The Amarna Mysteries

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  • Smenkhkare

Smenkhkare

< 1 min read

An ephemeral king of the Amarna period whose reign, parentage, and even distinctness from Neferneferuaten remain debated. A body found in tomb KV55 has been identified by some scholars as Akhenaten and by others as Smenkhkare. Existence attested; the series adopts the flagged reading that the KV55 individual is Smenkhkare and that he and the "Younger Lady" were Tutankhamun's parents — supported in the literature but not the majority view.

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The Amarna Mysteries

Mystery novels of ancient Egypt, built on the scholarship of the Amarna period. Published by The WordFish Group GmbH, Basel.

The Series

  • Series overview
  • Geography of the series
  • Naming Ancient Egypt
  • Healers & poisons
  • Scribes & bureaucracy

The Amarna Period

  • Overview
  • Akhenaten & the Aten
  • The royal women
  • Succession & aftermath
  • Horemheb

Behind the Books

  • Overview
  • Methodology
  • Research
  • Reader's Companion
  • From the Notebook

© 2026 A.J. Tilke. All rights reserved, including the novels, their text, descriptions and covers.
CC BY 4.0: the historical essays and the Reader's Companion.

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