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Smenkhkare
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Smenkhkare (sometimes erroneously spelt Smenkhare or Smenkare and meaning Vigorous is the Soul of Ra) is an ephemeral Pharaoh of the late Eighteenth Dynasty of whom very little is know for certain. Traditionally he is seen as Akhenaten's co-regent and immediate successor and predecessor of Tutankhamun and is assumed to be a close, male relative of those two kings (either by blood or marriage).
More recent scholarly work has however cast serious doubts on this traditional view and most aspects of this individual's life and position (such as his precise relation to the Amarna royal family, the nature and importance of his reign and even his gender) are now open to question.
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Smenkhkare (sometimes erroneously spelt Smenkhare or Smenkare and meaning Vigorous is the Soul of Ra) is an ephemeral Pharaoh of the late Eighteenth Dynasty of whom very little is know for certain. Traditionally he is seen as Akhenaten's co-regent and immediate successor and predecessor of Tutankhamun and is assumed to be a close, male relative of those two kings (either by blood or marriage).
More recent scholarly work has however cast serious doubts on this traditional view and most aspects of this individual's life and position (such as his precise relation to the Amarna royal family, the nature and importance of his reign and even his gender) are now open to question. Related to this is the ongoing debate about whether or not Akhenaten's co-regent and successor are in fact the same person.
Historical context
The scenes in the tombs of Meryre II and Huya (located in the Amarna Northern tombs necropolis) depicting the reception of foreign tribute are the last clear view we have of the Amarna period. The events depicted are, in the tomb of Meryre II, dated to the second month of Akhenaten's regnal year 12 (in the tomb of Huya they are interestingly enough dated to year 12 of the Aten) and show the last securely dated appearance of the royal family as a whole (that is: Akhenaten, his chief-queen Nefertiti together with their six daughters). These scenes are also the first dated occurrence of the latter name-forms of the Aten. After this date the events at Amarna and their chronology become far less clear and it is only with the accession of Tutankhamun and the restoration early in this that king's reign that matters become clearer again.
It is precisely in this shadowy late Amarna period that Akhenaten's co-regent and probable immediate successor comes to the fore. Akhenaten is generally assumed to have died in the late autumn of his 17th regnal year (after the bottling of wine in that year). Nefertiti disappears from view somewhat earlier (around regnal year 14), the reasons for this are at present still unclear and under debate (see below), and around the same time a new co-regent is first attested.
Names
Many of the questions and uncertainties surrounding Akhenaten's co-regent and successor revolve around the names attested for this individual (or individuals). There appear two closely similar yet distinct sets of names in the records available for the late Amarna period, these are:
- Ankhkheprure+epithet Neferneferuaten+epithet (sometimes transliterated as Nefernefruaten)
- Ankhkheprure Smenkhkare Djeserkheperu
Both these sets are written in two cartouches. The epithets in the former name-set are desired of Neferkheprure/Waenre (i.e. Akhenaten). The first set of names also sometimes appears in feminine form as Ankhetkheprure Neferneferuaten and sometimes the epithet for the nomen is than replaced by beneficial to her husband. The former set of names appears to be earlier and the association of these names with Akhenaten seems more substantial than is the case for the latter set. Both names are associated with Meritaten as great royal wife. Both sets of names are only poorly attested. To date, no objects other than a wine jar label, six royal seals bearing the names of Ankhkheprure Smenkhkare Djeserkheperu are known and only one named depiction of Smenkhkare along with Meritaten (in the tomb of Meryre II) are known. Some objects with the names of Ankhkheprure Neferneferuaten were reused in the burial of Tutankhamun (see below) and the female variant of these names appears on faience ring bezels.
Because of the presence of the feminine Ankhetkheperure Neferneferuaten the old view that there was only one, male, individual involved who first acted as Akhenaten's co-regent under the name Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten and, after the death of Akhenaten, succeeded him under the name Ankhkheperure Smenkhkare is now generally discarded. However, several theories have been proposed to accommodate the presence of a woman:
To some the shared prenomen, function and queen indicate that there is only one person associated with these different names and therefore they seek to identify this individual as a female member of the royal family. Others, based on the feminine variety of the Neferneferuaten name on the one hand and the identification of the body in KV55 as that of Smenkhkare (see below), see evidence for two distinct individuals, one female and the other male. It must be noted however that there is disagreement as to which names belong to each individual (see below).
Identity
Those who see only evidence for one, female co-regent and successor of Akhenaten identify this individual with Nefertiti, drawing attention to the fact that Akhenaten's co-regent's name Neferneferuaten is also an epithet bestowed on Nefertiti earlier on in the Amarna period. They also point out that Nefertiti disappears from view around the same time that Akhenaten's co-regent first appears. And lastly they see further evidence for Nefertiti's elevation to kingly status in the Coregency Stela and several other, unfinished stelae, such as the Pase stela (depicting two figures wearing crowns who are nevertheless identified as a king and queen by the three uniscribed cartouches) and the Berlin 25574 stela (depicting Akhenaten and Nefertiti but with an extra, fourth, cartouche added to indicate two kings rather than a king and queen), and in a scene in Meryre II's tomb in which the figures of Akhenaten and Nefertiti are virtually superimposed over each other (which is interpreted as indicating the oneness of their co-rule). In short, a clear sequence of changing names and functions is suggested: from queen Nefertiti, who later becomes queen Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti, over co-regent Ankhkheprure Neferneferuaten to successor Ankhkheprure Smenkhkare Djeserkheperu.
