Amarna Period - Gallery of Images

Gallery of Images

• Queen Tiye, matriarch of the Amarna Dynasty. She was the mother of Akhenaten and wife of Amenhotep III. She mainly ran Egypt's affairs of state for her son.

• Akhenaten, born Amenhotep IV, began a religious revolution in which he declared Aten was a supreme god and turned his back on the old traditions. He moved the capital to Akhetaten.

• Queen Nefertiti, was the daughter of Ay, who married Akhenaten. Her role in daily life at the court soon extended from Great Royal Wife to that of a co- regent. It is also possible that she may have ruled Egypt in her own right as pharaoh, Neferneferuaten.

• Smenkhkare, was a co-regent of Akhenaten who ruled after his death. It was believed that Smenkhkare was a male guise of Nefertiti. However, it is accepted that Smenkhkare was a male. He took Meritaten, Queen Nefertiti's daughter as his wife.

• Queen Meritaten, was the oldest daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. She was the wife of Smenkhkare. She also may have ruled Egypt in her own right as pharaoh and is one the possible candidates of being the pharaoh, Neferneferuaten.

• Neferneferure and Neferneferuaten Tasherit. Shown here as children, they were two of six daughters born to Akhenaten and Nefertiti. It is possible that Neferneferuaten Tasherit was the one who may have been her father's co-regent and may have ruled as the female pharaoh, Neferneferuaten.

• Kiya. She was one of Akhenaten's secondary wives. It was once believed that she was the mother of Tutankhamun, but that was proven not the case when DNA revealed it not so.

• The Younger Lady mummy of KV35 was by DNA matching Tutankhamun's mother. Originally thought to be Nefertiti, DNA showed that she was the sister of Akhenaten. Princess Nebetah or Beketaten are considered candidates.

• Maia was the wet nurse of the Crown Prince, Tutankhamun. Having lost his mother at a young age, she helped rear the young prince. Maia was later allowed to have a grand tomb at Saqarra. Here the young prince holds her hand.

• Tutankhamun, formerly Tutankhaten, was Akhenaten's son through an incestal relationship with his sister. As pharaoh, he instigated policies to restore Egypt to its old religion and moved the capital back to Memphis.

• Ankhesenamun, born Ankhesenpaaten, was the wife of Tutankhamun, and daughter of Akhenaten. After her husband's death, she was married to her maternal grandfather Ay.

• Ay served as vizier to Akhenaten, and Tutankhamun. He was the father of Nefertiti. After the death of Tutankhamun, Ay lay a claim to the throne by burying him and by marrying his granddaughter Ankhesenamun.

• After the death of Ay, Horemheb assumed the throne. A commoner, he had served as vizier to both Tutankhamun and Ay. Horemheb instigated a policy of damnatio memoriae, against everyone associated with the Amarna period. He was married to Nefertiti's sister, Mutnodjmet, who died in child birth. With no heir, he appointed his own vizier, Paramessu as his successor.

• The ruins of Akhetaten. Now commonly called Amarna, Akhenaten's capital city was abandoned by Tutankhamun. It survived several years before being torn apart by Horemheb's orders.