Smenkhkare (alternatively romanized Smenkhare, Smenkare, or Smenkhkara; meaning "Vigorous is the soul of Re") was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of unknown background who lived and ruled during the Amarna Period of the 18th Dynasty. Smenkhkare was the husband to Meritaten, the daughter of his likely co-regent, Akhenaten. Since the Amarna period was subject to a large-scale condemnation of memory by later pharaohs, very little can be said of Smenkhkare with certainty, and he has hence been subject to immense speculation.
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👉 Smenkhkare in the context of Neferneferuaten
Ankhkheperure-Merit-Neferkheperure/Waenre/Aten Neferneferuaten (Ancient Egyptian: nfr-nfrw-jtn), or "Neferneferuaten", is the name of a queen regnant ('female king') of ancient Egypt who reigned in her own right near the end of the Amarna Period during the Eighteenth Dynasty. Her name features feminine gender traces, and one of her epithets was Akhet-en-hyes ("Beneficial for her husband"). This epithet also features in one version of her nomen (birth name) cartouche. (See Ancient Egyptian royal titulary.) The name Neferneferuaten translates as either "(“Perfect/Beautiful is the perfection/beauty of Aten”)
She is to be distinguished from the male king Smenkhkare, with whom she shared the prenomen (throne name) Ankhkheperure. However, Smenkhkare was a male king who was married to Akhenaten and Nefertiti's daughter Meritaten but his prenomen bore no additional epithets and he disappears from the historical records shortly after Year 12 of Akhenaten.
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Smenkhkare in the context of Amarna Period
The Amarna Period was an era of Egyptian history during the later half of the Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen shifted from the old capital of Thebes (Waset) to Akhetaten (literally "Horizon of the Aten") in what is now modern Amarna. This move occurred during the reign of Amenhotep IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten (1353–1336 BC) in order to reflect the dramatic change of Egypt's polytheistic religion into one where the sun disc Aten was worshipped over all other gods. Toward the end of Akhenaten's reign, he had a mysterious co-regent, Smenkhkare, about which very little is known; similarly, Neferneferuaten, a female ruler (perhaps the wife of Smenkhkare, or even Nefertiti herself?) also exercised influence.
Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, and Neferneferuaten were succeeded by Akhenaten's son Tutankhamun, only around nine years old. The Egyptian pantheon was swiftly restored under his reign. Due to his youth, his viziers and advisors appear to have done most of the job of governance. Much of the government moved to Memphis, Egypt during Tutankhamun's reign, reducing Akhetaten's importance. Both of Tutankhamun's daughters predeceased him, and he died without an heir; he was succeeded as Pharoh by Ay. Ay's short reign of three years was followed by Horemheb, who ordered the city of Akhetaten torn down. Horemheb excised as much of the Amarna Period as he could from official histories and monuments, considering it an aberration. According to Horemheb's revised monuments, he directly succeeded Amenhotep III, essentially erasing 30 years of history.