Pharaoh Ay

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It is not clear the reasons behind the death of Tutankhamun . The King died unexpectedly in his tenth year of regency . Horemheb does not appear to have been involved in the burial arrangements for Tutankhamun , despite his role as regent and heir , a fact that suggests that Horemheb was probably leading the Egyptian troops into a battle against the Hittites . The news of the Egyptians' defeat in this battle reached Egypt at the time of Tutankhamun's death .
Ay who was a senior court adviser and had been one of Akhenaten's most trusted officials was in the arrangements of the King's death and shortly afterwards he ascended the throne .
On the death , the widow Ankhesenamun was trying to negotiate a peace with the Hittites by writing to the Hittite King asking him for a son who could marry her and become King of Egypt , in order that the two kingdoms could become 'one country' . This request was met at the beginning with suspicion in the Hittite capital , until their king was finally convinced of the Egyptian Queen's honorable intentions and sent his son to Egypt . The prince was murdered on his way to Egypt , resulting in a prolonged war with the Hittites .
King Ay was fairly aged when he ascended the throne , and ruled for 3 years . He made effort to amend the relations with the Hittites , denying every responsibility for the death of the Prince . He also made efforts to prevent Horemheb from any rights to the throne after his death , for he appointed an army commander called Nakhtmin as his heir . Despite this , Horemheb succeeded in ascending the throne after Ay and soon set out to deface the monuments of his predecessor and to destroy those of his rival Nakhtmin .