30 November 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

The Lost Princess of Egypt “Ankhesenamun”

Ankhesenamun was born around 1350 BC as the daughter of King Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti.

The life of Ankhesenamun, who opened her eyes to the world as a princess, was not as easy as it might seem. Rather than being a pharaoh’s daughter, she became famous for the treasure-laden tomb of King Tutankhamun or King Tut.

Why?

Because Ankhesenamun was both King Tut’s half-sister and his wife.

Egypt was experiencing religious turmoil during this period, and There was a dynasty that wanted to continue its power. In fact,  Incestuous marriages among the ruling class weren’t unprecedented.

It seems that Ankhesenamun’s marriage to Tutankhamun may not be her first inter-family marriage or her even the last.

Ancient Egyptian rulers thought their lineage was sacred and descended from the gods. Therefore, incest seemed a logical choice for them. Inter-family marriages, then, were about keeping a sacred bloodline pure.

Not understanding genetics, they were unable to grasp the dangers of incest – and paid the price for it. While his parentage is uncertain, many point to Tutankhamun as an inbreeding victim, citing evidence of clubfoot and other serious congenital health problems in his remains.

Historians have uncovered convincing evidence that the mysterious royal lady could, as Pharaoh‘s third daughter, serve as the bride of her father Akhenaten after Nefertiti’s death – but before she married her brother Tutankhamun.

Akhenaten was in the process of overhauling the centuries-old Egyptian religious tradition towards monotheism in a striking and unprecedented way. He may have wanted to secure his dynasty during this period.

This decision had the potential to weaken the entire Egyptian power structure. Moreover, the abolition of the authority of the powerful priests meant that the dynasty was left alone.

Ankhesenamun Marries Tut

The departure from Amun-Ra and the rest of the Egyptian pantheon, initially gradual, had a dramatic impact on the Egyptian state. With priests stripped of their rights, control passed to the military and central government;  bureaucracy reigned and bred corruption.

Egypt’s greatest religious revolution ended with the death of Akhenaten and Tutankhamun ascended the throne.

Ankhesenamun and king tut
Wikimedia Commons Ankhesenamun, King Tut’s wife, shown on the right giving flowers to her husband. Wikimedia Commons

Tutankhamun married his teenage sister, Ankhesenamun, and together they quickly withdrew from their father’s radical religion.

They first changed their names, presumably under pressure from the priests. Tutankhaten, meaning “the living image of Aten,” changed the suffix in his name to “Amun,” swapping his father’s sun disc for the traditional sun god of the Egyptian pantheon.Ankhesenamun, formerly Ankhesenpaaten, followed suit.

The very young king and queen made rely on advisors to rule the country. This situation led to more confusion.

King Tut was suffering from many diseases. he probably had trouble walking without support. This hypothesis was confirmed by the discovery of hundreds of ornate canes in his famous tomb.

Tut’s reign, though famous, was brief. The king died at the age of 19. Many theories have been put forward about his death. However, research has shown that the cause of death was a broken leg.

The latest thinking on Tut’s death blames an infection that resulted from a fracture in his left thigh — not the result of a chariot accident, since the king, with a number of physical impairments, probably could not have raced. His immune system weakened from several bouts of malaria, couldn’t fight the infection.

The king was dead and Ankhesenamun had to take care of himself.

What Happened To Ankhesenamun After Tut Died?

Ankhesenamun may have next married Ay, a powerful advisor who was close to both her and Tut — perhaps because he was also her grandfather. But the historical record is unclear.

It is possible to say that life was difficult for him after the death of the king. After all, the king and queen had never had a child either.

She may have been the author of an undated letter to Suppiluliumas I, the king of the Hittites. An Egyptian queen says in her letter that her husband is dead and asks the king of Hitit to send one of her sons to Egypt as a wife.

Suppiluliumas sends his son Zananza, but he is killed en route. Rescue never comes.

Ankhesenamun disappears from the historical record sometime between 1325 and 1321 B.C. — an absence that to historians signals her death. Some historians referred to her as Egypt’s Lost Princess, as no one knew exactly what happened.

Ankhesenamun’s role in one of Ancient Egypt’s most contentious periods was lost deliberately, excised from the annals of history by the new dynasty that rose to power just decades later.

The new rulers branded Akhenaten as a heretic, they cleared him and his descendants from the list of pharaohs.

Related Articles

Buddha statue discovered in ancient city of Berenice, Egypt

29 April 2023

29 April 2023

Archaeologists excavating in the ancient Egyptian seaport Berenice Troglodytica on the western shore of the Red Sea have unearthed a...

Egyptian mission discovered five ancient water wells in North Sinai

1 March 2022

1 March 2022

A team of Egyptian archeologists working in the Tell El Kedwa discovered five ancient wells which are believed to be...

Scientists reveal new discovery inside the Pyramid of Khufu

20 March 2023

20 March 2023

An Egyptian pyramid for 4,500 years is still spilling secrets. After a years-long project using modern technology to reveal the...

Who Are The Sea Peoples?

13 February 2021

13 February 2021

Who are the Sea Peoples, which are seen as the beginning of the dark age, and where did they come...

Famous Egyptologist Zahi Hawass Wants to See Hieroglyphs as an İntegral Part of The Curriculum

23 February 2021

23 February 2021

The Egyptian council of ministers is discussing the introduction of archaeological and tourist materials in the education curriculum to help...

46 Eagles in vivid color revealed on Ancient Egyptian temple ceiling

15 May 2022

15 May 2022

A joint German/Egyptian archaeological mission at the Temple of Esna on the west bank of the Nile, 35 miles south...

The Rock Tombs Found by Chance in the Al-Hamidiyah Necropolis

12 May 2021

12 May 2021

A series of rock tombs carved into the slope of a mountain have been discovered in the Al-Hamidiyah necropolis on...

Polish archaeologists have uncovered nine crocodile heads within ancient Egyptian tombs of nobles

25 December 2022

25 December 2022

Polish archaeologists excavating the Theban Necropolis in Egypt discovered nine crocodile heads hidden inside two tombs belonging to high-ranking nobles....

Mummy of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep ‘unwrapped’ for the first time in 3,500 years!

30 December 2021

30 December 2021

Egyptian scientists have digitally unwrapped the 3,500-year-old mummy of pharaoh Amenhotep I. For the first time, a team in Egypt...

Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of what may be one of the four lost Ancient Egyptian “Sun Temples”

31 July 2022

31 July 2022

A Polish and Italian archaeological mission, while conducting an excavation in the Abusir necropolis near Saqqara in Egypt, unearthed the...

Egypt’s Lost city “Thonis-Heracleion”

6 September 2021

6 September 2021

Thonis-Heracleion (Egyptian and Greek names of the city) is a port city lost between myth and reality until 1999. Few...

World’s First Pregnant Ancient Egyptian Mummy has been Discovered

29 April 2021

29 April 2021

Experts from the Polish Academy of Sciences aim to research all mummies in museums as part of the Warsaw Mummy...

New Details on Mummification Techniques

28 February 2021

28 February 2021

In ancient Egypt, embalming was considered a sacred art, and knowledge of the process was restricted to a few. Egyptologists...

In Egypt, archaeologists have discovered a 4,500-year-old Sun temple.

16 November 2021

16 November 2021

Archaeologists discovered an ancient Sun temple in the Egyptian desert that dates back 4,500 years. The remains were discovered under...

Archeologists Discover Two Sphinxes measure 26 feet in length in Egyptian Ruins

21 January 2022

21 January 2022

Archeologists have discovered the remains of two huge sphinx statues, each measuring 26 feet in length, at the funerary temple...