Discoveries of fundamental importance have been made by following the clues these building stones hold about the changes that unfolded at Karnak as Atenism emerged, discoveries contextualized and elaborated in a recent biography of the king. The king at first continued traditional attentions to Amun-Re, but already within his first year revealed a new focus on the falcon-headed god Re-Harakhti, who was given a long name identifying him with the Aten, although the name was not yet written in cartouches.
The king undertook a considerable expansion of an area already devoted to Re-Harakhti on the eastern side of Karnak. The focus on Aten corresponded to a radically decreased attention to Amun in particular. By early in year 5, Amenhotep IV had identified a new home for the Aten at the site of Amarna, an area that he claimed belonged to no other god, and by the time his oath was recorded in boundary stelae some time during the ensuing year, his name had been changed to Akhenaten: at that point the focus shifted to the site of Amarna, considered in the second section of this essay.
The new religion unleashed a progression of changes, almost as if by domino effect, in architectural forms and representational organization. With this emphasis on worship taking place toward the light in the sky, solar worship spaces typically dispensed with the roof. This aesthetic quandary played a role in the changes in scene organization that evolved along with new subject matter introduced into temple scenes—scenes of the lives of the royal family, the royal entourage, and surroundings teeming with activity To the north of the platform temple, a gigantic court was built that was surrounded by sandstone colossi, depicting the king and probably Nefertiti, with some other smaller royal statuary.
The court seems to have been connected with a Heb Sed, or rejuvenation festival, celebrated by the king and the Aten probably again in year 4. Discovered in the early years of the twentieth century, and before Amarna became otherwise well known, the colossi have evoked the radical nature of the Amarna experiment for moderns. The figures have the heavy hips that characterize Amarna depictions.
These have been recognized as feminized proportions, and this may have been intended to characterize the king and queen, and indeed the entire world as it is represented in this way in Amarna art, as recipients of life and divine inspiration in relation to the Aten.
More difficult to comprehend are the facial features of the colossi: slitlike eyes, swollen noses, and bulbous drooping chins that are dramatically stranger than most faces known from the reign, a difference that has been attributed to an evolution in the art. A recent insight has tamed this appearance in some measure by reminding the modern viewer that these faces, which were on statues that stood plus or minus 15 feet high, were never meant to be seen at eye level as they now tend to be photographed ; rather, they seem to have been carved in this way with the perspective of the viewer far below in mind.
A more coherent picture of Amarna style is the result. The representation of their relationship certainly evoked traditional divine pairings. Shu and Tefnut, the children of Re, are alluded to. With the move to Amarna, the royal pair were supplemented by the halo of—ultimately—six daughters. The Amarna Years: Architecture and Art Having just undertaken the huge complex at Karnak, the king early in year 5 determined on a newer and, indeed, his most remarkable act of devotion to his god, probably spurred on by resistance to his programs at Thebes: he proclaimed the foundation of a new city for the Aten at a site in Middle Egypt now known as Tell el-Amarna.
We know these events from a set of fifteen boundary stelae the number includes one discovered in by the current expedition to the site. The stelae, marking the first anniversary of the proclamation, stood in the cliffs enclosing the large plain on either side of the Nile at the site. Naming himself Akhenaten and thus referring to the Aten, and abjuring his previous name Amenhotep referring to that god, the king proclaimed the founding and layout of a city he called Akhetaten, or Horizon of the Aten: he prescribed temples for the Aten, a so-called sunshade shrine in the name of Nefertiti, palaces, burial places for the royal family and high officials, and festivals and ritual provisions for the Aten.
Some of the major structures are discussed below. Firm chronological markers for understanding the development of the city are unfortunately few, particularly in comparison to the Karnak years. The gradually increasing size of the royal family—to six daughters—is an indication only, to be used with care. A more abstract second version has long been accepted as having been introduced anywhere between year 9 and 12 and may have coincided with more severe measures against Amun.
However, the date this name was introduced has been reexamined. Two pieces of evidence argue strongly for a late date: first, the second name appears relatively infrequently, which suggests that it was introduced later rather than earlier; second, the royal tomb, as the place where events represented are most likely to be contemporary with the version of the Aten name inscribed, indicates the change is likely to have taken place after year 12 and even as late as year In its initial formal plan , the city stretched from north to south along a royal road that led from a huge palace—termed the North Riverside Palace—at the north, through the Central City with the Great Aten Temple, the Small Aten Temple, the Great Palace the ceremonial palace , and the administrative and provision quarters, to a southern temple for Nefertiti at Kom el-Nana.
