Amarna (Akhetaten): Capital City Built by Pharaoh Akhenaten

Amarna Naming Issues

The frequent designation "Tel el-Amarna" for the city is inaccurate: nowhere do the ancient remains constitute a mound of eroded architecture that would warrant the description of a "Tell" (Arabic: "hill"), so common elsewhere in the region. Cyril Aldred notes that the name "Tel el-Amarna" is a misunderstanding of the name for one of the modern villages near the ruins, Et Til el Amarna. The name "Amarna" itself comes from the name of a tribe of nomads, the Beni Amran, who left the Western Desert in the 8th century to settle on the banks of the Nile along this stretch.

Amarna Art

The Amarna art-style is unique among the Egyptian world for its more realistic depiction of its subjects, instead of the strict idealistic formalism universal in Egyptian art up until that point, as well as for depicting many informal scenes such as the royal family playing with their children. Although the worship of Aten (often referred to as the Amarna heresy) was completely suppressed, the artistic legacy had a more lasting impact. The art broke with a number of important long-established Egyptian conventions. These included intimate portrayals of affection within the royal family, and the abandonment of portraying women as lighter coloured than men. The art also has a realism that sometimes borders on caricature.

The site of Amarna (commonly known as el-Amarna or incorrectly as Tel el-Amarna; see below) (Arabic: العمارنة al-‘amārnah‎) is located on the east bank of the Nile River in the modern Egyptian province of Minya, some 58 km (38 miles) south of the city of al-Minya, 312 km (194 miles) south of the Egyptian capital Cairo and 402 km (250 miles) north of Luxor. The site of Amarna includes several modern villages, chief of which are el-Till in the north and el-Hagg Qandil in the south.

The area contains an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly–established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1353 BC), and abandoned shortly afterwards. The name for the city employed by the ancient Egyptians is written as Akhetaten (or Akhetaton – transliterations vary) in English transliteration. Akhetaten means "Horizon of the Aten."

The area was also occupied during later Roman and early Christian times, excavations to the south of the city have found several structures from this period.

The City of Akhetaten

The area of the city was effectively a virgin–site, and it was in this city that the Akhetaten described as the Aten's

"..the seat of the First Occasion, which he had made for himself that he might rest in it."

It may be that the Royal Wadi's resemblance to the hieroglyph for horizon showed that this was the place to found the city.

The city was built as the new capital of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, dedicated to his new religion of worship to the Aten. Construction started in or around Year 5 of his reign (1346 BC) and was probably completed by Year 9 (1341 BC), although it became the capital city two years earlier. To speed up construction of the city most of the buildings were constructed out of mud-brick, and white washed. The most important buildings were faced with local stone.

It is the only ancient Egyptian city which preserves great details of its internal plan, in large part because the city was abandoned after the death of Akhenaten. The city seems to have remained active for a decade or so after his death, and a shrine to Horemheb indicates that it was at least partially occupied at the beginning of his reign, if only as a source for building material elsewhere. Once it was abandoned it remained uninhabited until Roman settlement began along the edge of the Nile. However, due to the unique circumstances of its creation and abandonment, it is questionable how representative of ancient Egyptian cities it actually is. Akhetaten was hastily constructed and covered an area of approximately 8 miles (13 km) of territory on the east bank of the Nile River; on the west bank, land was set aside to provide crops for the city's population. The entire city was encircled with a total of 14 boundary stelae detailing Akhenaten's conditions for the establishment of this new capital city of Egypt.

The earliest dated stelae from Akhenaten's new city is known to be Boundary stelae K which is dated to Year 5, IV Peret (or month 8), day 13 of Akhenaten's reign. (most of the original 14 boundary stelas have been badly eroded). It preserves an account of Akhenaten's foundation of this city. The document records the pharaoh's wish to have several temples of the Aten to be erected here, for several royal tombs to be created in the eastern hills of Akhetaten for himself, his chief wife Nefertiti and his eldest daughter Meritaten as well as his explicit command that when he was dead, he would be brought back to Akhetaten for burial. Boundary stela K introduces a description of the events that were being celebrated at Akhetaten:

“His Majesty mounted a great chariot of electrum, like the Aten when He rises on the horizon and fills the land with His love, and took a goodly road to Akhetaten, the place of origin, which [the Aten] had created for Himself that he might be happy therein. It was His son Wa'enre (ie. Akhenaten) who founded it for Him as His monument when His Father commanded him to make it. Heaven was joyful, the earth was glad every heart was filled with delight when they beheld him.”

