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Inscription
Found in (Tel Amarna)
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Amarna (known as el-Amarna) is the name given to an extensive
archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city built
by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1353 BC). The
name for the city used by the ancient Egyptians was Akhetaten, meaning "the Horizon of the Aten".
The site was discovered in 1887 when a local woman digging for sebakh
uncovered a cache of 300 tablets (now known as the Amarna letters).
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The frequent designation "Tell el-Amarna" for the city is
inaccurate: nowhere do the ancient remains constitute a mound of eroded
architecture that would warrant the description of a "tell" (Arabic: "city
mound"), so common elsewhere in the region. Cyril Aldred notes that the name
"Tell el-Amarna" is a misunderstanding of the name for one of the modern
villages near the ruins, Et Til el Amarna. The name "Amarna" itself comes
from the name of a tribe of nomads, the Beni Amran, who left the Eastern
Desert in the 18th century to settle on the banks of the Nile along this
stretch. |
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Excavation at Amarna has been conducted by a number of
British and German excavation teams. One of the best-known 19th century
archeologists who worked in this area was Karl Richard Lepsius, who copied
wall illustrations and inscriptions, and took paper squeezes of reliefs. The
19th century records made by these teams are of immense importance since
many of these remains were later vandalized by the locals in anger against
the Egyptian Antiquities Service.
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The city was built as the new capital of the Pharaoh
Akhenaten, dedicated to his new religion of worship to the Aten.
Construction started in year 4 of his reign (1364 BC or 1346 BC) and was
probably completed by year 9 (1359 BC or 1341 BC), although it became the
capital city two years earlier.
It is the only ancient Egyptian city for which we have great details of
its internal plan, in large part because the city was abandoned shortly
after the death of Akhenaten, and remained uninhabited thereafter.
However, due to the unique circumstances of its creation and abandonment,
it is questionable how representative of ancient Egyptian cities it
actually is. |
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