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Egyptian Artifacts

Amarna Art (Part 1)

One of the reasons I loved the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology so much was because of the amount of pieces from Amarna (the modern name of Akhenaten’s capital of Egypt) that are in the collection! While Hatshepsut π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ is my favorite pharaoh 𓉐𓉻, Akhenaten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– is my second favorite! I seem to like the β€œuntraditional” pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏦 who didn’t play by the rules!

One of the many charms of the Petrie Museum is that most of the pieces aren’t considered striking or grand when you first look at them. This museum is for those who truly appreciate ancient Egyptian culture as a whole, not just the shiny gold π“‹žπ“ƒ‰π“ƒ‰π“ƒ‰ pieces or jewels.

This piece is a quartzite inlay or either Akhenaten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– or Nefertiti π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“„€π“„€π“„€π“„€π“„€π“‡π“π“­. Quartzite is a very difficult rock π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™ to work with because it is so dense and strong. Quartzite is a metamorphic rock π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™ that is formed when heat and pressure is applied to the rock π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™ sandstone π“‚‹π“…±π“‚§π“π“Œ—π“ˆ™. A process called recrystallization occurs due to the heat and pressure, which causes the sand grains in the sandstone π“‚‹π“…±π“‚§π“π“Œ—π“ˆ™ to increase in size and become more dense! As a person who knows her geology, always amazes me when the Egyptians π“†Žπ“π“€€π“π“ͺ worked with quartzite! Quartzite is usually found in quarries π“Ž›π“π“π“‰π“¦ in Aswan π“‹΄π“ƒΉπ“ˆ–π“Œπ“²π“Š–, as is granite π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“ˆ–π“Œ³π“Ώ!

Egyptologists can’t tell if the inlay was supposed to be Akhenaten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– or Nefertiti π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“„€π“„€π“„€π“„€π“„€π“‡π“π“­ because they were usually represented very similarly; the style during Akhenaten’s π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– rule π“‹Ύ was very different than the traditional Egyptian art styles, which makes it so weird and wonderful in its own way! While this piece itself was an inlay, a stone π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“Šͺ was most likely supposed to go in the hole that represents the eye 𓁹𓏀! So this is two 𓏻 inlays in one 𓏺!