Smenkhkare
Ankhkheperure

Smenkhkare comes into the Amarna story around Year 15 of Akhenaten's reign. Not much is known of his origins. Some claim him to be the son of Amenhotop III, thus Akhenaten's brother. Others claim that he is the son of Akhenaten and Kiya, a minor wife of the king. Whatever the case, Smenkhkare is declared co-regent and given Meritaten, the pharoah's eldest daughter, as wife. Smenkhkare is shown in numerous reliefs with Akhenaten, and some have drawn the conclusion that these two men were in fact lovers. Scholars give the time of Smenkhkare's reign to be around three years, and assume that he died or was murdered soon after the death of Akhenaten in Year 17. The body in Tomb 55 is assumed to be his by most scholars, as the man in the tomb was around 25 years of age when he died.