[Fans of Bones may get the references]
The identification of the Elder Lady as Queen Tiye and the Younger Lady as the probable mother of Tutankhamun has focused attention on the boy who lay between them in the side room of KV35. Tim has written a really great article about about this mummy and also about the mummy which is widely believed to be King Sethnakht but whom Tim wonders if it is Prince Webensenu. It's hard to interpret KV35 as it contains the consolidation of many tombs in the Valley of the Kings many of which had probably been robbed.
Tim wonders whether the boy from the side room could be the Pharaoh Smenkhare. (He uses the spelling Smenkhara, others use Smenkhkare. We can't even agree on the spelling of this king's name!) I doubt it because I beleieve KV55 is Smenkhare but anybody who disagrees with my logic and believes KV55 to be Akhenaten may find Tim's arguments interesting.
Tim argues that KV35 was probably robbed before being used as a cache. I doubt this. Amenhotep was found in his own sarcophagus. We should also perhaps consider what made the priests choose KV35 above other tombs? They must have believed that the mummies placed in there stood a chance of escaping further plunderers. Surely they would have chosen a largely intact tomb - unless of course all known tombs had been plundered by then.
Anyway, it's a great article so I'd encourage you to read it yourself and make your own mind up.
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5 comments:
Many of the questions and uncertainties surrounding Akhenaten's co-regent and successor revolve around the names attested for this individual (or individuals). There appear two closely similar yet distinct sets of names in the records available for the late Amarna period.
Valley of The Kings
I'm pretty sure the prince's mummy could be Tuthmosis (son of Amenhotep III and Tiye) who died before Year 30 of his father's reign. The resemblance to the mummies of Tiye and Thuya is noteable, and the age fits the evidence we have of that prince. He was old enough to hold titles that Ramesses II did when Crown Prince yet young enough to have been portrayed as a juvinile in relation to his father (Apis burial) and in relation to the sarcophagus of his pet cat.
I am not sure if a 10 or 11 years old boy would be old and capable enough to bear the title of a Commander of Troops,a title which is attested for a Prince Thutmose on a whip from Tutankhamen`s tomb.
Or could it be that the inscription on this whip refers to Thutmose IV as Prince instead of a son of Amenhotep III?
I really don`t believe that the boy could be Semenkhkare. He definitely died as a king and would have been mummified in the traditional king`s pose with arms crossed over the chest which is not the case. Whatever the reason for the obvious deviation from this tradition seen in the KV55 mummy,
there is evidence that King Semenkhkare initiated the return to the old ways and religion, so he was surely buried according to tradition.
It may be he was murdered? i never noticed the huge gash in the top of his head and since the YL is now considered murdered it will be interesting to see if they find that this damage was done before death or not? Since all three are together it looks as though they were brought together from Ankhetaten after the fall? It may have been a very violent overthrow where all were killed except for Tut and Ankesenamen who were able to carry on dominated by the Priests?
Hi Kate
Thanks for the post!
Cheers
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