NEW KINGDOM (Dyn. XVIII Later)

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Amarna Period (reign of Akhenaten)

History

  • King Akhenaten, 1360-1343
    • son of Amenhotep III, but broke with his traditions (to justify this, claimed to 'live upon' ma'at)
      • replaced worship of Amen-Re with worship of sun god Aten (sun disk), personified as the creator of all things [creation with sun disk]
      • key point: monotheistic religion; openness valued--worship takes place outside
      • moved capital from Thebes to Amarna in 6th year of his reign
      • changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten ('life in Aten')
    • let his father's vast foreign holdings slip away
      • evidence in Amarna letters--377 cuneiform tablets covering last years of Amenhotep III and reign of Akhenaten; written in Akkadian
        • correspondence from governors of foreign outposts, complaining of rebellion and begging the king (in vain) to send troops

Monuments

  • Amarna--ancient name Akhetaten ('horizon of the Aten')
    • only well preserved city of the New Kingdom
    • palace--separate women's quarters; courts, kitchens, stables
    • temples--series of unroofed courts
    • 1-storey houses in three parts: reception hall, central hall with hearth, private rooms
  • Sculpture
    • apparent harsh realism in depictions of royal family
      • statues and reliefs of king show pear-shaped body, long head, fleshy lips
      • head of Nefertiti in Berlin Museum shows same features
      • extends to ebony head of his mother, Queen Tiy, who lives into Amarna period
      • deformity due to disease or not? Unclear, but Akhenaten might have had an endocrine disorder called Marfan's syndrome
    • reliefs of king and family worshipping sun god, whose rays end in hands
      • general focus on king, wife, daughters, in informal settings
  • Other
    • honesty, informality in royal art matched by use of slang, foreign phrases in official documents

Return to old ways with King Tutankhamen

History

  • King Tutankhamen, 1343-1333
    • succeeds Akhenaten at age 9; not clear whose son he is; claims Amenhotep III is his father
    • restores old ways
      • moves capital from Amarna to Memphis, with secondary center at Thebes
      • restores worship of Amen; changes name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamen
      • erects a restoration stele, apologizing for past sins, outlining steps being taken to correct neglect of gods
      • restores buildings started by Amenhotep III
    • rebuts Akhenaten's claim to ma'at with statement "ma'at is established, she causes falsehood to be the abomination of the land, as in (the land's) first time"
    • dies at age 19; buried in Valley of the Kings, Thebes
    • Tutankhamen's widow (Ankhesenamen) asks Hittite king Suppiluliumas III to send her a son to marry; but he is ambushed and killed by Egyptian cavalry leader Ay, who then marries her himself!

Monuments

  • Tut's tomb: wealth buried with king is impressive to us, but he was a rather minor pharaoh--tombs of greater ones looted or not yet found

Last update: 19 January 2004

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