Amenhotep IV, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun & Ay

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Smenkhkare is one of four consecutive AMARNA kings - Amenhotep IV, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun & Ay - absent from the king lists inscribed on the walls of the Abydos temples of Seti I & Ramses II. Convention has it that all four pharaohs existed. Of the four Smenkhkare is the only one without a confirmed image, a confirmed tomb, or a confirmed mummy. Could Smenkhkare have been a separate individual, or was 'Smenkhkare' a 'nom-de-plume' for a king already upon the throne of Egypt - as 'Akhenaten' was to Amenhotep IV?

King List, Temple of Seti I Abydos

V. SMENKHKARE* The AMARNA changeling by MICHAEL J MARFLEET

What we know: 1. His name first appears in c1336bc (Fig. 1); 2. Records state he married Merytaten, eldest daughter of Akhenaten and Neferneferuaten nefertiti; 3. His name disappears in c1334bc at much the same time as the names Akhenaten and Nefer- neferuaten nefertiti. What we don't know: 1. His name is absent from the Seti I and Ramses II King Lists, (as are the names of the other AMARNA Period kings: Amenhotep IV [Akhen- aten], Tutankhamun and Ay, [Fig. 2 & Essay VIII appearing September 24th]); 2. There are no confirmed representations of him, (though one or two otherwise anonymous illustrations have been attributed to Smenkhkare; eg: Bib. 36, p.304); 3. His lineage is unconfirmed - he could have been a brother to Amenhotep IV, or a son by Amenhotep IV by a secondary wife, or had some other lineage; 4. His mummy has not been identified, and neither has his tomb.** Not a good starting point for establishing whether he ever existed. The following two independent approaches to investigating this conundrum will ultimately lead us to a single plausible solution.

1. Birth names, throne names & their epithets Dr Nicholas Reeves, FSA makes a strong argument for Smenkhkare (Potent is the soul of Re) to actually be synonymous with Neferneferuaten nefertiti (Beautiful is the perfection of Aten The beautiful one has come), Akhenaten's Great Wife.*** His reasoning largely stems from the throne name (with epithet), Ankhkheperure meryneferkheperure (Living are the manifestations of Re Beloved of Neferkheperure, [Neferkheperure is the throne name of Amenhotep - 'The beautiful one of the manifestations of Re']), that is paired with the birth name (with epithet), Neferneferuaten mery-waenre (Beautiful is the perfection of Aten Beloved of Waenre, [Waenre is the epithet to the throne name of Amenhotep - 'The unique one of Re']), both appearing in c1336bc. Ankhkheperure (Living are the manifestations of Re) no epithet, (but see 'Discussion' below), is the throne name linked with the birth name (with epithet), Smenkhkare djeserkheperu (Potent is the soul of Re Holy of manifestations) that also appears c1336bc. Additionally, around this date appear the throne names (with epithets) Ankhkheperure meryneferkheperure (Living are the manifestations of Re Beloved of Neferkheperure) and Ankhkheperure merywaenre (Living are the manifestations of Re Beloved of Waenre) which are associated respectively with the birth names (with epithets) Neferneferuaten merywaenre (Beautiful is the perfection of Aten Beloved of Waenre) and Neferneferuaten akhetenhyes (Beautiful is the perfection of Aten Effective for her husband). The armchair archaeological sleuth can be forgiven for losing the thread in these bewilderingly muddled permutations of throne names, birth names and their epithets. Nevertheless the Reeves logic appears eminently rational, namely that since Nefer- neferuaten (birth name) had the throne name Ankhkheperure and Smenkhkare (birth name) had the throne name Ankhkheperure, Smenkhkare was Neferneferuaten. However, there is a snag in this otherwise relatively logical connection, and that is in Smenkhkare's recorded marriage to Merytaten. If Smenkhkare had indeed been Nefer- neferuaten, a queen marrying a woman (her daughter) would be unique in ancient Egyptian history. To my knowledge, there is no precedent.**** On the other hand, occasions when male pharaohs married their daughters (or even grand-daughters) were not unknown. Could it be more likely, then, that it was Amenhotep IV who married his eldest daughter when she came of age, which would have been around 1336bc? Amenhotep IV (birth name) changed his name to Akhenaten (birth name) around the fifth year of his reign, probably coincident with the move to his new city 400km to the north of Thebes, Akhetaten (Fig. 3). He may have done this again, this time changing his name to Smenkhkare (birth name) when, around his fourteenth year as pharaoh, he married Merytaten.