Over the years, the road to the south was obscured by a growing suburb, but certainly the Royal Road from north to the Central City constituted a sort of processional route where the king and his family in their chariots could be seen progressing to and from the temple.
Most of these buildings have been excavated to some degree. A central structure of the city was the Great Aten Temple, excavated by Flinders Petrie in —92, then again over two seasons by the Egypt Exploration Society expedition that worked at Amarna from to , and since as part of the Amarna Project under the direction of Barry Kemp, who has worked at Amarna since The Metropolitan Museum of Art helps to support this present work at the temple, as related to understanding of our Amarna collections.
In both areas, there were initial works in mud brick, which were later replaced with stone buildings. Current work at the site has revealed that at least the front building, known as the Long Temple, or Gem-Aten, was substantially rebuilt again fairly late in the reign for reasons that are as yet unclear. These substantial changes over the short span of eleven years suggest the temple was a construction site for most of its existence.
The entire temple was open to the sky. In what we understand as its final state, one entered the temple enclosure through a mud-brick pylon, and advanced through a forecourt filled with numerous large low basins toward two colonnades of huge columns on either side of the axis.
Beyond the colonnades stretched a long progression of courts filled with offering tables and punctuated by large altars. Fields of hundreds of offering tables aligned the Long Temple, though whether on both sides simultaneously is not clear Then, beyond a huge stretch of ground, unexcavated and more or less featureless to the modern eye, stood a second building known as the Sanctuary of the Great Aten Temple.
Within its own walled area, the Sanctuary was raised on a high gypsum cement podium. The building was fronted by a porch with columns and colossi of the king, and within, under the open sky, opened a court with small offering tables and a large altar, surrounded by twelve chapels.
The Sanctuary seems to have been completed before the Long Temple, and certainly its plan suggests it was a successor of the Karnak platform temple. Not far outside the Sanctuary enclosure wall was a site where a large stela with an offering list stood on a podium alongside a seated statue of the king. A butcher yard within the temple enclosure and huge bakeries outside saw to the needs of the Aten cult. Hands offering Aten cartouches , ca.
Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The first works commissioned by the king appeared in the traditional Theban style, employed by nearly every 18th dynasty pharaoh preceding him.
However, as he implemented new religious ideas, royal art evolved to reflect the concepts of Atenism. The most striking changes are seen in the appearance of the royal family. Heads became larger than in the traditional style and were supported by elongated and slender necks. The royal family took on a more androgynous appearance that sometimes even obscured the difference between Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti.
Their faces were characterized by large lips, long noses and squinting eyes, and their bodies displayed narrow shoulders and waists, small and somewhat concave torsos and large thighs, buttocks and bellies.
The king proclaimed that the Aten had manifested itself for the first time on the site and that the Aten had chosen this site for the king alone. Most of the township and administration buildings were completed roughly three years later. His co-regent Smenkhkare, about whom we know virtually nothing, appears not to have remained in power for long after Akhenaten's death.
The throne passed to a child, Tutankhamun originally Tutankhaten who was probably the son of Akhenaten and Kiya. The regents administering the country on behalf of the child soon abandoned the city of Akhetaten and the worship of the Aten and returned to Egypt's traditional gods and religious centres.
The temples and cults of the gods were restored and people shut up their houses and returned to the old capitals at Thebes and Memphis. Over time, the process of restoration of traditional cults turned to whole-scale obliteration of all things associated with Akhenaten. His image and names were removed from monuments. His temples were dismantled and the stone reused in the foundations of other more orthodox royal building projects.
The city of Akhetaten gradually crumbled back into the desert. His name and those of his immediate successors were omitted from official king-lists so that they remained virtually unknown until the archaeological discoveries at Akhetaten and in the tomb of Tutankhamun made these kings amongst the most famous of all rulers of ancient Egypt. The British Museum. Great Russell Street, London. Tel: The British Museum is free to everybody and opens at 10am every day.
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