Reconsideration of the Chronology of the Eighteenth Dynasty
E. Lin
The chronology of the Eighteenth Dynasty is not completely satisfactory.
It is currently accepted that Meritaten ruled Egypt for three years after the death of Akhenaten. It seems that the strongest evidence came from Manetho, who gave certain daughter of the king a reign of twelve years and one month. Unfortunately, Manetho’s twelve years was cut down to three, allegedly because the highest attested date was merely three years based on the finding of TT139. I suspect that the real reason is that the chronology, either high or low, was unable to accommodate the twelve-year period without causing major disturbance. Hence, the so-called “spurious decade” might not be any more spurious than the current three-year reign assigned to this Lady of Two Lands, unless it could be demonstrated that adding a decade to the reign had been an established practice of Manetho’s time, or he had a special motivation for doing so in this instance.
In reality, it might not be so difficult to find an answer to all the confusions. Remember the name of the fourth daughter of Akhenaten? It is Neferneferuaten Tasheri, thus her mother must be Neferneferuaten, and that was, of course, Queen Nefertiti. As matter of fact, Akhenaten moved to the new capital Akhetaten (Amarna) in his Year 5. In the same year, Nefertiti adopted the name “Neferneferuaten”. Neferneferuaten Tasheri was born in Year 7. From Akhenaten Year 5 until Akhenaten Year 17, when he died, was exactly twelve years. This period is probably what Manetho referred to when he mentioned the twelve year reign. Of course, it would be coregency starting from the date when they moved to the new capital. As far as the title of king’s daughter, Nefertiti is said to be Princess Tadukhipa from Mitanni, according to some. If that is true, she is certainly entitled to this title. In any event, her facial feature does not resemble that of Ay, if the plaster of Ay is indeed his. Furthermore, Nefertiti and Mutnodjmet do not look like sisters even though they are suppose to be. I suspect that Nefertiti was merely adopted by Ay, if they got anything with each other at all.
At this point, I should mention the Coregency Stela, where Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Meritaten have been identified. The name of Nefertiti was later changed to Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten, while the name of Meritaten was changed to Ankhesenpaaten. This is consistent with the known name change of Nefertiti to Neferneferuaten, although it is more difficult to explain why the name of Meritaten needs to be replaced.
Regarding the widely quated “graffito” from the Theban Tomb of Pere (TT139), which reads "Year 3, 3rd month of the Inundation, day 10. The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, lord of the Two Lands, Ankhkheprure - beloved of Aten, son of Re, Nefereneferuaten beloved of Waenre (Akhenaten) ... ", “Ankhkheprure” most likely refers to the new pharaoh Smenkhare, since his full name is Smenkhkare Djeserkheperu Ankhkheperure, as far as I know, while Nefereneferuaten (Nefertiti) is his step-mother. Apparently, Smenkhare ruled at least for three years after Akhenaten, while Nefertiti was still alive. Nefereneferuaten obviously means Nefertiti. In this case, the two of them seems to appear together.
The rumor of Nefertiti’s death in Year 14 of Akhenaten is pure speculation. Her disappearance accompanied by the rise of Smenkhkare must be the result of Akhenaten’s decision to pass the throne his own son Smenkhkare rather than her. Another factor to be considered is that Nefertiti would have been merely over thirty years of age if she died in Year 14 of Akhenaten while her celebrated bust suggests an lady over forty. If she survived until the Restoration of Tutankhamun, she would be the right age to account for the statue of the “most beautiful woman in human history”.
Finally, it is not likely that Smenkhkare died immediately after Akhenaten. If his health had been as bad as that, he probably would never be chosen as the successor. All these arrangements look very contrived. It is more convincing if Smenkhkare survived the old pharaoh for a few years. Hence, I suggest assigning the three years between Akhenaten and Tutankhamun to this poor fellow. Thus, the revised chronology would be as follows:
Akhenaten 1353-1336
Neferneferuaten 1349-1336
Smenkhkare 1335-1333
Tutankhamun 1333-1324