Ankhesenamun (ˁnḫ-s-n-imn, "Her Life Is of Amun"; c. 1348[1] or c. 1342 – after 1322 BC[2]) was an ancient Egyptian queen who lived during the 18th Dynasty of Egypt.

Born Ankhesenpaaten (ˁnḫ.s-n-pꜣ-itn, "she lives for the Aten"),[3] she was the third of six known daughters of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti.

[5] DNA test results on mummies discovered in KV21 were released in February 2010, which has given rise to speculation that one of two late 18th Dynasty queens buried in that tomb could be Ankhesenamun.

Her parents had abandoned the principal worship of old deities of Egypt in favor of the Aten, hitherto a minor aspect of the sun-god, characterised as the sun's disc.

She is believed to have been born in Thebes, around year 4 of her father's reign, but probably grew up in the city of Akhetaten (present-day Amarna), established as the new capital of the kingdom by her parents.

Her three eldest sisters – Meritaten, Meketaten, and Ankhesenpaaten – became the "senior princesses" and participated in many functions of the government and religion alongside their parents.

[8] A blue glass ring of unknown provenance obtained in 1931 depicts the prenomen of Ay and the name of Ankhesenamun enclosed in cartouches.

[12]Suppiluliuma sent an envoy to investigate and eventually did send one of his sons, Zannanza, but the prince died en route, perhaps being murdered.

Since Nefertiti was depicted as powerful as her husband in official monuments smiting Egypt's enemies, researcher Nicholas Reeves believes she might be the Dakhamunzu in the Amarna correspondence.

[16] DNA testing announced in February 2010 has generated speculation that Ankhesenamun is one of two 18th Dynasty queens recovered from KV21 in the Valley of the Kings.

[citation needed] Ankhesenamun is believed to have married king Ay, Tutankhamun's successor after her husband's unexpected death.

Ankhesenamun's name has entered popular culture as the secret love of the priest Imhotep in the 1932 film The Mummy.

[22] Ankhsenpaaten/Ankhsenamun is the heroine protagonist of the novel The Lost Queen of Egypt written by Lucille Morrison in 1937 detailing a fictionalized version of the princess' life before and after marriage to Tutankhamen.