Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty 1550 - 1292 BCE, Ay II, Horemheb

The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII) 1550 - 1292 BC is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt. As well as boasting a number of Egypt's most famous pharaohs, it included Tutankhamun, the finding of whose tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 was a sensational archaeological discovery despite its having been twice disturbed by tomb robbers. The dynasty is sometimes known as the Thutmosid Dynasty because of the four pharaohs named Thutmosis (English: Thoth child).

Ahmose I/Nebpehtire
XVIII Egyptian Dynasty 1550 - 1292 BCE
Ahmose I/Nebpehtire 1549 - 1524 BCE
Amenophis/Amenhotep I/Djeserkare 1524 - 1503 BCE
Thuthmosis I/Akheperkare I503 - I493 BCE
Thuthmosis II/Akheperenre I493 - 1479 BCE
Hatshepsut/Maatkare 1479 - 1458 BCE
Thuthmosis III/Menkheper(en)re 1479 - 1424 BCE
Amenophis/Amenhotep II/Akheperure 1424 - 1398 BCE
Thuthmosis IV/Menkheperure 1398 - 1388 BCE
Amenophis/Amenhotep III/NebMaatre 1388 - 1350 BCE
Amenophis/Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten)/Neferkepherure-Waenre 1351 - 1334 BCE
Queen Nefertiti
Smenkhkare/Ankhkheperure 1335 - 1333 BCE
Neferneferuaten/Ankhkheperure-Meriwaenre 1335 - 1333 BCE
Tutankhamun/Nebkheperure 1333 - 1323 BCE.
Ay II/Kheperkheperure 1323 - 1319 BCE
Horemheb/Djeserkheperure-Setepenre 1319 - 1292 BCE

Ay was the penultimate Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's 18th dynasty. He held the throne of Egypt for a brief four-year period (probably 1323-1319 BCE or 1327-1323 BCE, depending on which chronology is followed), although he was a close advisor to two and perhaps three of the pharaohs who ruled before him and was said to be the power behind the throne during Tutankhamun's reign.
Ay's prenomen or royal name - Kheperkheperure - means "Everlasting are the Manifestations of Ra" while his birth name Ay it-netjer reads as 'Ay, Father of the God.' Records and monuments that can be clearly attributed to Ay are rare, not only due to his short length, but also because his successor, Horemheb, instigated a campaign of damnatio memoriae against him and other pharaohs associated with the unpopular Amarna Period.

Horemheb/Djeserkheperure-Setepenre

Ay is usually believed to be a native Egyptian from Akhmim. During his short reign, he built a rock cut chapel in Akhmim and dedicated it to the local deity there: Min. He may have been the son of Yuya, who served as a member of the priesthood of Min at Akhmin as well as superintendent of herds in this city, and wife Tjuyu. If so, Ay could have been of partial non-Egyptian, perhaps Syrian blood since the name Yuya was uncommon in Egypt and is suggestive of a foreign background.

Tutankhamun's death at the age of 18 or 19, together with his failure to produce an heir, left a power vacuum that his Grand Vizier Ay was quick to fill: Ay is depicted conducting the funerary rites for the deceased monarch and assuming the role of heir.

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.

It appears that Horemheb was outmaneuvered to the throne by Ay who married Ankhesenamun, the widow of Tutankhamun, in order to legitimise his claim to the throne. 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.

Prior to his death, Ay designated Nakhtmin to succeed him as pharaoh. However, Ay's plan for his succession went awry since Horemheb became the last king of Egypt's 18th Dynasty instead of Nakhtmin. 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. Nakhtmin is clearly given the titles rpat (Crown Prince) and zA nzw (King's Son).

Horemheb (sometimes spelled Horemhab or Haremhab and meaning Horus is in Jubilation) was the last Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty from either 1319 BC to late 1292 BC or 1306 to late 1292 BC (if he ruled for 14 years) although he was not related to the preceding royal family and is believed to have been of common birth. Before he became pharaoh, Horemheb was the commander in chief of the army under the reigns of Tutankamun and Ay. After his accession to the throne, he reformed the state and it was under his reign that official action against the preceding Amarna rulers began.

Horemheb & Atum

Horemheb demolished monuments of Akhenaten, reusing their remains in his own building projects, and usurped monuments of Tutankhamun and Ay. Horemheb presumably remained childless and he appointed his vizier Paramesse as his successor, who would assume the throne as Ramesses I. Horemheb is believed to have originated from Herakleopolis Magna or ancient Hnes (modern Ihnasya el-Medina) on the west bank of the Nile near the entrance to the Fayum since his coronation text formally credits the God Horus of Hnes for establishing him on the throne.

His parentage is unknown but he is universally believed to be a commoner. According to the French (Sorbonne) Egyptologist Nicolas Grimal, Horemheb does not appear to be the same person as Paatenemheb (Aten Is Present In Jubilation) who was the Commander-in-chief of Akhenaten's army. Grimal notes that Horemheb's political career first began under Tutankhamun where he "is depicted at this king's side in his own tomb chapel at Memphis."

Upon his accession, Horemheb initiated a comprehensive series of internal transformations to the power structures of Akhenaten's reign, due to the preceding transfer of state power from Amen's priests to Akhenaten's government officials. Horemheb "appointed judges and regional tribunes...reintroduced local religious authorities" and divided legal power "between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt" between "the Viziers of Thebes and Memphis respectively."

However, the most recent archaeological evidence from 3 excavation seasons conducted under G.T. Martin in 2006 and 2007 establishes that Horemheb most likely died after a maximum reign of 14 years based on a massive hoard of 168 inscribed wine sherds and dockets recently discovered below densely compacted debris in a great shaft (called Well Room E) in this king's royal KV57 tomb.
Of the 46 wine sherds with year dates, 14 have nothing but the year date formula, 5 dockets have Year 10+X, 3 dockets have Year 11+X, 2 dockets preserve Year 12+X and 1 docket has a Year 13+X. Meanwhile, 22 dockets "mention Year 13 and 8 have Year 14 of Horemheb" but none mention a higher date for Horemheb.