Tell El-Amarna

Akhetaten was the capital city of the Dynasty XVIII king, Akhenaten, called by some ‘the heretic king’. Akhenaten, formerly Amenhotep IV, built his city in a bay of cliffs on the east bank of the Nile as a centre for the worship of his ‘new’ religion, Atenism. The ancient city has become a pilgrimage for those of us who have been captivated by this unique period of Egyptian history. The vast site is now only accessible by ferry to el-Till, the modern village built on the narrow strip of cultivation along the river bank towards the northern end of Akhetaten. The archaeology of the city is defined by low excavated or reconstructed walls and in some cases only bare outlines of the structures can be made out on the sand-covered plain, since most of the stonework was removed in ancient times and any remaining mudbrick is badly decayed. Only one generation after Akhenaten’s death, there were few physical remains of his superb innovative structures, for a short moment in history one of the greatest cities of ancient Egypt.

Texts tell us that the king, with his queen Nefertiti, was directed to the new site in the Hermopolitan nome by his god and in a foundation ceremony in year 5, day 13 of the 8th month of his reign, proclaimed that a new city be dedicated to the worship of the Aten. The city was to be called Akhetaten, ‘Horizon of the Aten’. The dedication ceremony is recorded on three boundary stelae (known as stelae X, M and K) carved into the limestone cliffs at the northern and southern extremities of the new city. A further eleven stelae were subsequently cut on both banks of the river to define the boundaries with greater precision – a unique form of delimiting a town not found elsewhere in Egypt. The most northerly stela (stela A) can be seen at Tuna el-Gebel on the west bank. The most accessible boundary stela at Akhetaten is stela U, cut into the cliff near the entrance to the royal wadi. The stela measures 7.6m high and remains of carved statues of the royal family can still be seen at the base.

El-Amarna Royal Tomb (EA26) There are two groups of rock-cut tombs at el-Amarna situated at the north and the south ends of the cliffs encircling the city of Akhetaten. These are the tombs of favoured officials of the court of Akhenaten, containing many scenes depicting the royal family in the distinctive style of Amarna art. Between the north and south tombs lies the entrance to the Royal Wadi (Wadi Abu Hasa el-Bahri) in which the king’s own tomb was constructed.

The entrance to the Royal Wadi is often said to take the form of the hieroglyphic symbol of the horizon, the akhet in the centre of which the sun rises each morning. It was perhaps this natural shape which determined Akhenaten to site his new city here on the wide sandy plain on the east bank of the Nile. Until recently the wadi has been a fairly inaccessible place with a narrow boulder-strewn track leading to the Royal Tomb. Akhenaten’s tomb lies in a small side valley off the main wadi – which used to entail a tough walk of 6km each way from the mouth of the wadi. However, since 2004 there is a new tarmac road going all the way up to the Royal Tomb, making access for visitors much easier. There is a generator to provide lighting in the tomb, which is currently undergoing restoration. Although much of the decoration once carved into the plaster over poor quality limestone walls is now destroyed, the tomb itself is a very evocative place.

El-Amarna South Tombs

In the larger group of officials’ tombs to the south of the Royal Wadi, out of a total of nineteen tombs, six are generally open to visitors and stretch along a wide expanse of the cliff. To my great disappointment, on the day I visited the South Tombs, photography was not allowed, but I hope to rectify this on my next visit. The tombs are around 5.5km to the south of the North Tombs, opposite the modern village of Hagg Qandil. The tombs described below run from south to north.

Tomb of Ay (EA25)

Ay was a military man in the court of Akhenaten before he reigned briefly as king and successor to Tutankhamun. We know he was actually buried in his royal tomb at the head of the Western Valley in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes, but his Amarna tomb reflects his earlier powerful position in the city. His titles include ‘God’s father’, ‘Fan-bearer on the Right Hand of the King’ and ‘Overseer of all the Horses of the Lord of the Two Lands’, as well as ‘Royal Scribe’ and ‘Chief of Archers’. He was obviously a favoured counsellor of Akhenaten and possibly himself a member of the royal family, either as Nefertiti’s father or a relative of Queen Tiye. In the entrance to the tomb on the left-hand wall Ay is depicted with his wife Tiye in a very beautiful carving below the royal family worshipping the Aten. On the right-hand side, Ay and his wife adore the Aten with a relief of the ‘Hymn to the Aten’ above, now partially destroyed.

El-Amarna North Tombs

Situated to the northern end of the cliffs surrounding the Amarna plain, the North Tombs are just over 3km from the el-Till ferry landing. From the privately run resthouse at the base of the cliff, a long flight of modern steps ascends to the six decorated tombs open to visitors, which are divided into two groups. The view from the top of the steps gives the visitor a panorama of the northern end of Akhetaten and shows what a vast area the ancient city covered.