Ankhesenamun

Ankhesenamun was born Ankhesenpaaten, and was the daughter of Nefertiti and Akhenaten. It is believed she was born around 1350 B.C., the third daughter of the royal couple, born in year 5 or 6 of Akhenaten’s reign.

Ankhesenpaaten, which translates to, “She Lives Through the Aten” or “Living Through the Aten,” later went on to marry, king Tutankhaten, who later became Tutankhamun, after the religious revolution of Atenism came to a crashing halt. It is generally accepted that Tutankhamun was Ankhesenamun’s half-brother.

Tutankhamun’s reign ended around 1323 B.C. when he died at around 18 or 19 years of age. After about a decade of rulership, Ankhesenamun was now left widowed.

How and when Ankhesenamun met her end is not currently known. However, theories suggest she remarried after Tutankhamun’s death.

A letter was sent to King Suppiluliuma I of the Hittites, a major power in the ancient Near East at the time, from a queen of Egypt in a rather precarious position.

In the letter, which is known from Hittite annals, the queen (referred to as “Dakhamunzu” in Hittite texts, which is thought to be a transliteration of the Egyptian title “Tahemetnesu” meaning “The King’s Wife”) states that her husband has died, and she has no sons. Considering Ankhesenamun was a widow and from what we know bore no children, she is thought to fit the profile of this mysterious queen.

Desperate, the widowed writer pleads for one of Suppiluliuma’s sons to come to her in Egypt in order to marry her and become Pharaoh.

“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. Never shall I pick out a servant of mine and make him my husband.”

Suppiluliuma was initially suspicious of such an unprecedented request from an Egyptian queen, fearing it might be a trap or deception. He sent an emissary to Egypt to verify the situation. Upon receiving confirmation and another plea from the queen, he agreed to send his son, Zannanza, to Egypt. Tragically, Zannanza was killed en route to Egypt. The Hittite records suggest that “hostile Egyptians” were responsible, although specific culprits are not named. This incident led to increased hostility between Egypt and the Hittites.

In 1931, Egyptologist Percy Newberry described a blue glass finger-ring that had been acquired by Mr. Blanchard of Cairo from an unknown site in the Delta. This ring bore the royal cartouches of both Ay and Ankhesenamun. The ring was made of blue glass and was engraved with the names (cartouches) of Ay and Ankhesenamun, suggesting a possible marital or close familial connection. This artefact is significant as it could be evidence that Ay did indeed marry Ankhesenamun after Tutankhamun’s death, thereby legitimizing his claim to the throne.

Unfortunately, it appears the ring has now been lost among private collections, as the exact ring Newberry described has not been located since. However, respected Egyptologist and author Joyce Tyldesley does propose that it is possible the ring may have been a forgery anyway. In 1973, a similar ring, also made of glass but of a different colour, was purchased by the Berlin Museum.

Overall, it is generally theorised that as a result of the death of Zannanza, Ankhesenamun went on to marry Ay, who would become king. What we do know is that after Ay’s ascension to the throne, Ankhesenamun disappears from historical record.

Family Lineage

Within the Boy King’s tomb, two mummified foetuses were discovered. Known as Mummies 317a and 317b, the female mummies were buried with no namesake alongside their father, and are simply referred to as “Osiris” on their coffins

The foetus known as 317z was born prematurely at approximately 5–6 months of gestation. With C.T. scans estimating her to have been about 24.7 weeks old at the time of death. Contrary to this, the mummy known as 317b was born at or close to full term, with a gestational age estimated around 36 weeks.

There were initial reports suggesting congenital abnormalities like spina bifida and scoliosis, especially for the mummy of baby 317b. However, later, more detailed C.T. scans by Dr. Saleem and others have largely disproven these claims, attributing the skeletal damages to post-mortem fractures and poor storage conditions rather than congenital anomalies.

Both of the girls were mummified with significant care, using methods typical for high-status individuals. Mummy 317a was provided with a gilded mummy mask, while 317b’s mask was too small, which could mean it was re-used by another, or simply made too small by mistake with not enough time to remake another.

The daughters were buried in two-coffin sets of miniature size, similar to those used for nobility, indicating their royal status and the importance placed on their posthumous journey, and they were placed within their father’s tomb seemingly lovingly.

DNA testing has pretty much declared it extremely likely that the mother of the two girls was KV21a, however, it is thought the results were not statistically conclusive to certify officially. However, the analysis of DNA tells us that it is “overwhelmingly confirmed” that Tutankhamun is the father of both of the babies, with “very high probability”.

With this in mind, but always with the “possibility” of change to such a theory coming forth in the future, it is safe to assume that mummy KV21a is that of Ankhesenamun, the wife of Tutankhamun and daughter of Nefertiti & Akhenaten, but at the present more testing will need to be done to certify her identity officially.

The Mummy KV21a

The mummy of KV21a is that of what appears to be an adult human female no older than 25 years of age, who measures at around 1.62m in length. Sadly, the mummy is greatly damaged, with no head and a mutilated torso with detached arms.

The abdominal cavity is unfortunately filled with flood debris, which indicates her torso had been opened prior to the flooding disaster. And it is thought the mummy had been unwrapped previous to the flooding also.

Interestingly, her legs and feet remain, alas, they show what in life would be painful distortion, with her left food twisted at a peculiar angel, described as a “flex across its planter surface to approximately 90 degrees”, and the left foot even more-so.

This is interesting to note, as the mummy of Tutankhamun, in recent analysis, showcased what those studying the Boy King’s remains thought to be “clubbed feet” or a “club foot”. If KV21a, is the sister-wife of Tutankhamun, queen Ankhesenamun, and she shares similar traits, until further testing, this could be circumstantial evidence, when it comes to identifying her as a close relation of the Boy King.

Read our article about Tomb KV21 here: https://egypt-museum.com/kv21b/