Tag: akhenaten

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Egyptian Artifacts

Small Limestone Stela of Akhenaten

Hereโ€™s another piece from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology! This is a small limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– (by small, I mean it is only about 8.5cm in height)!

While the image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ is very crudely drawn, it is quite obvious that we are looking at Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– here because art during the period of his rule was incredibly unique! On the stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ, Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– can be seen standing in front of two ๐“ป vases of incense with his arms raised in a worshipping position. The Sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ, or the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ, can be seen above Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– head ๐“ถ๐“บ.

The Petrie Museum has a lot of unique pieces from Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– reign because Petrie helped to excavate Amarna, which the place in modern-day Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– where Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– moved the capital to (the capital of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– was originally in Thebes ๐“Œ€๐“๐“Š–). The new capital was called Akhetaton โ€œHorizon of the Atenโ€ and it was established ~1332 B.C.E., around the time when the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ was declared to be the only god ๐“Šน.

One of the reasons I enjoyed my trip to the Petrie Museum so much was being able to see all of these unique pieces that really canโ€™t be seen in other museums! Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is my second favorite pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, so I really enjoyed seeing all of the Amarna-era pieces!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Limestone Fragment of Akhenaten

There are so many cool pieces in the Petrie Museum – while the pieces may not be as big or grand as the ones in the MET, Louvre, or British Museums, they are significant because they give a glimpse into the more subtle greatnesses in Egyptian society. Actually though, the โ€œsister pieceโ€ to this one is actually in the MET!

This piece of limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ (dated c. 1353โ€“1336 B.C.E.) is what is known as a โ€œtrial pieceโ€ – basically it was practice for the artist/sculptor before they made the real thing! This was found in the sculptorโ€™s workshop at Amarna (in the southern ๐“‡”๐“…ฑ๐“ part of the city). While Tell el-Amarna is the modem name for the area, Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– named his new capital โ€œAkhetatonโ€ or โ€œHorizon of the Atenโ€ – the capital of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– was originally Thebes ๐“Œ€๐“๐“Š– before the big move.

Petrie spent a lot of time excavating that part of the city during his time there from 1891-1892. Most of what we initially learned about the city and itโ€™s architecture came from Petrieโ€™s excavations. Fun Fact: Howard Carter assisted Petrie on these digs!

The piece unmistakably depicts Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–. It is very easy to tell when Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is being shown because of his very distinct facial features (pointed chin, long neck/face). It would also make sense that most of the artwork that was found at the sculptors workshop in his capital would contain art that depicted him, Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ, the royal family, and the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ.

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Limestone Parapet from Amarna

Here is a limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ fragment of a parapet (c. 1352-1336 B.C.E., New Kingdom Amarna Period) that depicts the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ. A parapet is a low wall, and it may have been part of a temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ at one point.

In the image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ is offering cartouches to the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ. These cartouches do not belong to Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–, but to the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ itself which is different because cartouches were usually for pharaohs. Also strange is that other gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน are mentioned in the Atenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ cartouches, even while the Egyptian religion was banned. These might be early cartouches, before a complete ban took effect. There is also a lot of debate because does this mean that Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– was the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ on Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ, or were they two ๐“ป separate beings?

Front side of the limestone parapet from Amarna

Here is a closer look at the cartouches:

(๐“ˆŒ๐“ˆŒ๐“…Š๐“‹น๐“Ž›๐“‚๐“ฎ๐“›๐“๐“ˆŒ) – โ€œ “The living Re-Horakhty, Rejoicing in the horizon”

(๐“๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“†‘๐“๐“†„๐“…ฑ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ฎ๐“๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ) – โ€œIn his name as Shu, who is in the Aten”

Also in the image๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ is extending light rays to Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ. The light rays are represented by lines, with hands ๐“‚ง๐“๐“ฆ on the end that are holding Ankhs ๐“‹น๐“‹น๐“‹น.

Obverse side of the limestone parapet from Amarna

This is the obverse side of the limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ fragment of a parapet (c. 1352-1336 B.C.E., New Kingdom Amarna Period) that depicts the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– (left) and Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ (right).

The piece is in such poor condition because after the death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–, his city was abandoned and fell to disarray. This makes the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช difficult to translate but I will try! Also, many of the buildings were destroyed by Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ and the materials were then used to build ๐“๐“‚ค๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“€ง one of his temples ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰๐“ฆ.

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! This is the third column from the left:

(๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–) – cartouche of Akhenaten
๐“™๐“‰ป – โ€œTrue of Voiceโ€ or โ€œJustifiedโ€
๐“Šข๐“‚๐“‡ณ๐“ค – Lifetime
๐“†‘ – โ€œheโ€ or โ€œhisโ€

โ€œAkhenaten, true of voice, in his lifetimeโ€ฆโ€

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Egyptian Artifacts

Nefertiti and the Princess

This is a sunken relief of Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ and one of her daughters ๐“…ญ๐“๐“ฆ. A hand ๐“‚๐“ค holding an ankh ๐“‹น can be seen being extended to Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ and the princess, which is a very common representation of the sole sun ๐“‡ณ๐“ค god ๐“Šน, Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ.

