1. Meritaten's name means "She who is beloved of Aten"; Aten being the sun-deity whom her father, Pharaoh Akhenaten, worshipped.
18 Facts About Meritaten
1. 2.
Meritaten was the first of six daughters born to Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife, Nefertiti.
3.
Meritaten's sisters are Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten, Neferneferuaten Tasherit, Neferneferure, and Setepenre.
4.
Meritaten is mentioned in a letter from Abimilki of Tyre.
5.
Inscriptions from Ashmunein suggest that Meritaten-tasherit is the daughter of Meritaten.
6.
Meritaten most likely was born in Thebes, early in her father's marriage to Nefertiti, perhaps before he assumed the throne, as she is shown officiating during year five of his reign.
7.
Meritaten is depicted beside her mother Nefertiti in reliefs carved into the Hut-Benben.
8.
In year five of her father Akhenaten's reign, Meritaten appears on the boundary stelae designating the boundaries of the new capital to which her father moved the royal family and his administrators.
9.
Meritaten's figure appears on paintings in temples, tombs, and private chapels.
10.
Meritaten's name seems to replace that of another royal lady in several places, among them in the Northern Palace and in the Maru-Aten.
11.
At some point, Meritaten married Smenkhkare and became his Great Royal Wife.
12.
Meritaten is depicted with him in the tomb of Meryre II, bestowing honors and gifts upon Meryre.
13.
Meritaten was the Great Royal Wife to Smenkhkare, while Nefertiti continued as the Great Royal Wife of Akhenaten.
14.
Meritaten is mentioned on gold daisies that decorated a garment found in Tutankhamen's tomb.
15.
Meritaten is mentioned on a wooden box meant to contain linen garments.
16.
The theory is, that Meritaten was the 'king's daughter' Akenkeres who is recorded in Manetho's Epitome to have assumed the throne next, in her own right as king and bearing the name Neferneferuaten.
17.
Archaeologist Alain Zivie asserts that Meritaten became a foster mother to Tutankhamun, referred to as Maia in some ancient records.
18.
The texts of a boundary stele mention that Meritaten was meant to be buried at Akhet-Aten.