Editing Akhenaten (section)

=== Death and burial ===

{{Further|Amarna succession|KV55}}
[[File:Sarcophage Akhénaton.JPG|thumb|left|Akhenaten's [[sarcophagus]] reconstituted from pieces discovered in his original tomb in [[Amarna]], now in the [[Egyptian Museum]], Cairo]]
[[File:Burial Chamber of Akhenaten at Amarna 2025.jpg|thumb|The original tomb burial chamber of Akhenaten at Amarna]]
[[File:KV55 sarcophagus (Cairo Museum).jpg|thumb|upright|The desecrated royal coffin found in Tomb KV55]]

Akhenaten died after seventeen years of rule and was initially buried in a [[Royal Tomb of Akhenaten|tomb]] in the [[Royal Wadi and tombs|Royal Wadi]] east of Akhetaten. The order to construct the tomb and to bury the pharaoh there was commemorated on one of the [[Boundary Stelae of Akhenaten|boundary stela]] delineating the capital's borders: "Let a tomb be made for me in the eastern mountain [of Akhetaten]. Let my burial be made in it, in the millions of jubilees which the Aten, my father, decreed for me."{{sfn|Kemp|2015|p=11}} Akhenaten's burial chamber can easily be detected in his [[Royal Tomb of Akhenaten]] since it is the only tomb which was fully finished; the rest of the tomb consists of unfinished rock cut tomb chambers and rooms which were likely meant to inter other members of the royal family such as his queen Nefertiti. However, work on the tomb stopped when the Egyptian royal family later moved to Thebes and abandoned Amarna under Akhenaten's son Tutankhamun about 3 years after Akhenaten's death. 

In the years following the burial, Akhenaten's sarcophagus was destroyed and left in the Akhetaten necropolis; reconstructed in the 20th century, it is in the [[Egyptian Museum]] in Cairo as of 2019.{{sfn|Ridley|2019|pp=365–371}} Despite leaving the sarcophagus behind, Akhenaten's mummy was removed from the royal tombs after Tutankhamun abandoned Akhetaten and returned to Thebes. It was most likely moved to tomb [[KV55]] in [[Valley of the Kings]] near Thebes.{{sfn|Dodson|2014|p=244}}{{sfn|Aldred|1968|pp=140–162}} This tomb was later desecrated, likely during the [[Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Ramesside period]].{{sfn|Ridley|2019|pp=411–412}}{{sfn|Dodson|2009|pp=144–145}}

Whether [[Smenkhkare]] also enjoyed a brief independent reign after Akhenaten is unclear.{{sfn|Allen|2009|pp=1–4}} If Smenkhkare outlived Akhenaten, and became sole pharaoh, he likely ruled Egypt for less than a year. The next successor is thought by some to be Nefertiti{{sfn|Ridley|2019|p=251}} or Meritaten{{sfn|Tyldesley|2006|pp=136–137}} ruling as [[Neferneferuaten]], reigning in Egypt for about two years.{{sfn|Hornung|Krauss|Warburton|2006|pp=207, 493}} She was, in turn, probably succeeded by Tutankhaten, with the country being administered by the [[Vizier (Ancient Egypt)|vizier]] and future pharaoh [[Ay (pharaoh)|Ay]].{{sfn|Ridley|2019}}

[[File:KV55 scull.jpg|thumb|upright|Profile view of the skull (thought to be Akhenaten) recovered from KV55]]
While Akhenaten—perhaps along with Smenkhkare—was most likely reburied in tomb KV55,{{sfn|Dodson|2018|pp=75–76}} the identification of the mummy found in that tomb as Akhenaten remains controversial to this day. The mummy has repeatedly been examined since its discovery in 1907. Most recently, Egyptologist [[Zahi Hawass]] led a team of researchers to examine the mummy using medical and [[Genetic testing|DNA analysis]], with the results published in 2010. In releasing their test results, Hawass's team identified the mummy as the father of Tutankhamun and thus "most probably" Akhenaten.{{sfn|Hawass|Gad|Somaia|Khairat|2010|p=644}} However, the study's [[validity (statistics)|validity]] has since been called into question.{{sfn|Strouhal|2010|pp=97–112}}{{sfn|Duhig|2010|p=114}}{{sfn|Marchant|2011|pp=404–406}}{{sfn|Dodson|2018|pp=16–17}}{{sfn|Ridley|2019|pp=409–411}} For instance, the discussion of the study results does not discuss that Tutankhamun's father and the father's siblings would share some [[genetic marker]]s; if Tutankhamun's father was Akhenaten, the DNA results could indicate that the mummy is a brother of Akhenaten, possibly Smenkhkare.{{sfn|Ridley|2019|pp=409–411}}{{sfn|Dodson|2018|pp=17, 41}}