Who is ay in ancient egypt

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Ay and his first wife are thought to have been Queen Nefertiti's parents, which would have made him the grandfather to Tutankhamun. The Amarna Period is significant in Egyptian history because the nation shifted from the worship of many gods to the worship of one god, Aten, who was the sun god. The royal palace was moved to Akhet-Aten and Amun , the name of the old religion's primary god, was removed from buildings and monuments. From inscriptions found on a box intended for his tomb, Pharaoh Ay is thought to have achieved the following ranks :.

Overseer of all the horses of his majesty was the highest rank in the army's charioteering division. Chariots were considered the primary weapons of the army and both the vehicles and the horses were extremely valuable. The position of right-hand fan bearer indicated that he had the king's ear and was another extremely important position in the court.

When Ay subsequently became pharaoh, he incorporated this name into his title. Two different theories exist to explain the rise of a commoner to such exalted positions. One theory postulates that, as mentioned above, he was the son of Yuya and therefore Amenhotep III's brother-in-law. Yuya was one of Amenhotep's senior military officers and speculation is that Ay followed the same direction and inherited his father's duties when Yuya died.

The other theory is that Ay had a daughter who married Akhenaten and therefore had access to offices not usually given to commoners. Sanakht Ancient Egyptian relics have revealed that Sanakht was a Pharaoh of Shepseskaf Shepseskaf was the last king of the Fourth Dynasty of the Egyptian Sekhemkhet Pharoah Sekhemkhet ruled during the Third Dynasty of ancient Shepseskare Shepseskare was known as Shepseskara in ancient Egyptian language, Sneferu Sneferu is famous for being the founder ruler of the Fourth Dynasty King Unas Unas, or Unis, was the last ruler of the 5th dynasty.

Under his rule, Teti There is a close resemblance between Teti and his predecessor Unas in Userkare Userkare was the second pharaoh of ancient Egypt's 6th dynasty Ahmose I Ahmose I is among the many ancient pharaohs and rulers in Egypt and Ay Itnetjer Ay was a king of the 18th dynasty and is said to have inherited Horemheb About Horemheb Horemheb was the last king of the 18th Merenptah Merenptah is believed to have been the 13th son of Ramessses and he Queen Nitocris Queen Nitocris was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the 6th Smenkhare Smenkhare Ankhkheperure was the eleventh pharaoh of the 18th The grounds on which Ay based his successful claim to power are not entirely clear.

The Commander of the Army, Horemheb , had actually been designated as the "idnw" or "Deputy of the Lord of the Two Lands" under Tutankhamun and was presumed to be the boy king's heir apparent and successor. Ay was certainly a powerful figure: he was close to the centre of political power at the royal palace for some 25 years under both Tutankhamun and Akhenaten. But this was probably still not enough, however, to legitimize his claims to the throne in the highly hierarchical society of Ancient Egypt, if he was of non-royal birth especially at a time of domestic upheaval without his marriage to Tutankhamun's widow.

Since he was already advanced in age upon his accession, Ay ruled Egypt in his own right for only four years. During this period, he consolidated the return to the old religious ways that he had initiated as senior advisor and constructed a mortuary temple at Medinet Habu for his own use. Urk IV: After his death, Ay planned for Nakhtmin to be his successor. However, Ay's plan went awry as Horemheb rose to become the last king of Egypt's 18th Dynasty instead.

The fact that Nakhtmin was Ay's intended heir is strongly implied by an inscription carved on a dyad funerary statue of Nakhtmin and his spouse which was presumably made during Ay's reign.