Amarna Era

The Amarna period includes the reigns of Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/tutankhamun.shtml Tutankhamun and Ay Ay. The period is named after the capital city established by Akhenaten, son of Amenhotep III. Akhenaten started his reign as Amenhotep IV, but changed his name when he discarded all other religions and declared the [http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/amarnareligion.html Aten or sun disc as the only God. He closed all the temples of the other Gods and removed their names from the monuments. Smenkhkare, then Tutankhamun, succeeded Akhenaten. Discarding Akhentenn’s religion believes, Tutankhamun returned to the traditional gods. He died young and was succeeded by Ay. Many kings did their best to remove all traces of the period from the records. The art of the Amarna period is very distinctive. The royal family was portrayed with extended heads, long necks and narrow chests. They had skinny limbs, but heavy hips and thighs, with a marked stomach.

Akhenaten started his reign as the king of Egypt around 1353 BC. The reign of his father, Amenhotep III, had been long and wealthy with international diplomacy largely replacing the persistent military campaigning of the kings before him. The reign ended in a series of wonderful anniversary pageants celebrated in Thebes, the capital of Egypt at the time and home to the official god Amun-Re. The new king was named as Amenhotep IV (meaning 'Amun is content') and temple construction began immediately in the name of the new king. Akhenaten's 'great king's wife' was Nefertiti and they had six daughters. There were also other wives, including the enigmatic Kiya who may have been the mother of Tutankhamun.

Smenkhkare was a king (reigned 1335–32 bce) in the 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt. Smenkhkare’s beginning and identity from the vague issues of the Amarna period. The short-lived Smenkhkare appears only at the end of Ahkenaton’s reign in a few monuments at Amarna. He shares the same coronation name, Ankhkheperure, with another royal individual called Neferneferuaton. Since coronation names are generally exceptional to one individual, it has been suggested that Smenkhkare is Nefertiti herself, raised herself to kingly status to share the throne with her husband at the end of his life. In one tomb at Akhetaton, Smenkhkare is shown with the eldest daughter of Akhenaton, Meritaton, then elevated to the status of queen. The only dated document of Smenkhkare’s reign is a graffito from a Theban tomb, which notes his third regnal year.

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