traditional scholars believe to have also been the son of Amenhotep III and Tiye, inherited the racial characteristics of his parents. Harris and Weeks have noted that his "skeleton and broken skull… reveal a man who resembles the Thutmosid line,"38 which, as we have seen, was decidedly "Negroid." Moreover, the paintings and sculptures of Smenkhare clearly depict his African features.

Upon Smenkhare's death, his younger brother, Tutankhamun (1343-1333 B.C.), ascended the throne. The boy king, who is believed to have reigned from the age of 9 to 18, married his sister, Ankhesenamun. He ruled a vast empire during a time of unrest and controversy. Many scholars believe that he was forced to reverse some of the reforms of Akhenaton by conforming to conventional practices.

If we accept the traditional view, that King Tutankhamun was the son of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye, his ethnic affinity is obvious and requires no further elaboration. Even if we adhere to the theory that Tutankhamun was the son of Akhenaton by one of his lesser wives, it is still most probable that the boy-king was Black. As a matter of fact, given Tutankhamun's immediate and distant ancestors, his surviving mummy and the invaluable relics that depict his facial features, one cannot escape the conclusion that von Wuthenau has reached: "The features of this Egyptian king, whose mother was of pure black stock, are almost as Negroid as the ones of his captured Nubian enemies."39

The queens of the successors of Amenhotep III also appear to have been Black. Most paintings and sculptures of Nefertiti depict her as having decidedly African features--often with the same elongated skull, protruding jaw and thick lips that characterize her husband, Akhenaton. All of the couple's daughters, including Meryet-Amon, who was the chief queen of Smenkhare and Ankhesenamun, the chief queen of Tutankhamun (and later, following his death, the wife of King Ay), also appear to have had African physical features. Proof of this is found in full detail in the large collection of photographs published in Cyril Aldred's book, Akhenaton and Nefertiti.40

The final rulers of Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty were Ay (1333-1328 B.C.) and Horemhab (1328-1298 B.C.). Ay was an old man upon ascending the throne and his reign lasted only four years. Horemhab, who had once served as a general under Akhenaton and Tutankhamun, restored Egypt's cultural traditions and established peace and stability in the nation. Sculptures and paintings of these two pharaohs suggest that they too fall within the same African physical spectrum of their royal predecessors.

~ Conclusion ~

According to many Egyptologists, the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt represented the greatest royal family in human history. Evidence of the grandeur of this era was brought to the attention of the modern world when archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the virtually undisturbed tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922. On June 16, 2005, "Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of the Pharaohs," an exhibition featuring 130 artifacts from the tomb of King Tut, begins a two-year long tour of the United States. At the advent of the 21st Century, it is high time for the world to recognize that Tutankhamun was a Black pharaoh who ruled a Black nation during the zenith of ancient African power and influence.