The relief is carved in limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ and some of the paint can still be seen on the relief! One of the things that is unique about the art from the period of Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– rule (referred to by Egyptologists as the Amarna Period) is that a lot of the art depicts the life ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“ of the royal family ๐“…•๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ฆ as a unit. Before this time period, royal families ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“€€๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ธ were not really depicted together at all – usually it was just the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป in art and the monuments.

Due to the fact that Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ were seen as a ruling unit, Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ was seen as being just as responsible for the shift in the Egyptian religion as Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– was. Much of the art from this period has sustained heavy damage, because it was purposefully hacked away at and destroyed, or used in other building projects – almost like an ancient Egyptian recycling program!

While Nefertitiโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ face ๐“ถ๐“ค is totally destroyed, the princessโ€™ face ๐“ถ๐“ค is not. This is illustrative of the violence shown towards images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ of Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ after her death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ due to her part in the changing religion. The princessโ€™ face ๐“ถ๐“ค was not touched, probably because she wasnโ€™t seen as responsible. The hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช have also been totally destroyed, but ironically the word โ€œAten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณโ€ is the one word that can still be seen! The word for Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ was most likely part of the princessโ€™ name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–.

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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 Akhenatenโ€™s capital of Egypt) that are in the collection! While Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is my favorite pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is my second favorite! I seem to like the โ€œuntraditionalโ€ pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ who didnโ€™t play by the rules!

One of the many charms of the Petrie Museum is that most of the pieces arenโ€™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 ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ pieces or jewels.

This piece is a quartzite inlay or either Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– or Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ. Quartzite is a very difficult rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ to work with because it is so dense and strong. Quartzite is a metamorphic rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ that is formed when heat and pressure is applied to the rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ sandstone ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“‚ง๐“๐“Œ—๐“ˆ™. A process called recrystallization occurs due to the heat and pressure, which causes the sand grains in the sandstone ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“‚ง๐“๐“Œ—๐“ˆ™ to increase in size and become more dense! As a person who knows her geology, always amazes me when the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช worked with quartzite! Quartzite is usually found in quarries ๐“Ž›๐“๐“๐“‰๐“ฆ in Aswan ๐“‹ด๐“ƒน๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“ฒ๐“Š–, as is granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ!

Egyptologists canโ€™t tell if the inlay was supposed to be Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– or Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ because they were usually represented very similarly; the style during Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– rule ๐“‹พ 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 ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“Šช was most likely supposed to go in the hole that represents the eye ๐“น๐“ค! So this is two ๐“ป inlays in one ๐“บ!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Amarna Art (Part 2)

Something I love about visiting various museums is seeing similar pieces of Egyptian history no matter where I go! The Brooklyn Museum has a wonderful collection of Amarna-era pieces (many of which were found by Petrie), so itโ€™s no surprise that I have seen similar pieces in various museums around the world!

In the middle of the display, you can see a red quartzite inlay of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–. Inlays are part of what archaeologists call โ€œcomposite statues,โ€ or statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ฆ that are composed of many different parts that would come together to form a single statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ! The part that would be the crown, and the stone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“Šช that was supposed to go in the hole that represents the eye ๐“น๐“ค are both missing. Either the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ was never finished or both were lost in antiquity.

Next to the inlay of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–, there is another quartzite composite statue but it is a head ๐“ถ๐“ค of possibly Smenkare ๐“‡ณ๐“‹ด๐“Š๐“‚“๐“‚ฆ๐“†ฃ๐“ช, the mystery pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป that ruled ๐“‹พ for a short period of time in between Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“. The statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ is in very bad condition, so it is really difficult to gather much information about it. However, at the time the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ was made, it was made with high quality workmanship!

The style during Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– rule ๐“‹พ was very different than the traditional Egyptian art styles, which makes these pieces so weird and wonderful in their own way! I will never get tired of studying Amarna art!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabtis of Akhenaten at The MET

One of Akhenaten’s ushabtis at the MET

There are over 200 ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures that belonged to Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–. It seems strange that Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– would be buried with ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช because he completely changed the Egyptian religion from the traditional polytheistic worship ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข to the monotheistic worship ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข of the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ. This shows that while he did completely change Egyptโ€™s ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– religion, some aspects of the old religion, such as belief in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰, did remain and persist throughout his rule ๐“‹พ.

While most ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช contain standard inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ known as the โ€œshabti spellโ€ or โ€œshabti text,โ€ Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช only contain inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ of his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– and titles. This would make sense, since the โ€œshabti spellsโ€ would be part of the traditional religion, and not the new one. Most of Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช are in various states of disarray, so this particular piece pictured ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ does not have any visible inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ.

I love how blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ this ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is! Iโ€™ve seen many of Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช in museums around the world, and this one is my favorite because of the color! Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช were probably made in different workshops throughout his reign, which is why there are so many different variations instead of a singular and uniform style.

