen
In the second or third Regnal Year of Tutankhaten, the Restoration Stele was completed the royal couple abandoned Akhet-Aten for good, presumable traveling between the reinstated capitals of Egypt: the administrative capital in Mennefer (Memphis) and the religious capital, in Waset, where Amun ruled. Ankhesenpaaten and Tutankhaten also changed their names to Ankhesenamen and Tutankhamen, to honor the old gods that Akhenaten at abandoned. Just imagine -- leaving your city, your God, even your name behind. It is no wonder that Tutankhamen and Ankhesenamen clung to each other so -- who else understood what they had been through?
Companions in childhood, the two became inseparable as teenagers. Their marriage had been arranged, but it is quite obvious from artifacts in Tutankhamen's tomb that there was a genuine love between the two (see "The King's Great Wife Whom He Loves" for more). She accompanied him when he went on hunts, they spend quiet hours together in the lush gardens of the Pharaonic palaces, they played board games like Senet or Hounds and Jackals together. Like the prince and princesses of fairy tales, they should have lived "happily ever after." However, that was not to be.
Ankhesenamen miscarried their two children -- both daughters. They were both premature, the first born at about after eight months and had a rare condition called Spina Bifida -- had she lived, she would have been deformed. The teenage parents were devastated at the loss, and had the little girl mummified, even though this went against tradition. The second attempt was just as tragic. After only five months, Ankhesenamen miscarried again. The little girl was mummified like her sister. The two girls would eventually join their father in his now famous tomb. Ankhesenamen and Tutankhamen continued to be hopeful. After all, they were both young -- they had their whole lives ahead of them. Tutankhamen was becoming more involved in the running of Egypt, exercising his rights as Pharaoh more often, entering into adulthood and become more independent. The puppet king was cutting the strings, and the puppeteers were not pleased.
Some time in his ninth regnal year, at about the age of eighteen, Tutankhamen died suddenly. His tomb was not ready, there was no heir, and Ankhesenamen was alone. Through all that she had faced, Tutankhamen had been with her. It seems that the young queen knew something that modern archaeologists do not. The twenty-one-year-old widow apparently did no believe that the death of her husband was an accident. After all, had he not just reached adulthood? Making his own judgments, quite possibly against the wishes of his advisors. Was Tutankhamen turning out to be a little too much like Akhenaten? It would take seventy days for Tutankhamen to be prepared for burial. Ankhesenamen had seventy days to save herself. Whoever she married would become the next Pharaoh, and she did not want to marry Ay or Horemheb -- really the only two choices -- if she could avoid it. So she took a controversial step: the grieving widow decided to find her own husband, and a royal one at that.
She wrote to the Hittites (read the Hittite Letters!). She tells the Hittite king that she will never marry a "servant." She is not necessarily being haughty -- the Egyptians did not like foreigners either, but she was proposing marriage to one. It is her statement that "I am afraid!" that lends insight to her reasons. She fears for her life. She is quite possibly being pressured into marrying man that had a hand in the murder of her beloved husband, and she fears her own demise is imminent.
A prince, Zannanza, is finally sent, but is murdered (most likely on Horemheb's orders) on the borders of Egypt. Her plan had failed, but at least Horemheb was temporarily out of the picture, on the borders of Egypt. She may have given in to the "lesser of two evils" and agreed to marry Ay and make him the new Pharaoh of Egypt. Tutankhamen was buried. Ay and Ankhesenamen married. Then she disappears. Tey, Ay's first wife, appears as queen in Ay's tomb -- not Ankhesenamen. She probably died sometime in Ay's brief rule (three to four years). She was in her early twenties. Murder? Suicide? No burial has been found for Ankhesenamen, not even a trace. Either it lies somewhere yet to be found (like that of her husband's until 1922, of course) or it never existed. Ankhesenamen may never have had a proper burial at all.
This is how Ankhesenpaaten appeared to a psychic artist in 2008 and announced that she was Dee Finney
