The Royal Family of Pharaoh Akhenaten
Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten x Neferneferuaten Nefertiti
their
children:
Meritaten Meketaten Ankhesenpaaten Neferneferuaten Neferneferure Setepenre
Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten x Kiya
their children:
Meritaten II Ankhesenpaaten II Smenchkare Tutankhaten
Other players on the Royal Family Scene:
Ay
Pharaoh Akenaten's vizier, Nefertiti's father. During Akehnaten's reign, Ay had the titles "Overseer of the Horses" and "The God's Father". These titles point out that, next to the Pharaoh, Ay was the most powerful man in the Realm.
Tiye
Pharaoh Akhenaten's mother, not to be mixed up with Tey (or Tiy), Ay's second wife. Tiye was married to Pharaoh Amenhotep III and she was very much involved in the Cult of the Aten (Solar Disc God) within the Royal Palace of Amenhotep III at Thebes. When her son Amenhotep IV had changed his name into Akhenaten ("Aten's Willing Servant") and had left for his new city Akhet Aten (his new capital of Upper and Lower Egypt), she used to go there and visit her son often.
Maya
He was Pharaoh Akhenaten's treasurer, a post comparable to that of a Finance Minister. Maya was married to Lady Merit. Statues of them have been found during excavations in Amarna, the site of ancient Achet Aten.
Maya (back) and his wife Merit (front)
Horemheb
Horemheb was Pharaoh Akhenaten's first general and Minister of Defense. He had been appointed when Amenhotep IV still ruled in Thebes, before he changed his name and went to his new city in the desert. Horemheb followed his Pharaoh, but there wasn't much for him to do, for Akhenaten shifted his interest gradually from a strong expansion and defense program for Egypt (like his predecessors had) to mere devotion for the Aten, art, trade and peace with neighboring nations. What Horemheb couldn't stand at all was the peace Akhenaten made with Egypt's old enemies, the Hittites. Horemheb is believed to have hated the Hittites and to have been responsible for the killing of the Hittite prince Wannanza, who was called to Egypt by Tutankhamen's widow Anchesenamen to marry her, because she had no heir to the throne of Egypt.
Tutankhamen
Son of Akhenaten and his minor wife Kiya. After his father's death, when he was 9 years old, Tutankhaten, as he was called by his father, and his half-sister Ankhesenamen (formerly Ankhesenpaäten) were married and Tutankhamen was brought to Thebes to become the next Pharaoh of Egypt. When he was 19 years old and had reached mature age and the point to become an independent ruler himself, Tutankhamen suddenly died mysteriously. His beloved wife Ankhesenamen was left behind without an heir to the throne. To get married once again to a royal person, she wrote letters to the Hittite king Suppiluliuma, a friend of her father's, to send one of his many sons to Egypt to become her husband and Pharaoh of Egypt. The prince sent to Egypt, Wannanza, was killed when he reached the border and was never to marry the unhappy young widow.
Several princesses, daughters of Akhenaten
These young ladies are daughters of Akhenaten and his two wives. Notice the typical shape of the bodies and heads, this is called the "Amarna Style".
The relations between the persons mentioned above are not completely sure. Some Amarna specialists make other arrangements between these persons and give other descriptions of these persons. Neither are the listings nor the pictures above complete. If you have alterations or missing persons and pictures, do not hesitate to notify us!
