Akhenaten
Akhenaten was by far one of the most radical pharaohs of the ancient times. He rocked the very core of Egyptian life. Their religion. He was born with the name Amenhotep the fourth. Son of the great pharaoh Amenhotep the third and the queen Tiye.
Tiye is rumored to be the sister of the high priest of Amun, Ay. Who is said to have held his position through three generations in pharaohs and is said to have even taken the throne himself. Though I will get back to him in a minute.
Amenhotep the fourth for some reason that is not quite clear opposed the cult of Amun and even had his coronation on the opposite side of the Nile River of Thebes, where the temple of Amun was placed. Amenhoptep the fourth vowed to worship only the sun God Aten. He married his sister Nefertiti and changed his name to Akhenaten. He also changed the capital to Akhetaten.
Akhenaten and Nefertiti had many daughter. Six to be exact. The eldest Merytaten is shown to have married a mysterious figure named Smenkhkare. He is thought to be a possible son of Akhnaten by a lesser wife. He ruled for a short time after Akhenatens death but quickly disappears form records.
Akhenatens second daughter Meriaten dies early in life. One possible cause of death was complications in child birth as she is depicted as marring her father.
The third daughter of the king was Ankhesenpaaten. This child was married to Tutankhaten. Tutankhaten was also rumored to be the son of Akhenaten. Other possibilities were that he was his brother or even his grandchild by Merytaten. Either way he was married to the young princess at the age of about 7 or so.
Much mystery surrounds who ruled after the death of Akhenaten. But in any matter. Tutankhaten and Ankhesenpaaten eventually came to the throne. They did changed the religion back to the old ways of worshiping many gods. With this they changed their names to Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun. After the mysterious death of Tutankhamun, records near cease of the Queen. All except a ring that was found bearing the names of Ankhesenamun and the high priest Ay. Hinting that they may have married and also stirring the thought that it was Ay who killed Tut. I think he did it but you can come to your own conclusion.
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