semenkare

Smenkhkare (sometimes erroneously spelled Smenkhare or Smenkare and meaning Vigorous is the Soul of Ra) is an ephemeral Pharaoh of the late Eighteenth Dynasty of whom very little is known for certain. Traditionally he is seen as Akhenaten's co-regent and immediate successor and predecessor of Tutankhamun and is assumed to be a close, male relative of those two kings (either by blood or marriage).
More recent scholarly work has however cast serious doubts on this traditional view and most aspects of this individual's life and position (such as his precise relation to the Amarna royal family, the nature and importance of his reign and even his gender) are now open to question. Related to this is the ongoing debate about whether or not Akhenaten's co-regent and successor are in fact the same person.