page_title: Ay
hierarchical_section_title: Ay
caption_attribution_description: English: Aja performing the Opening of the Mouth ceremony at Tutankhamun. Wall painting from Tutankhamun's tomb (KV 62). Deutsch: Aja führt die Mundöffnungszeremonie an Tutanchamun durch. Darstellung aus der Grabkammer des Tuanchamun. Français&#160;: Ay procédant à la cérémonie de l'ouverture de la bouche de l'Osiris-Toutânkhamon. Tombe de Toutânkhamon (KV62) - Vallée des rois.
context_page_description: Ay II, commonly known just as Ay, was the penultimate pharaoh of ancient Egypt's 18th Dynasty. He held the throne of Egypt for a brief four-year period, although he was a close advisor to two and perhaps three of the pharaohs who ruled before him and is thought to have been the power behind the throne during Tutankhamun's reign. Ay's prenomen or royal name—Kheperkheperure—means "Everlasting are the Manifestations of Ra" while his nomen Ay it-netjer reads as "Ay, Father of the God". Records and monuments that can be clearly attributed to Ay are rare, not only due to his short length of reign, but also because his successor, Horemheb, instigated a campaign of damnatio memoriae against him and other pharaohs associated with the unpopular Amarna Period.
context_section_description: Ay II, commonly known just as Ay, was the penultimate pharaoh of ancient Egypt's 18th Dynasty. He held the throne of Egypt for a brief four-year period (1323–1319 BC or 1327–1323 BC, depending on which chronology is followed), although he was a close advisor to two and perhaps three of the pharaohs who ruled before him and is thought to have been the power behind the throne during Tutankhamun's reign. Ay's prenomen or royal name—Kheperkheperure—means "Everlasting are the Manifestations of Ra" while his nomen Ay it-netjer reads as "Ay, Father of the God". Records and monuments that can be clearly attributed to Ay are rare, not only due to his short length of reign, but also because his successor, Horemheb, instigated a campaign of damnatio memoriae against him and other pharaohs associated with the unpopular Amarna Period.
caption: Pharaoh Ay performing the Opening of the Mouth ceremony on his predecessor Tutankhamen. Ay is wearing the Leopard skin worn by Egyptian High Priests and a Khepresh, a blue crown worn by Pharaohs.
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