The History of Egypt

159: End of an Era

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When Ay Died. The elderly pharaoh, Kheper-kheperu-Ra Ay, probably died in his fourth or fifth year of power (c. 1331 / 1330 BCE). Officially, his reign was short. But in the big picture, Ay's influence lasted decades. As a courtier, under Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, Ay participated in government and royal affairs for many years. This means we have abundant records for the man and his career, and Ay contributed to Egyptian history in some noteworthy ways. In this episode, we explore the final years of Ay's reign, and consider his legacy as a pharaoh of ancient Egypt...


Episode details:

  • Date: c.1331 / 1330 BCE.
  • Kings: Kheper-kheperu-Ra Ay, “Doer of Ma’at” and “True Ruler.”
  • Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
  • Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
  • Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
  • Logo image: The sarcophagus of Ay, artist’s reconstruction. Prisse D'Avennes, 1878.
  • See photos of Ay’s tomb (WV23) by Kairoinfo4u on Flickr.com.
  • See Ay’s tomb (WV23) by Curtis Ryan Woodside on YouTube.
  • Music: “Memories of Thebes,” by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net. Used with permission.
  • Music: “Funeral,” by Bettina Joy de Guzman http://www.bettinajoydeguzman.com. Used with permission.
  • Additional music interludes by Luke Chaos https://twitter.com/Luke_Chaos.


    • Select Bibliography:

    • The royal tomb of Ay (KV23 / WV23):
    • The tomb of Ay (KV23) at Theban Mapping Project.
    • Schematic and plans (TMP).
    • The tomb of Ay (KV23) at Orisis.net.
    • Translation of texts by E. Ramm, 2016.
    • See a 3D reconstruction at Orisis.net.
    • A tour of Ay’s tomb (KV23) by Curtis Ryan Woodside, on YouTube.
    • Photos of Ay’s tomb on Flickr.com.
    • Photos of Ay’s tomb on joomeo.com.
    • G. Davies, Egyptian Historical Records of the Later Eighteenth Dynasty, VI (Warminster, 1995).
    • A. Dodson, Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation (2nd edn, Cairo, 2017).
    • M. Gabolde, Toutankhamon (Paris, 2015).
    • N. Kawai, ‘Studies in the Reign of Tutankhamun’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, Johns Hopkins University (2005).
    • R. J. Leprohon, The Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary (Wilson, 2013).
    • W. J. Murnane, Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt (Atlanta, 1995).
    • P. E. Newberry, ‘King Ay, the Successor of Tut’ankhamūn’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 18 (1932), 50–2.
    • O. Schaden, ‘The God’s Father Ay’, PhD. Thesis, University of Minnesota (1977).
    • O. J. Schaden, ‘Clearance of the Tomb of King Ay (WV-23)’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 21 (1984), 39–64.
    • R. H. Wilkinson, ‘Controlled Damage: The Mechanics and Micro-History of the Damnatio Memoriae Carried Out in KV-23, the Tomb of Ay’, Journal of Egyptian History 4 (2011), 129–47.

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