Evidence comes from the mummified remains of two babies found in Tutankhamun’s tomb and DNA analysis confirmed that they were daughters of Tutankhamun. During their reign, history shows that Tutankhamun had an official adviser named Ay who most likely was the grandfather of Ankhesenamun, and who probably played an influential role in the lives and decisions of the young couple.ĭuring their reign, it is believed that Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun conceived two children (both girls) who were born prematurely and died.
Following their marriage, the couple were quick to restore the old religion, disregarding Akhenaten’s actions.Īlthough both Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun were still children, together they ruled Egypt for the next ten years. Various reliefs found in Egypt appear to suggest that Akhenaten may have attempted to father children with all three of his eldest daughters, the second of whom seems to have died during child birth (this scene is depicted inside a royal tomb).Īfter the death of her father, Akhenaten, and following the short reigns of his successors, Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten, Ankhesenamun became the wife of Tutankhamun. It was difficult for such a traditional culture to reject their old gods, and the priesthood-which held a great deal of power-put up a fierce resistance.Īnkhesenamun had two older sisters – Meritaten, Meketaten – and together, the three of them became the "Senior Princesses" and participated in many functions of the government and religion. His revolutionary actions weren’t taken easily by the priesthood and the Egyptians followers of Ra. Her father had abandoned the old deities of Egypt in favour of the one ‘true’ god of Aten (the Sun disc), thereby creating the first monotheistic religion. The pharaohs believed they were descended from the gods and incest was seen as acceptable so as to retain the sacred bloodline.Īnkhesenamun was born in a time when Egypt was in the midst of an unprecedented religious revolution (c. In fact, Tutankhamun’s parents had also been brother and sister, resulting in some of the genetic conditions that the boy king suffered, including a cleft palate and club foot. Marriage within family was not uncommon in ancient Egypt and was practiced among royalty as a means of perpetuating the royal lineage. This image is on the lid of a box found in Tut's tomb. Tutankhamun receives flowers from Ankhesenamun. It has also been posited that she may have first been the wife of her father, Akhenaten. It is possible that she was briefly married to Tutankhamun's successor, Ay, believed by some to be her maternal grandfather. She was the third of six known daughters, and became the great royal wife of her half-brother Tutankhamun when he was just 8 to 10 years old and she was 13. The tragic life of Ankhesenamun was well documented in the ancient reliefs and paintings of the reign of her parents, the pharaoh Akhenaten and his great royal wife Nefertiti, until the death of Tutankhamun when the young queen seems to have disappeared from the historical records.Īnkhesenamun ("Her Life is of Amun") was a queen of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Everyone has heard of the famous boy king, Tutankhamun, but the name of his beloved sister and wife Ankhesenamun is rarely uttered.