This web site is devoted to one of Egypt's loveliest, but most tragic prone Queens. She is also one of the most written about historical figures. Her life has fascinated people for over 100 years. She appears in many fiction and non fiction books as well as paintings and movies. I have included references to some of her many depictions including my own humble attempts.
She was the third of Queen Nefetiri's six daughters. She was married to several Pharaohs including the her famous half brother, Tutankhamun. They married when she was in her mid teens. Their two children were still born and then King Tut died while still a teenager. By this time, she was likely the last surviving member of her family and she was only in her early twenties.
Faced with a potentially nasty power struggle among would be successors, she pleaded with a neighboring country's king to send one of his sons to be her husband and Egypt's next Pharaoh. He eventually agreed, but the poor fellow was murdered enroute and she was married to her grandfather. She then vanished from history. Archaeologists now think they may have found her mummy, a woman who died in her mid twenties.
There were many ways for people in the ancient world to die, but some scholars have theorized she may have been murdered. Her father, Pharaoh Akhenaten, had changed Egypt's religion and thus fired many powerful priests. Did the priests get revenge or did she die of something more mundane like a tooth infection?
Explore the life of Ankhesenamun, widow of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
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Portions Copyright © 2010-2012 by David White
This page last updated 28-Aug-2012