Tag: amarna

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Egyptian Artifacts

Statue of an “Amarna King”

The Amarna Period and Akhenaten’s π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– reign as pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 has always fascinated me. All of the radical changes that were made – such as changing the religion from polytheistic to the monotheistic worship of Aten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³, to moving the capital, to the changes in the art – it must have been quite crazy during those years!

This is actually one of my favorite pieces in the Brooklyn Museum – the Museum has the statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ labeled as β€œAmarna King” but to me it’s clear that this piece represents Akhenaten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ–. He is represented in typical Amarna art style here: distended belly/large hips, very long arms, narrow neck and angular face. It is not known whether these are exaggerated features, or if the art was meant to be a more realistic representation of what the royal family looked like. Usually Egyptian art depicted people at their finest, with idealized features rather than realistic ones.

In this statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ, Akhenaten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– is wearing the khepresh π“†£π“‚‹π“ˆ™π“‹™ crown with the gold π“‹žπ“ƒ‰π“ƒ‰π“ƒ‰ Uraeus 𓇋𓂝𓂋𓏏𓆗 preserved at the front, a broad collar π“…±π“‹΄π“π“ŽΊπ“‹ necklace and a skirt. While this limestone π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“Œ‰ statue’s π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ paint is preserved beautifully the gold π“‹žπ“ƒ‰π“ƒ‰π“ƒ‰ that is seen is actually gold leaf and not paint!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Canopic Jar from the Amarna Period

This beautifully π“„€ made canopic jar was made during the reign of Akhenaten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– (Dynasty 18, c. 1349–1336 B.C.E.).

Since it’s discovery in the Valley of the Kings (Tomb KV55) in 1907, Egyptologists have been trying to figure out who the canopic jars (there are four 𓏽 of them) originally belonged to. The jar has been identified as: Queen Tiye, Akhenaten’s π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…žπ“π“ˆ– mother 𓅐𓏏𓁐; Queen Nefertiti π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“„€π“„€π“„€π“„€π“„€π“‡π“π“­, his principal wife π“‡“π“π“π“ˆž; Queen Kiya, his secondary wife; and Princess Merytaten, Akhenaten’s π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– eldest daughter whom he married later in his reign (🀒).

There were hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ on the jar to help identify the original owner, however they have been completely faded or erased. Very faint traces of hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ could identify the owned as Queen Kiya. Some argue that the face looks like Queen Tiye, and that the lid was just placed on Queen Kiya’s jar. I guess we will never know for sure who the canopic jars belonged to!

The face on the lid is wearing what is called the Nubian Wig, which was very popular during the Amarna Period. There is also a hole on the forehead, where a Uraeus 𓇋𓂝𓂋𓏏𓆗 would be. These features indicate that the owner of the jar was in fact part of the royal family.