'For you, O Aten, pharaoh has made Akhetaten... One rejoices at seeing its beauty, fair and lovely. One sees it as if looking at the sky - its limits unreachable - with the Aten rising in it to fill it with his rays...'

Inscription from the tomb of Maya, El Amarna

In the fifth year of his reign, approx. 1349 bc , Amenhotep IV began his 'revolution of the sun'. He declared the sole god to be the Aten, changed his name to Akhenaten ("he who is effective of the Aten") and declared the worship of all other gods to be illegal. After a brief attempt to set up his new reign in Thebes, he moved to establish a new city in virgin land, abandoning both Thebes- his ancestral home, and Memphis- Egypt's administrative capital. This virgin land (unoccupied, unsettled and free of any temples to other gods) was to become the world's first attempt at Utopia.

Located between Thebes and Memphis, the designated lands of pharaoh's new capital were in effect the center of Egypt. It's long ribbon shaped layout along the banks of the Nile, were backed by limestone mountains perfect for tomb construction and natural defenses. A naturally caused notch in the limestone cliffs resembling the hieroglyph symbol for 'horizon' may have also played a part in the location's choice. Akhet-Aten provided a perfect location to start anew, free of the power struggles of the old nobility and most importantly free from the distraction of the temples to Egypt's traditional gods.

Much of what we know about the beginning of Akhet-Aten is from stelae placed at key points edging the city. According to the texts inscribed on the stelae, the first group were placed as boundary markers prior to the city's occupation during it's initial planning phase. The second group that comprise the bulk of the stelae were placed as a rededication in the following year. They appear to be engraved with speeches of Akhenaten's in a surprising, unscripted tone. It is almost as though the sculptor is listening and marking his words down verbatim, a unique departure from usual official royal proclamations.

Akhet-Aten's first temple to the Aten was small but prominently featured. Later, as the city became more established, a larger more elaborate temple was constructed. The Aten temple had several key details that drastically detour from traditional Egyptian temples. The usual shadowed, arcane cult room that held the god was dispensed with, replaced by an unroofed courtyard was where one could worship the Aten's light. The temple walls were decorated in a highly unusual way, with depictions of the royal family interacting with the Aten disc. In private homes, no shrines of the Aten are found, only shrines of the royal family being beneficient of the Aten - the rays of the Aten disc hold small ankhs to the royal family's mouths, giving them life.

Akhenaten recreated himself as a divine being. He dispensed with the priesthood, establishing the royal family as the conduit between the Aten and the people of Egypt. This period's Aten worship is often mistakenly referred to as monotheistic. However, as no one could worship the Aten directly, but were instead expected to worship the royal family who then would deal with the Aten, this places the royal family as divinities themselves. [ie; More than one god cancels monotheism]. In effect; the royal family worshipped the Aten, while Egypt was to worship the royal family. Their divine status was reinforced in imagery discovered throughout Akhet-Aten. Some scholars theorize this intent to display divinity is the reason for the strange appearance of the royal family with protruding stomachs, feminine shaped torsos and long heads.

Akhenaten's 'revolution' doesn't stop with a new religion and a new capital city. Amarna period art is also a great departure from usual Egyptian art with new levels of realism shown in natural settings. Wall frescoes and decorated pavement display realistic birds in flight, fields of papyrus reeds and many garden scenes. The royal family is shown interacting with the Aten but also with each other in a loving embrace or displaying emotions previously unseen in traditional Egyptian art. A prime example is in the tomb presumed to be of princess Meketaten, which depicts the pharaoh and queen grieving over the corpse of a princess and her stillborn infant.

As beautiful and original as the painted wall fragments and adorned pavements found in Akhet-Aten are, they are rivaled by the works of her sculptors. The villa and workshop of the city's most famous sculptor, Thutmose, was discovered in 1912 by the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft. The workshop contained not only the famous bust of Nefertiti but a number of extraordinary casts, studies, models, etc.

fig 1: wild geese among lotus

fig 2: cat with butterflies & birds in a garden

fig 3: youthful depiction of Nefertiti

fig 4: Multi-colored glass fish

fig 5: believed to be Meritaten

While pharaoh's focus was solely on Akhet-Aten, the country's relations with foreign powers rapidly crumbled. A priceless find in the 19th century of cuneiform tablets termed the Amarna Letters give us an insight into what was happening in the rest of Egypt and their world during this time. Troops reassigned to provide building labor in the city had diminished efforts to keep the peace abroad, even cities long held by Egyptian powers were soon lost. While the religious fervor for the Aten may have been sincere in the city of Akhet-Aten, elsewhere the people began to rebel against the loss of their old gods. For most ancient Egyptians, the panoply of gods provided more than just spiritual solace; they were providers of health, medicine and a route to the afterlife. The land, crops and livestock formerly in the care of priests to Amun Re and Egypt's other gods had been handed over to the Pharaoh, under the guise of being on behalf of the Aten. During this time these resources were neglected, failing to provide Egypt with commodities necessary for survival. There is evidence of the people's return to the old ways by the end of Akhenaten's reign.

Even prior to Akhenaten's death in approx. 1336 b.c. the city of Akhet-Aten was in decline. Minor changes began during the brief co-rule of Smenkhkare, then accelerated in earnest with Tutankhamun and Ay. Great efforts were made to appease the priesthood of Egypt's former king of gods, Amun Re, and to attempt to repair pharaoh's relations with his country and people. By the restorative reign of Horemheb, Akhet-Aten was completely deserted. It's houses and workshops bricked up by residents against the sand, in the hopes of it's occupants to perhaps return someday. Aside from brief and partial occupation during the Roman era it remained under sand, unknown and unused, until it was excavated in the late 19th century.

Reeves, Nicholas (2001), "Akhenaten, Egypt's False Prophet"
(Thames & Hudson)
Lorna Oakes & Luciua Gahlin (2003), "The Mysteries of Ancient Egypt: An Illustrated Reference to the Myths"
(Lorenz publishing)
Hornung, Erik (1999), "Akhenaten and the Religion of Light"
(Cornell University Press)
www.amarnaproject.org
www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/amarna
en.wikipedia.org/Akhenaten
www.egyptarchive.co.uk
The Amarna Letters: Abdu-Heba of Jerusalem

Perspective graphic part of Amarna 3D, by Paul S. Docherty, used with permission.
Fig 1 & 2 from Chronicle of a Pharaoh: The Intimate Life of Amenhotep III by Joann Fletcher, pg 113 & 130. Scanned by Kendal Caledonii
Fig 3 & 4 from MFA Boston exhibit: Pharaohs of the Sun,
Fig 5 from Wikicommons
Hood design, blue lotus icons, Aten disc by Redjita Khaemwaset

Presently teams still continue excavation at Tell El Amarna and our field of knowledge of the Amarna period continues to expand with every season. For the latest updates visit Egypt Exploration Society.

Want to see more of the Amarna period? We highly recommend Paul S. Docherty's Amarna 3D. It is a complete 3D re-creation of the entire city of Akhet-Aten, and the site contains many views throughout the project's different stages.

We hope you will find the time to read our featured articles, all part of the Tour Amarna Article Series. When you're finished, click the link below to test your knowledge and see what stuck.

Redjita Khaemwaset