I also love how the Ankhs ๐“‹น๐“‹น in his hands ๐“‚ง๐“๐“ฆ are white ๐“Œ‰๐“†“๐“‡ณ and stand out against the blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ. The ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ also shows the traditional Amarna-era artistic style that is seen on most of the work from this time period.

Another example of Akhenaten’s ushabtis at the MET

Most of Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช are in various states of disarray, only one of these pieces has part of an inscription ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ on it! While most ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช contain standard inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ known as the โ€œshabti spellโ€ or โ€œshabti text,โ€ Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…ž๐“๐“ˆ– ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช only contain inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ of his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– and titles. Letโ€™s take a look at the partial inscription ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ!

You can see the inscription of โ€œ๐“†ฅ,โ€ which as we have learned previously can translate to โ€œHe of the Sedge and the Beeโ€ or โ€œKing of Upper and Lower Egypt.โ€ As we know, this is a very popular title to be seen before a cartouche!

The โ€œ๐“‡ณโ€ in the cartouche is probably part of one of Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– throne names, which would most likely be โ€œ๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“†ฃ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“Œก๐“ˆ–,โ€ since that is the only one of Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– variants that begins with a โ€œ๐“‡ณ.โ€

Even though ๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“†ฃ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“Œก๐“ˆ– translates to โ€œThe Beautiful One of the Manifestations of Ra, the Unique one of Ra,โ€ this variant was only seen after the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– change from Amenhotep IV ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“Šน๐“‹พ๐“Œ€ to Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–!

As I stated previously, Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช were probably made in different workshops throughout his reign, which is why there are so many different variations instead of a singular and uniform style. This picture shows a couple of the styles of ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ . While all of the ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช look different, they all show the traditional Amarna-era artistic style that is seen on most of the work from this time period.

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

“The Two Lands are in a Festival of Light”

“The Two Lands are in a Festival of Light” at the MET

I absolutely love this piece and I have been very excited to write about it! The relief that I am highlighting is part of a larger display at the MET called โ€œThe Two Lands are in a Festival of Light,โ€ and they were originally from the palace ๐“‡“๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‰๐“บ walls at Amarna ๐“ˆŒ๐“๐“‰๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“Š–. 

Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is my second favorite pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป (Hatshepsutย ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is obviously my first favorite) and I love to see statues, reliefs, or anything from the Amarna ๐“ˆŒ๐“๐“‰๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“Š– Period! I find everything to do with Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– so interesting because he was the โ€œtroublemakerโ€ pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป who completely changed everything about the Egyptian religion (polytheistic to monotheistic), moved the capital to Amarna ๐“ˆŒ๐“๐“‰๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“Š–, and generally was very much disliked by the Egyptian people ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช.ย 

On this relief, we can see a large boat ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž on the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ. At the front of the boat is a central structure that houses Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–, Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ and one of the princesses (who is very small and difficult to see). Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– can be seen striking down an enemy. The Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ is shining above Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and sending light rays down to him.ย 

“The Two Lands are in a Festival of Light” at the MET – closeup of Akhenaten (right) and Nefertiti (left)

Since these were on the palace ๐“‡“๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‰๐“บ walls, it makes sense that Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– would want himself portrayed as very strong and striking down enemies. Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is usually always depicted with his family ๐“…•๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ฆ, so enemy smiting was clearly a royal family ๐“…•๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ฆ affair! The depiction of the royal family ๐“…•๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ฆ from this time period is fascinating because usually pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ were depicted alone, however in reliefs, Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–, Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ, and the princesses are always shown together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š—.ย 

Categories
Book Recommendations

Book Recommendation – “Egypt’s False Prophet: Akhenaten”

Egypt’s False Prophet: Akhenaten

I find Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– to be such an interesting Pharaoh! “Egypt’s False Prophet: Akhenaten” is definitely a book ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› I recommend – it shows how the early 18th Dynasty was a โ€œset upโ€ for the Amarnaย ๐“ˆŒ๐“๐“‰๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“Š–ย period (the book actually talks about Hatshepsut ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ quite a lot).ย 

The book ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› also goes into detail about the excavation of the city ๐“Š–๐“บ of Amarnaย ๐“ˆŒ๐“๐“‰๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“Š–, what occurred during Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– reign ๐“‹พ, and then the fallout of Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– rule after his deathย ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ.ย 

My Nonno gave this book ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› to me forever ago when I first started getting interested in the Amarna ๐“ˆŒ๐“๐“‰๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“Š– period and Iโ€™ve read it a bunch of times but I still find it to be so interesting! 

Hieroglyph Fact: the word Iโ€™m using for โ€œbook ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“›โ€œ in this post actually translates to โ€œpapyrusโ€ or โ€œpapyrus rollโ€ – there is no word for โ€œbookโ€ in Middle Egyptian, so this is the closest translation I could come up with! 

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