2. Iconography It has long been recognized that over the reign of Amenhotep IV the iconography of pharaoh was unusual, abnormal even. In particular, the shape of 'his' body: wide hips; swelled belly; narrow waist; pronounced breasts - distinctly feminine features. Statues depicting an unclothed Amenhotep IV also lack any representation of masculinity - more the reverse, (Bib. 3; Pl.33). Many scholars have speculated upon the possible medical conditions that could have manifested themselves with these outwardly visible features. But could the art be an intentional representation of pharaoh as virtually hermaphrodite, and if so, why? To answer this question we need to consider the possible implications of a 90% totality eclipse that occurred over Akhetaten in the year 1338bc; (Bib. 74, & Technical Essay 7, January 28th, 2022). To a sun-worshipping cult the event must have been deeply disturbing - the Aten was greatly displeased. The king and queen may have concluded the reason for Aten's displeasure was that their union - Akhenaten and Neferneferuaten outwardly representing themselves as a single, androgynous god king - lacked a consort. The god king had no visible queen, and the Aten was signaling his displeasure with a demon- stration of his power by briefly depriving the land of his light and warmth. Faced with the need to placate the god's wrath Akhenaten/Neferneferuaten may have chosen to assume a new birth name for this dual deity - Smenkhkare - and secure the royal couple's aptly named eldest daughter as 'his' queen, birth name:

Merytaten Beloved of Aten

This somewhat fanciful concept may be supported by a frieze in the tomb of Huya in the northern nobles' necropolis in the hills east of Akhetaten.***** The frieze depicts the royal family at a banquet, and dates around the time of the eclipse. The largest figure in the frieze is an apparently hermaphrodite Akhenaten; behind 'him' ?Merytaten (the associated cartouche is partly erased but appears to hold two characters in the name Merytaten and is the right size, and too small for Neferneferuaten nefertiti); in front and regaling 'him' the dowager queen, Akhenaten's mother Queen Tiye; and below them the god kings' daughters. Neferneferuaten nefertiti is absent both as a figure and in name - inference: the androgynous god king embodies both royal deities******. In the Valley of the Kings tomb KV55 (Technical Essay 4, December 17th) was found to contain, among other important grave goods, the stacked panels of a single royal sarcophagus shrine. The scene on the back panel shows Queen Tiye similarly regaling a larger excised figure of Akhenaten. Unfortunately due to the willful and thorough damage it is impossible to see any details of the figure; ie: whether it, too, had herm- aphroditic features. However, a partially preserved portion of a figure on the left side panel of the shrine interpreted to be that of Akhenaten appears to show a breast, (Bib. 7). Neferneferuaten nefertiti, again, is clearly absent - or implicitly present as the androgynous god king, Neferkheperure waenre. Both the Huya tomb frieze and the KV55 shrine panels employ the late version of the Aten cartouche, suggesting they are more or less contemporary with one another.

Discussion Now, clearing our heads and taking a good, long look at the full list of throne names, birth names & epithets in existence during the reign of Amenhotep IV, namely…

Neferkheperure waenre The beautiful one of the manifestations of Re The unique one of Re

Amenhotep netjerheqawaset Amen is content God and ruler of Thebes

Neferkheperure waenre The beautiful one of the manifestations of Re The unique one of Re

Akhenaten Living spirit of Aten

Ankhkheperure Living are the manifestations of Re

Smenkhkare djeserkheperu Potent is the soul of Re Holy of manifestations

Neferneferuaten nefertiti Beautiful is the perfection of Aten The beautiful one has come

Ankhkheperure meryneferkheperure Living are the manifestations of Re Beloved of Neferkheperure

Neferneferuaten merywaenre Beautiful is the perfection of Aten Beloved of Waenre

Ankhkheperure merywaenre Living are the manifestations of Re Beloved of Waenre

Neferneferuaten akhetenhyes Beautiful is the perfection of Aten Effective for her husband

…will enable us to pull all the threads together into one coherent piece of embroidery. But there is another snag: the throne name of Smenkhkare - Ankhkheperure, (above) - is the only throne name without epithet. Here Goldwasser's brief description of a Smenkhkare cartouche on a piece of jar handle found in an ancient Egyptian fort in Canaan, some 1,000km from Thebes, comes to our rescue. The cartouche in question does include an epithet.******* It is written Ankhkheperure waenre (Living are the manifestations of Re The unique one of Re); an epithet shared with the throne names of both Amenhotep IV and Akhenaten - a single individual. Not only this, as Goldwasser observes: "note the rare honorific writing of 'mri' below the group 'wa.en.re'. In this case the king's name is treated in the same manner as a god." (Fig. 4). If the androgynous portrayal of pharaoh was an intentional representation of the union of Amenhotep/Akhenaten and Neferneferuaten as a single god king, then the link between the throne names of Neferneferuaten and Amenhotep/Akhenaten to the throne name of Smenkhkare may finally be sewn in place. The three were synonymous. Reeves' observation that Smenkhkare is associated with Neferneferuaten rather than Amenhotep/Akhenaten is a reflection of the undeniably greater physical resemblance of Neferneferuaten with the androgynous iconography typical of the later Amenhotep/ Akhenaten years.

