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TELL
el-AMARNA
Tell el-Amarna,
site of the ancient Egyptian city Akhenaton, on the Nile
River, north of the modern city of Asyût. Akhenaton was
built during the reign of Amenhotep IV, better known as
Akhenaton, sometime between 1350 and 1334 BC; the city
served as the Egyptian capital until Akhenaton's death.
The period during which Akhenaton was important is known
in Egyptian history as the Amarna period.
In 1887, a peasant at Tell el-Amarna found about 400
tablets inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform. The tablets
formed part of the correspondence, later known as the
Amarna letters, of Akhenaton and his predecessor,
Amenhotep III, with the governors in Palestine and Syria
and the kings of Babylonia, Assyria, and Mitanni. These
tablets and other archaeological remains serve as
valuable sources of information about the Amarna period.
SUGGESTED READING:
AKHENATEN - KING OF EGYPT ; by
Cyril Aldred. Thames & Hudson (1991).
The bust (above left)
that we recognize today as that of Nefertiti was found
1912-1913 in grid 47 at Amarna by Professors Hermann
Ranke and Ludwig Borchardt. It was out of circulation
from that time till 1920, when it was found in Berlin.
It has no inscriptions. Identification of this as a bust
of Nefertiti is done mainly by reference to the royal
headdress and by its proximity to a destroyed bust of
Akhenaton in an artist's workshop. Also, it is inlaid
with lapis lazuli, an expensive precious stone that was
reserved for royalty. What is important is that there
are numerous wall reliefs from her temple that depict
Nefertiti with certainty, yet they are different from
the Berlin Bust. Two of those reliefs are shown
above and below, along with two of her daughters.
Photo
gallery has come about after many travels. Nothing may
be used without written permission from Dr.
Freeman.
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