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Smenkhkare - successor to Akhenaten
Famous Egyptians
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Smenkhkara - successor to AkhenatenSmenkhkare meaning "Strong is the Soul of Ra", was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, successor of the heretic Akhenaten, and predecessor of Tutankhamen. He reigned only briefly: both Smenkhkare and Akhenaten died in year 17 of Akhenaten's reign (1334/1333 BC), and Tutankhamen's reign began within a year of Akhenaten's death. Smenkhkare may have become Akhenaten's co-regent 2 or 3 years before this. |
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Smenkhkare may well refer to not one, but two people:
- Ankhkheprure Neferneferuaten, who is probably the queen we know as Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaten of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and who may have ruled as co-regent with her husband;
- Anhkkheprure Smenkhkare, who may be identical with Ankhkheprure Neferneferuaten or may be a separate, male king.
To date, no objects have been found bearing the name Ankhkheprure Smenkhkare, whereas some clearly feminine objects with the name Ankhkheprure Neferneferuaten were reused in the burial of Tutankhamen. However, there is evidence that suggests Smenkhkare was married to Meritaten, eldest daughter of Akhenaten.
In the tomb of Meryre II is a roughly painted scene depicting a king and queen. It names the "King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ankhkheperure, Son of Re, Smenkhkare, Holy-of-Manifestations, given life forever continually" as the husband of "the Chief Wife, his beloved, the Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Lady of the Two Lands, Meritaten". It was through her royal blood that Smenkhkare may have claimed legitimacy to the throne, as was the practice in the period.
A fragmentary stela from Amarna, now known as the Coregency Stela, adds more evidence as well as more confusion. It is known that the stela originally portrayed three figures, identified as Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Meritaten. However, at some point after the stela was made, the name of Nefertiti had been gouged out and replaced with the name Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten, and Meritaten's name had been replaced with that of the third daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, Ankhesenpaaten.
Smenkhkare's parentage is unknown - the leading theories are that he is a son of Akhenaten or of Amenhotep III. Unlike the majority of other Pharaohs, the only claim he made was to have been "beloved" of Akhenaten, but he never states that the latter was his father. Moreover, whenever any of Akhenaten's daughters were referenced, they were referred to as "the king's daughter, of his loins, (daughter's name)."
Meritaten seems to have died very shortly after her father, as did her daughter, Meritaten-ta-sherit. It is at this point that most scholars believe that Smenkhkare married Ankhesenpaaten, evidenced by the Coregency Stela. And shortly after that, perhaps less than 12 months later, Smenkhkare died.
In 1907, Arthur Weigall and Theodore Davis discovered a tomb known as "Tomb 55" in the Valley of the Kings. There was a very poorly preserved body that is considered, with about 80% certainty, to be male around 20 years of age. Some consider this to be the mummy of Smenkhkare.
Although little is known about him, Smenkhkare's face may actually be the most well-known of all the Pharaohs: the image often used to illustrate books and exhibitions on Tutankhamen may well be of Smenkhkare. It comes from the middle coffin of Tutankhamen's tomb Pharaohs were buried in a series of 3 coffins, like Russian dolls. The face on the middle coffic clearly differs in appearance from the images on the inner and outer coffins. With a number of other artefacts in Tutankhamun's tomb bearing Smenkhkare's name, and with a reconstruction from the mummy in KV55 bearing a strong similarity, it may well be the face of Smenkhkare.
