Editing Coregency (section)

===Ancient Egypt===
{{Original research section|date=April 2016}}

In [[Ancient Egypt]], coregency was quite problematic as the [[Pharaoh]] was seen as the incarnation/representation of the god Horus. Therefore, according to the divine order Ma'at, only one King could exist at the same time. Yet, exceptions can be found, mainly in the Middle Kingdom, where the pharaoh occasionally appointed his successor (often one of his sons) as coregent, or joint king, to ensure a smooth succession. “This system was used, from at least as early as the Middle Kingdom, in order to ensure that the transfer of power took place with the minimum of disruption and instability”.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Shaw|first1=Ian|title=The British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt|last2=Nicholson|first2=Paul|publisher=British Museum Press|year=2008|pages=81}}</ref> Coregencies are highly probable for [[Amenemhat I]] > [[Senusret I]] > [[Amenemhat II]] > [[Senusret II]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Schneider|first=Thomas|title=Lexikon der Pharaonen|publisher=Artemis|year=1994|pages=52–54; 264–267}}</ref> Most probably the real king in power was the older one (father) adopting the younger ruler (son), while the co-regent had to wait until after the death of the older one to really have access to full royal power. Yet, the years of reigns normally were counted from the beginning of the coregency on. Due to this and to the fragmentary character of known sources, the establishment of [[Egyptian chronology]] was quite complicated and remains disputed up to date. Yet, understanding the existence of co-regency reduced the chaos quite a lot.

The institution of coregency is different from that of vice-regency, where an adult person (in Ancient Egypt often the mother of the king) functions as [[Legal guardian]], ruling in the name of the underage king. Some of the female vice-regents of Egypt rose to a status of equal to the God-Kings, becoming co-rulers as can be seen in the famous case of [[Hatshepsut]]. After the death of her husband [[Thutmose II]], Hatshepsut ruled in the name of [[Thutmose III]], her nephew and stepson. Then, latest in year 7<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tyldesley|first=Joyce A.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39109151|title=Hatchepsut : the female pharaoh|publisher=Penguin|year=1998|isbn=0-14-024464-6|edition=|location=London|pages=99|oclc=39109151}}</ref> of [[Thutmose III]]'s reign, she took over [[Pharaoh#regalia|royal regalia]] and was then [[Ancient Egyptian royal titulary|titled]] King of Egypt under the Throne name (''[[Prenomen (Ancient Egypt)|prenomen]]'') [[Maatkare Hatshepsut|Maatkare]]. For later periods of Pharaonic Egyptian history, the existence of the institution of coregency has been put into question by Egyptologists,<ref>Taterka, Filip. "The Co-Regency of Thutmose III and Amenhotep II Revisited." The Journal of Ancient Egyptian Archaeology 105.1 (2019): 43-57.</ref> while, "the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic]] and [[Roman Egypt|Roman]] period examples being the most securely identified".<ref name=":0"/>