Smenkhkare

Smenkhkare
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Name	Smenkhkare
Reign	c. 1335–1334 BC (disputed)
Prenomen	? (disputed)
Nomen	? (disputed)
Predecessor	Akhenaten
Successor	Tutankhamun
Dynasty	Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt
Spouse	Nefertiti?; Meritaten?
Burial	possibly KV55 or Amarna tombs (disputed)

Smenkhkare Smenkhkare is a short-reigning and controversial ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt whose identity, titulary, gender, and relationships have been the focus of sustained scholarly debate involving Amarna Period archaeology, Egyptology historiography, and royal succession studies. The figure is implicated in connections with Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, and the funerary assemblages from KV55 and Amarna, and appears in fragmentary inscriptions, stelae, and reliefs that have prompted competing reconstructions by authorities such as Flinders Petrie, Howard Carter, Edwin C. Brock, Joyce Tyldesley, and Donald B. Redford.

Background and Identity

Scholars situate Smenkhkare within the late Amarna Period of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, linking the figure to royal family members including Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Meritaten, Ankhesenamun, and possibly Tutankhaten, with debates informed by analyses from James Henry Breasted, Arthur Weigall, Aby M. Shore, Barry J. Kemp, and Nicholas Reeves. Evidence derives from inscriptions at Amarna, artifacts associated with KV55, and catalogued objects in collections such as the Egyptian Museum, Cairo and the British Museum, which have been reassessed by teams led by Zahi Hawass, Joann Fletcher, and Barry Kemp. The limited epigraphic corpus includes partial cartouches, ephemeral king lists, and secondary mentions in texts connected to institutions like Thebes, Garna, and the Temple of Amun precincts.

Reign and Chronology

Chronological reconstructions place the reign of Smenkhkare immediately after the later years of Akhenaten and before Tutankhamun, with proposed dates in the 1330s BC derived from synchronization with solar observations, regnal year counts, and correspondence with figures such as Ay, Horemheb, Meryre II, and Tutu. Interpretations vary between short coregencies, ephemeral sole rulership, and overlapping administrations involving Nefertiti and royal daughters such as Meritaten and Ankhesenamun; proponents including Donald Redford and Aidan Dodson have used material from Amarna letters and funerary equipment attributed to KV55 to argue alternate timelines. Radiocarbon studies, stratigraphic data from Amarna, and reassigned inscriptional phases published by Olivier Perdu and John D. Ray also feed into competing synchronisms involving Hittite Empire correspondence and regional actors like Kush and Mitanni.

Royal Titles, Names, and Iconography

The titulary attributed to Smenkhkare is fragmentary and contested, comprising partial prenomens and nomens reconstructed from damaged cartouches on reliefs and stelae at Amarna and artifacts from KV55, with proposals by epigraphers such as A. E. P. Weigall and Alan Gardiner. Iconographic evidence includes depictions showing a youthful male royal with the nemes or the khepresh crown, and occasional androgynous features comparable to portraits of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, generating debate among interpreters like Erik Hornung and Zahi Hawass about gender expression and royal artistic conventions. Objects bearing the throne name alleged to belong to Smenkhkare have been reattributed over time by curators at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, the Manchester Museum, and the Louvre Museum.

Relationship with Akhenaten and Nefertiti

Primary hypotheses link Smenkhkare as either a brother, son, son-in-law, or coregent of Akhenaten, and as consort or co-ruler with Nefertiti, with advocates including Alan Gardiner, Norman de Garis Davies, and Marc Gabolde. Interpretations draw on scenes from the Amarna house tombs, inscriptions showing paired royal figures, and administrative records mentioning officials such as Meryre and Tutu, while alternative reconstructions consider political roles held by Ay and Horemheb during the succession crisis. Diplomatic matrices involving the Hittite correspondence and later interventions by Ay and Horemheb are used to contextualize hypotheses by scholars like Eric Cline and Kevin Shillington.

Domestic and Foreign Policy

If regarded as ruler, Smenkhkare’s policies are inferred indirectly from the continuation or partial rollback of Akhenaten’s religious reforms centered on Aten worship, shifting priesthood fortunes tied to Thebes and the Priesthood of Amun, and the resumption of diplomatic ties with polities such as the Hittite Empire, Babylon, and Kush. Administrative continuity is suggested by officials like Meryre II and Tutu continuing service across the transition, while military and diplomatic orientations are reconstructed from artifacts and seals found in Amarna and Thebes and analyzed by historians including Kenneth Kitchen and Nicolas Grimal.

Burial, Tombs, and Archaeological Evidence

Potential burial candidates include remains and funerary equipment from KV55 and fragments from the Amarna tombs, with osteological, DNA, and artifact-based studies conducted by teams including Göran A. E. Broström, Zahi Hawass, and Joann Fletcher; the identification of the KV55 occupant remains debated with contenders such as Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, and other royal males. Material culture—amulets, funerary masks, canopic jars, and coffin inscriptions—has been reassessed in collections at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, the British Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while stratigraphic work at Amarna by Barry Kemp and radiocarbon analyses have refined but not resolved chronological attributions.

Historical Interpretations and Debates

Interpretive schools range from those treating Smenkhkare as a distinct short-lived king proposed by Flinders Petrie and defended by Aidan Dodson to models positing identity conflation with Nefertiti or misattribution among later king lists advocated by Nicholas Reeves and Marc Gabolde, with ongoing disputes over sex, titulary, and funerary markers debated in journals by James P. Allen, O. Berthaïne, and A. J. Spencer. New approaches employing ancient DNA, isotope analysis, and digital epigraphy by research groups associated with University College London, the University of Cambridge, and the Supreme Council of Antiquities continue to test hypotheses, ensuring that Smenkhkare remains a pivotal figure for understanding the end of the Amarna Period and the restoration of posterior Eighteenth Dynasty norms associated with Ay and Horemheb.

Category:Pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt