Was Akhenaten bisexual ?
Theory on the life of Akhenaten, the "heretic" pharaoh
The Amarnian Age represents a very special period in the history of ancient Egypt. Between about 1,370 BC and 1,340 BC a radical reform of the political and religious system takes place. During the 18th dynasty, the royal family was wealthy and powerful. However, the growing power of Ammon's clergy in Thebes increasingly threatened the pharaoh's authority. Amenhotep III, Akhenaten's father, perhaps out of opposition to Ammon's clergy laid the groundwork for what would be the first religious reform in a monotheistic sense in history. It later came to fruition through the "heretical pharaoh" Akhenaten. The reasons that led to this radical choice are still unknown, just as numerous facts related to this period are shrouded by mystery. What I speculate is that Akhenaten, from an early age, put on display, albeit limited to his family, signs of his own bisexuality.
His father, Pharaoh Amenhotep III, realizing the difficulties his son would encounter at the time of his coronation, sought to create the most favorable conditions to facilitate his rise and reign. These small changes in the political-religious balance of the time are today interpreted as the foundations of the subsequent revolution in thought. Upon the death of Amenhotep III, the coronation of Akhenaten took place, as per tradition, but he was then called Amenhotep IV. The new pharaoh got the power and, for the first years of his reign, proved to be an absolutely "normal" pharaoh. This "normalcy" was not destined to last long, however. Around the fifth year of his reign, perhaps because of growing disagreements with Ammon's clergy or the need or desire to express himself, Amenhotep IV decided to change his name to Akhenaten and also arranged to build a new capital, Akhetaten, in the Amarna region. The issue that finally soured relations with the Theban tradition was the decision to abandon the traditional Egyptian pantheon in favor of a single god, the solar disk Aton. As history teaches us, the succession of events repeats itself over time so, as is also the case today. I think Akhenaten's religious reform served to conceal other interests or, rather, to make the people accept his figure and his politics. The clergy of Ammon, which was very influential at the time, began a bitter ideological struggle against Pharaoh. But why did Akhenaten feel the need to depart so radically from tradition by running into certain difficulties? In my opinion, Akhenaten's bisexual nature went increasingly to manifest itself in his relations with the clergy as well, and his marriage to Nefertiti did nothing to mask rumors and suspicions. Thus, seeing the unacceptability of his nature, he decided to take strong action capable of unhinging the system and able to safeguard his role. Akhenaten's defeat would have meant the rise to power of Ammon's clergy, which was, arguably, represented by greedy and ambitious people. To make the people accept their nature he implemented a religious reform that saw Aton as the most important god. Since Aton is the solar disk, he is, by nature, asexual and therefore representative of the male and female nature of humanity. Pharaoh, as is known, is a direct descendant of the gods and his role is to act as a conduit between them and humans. Thus Akhenaten's bisexuality was justified by the religious role he was to play. The whole environment was influenced by this. Sculpture, painting, customs saw the birth of new traditions far removed from the classical ones. Art, for example, radically changed the canons of tradition as evidenced by the sculptures of Akhenaten himself, who was depicted with a body so deformed that many scholars believe he was affected by some disease probably genetic in nature. The reason for such representation, halfway between the body of a man and that of a woman, was also among the things that were to make the people accept Akhenaten's bisexuality as basic to holding the role of pharaoh.
Now, as an opponent, only the clergy of Ammon remained. The struggle between the two contenders was bitter, but essentially fought over winning public opinion. It all depended on which power was more influential: that of Pharaoh, or that of tradition? For the first years of the reformation it seems that the people accepted, though with some natural reservations, Akhenaten's revolution, but then, because of a pressing discrediting campaign, Thebes gained the upper hand by winning more and more favor. Nefertiti probably sensed the gradual failure of her husband's policies and certainly warned him of what was happening. Akhenaten, who by now could in no other way make his own bisexuality accepted, ignored the warnings and continued on his way. At this point Nefertiti had to take a definite stand and decided to leave the royal house. This was none other than the main reason that led her to leave her husband. By this time the relationship with Akhenaten had soured, punctuated by many misunderstandings and also by Nefertiti's dissatisfaction that she saw her figure as a woman trampled by her husband's relationships with other men. Akhenaten, left alone, tried to follow up his project by placing his son Smenkhara on the throne, which, however, did not produce any relevant effects during the co-regency.
Upon Akhenaten's (natural?) death and that of Smenkhara, the throne was entrusted to another son of Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, who ensured continuity of the dynasty but, due to his very young age, could be easily manipulated by Thebes. The figure of Tutankhamun, originally named Tutankhaten, had been well popularized among the people who therefore saw in him the ancient divine power of the pharaoh.
Tutankhamun was a "puppet pharaoh" until, perhaps because he was respectful of his father's policies or perhaps because he became a man and thus proud of his power and person, he began to seek a freer and more independent life. At this point, perhaps because they were afraid of a restoration of the cult of Aton or because they were concerned about possible exclusion from the power games, Ay and Horemheb, with the support of the clergy of Ammon, arranged for the murder of the young pharaoh thus securing wealth and power for themselves. Aren't the tombs of Smenkhara (tomb 55) and Tutankhamun in which female objects and names are also present (in Smenkhara's case, the body was even enclosed in a sarcophagus intended for a woman) a demonstration of the ambiguity of Amarnaean politics?
