- Also spelled:
- Tall al-Amarna or Tall al-ÊżAmÄrinah
- Date:
- 1348 BCE - c. 1328
- Key People:
- Akhenaten
- Sir Flinders Petrie
- Nefertiti
- Richard Lepsius
- Related Topics:
- ancient Egyptian religion
- archaeology
- cuneiform
- Amarna style
- stela
- Related Places:
- Upper Egypt
- ancient Egypt
- Egypt
- ancient Middle East
- Nile River
Tell el-Amarna
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What is Tell el-Amarna?
Tell el-Amarna is the site of the ruins and tombs of Akhetaton ("Horizon of the Aton") in Upper Egypt. King Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) constructed the city around 1348 BCE as his kingdom's new capital, abandoning the worship of Amon in favor of the Aton. However, the court returned to Thebes roughly four years after Akhenaten's death (c. 1332 BCE), and the city was abandoned.
Despite its brief existence, Akhetaton stands out as one of the few ancient Egyptian cities that has undergone careful excavation, providing an accurate layout of the city. Among the major archaeological discoveries at Tell el-Amarna are portrait busts of Queen Nefertiti and approximately 300 cuneiform tablets. These tablets, known as the Amarna Letters, provide insight into the diplomatic relations of the 14th century BCE.
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Where is Tell el-Amarna located in Egypt?
Tell el-Amarna, the site of the ruins and tombs of the city of Akhetaton, is located in Upper Egypt, 44 miles (71 km) north of modern AsyĆ«áč, on the east bank of the Nile River. Akhenaten built the city around 1348 BCE as his kingdom's new capital when he abandoned the worship of Amon and devoted himself to the worship of the Aton. The city was abandoned about four years after Akhenatenâs death (c. 1332) when the court returned to Thebes. The Amarna Letters, a collection of clay tablets discovered at Tell el-Amarna, date back to the reigns of kings Amenhotep III and Akhenaton.
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Who built Tell el-Amarna and why?
Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) constructed Tell el-Amarna, known as Akhetaton or "Horizon of the Aton," around 1348 BCE. He built it as the new capital of his kingdom when he abandoned the worship of Amon and devoted himself to the worship of the Aton.
Akhenaten shifted the capital to this virgin site in Middle Egypt around the time he changed his name to align with his new religion. The city comprised temples dedicated to the Aton, palaces, official buildings, villas, and residential quarters. About four years after Akhenatenâs death, the court returned to Thebes, and the city was abandoned.
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What was daily life like in Tell el-Amarna during its peak?
Daily life in Tell el-Amarna during its peak, around 1348 BCE, revolved around Akhenaten's new capital, Akhetaton. The city's layout, with principal buildings along the Royal Road, featured the Great Temple of the Aton, a palace, and royal residences. Dwellings were made of baked mud brick, adorned with lively, naturalistic paintings. Large houses contained shrines displaying Akhenaten with his family.
Nobles resided in single-story villas, while workers lived in simple row houses. Villas for important officials were large and brightly decorated with murals. Tombs in the desert hills provide insights into the daily life and religion of the time, with drawings depicting religious and royal buildings. These drawings have helped excavators interpret the architectural remains.
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What important discoveries have been made at Tell el-Amarna?
Tell el-Amarna, the site of Akhetaton, built by Akhenaten around 1348 BCE, is notable for several important archaeological discoveries.
Key Discoveries at Tell el-Amarna
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Amarna Letters In 1887, about 300 cuneiform tablets were found, which helped reconstruct the foreign affairs of the Egyptian empire in the late 18th dynasty. The Amarna Letters provide insight into diplomatic relations among ancient states.
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Layout of the City Excavations revealed an accurate layout of the city, including the Great Temple of the Aton, palaces, and residences.
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Artistic Discoveries Portrait busts of Queen Nefertiti were found in the house of the sculptor Thutmose. The walls, floors, and ceilings of many rooms were painted in a lively, naturalistic style.
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Royal Tomb The tomb of Akhenaten and his family contained a scene of the royal family mourning the death of Princess Meketaton.
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How did Tell el-Amarna influence ancient Egyptian history and culture?
Tell el-Amarna, known as Akhetaten or "Horizon of the Aton," was built by Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) around 1348 BCE as the new capital of his kingdom after he abandoned the worship of Amon in favor of the Aton.
Akhenaten's religious and cultural revolution was highly personal, and he seems to have had a direct hand in devising the precepts of the Aton religion and the conventions of Amarna art. The Amarna style was a revolutionary style of Egyptian art created during his reign. The king's role in determining the composition of the court is expressed in epithets given to officials he selected from the lesser ranks of society, including the military.
Although Akhetaten had a brief existence, it is one of the few ancient Egyptian cities that has been carefully excavated, providing an unusually accurate picture of the layout of an ancient Egyptian city. After Akhenaten's death, the court returned to Thebes.
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Tell el-Amarna, site of the ruins and tombs of the city of Akhetaton (âHorizon of the Atonâ) in Upper Egypt, 44 miles (71 km) north of modern AsyĆ«áč. On a virgin site on the east bank of the Nile River, Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) built the city about 1348 bce as the new capital of his kingdom when he abandoned the worship of Amon and devoted himself to worship of the Aton. About four years after Akhenatenâs death (c. 1332), the court returned to Thebes, and the city was abandoned.
Though it had only a brief existence, Akhetaton is one of the few ancient Egyptian cities that has been carefully excavated. Because Akhenaten chose a new, unused site for his capital and because of the relatively short duration of its occupancy, the excavators could reconstruct an unusually accurate picture of the layout of the city.
The principal buildings of Akhetaton lay on either side of the Royal Road, the largest of them being the Great Temple of the Aton, primarily a series of walled courts leading to the completely open-air main sanctuary. Near the Great Temple were the palace and the commodious residence of the royal family. The dwellings at Tell el-Amarna were made of baked mud brick, and the walls, floors, and ceilings of many of the rooms were painted in a lively naturalistic style; each large house had a shrine with a stela depicting Akhenaten in the affectionate embrace of his family.
Among other major archaeological finds were portrait busts of Queen Nefertiti in the house of the sculptor Thutmose, as well as 300 cuneiform tablets accidentally discovered in 1887 by a peasant woman. From these it was possible to partly reconstruct the foreign affairs of the Egyptian empire in the late 18th dynasty.
Unlike those of Thebes, the noblesâ villas at Akhetaton had only one floor; the roof of the central living room, however, was usually higher than the rest of the house, thus permitting clerestory lighting and ventilation. The workers lived in simple row houses.
Officialsâ tombs, resembling those at Thebes, were hewn into the desert hills to the east. Although the painted reliefs in the tomb chapels often appear to have been hastily carried out, they have been a major source of information on the daily life and religion of Akhenaten. Also, the drawings on the tomb walls depicting various religious and royal buildings of the city helped the excavators to interpret the often meagre architectural remains.
The tomb of Akhenaten and his family, situated in the side of a dry watercourse east of the city, contained an unprecedented scene of the royal family in mourning over the death of the princess Meketaton, who was buried there. Excavations in the 1890s and late 1970s yielded fragments of Akhenatenâs deliberately smashed sarcophagus and numerous broken ushabti from his interment.
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After Akhetatonâs abandonment, its temples were disassembled for new construction projects; Ramses II is known to have reused many stone blocks from the Aton temples for his work at nearby Hermopolis.