Meritaten

Meritaten was born in the 14th century BC, daughter of Pharaoh Akhenaten, the ruler who upended Egypt's pantheon to worship a single sun-deity. She performed official duties for her father and eventually became Great Royal Wife to Pharaoh Smenkhkare, who might have been Akhenaten's brother or son. For years scholars have debated whether she and the female pharaoh Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten were the same person — a theory given weight by the era's blurred succession and her proximity to power. An inscription on a box from Tutankhamun's tomb appears to list them separately, suggesting two wom…