Conclusion While Reeves and I share slightly different theories as to the true identity of Smenkhkare, this bears little relevance to the crux of the matter. We agree on perhaps the most important issue - Smenkhkare never existed as a separate individual. There were never more than three AMARNA Period pharaohs. Their birth names and epithets: 1 Amenhotep netjerheqawaset (aka) Akhenaten (no epithet) (aka) Neferneferuaten nefertiti (aka) Smenkhkare djeserkheperu 2 Tutankhamun heqaiunushema 3 Ay itnetjer

If true - that Smenkhkare never existed as a unique human being but this was just another name for Amenhotep/Akhenaten/Neferneferuaten - all that has been written in pursuit of this elusive pharaoh is so much hearsay. There are, however, many Egypt- ologists who would contest this. As with many ancient Egyptian mysteries, despite all the analysis and the involved logic the issue is by no means decided, largely due to the piecemeal nature of the evidence. It becomes just another 'plausible solution' to yet another enduring mystery. In any event, ultimately and tragically the god king's reparations, whatever they were, were to no avail. The plague that likely followed shortly after the eclipse, killing most of the royal family and no doubt many more residents of Akhetaten to boot, finally sealed the fate of the Aten cult and that of the city itself, (Chapter Three, 'The Forbidden City', May 6th, 2022). The notable surviving royal family members were Ay, his grand daughter, Ankhesenamun (third daughter of Amenhotep IV and Neferneferuaten), and Tutankhamun himself, nephew of Amenhotep IV.

Fig. 1 - New Kingdom timescale

Fig. 2 - Position in the King List where the throne names of the 'four' AMARNA Kings are missing, Temple of SETI I at Abydos (Throne name of AMENHOTEP III at left; throne name of HOREMHEB at right)

Fig. 3

Fig. 4 - Hieroglyphic inscriptions within the throne name cartouches of Amenhotep, Akhenaten, Smenkhkare & Neferneferuaten (2)

------* In the introduction to Volume III of his trilogy covering the discovery and clearance of KV62 (Bib. 22), Carter gives an excellent, objective summary account of the controversy surrounding the Aten kings from Amenhotep III through Ay and the status of knowledge as it was in the early 1900's.

** There is current disagreement over the identity of the anonymous male mummy discovered in KV55 and believed to be the father of Tutankhamun, (Technical Essay 2 appearing November 19th) - Akhenaten, Smenkhkare or unknown?

*** 'The Burial of Nefertiti?' Nicholas Reeves, FSA, Amarna Royal Tombs project, Valley of the Kings, Occasional Paper No.1, 2015 (www.academia.edu)

**** Even the female pharaoh, Queen Hatshepsut, who portrayed herself as a male, did not take another woman as her consort. Many believe she took a male lover, Senenmut, the architect of her magnificent mortuary temple at Deir el- Bahari.

***** 'Prisse d'Avennes, Atlas of Egyptian Art' Notes O. E. Kaper, The American University in Cairo Press, 2000; & Ridley, Ronald T., 'Akhenaten, a historian's view', The American University in Cairo Press, 2019 (www.academia.edu) In the literature this frieze is interpreted in different ways.

****** The passage headed 'Nefertiti-Neferneferuaten' in 'Women of Power and Influence in Ancient Egypt' by Brian Alm, 2019, (www.academia.edu), provides an alternative, but in many ways similar view.

******* 'A Cartouche of Smenkhkare from Canaan' Orly Goldwasser, Gottinger Miszellen 115:29-32, 1990 (www.aca-demia.edu). By the middle of the XVIIIth Dynasty the ancient Egyptians had a number of outlying military bases to the north, likely through the capture and occupation of those originally established by defeated forces. 'The Architecture of Imperialism - military bases & the evolution of foreign policy in Egypt's New Kingdom' Eileen Fowles Morris, Brill Leiden, Boston, 2005 (www.academia.edu).

Next: ESSAY VI 'Tomb cutting in the Valley(s) of the Kings c1570 - c1070bc' published August 27th, 2021