Ankhesenamun - Later Life

Later Life

She is believed to have been married first to her own father, and is thought to have been the mother of the princess Ankhesenpaaten Tasherit (possibly by her father or by Smenkhkare) when she was twelve, although the parentage is unclear.

After her father's death, and the short reigns of Smenkhkare, and Neferneferuaten, she became the wife of Tutankhamun. Following their marriage, the couple honored the deities of the restored religion by changing their names to Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun. The couple appear to have had two stillborn daughters. As Tutankhamun's only known wife was Ankkhesenamun, it is highly likely the fetuses are her daughters. Some time in the ninth year of his reign, at about the age of eighteen, Tutankhamun died suddenly leaving Ankhesenamun alone without an heir at about age twenty-one.

A ring discovered is thought to show that Ankhesenamun married Ay, shortly before she disappeared from history, although no monuments show her as a royal consort. On the walls of Ay's tomb it is Tey (Ay's senior wife), not Ankhesenamun, who appears as queen. She probably died during or shortly after his reign and as of yet no burial has been found for her.