The Amarna Letters

One of the clay tablets discovered in Amarna, known as the "Amarna Letters"Important cache of documents from el-Amarna, discovered in 1887 by a village woman digging for sebakh (decomposted organic material) for use as a fertiliser. There are 382 known clay cuneiform tablets, most of which derive from "the place of letters of Pharaoh", a building identified as the official "records office" and record selections of diplomatic correspondence from the Pharaoh. The exact chronology of these tablets is still debated, but they span a 15-30 year period beginning around the year of Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC) and continuing through to no later than the first year of Tutankhamun's reign (1336-1327 BC), with the majority dating to the time of Akhenaten.

These tablets shed light on Egyptian relations with Babylonia, Assyria, the Mitanni, the Hittites, Syria, Palestine and Cyprus. They are important for establishing both the history and chronology of the period. Letters from the Babylonian king Kadashman-Enlil I anchor Akhenaten's reign to the mid-14th century BC. Also within the tablet was the first mention of a Near Eastern group known as the Habiru, whose possible connection with the later Hebrews remains debated. Other rulers include Tushratta of the Mittani, one Lib'ayu whom David Rohl has argued should be identified with the Biblical king Saul, and the extensive correspondence of the querulous king Rib-Hadda of Byblos, who constantly pleads for Egyptian military help.

Most of these tablets are written in a dialect of the Akkadian language, (the popular language of the time) although the languages of the Assyrians, Hittites and the Hurrians are also represented.

This text then goes on to state that Akhenaten made a great oblation to the god Aten "and this is the theme [of the occasion] which is illustrated in the lunettes of the stelae where he stands with his queen and eldest daughter before an altar heaped with offerings under the Aten, while it shines upon him rejuvenating his body with its rays."

Site and Plan

Located on the east bank of the Nile, the ruins of the city are laid out roughly north to south along a 'Royal Road', now referred to as 'Sikhet es-Sultan'. The Royal residences are generally to the north, in what is known as the North City, with a central administration and religious area and the south of the city is made up of residential suburbs.

North City

Located within the North City area is the Northern Palace, the main residence of the Royal Family. Between this and the central city, the Northern Suburb was initially a prosperous area with large houses, but the house size decreased and became poorer the further from the road they were.

Central City

Most of the important ceremonial and administrative buildings were located in the central city. Here the Great Temple of the Aten and the Small Aten Temple were used for religious functions and between these the Great Royal Palace and Royal Residence were the ceremonial residence of the King and Royal Family, and were linked by a bridge or ramp. Located behind the Royal Residence was the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh, where the Amarna Leters were found.

This area was probably the first area to be completed, and had at least 2 phases of construction.

Southern Suburbs

To the south of the city was the area now referred to as the Southern Suburbs. It contained the estates of many of the city's powerful nobles, including Nahkt (Chief Minister), Renefer (General), Panehsy (High Priest of the Aten) and Ramose (Master of Horses). This area also held the studio of the sculpture Thutmose, where the famous bust of Nefertiti was found in 1912.

Further to the south of the city was Kom el-Nana, an enclosure, usually referred to as a sun-shade, and was probably built as a sun-temple and then the Maru-Aten, which was palace or sun-temple originally thought to have been constructed for Akhenaten's queen Kiya, but on her death her name and images were altered to those of Meritaten, his daughter.

City Outskirts

Surrounding the city and marking its extent, the Boundary Stelae (each a rectangle of carved rock on the cliffs on both sides of the Nile) describe the founding of the city and are a primary source of information about the city.

Away from the city Akhenaten's a Royal necropolis was started in a narrow valley to the east of the city, hidden in the cliffs. Only one tomb was completed, and was used by a un-named Royal Wife, and Akhenaten's tomb was hastily used to hold his and probably Meketaten, his second daughter.

Sources:

Middle Egypt Survey Project 2006 by Amarna Project
The Official Website of the Amarna Project
Wikipedia - Amarna
Egyptology Online - El-Amarna (Akhetaten)

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