On the other hand, those who identify both a female and male co-regent/successor assume Nefertiti predeceased her husband, based on two fragmentary shabti figures inscribed for her as queen (which might however be votive offerings parralled by similar figurines of Tiye found in the tomb of Amenhotep III) . As a consequence they identify the female Ankhetkheperure as either Meritaten, who is then assumed to have succeeded her deceased husband Smenkhkare, or as Akhenaten and Nefertiti's fourth daughter Neferneferuaten Tasherit, who is then seen as Akhenaten's co-regent before the sole rule of Smenkhkare. The male Smenkhkare is seen by them as an older close relative of Tutankhamun and both are usually seen as either sons or sons-in-law of Akhenaten.
As was already noted above, the variously attested names are distributed differently between these two individuals: some researchers distinguish between a female Ankhetkheperure Neferneferuaten and a male Ankhkheperure Smenkhkare/Neferneferuaten, while others distinguish between a female Ankhetkheperure/Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten and a male Ankhkheperure Smenkhkare.
Reign
Length of reign
The sole regnal date (year 1) attested for Smenkhkare comes from a jar label for wine from the house of Smenkhkare, this date might however refer either to the reign of Smenkhkare or that of Tutankhamun. The highest known date for Ankhkheprure Neferneferuaten, regnal year 3, is attested in a graffiti in the Theban tomb of Pairi (TT139). It is however unclear whether this refers to a sole rule or a co-regency.
It is further noted that Manetho's kinglists includes three 18 dynasty rulers named Akenkeres (which might be identified as a Greek rendering of Ankhkheprure), one of which is identified as a king's daughter who ruled for twelve years and a month. It has been pointed out that both the repetition of names and the attested length of reign might be due to corruptions .
Finally it is also possible that the sole rule of Smenkhkare coincided with the beginning of Tutankhamun's reign.
Politics
Virtually nothing is known about the politics of Akhenaten's co-regent/successor. It might however be noted that the TT139 graffiti mentioned above makes reference to an active Amun-priesthood, practising in the temple of Ankhkheprure Neferneferuaten (possibly this individual's mortuary temple). This could indicate a first step towards an agreement between the Atenist and traditional religions which would be further consolidated during the reign of Tutankhamun.
Dakhamunzu
The Hittite annals known as The Deeds of Suppiluliuma informs us how an Egyptian queen named Dakhamunzu, the widow of her recently deceased husband Niphururiya and without sons, asks the Hittite king Suppiluliama to send her one of his own sons to be her husband and king of Egypt and how, after further negotiations, a Hittite prince (Zannanza) is send to Egypt, only to be murdered en route there. The synchronisation of Hittite and Egpytian chronologies is unclear, but it is certain that the recounted episode must have happened in the late 18th Dynasty of Egypt (i.e. the late Amarna period and its immediate aftermath). The correct identification of the individuals involved in this episode could therefore possibly cast light on some of the questions surrounding Akhenaten's co-regent and successor.
It is now generally assumed that Dakhamunzu is a Hittite rendering of the Egyptian title ta hemet nesu - the king's wife - rather than the name of a queen. Unfortunately the name of this queen's husband, Niphururiya, might equally be a rendering of the prenomen of either Akhenaten (Neferkheprure) or Tutankhamun (Nebkheprure). Traditionally identification with the latter is prefered and consequentially Dakhamunzu is identified with his widow Ankhesenamun (later married to her servant Ay). Studies of the chronology of the event suggest however that Akhenaten would be a more likely candidate for Nibhururiya in which case the account in the Hittite annals can be seen as either evidence for Nefertiti's continuing importance during the late-Amarna period (in the guise of Smenkhkare) or for Meritaten's role as Akhenaten's co-regent. In the former case it is assumed that Tutankhamun supplanted Nefertiti on the throne after the murder of Zannanza, in the latter case it is believed that Meritaten was afterwards forced to marry her servant Smenkhkare although the possible identification of Zannanza as Smenkhkare is also suggested.
Burial
Evidence relating to the burial(s) of Akhenaten's co-regent(s) and possible successor(s) might be found in two different tombs, both located in the Valley of the Kings
KV 55
As pointed out above, the reason some scholars distinguish between a male and female co-regent/successor of Akhenaten rests on the identification of the KV55 mummy as that of Smenkhkare. This identification is based anatomical evidence indicating that the KV55 body is that of a normal male, closely related to Tutankhamun and with an estimated age of death around twenty years, which is seen as being far too young for Akhenaten himself. However, this identification remains problematic in view of the archaeological and inscriptional evidence in this tomb, both of which strongly suggest the body interred in KV55 was that of Akhenaten.
Because of this the correctness of the age estimates has been repeatedly called into question. An opinion which might find support in the latest analysis of the skeletal remains, indicating an age of death around 35 years (based on dentition) or even later (based on anthropological standards and new X-rays of the long bones). This might mean that the identification of the KV55 mummy as Smenkhkare is based on pure conjecture and while its real identity might still remain elusive, it is highly likely at least that the ancient Egyptians who buried (and later desecrated) the body in KV55 believed this to be Akhenaten's.
KV62
Other than a fragmentary box bearing the names of Akhenaten, Meritaten and Ankhkheprure Neferneferuaten which was found by Howard Carter outside Tutankhamun's tomb, several funerary items originally made for Neferneferuaten were found in this king's tomb. The most notable of these usurpations are the mummy bands and the canopic coffins. It has also been noted that the features of the canopic stoppers and the second coffin do not resemble those of Tutankhamun and it has been suggested that these too had originally been intended for Akhenaten's co-regent.
These objects indicate that this individual's original burial must have been substantial and impressive. More importantly however, it must be noted that all these items are purely traditional in nature. Further evidence for this might be seen in the TT139 graffiti mentioned above.
See also
Further reading
- Aldred, C., Akhenaten, King of Egypt (Thames & Hudson, 1988).
- Reeves, C.N., Akhenaten, Egypt's False Prophet (Thames & Hudson, 2001).
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