Ay: Encyclopedia - Ay

Ay

Kheperkheprure Ay (occasionally Aya or Aye) was the penultimate Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's 18th dynasty. He held the throne of Egypt for a brief four-year period (probably 1325-1321 BC or 1327-1323 BC, depending which chronology is followed), although he was a close advisor to two (perhaps three) of the pharaohs who ruled before him and was the power behind the throne upon which his immediate predecessor sat. Ay's prenomen, Kheperkheprure, means "Everlasting are the Manifestations of Re."

Ay - Amarna Period

Born a commoner, Ay managed to rise through the hierarchy of Egyptian society under the "heretical" Pharaoh Akhenaten. One version of events maintains that he and his wife Tey were the parents of Akhenaten's chief wife, Nefertiti and that another of their daughters, Mutnedjmet, was the wife and queen of Horemheb, Ay's successor. Another version suggests that he was the son of Yuya and Tjuyu. Thus being a brother or half-brother of Tiy, brother-in-law of Amenhotep III and maternal uncle of Akhenaten.

The two theories are not mutually exclusive, but either relationship would explain the exalted status to which Ay rose (see below), during Akhenaten's Amarna interlude, when the royal family turned their backs on Egypt's traditional gods and experimented, for a dozen years or so, with monotheism – an experiment that, whether out of conviction or convenience, Ay seems to have supported, at least for as long as it lasted.

Ay - Titles

In his Amarna tomb, Ay's titles are give as Companion, Head of the Companions of the King, Father of the Divinity, Bearer of the fan on the right hand side of the King, Acting Scribe of the King, beloved by him, and Overseer of all the horses of the King. Some of these titles are purely standardised noble ones, but the 'Bearer of the fan on the right hand side of the King' is a very important position, and is viewed as showing that the bearer had the 'ear' of the ruler.

Ay - Tutankhamun

Akhenaten's reign was followed by that of the boy-king Tutankhamun, who ascended to the throne at the age of nine or ten, at a time of great tension between the new monotheism and the old polytheism. He was assisted in his kingly duties by his predecessor's two closest advisors: Grand Vizier Ay and General of the Armies Horemheb. Tutankhamun's approximately nine-year reign, largely under Ay's direction, saw the gradual return of the old gods – and, with that, the restoration of the power of the established priesthood, who were furious at having had their influence sidestepped under Akhenaten.

Ay - Rule as Pharaoh

Tutankhamun's untimely death at the age of 18 or 19, together with his failure to produce an heir, left a power vacuum that his Grand Vizier was quick to fill: Ay is depicted in the famous treasures of the boy king's tomb conducting the funerary rights for the deceased monarch and assuming the role of heir. The grounds on which Ay based his claim to the throne are not entirely clear. He was certainly a powerful figure under Tutankhamun, as he had been under Akhenaten: in some records he is referred to as "regent", and he had been close to the center of power for some 25 years. This was probably still not enough, however, to legitimize his claims to the throne in the highly hierarchical society of Ancient Egypt, particularly at a time of upheaval. To strengthen his rule, Ay appears to have married Tutankhamun's widow Ankhesenpaaten (by then known as Ankhesenamun). 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 Tutankhamun's senior advisor. He was succeeded, at the end of the dynasty, by Horemheb rather than his intended heir, Nakhtmin.

Tombs and Reign Length

Ay had tombs prepared for himself in both Amarna and Thebes. The former (known as Southern Tomb 25), still visible today, is well preserved and provides some excellent examples of the distinctive style of art that flourished during the Amarna period. It was never finished, however, or used for his burial. Ay's Accession date has been determined by Jürgen von Beckerath to be the Month of III Peret while his Highest Year date is a Year 4, IV Akhet day 1 stela which is now located in the Berlin Museum(stela No.2074). Thus, Ay's reign length was almost certainly the figure of 4 Years and 1 Month which Manetho attributes to him. He was ultimately buried in his second tomb (designated WV23) in the western branch of the Valley of the Kings.

Ay - Aftermath

One of Horemheb's undertakings as Pharaoh was to eliminate all references to the monotheistic experiment, a process that included expunging the name of his immediate predecessors – especially Ay – from the historical record. Horemheb desecrated Ay's burial and had most of Ay's royal cartouches in his WV23 Tomb Wall paintings erased while his sarcophagus was smashed into numerous fragments. However, the sarcophagus lid was discovered by Otto Schaden in 1972 and still preserved Ay's cartouche; it had been buried under debris in his tomb.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Ay", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki