Meritaten

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Princess Meritaten,[1] daughter of King Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti, collection of the Louvre, Paris.

Meritaten was the firstborn of the six daughters of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti. Her name means "Beloved of Aten"—Aten being the sun-god her father worshipped.

Meritaten may have married her father in the full sense or in a functional sense. She may have married Akhenaten's co-ruler Smenkhkare who was probably her (half-)uncle. They ruled together for about four years, but the year following Akhenaten's death Smenkhkare died and it is very likely that Meritaten died at that time too, for the wife of new king Tutankhaten was not her, but her younger sister Ankhesenpaaten.

Meritaten was referred to by her nickname "Mayati" in the Amarna letters. There is also evidence to support that Meritaten was her father's Great Royal Wife at some stage (after the displacement or death of Nefertiti).

Meritaten had a daughter, Meritaten Tasherit ("Meritaten the Younger").

[edit] External links

• "Head Case", King Tut Photo Gallery, National Geographic Magazine online