If the great (and not-so-great) pharaohs were alive
today, they might object to the fact that Tutankhamun gets all of the
fame, the best museum exhibits and a song by Steve Martin just because
he lived fast, died young and no one looted his tomb. Well, get ready to
add two more. A Canadian Egyptologist claims to have solved the mystery
of who ruled over Egypt before Tutankhamun took over and she thinks it
was two sisters co-ruling as a pharaonic tag-team. Who got to sit on the
throne? Who got to hold the royal cat?
In a presentation at the American Research Center in Egypt annual conference in Alexandria, Virginia, Valerie Angenot, an Egyptologist at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM) proposed
that the chaotic succession after the death of Akhenaten included two
of his daughters who ruled together until Tut was nine. What’s been
pieced together from various writings is that Akhenaten was succeeded
for a year by his son-in-law Smenkhkare (married to Meritaten), who may
or may not have co-reigned briefly with Akhenaten and may have been
female instead of male. That confusion continues with Nefertiti, wife of
Akhenaten, who some think may also have been Smenkhkare as a way to
disguise herself so she could take over and rule briefly until her
death.
Confused? Angenot doesn’t clear things up. While some scholars think
Smenkhkare or Nefertiti were succeeded by Tutankhamun, others believe
the female who took over was actually Meritaten, who was Akhenaten’s
eldest daughter and one of his wives who he was grooming to take over
the throne. Angenot claims she’s found symbols and inscriptions which
imply that, while Meritaten did indeed succeed her father, she was
co-regent with her sister, Neferneferuaten Tasherit and together they
ruled under one name. possibly Neferneferuaten, which is a name also
associated with Nefertiti.
Tutankhamun, Akhenaten’s only son, took over at age 9 or 10 after the
death of Neferneferuaten Tasherit. Meritaten became his foster mother
and he married Ankhesenamun, another of his half-sisters, thus keeping
things all in the family.
With the vague and incomplete nature of Egyptian writings and
symbols, Angenot is not 100% sure of her theory, but she says it was
mostly well-received at the conference and she plans to continue her
research.
In the meantime, someone needs to write a song about the pair of
female pharaohs. Egyptian Girls Just Want to Have Fun? Me and My Pharaoh
Shadow? You and Me and Tut Makes Three?
Steve?
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