Ay (Kheperkheperure)

Ay (throne-name Kheperkheperure) was an elderly courtier, a leading official already under Akhenaten, who became king after the early death of Tutankhamun and reigned only a few years. He is depicted performing the burial rites for the young king, which appears to have helped legitimise his own accession. Like the other Amarna-associated kings, he was omitted from the later king-lists; the succession politics of the period are debated.