Tutankhaton-Tutankhamon
Smenkhkare’s successor, Tutankhaton, was married to Ankhesenpaton, the third daughter of Akhenaton and Nofretete. Under Tutankhaton the capital was moved back to Thebes, and the Amarna revolt was at an end. His name, meaning “the living image of Aton,” was changed to Tutankhamon, “the living image of Amon,” and Amon was restored to his place as chief deity of Egypt. Ankhesenpaton’s name was changed to Ankhesenpamon for the same reason. Although Tuntankhamon was one of Egypt’s lesser kings, the discovery of his tomb by Howard Carter in 1923 has made him the best known Pharaoh of Egyptian history to most westerners.
Tutankhamon’s return to the worship of Amon was a conscious repudiation of the Aton cult. He actually ascribes the calamities that befell Egypt in the years of Akhenaton to the anger of Amon:
The Throne of Tutankhamon. The throne dates to the time before Tutankhamon renounced Atonism. His name appears as Tutankhaton in the inlay, but in the gold work where it could more easily be altered it has been changed to Tutankhamon. The back of the throne pictures the king and his wife under the sun disk (Aton).
Tutankhamon and His God. A black granite statue depicts the god Amon (large figure) with Pharaoh Tutankhamon, who renounced the Aton faith of Akhenaton and returned to Thebes, the center of the Amon priesthood.
The temples of the gods and goddesses ... had gone to pieces. Their shrines had become desolate and had become overgrown mounds.... The land was topsy turvy and the gods turned their backs upon this land. If one prayed to a god to seek counsel from him, he would never come (at all). If one made supplication to a goddess, similarly she would never come at all. Their hearts were hurt (?) so they destroyed that which had been made.[59]
Following Tutankhamon’s early death we meet a story of intrigue and international politics which involves his widow. Ankhesenpamon, fearful of the future of herself and her country, wrote to the Hittite king, Suppiluliumas, asking that one of his sons be sent to Egypt to become her husband:
My husband died, and I have no son. People say that you have many sons. If you were to send me one of your sons, he might become my husband. I am loath to take a servant of mine and make him my husband.[60]