Akhenaten and Nefertiti (14th century BCE) Egyptian rulers
Amenhotep IV belonged to the powerful line of kings, originating from Thebes, who ruled during the Eighteenth Dynasty, and were buried in the Valley of Kings.
His name meaning "Amun is satisfied," referring to Amun, a major ancient Egyptian deity, originally regarded as the king of the gods.
His father was Amenophis (Amenhotep III, r. 1391–54 BCE), a high priest of Ptah, dubbed "the Great". He was a builder of the rear part of the Luxor temple, the Colossi of Memnon, and the temple of Soleb in the Sudan.
His mother was Queen Tiy (c. 1398-1338 BCE, aged 60 years), the daughter of a powerful provincial family.
Amenhotep IV had an elder brother Thutmose, who was recognized as Amenhotep III's heir, as well as four or five sisters: Sitamun, Henuttaneb, Iset, Nebetah, and possibly Beketaten.
Amenhotep IV was not the favored child of family and was excluded from public events during his father’s reign. However, when his brother died prematurely, he became next in line for Egypt's throne.
Akhenaton and Nefertiti, Painted limestone. Paris, Louvre Museum
According to the inscriptions from the pharaoh's building, Amenhotep IV and the beautiful and powerful Nefertiti married either shortly before or after his ascension to the throne. He was crowned at the temple of the god Amun in Karnak, taking the name Amenhotep IV (r. 1353–1351 BCE).
Nefertiti , whose name means "The Beautiful Woman has Come," played a significant role in her husband’s reign. Some Egyptologists suggest she was a coregent with her husband from 1340 BCE and was instrumental in religious reforms. Around this time, however, she either fell out of royal favor or may have died. Nefertiti was probably buried in the capital city, but her body has never been found.
Almost nothing is known about Nefertiti's life before her marriage to Akhenaten. Some scholars believe that Queen Tiy was her mother; while others suggest she was the daughter of the vizier Ay ((possibly Queen Tiy’s brother).
It is known that she had no sons, and future King Tutankhamun was her son-in-law. Some researchers propose that Nefertiti ruled for three years after Akhenaten’s death as the female pharaoh Neferneferuaten, before the ascension of Tutankhamun.
Aten is depicted as a solar disk whose rays end in hands, to show its creative and providential function. A limestone relief depicting the pharaoh Akhenaten, the queen Nefertiti and two princesses worshipping the Aten. 18th Dynasty, ca. 1353-1336 BCE, now housed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Amenhotep IV ruled for about 17 years, some of them in coregency with his father. His reign marked a revolutionary period in ancient Egyptian history, particularly for his radical changes in religion. He rejected the traditional polytheistic religion, which worshipped many gods, and introduced monotheism centered around Aten, the god of the solar disk. This move effectively reduced the power of the established priesthood, particularly the influential priests of Amun in Thebes.
From his fifth regnal year, he changed his name to Akhenaten ("Servant of the Aten") and that of his queen to Nefer-Nefru-Aten ("Beautiful is the Beauty of Aten"). These name changes emphasized their close connection to Aten. Akhenaten and Nefertiti presented themselves as the only ones fitted for the worship of the Aten, and in the prayers of others were invoked as gods alongside the Aten
The king was the link between god and the common people. He took his followers to a new reign, where royal tombs, temples, palaces, statutes of the pharaoh, and buildings were built. Even the new capital that he constructed in a pristine location that had not been dedicated to other deities was given the name Akhetaton ("Horizon of Aten"), also called Tell el-Amarna or Amarna ("hill", it comes from the Beni Amran tribe that lived in the region.)
Amarna (Tell el-Amarna) is located on the east bank of the Nile, in the province of El-Minia. In its center, a sprawling road was built for chariot processions; it was one of the widest roads in ancient times.
The city, located in a large desert bay surrounded by cliffs and bordered to the west by the Nile River, was built in just four years. To expedite construction, most of the buildings were made of mud brick and whitewashed.
Amarna housed an estimated 30,000 people. The wealthy lived in large, walled homes, while others resided in smaller houses between the estates of the rich.
The temples and palaces were adorned with statues, reliefs, and mosaics. The art produced during Akhenaten’s reign broke with thousands of years of Egyptian tradition, embracing realism. Akhenaten, who may have suffered from a genetic disorder known as Marfan’s syndrome: he had a long head, a potbelly, a short torso, and prominent collarbones. He chose to be depicted in ways that exaggerated certain characteristics of his face and body, no following the age-old tradition of a handsome man with a good physique. The sculptor portrayed what he saw in reality, and he was also encouraged to depict with detail and animation scenes of the life surrounding the king and his family.
The sun's disc became the only divine image in Akhenaten's new temples and in his own tomb. The elaborate depictions of a universe populated by almost numberless beings were banished. In place of the dark, cavernous interiors of traditional temples, the temples to the Aten were open courtyards filled with altars and platforms. A gigantic temple for Aten was built near the Nile. This entire temple was open to the sky because the worship took place toward the light in the sky.
Tombs were begun for courtiers in the adjacent cliffs, and a tomb for Akhenaten and other members of his family in what was intended to be a new Valley of the Kings. Many scenes in the tombs depicted the Royal Family, which consisted of Akhnaton, Nefertiti, and up to six daughters. They were:
- the eldest Meritaten was born in regnal year one or five, and became the consort of Smenkhkara,
- Akhenaten's intended but ephemeral successor;
- Meketaten was born in year four or six, but died young and was buried in the Royal Tomb;
- Ankhsenpa-aten was born before year five or eight, later queen of Tutankhamun and may even, in the end, have married the God's Father Ay, who, as a courtier, prepared tomb no. 25 at Amarna and later had a brief reign after Tutankhamun;
- Neferneferuaten the Younger (Nefernefruaten being Nefertiti's first cartouche name) was born in year eight or nine
- Neferneferure was born in year nine or ten;
- Setepenre was born in year ten or eleven.
Facial reconstruction of Tutankhamun
The king Akhenaten died in c. 1336-1333 BCE. Despite his revolutionary changes, Egypt reverted to earlier religious discourse after his death. What happened immediately afterwards is obscure: some scholars believe that Nefertiti ruled briefly as the female pharaoh, others noticed the influence of Smenkhkara, the consort to Akhenaten's eldest daughter, Meritaten. But within a short time the young king Tutankhamun had ascended the throne. Perhaps after only two years he had left Akhetaten to reign from Memphis, and Akhenaten's cult was abandoned utterly.
For a city depended on the court for a large part of its existence this was a death blow. Apart from an area beside the waterfront at the southern end, the city appears to have been rapidly abandoned. The stonework of temples or palaces was removed to provide cheap building stone after the end of the Amarna Period, and then they were demolished. Many thousands from Amarna were shipped across the river for a new temple at Hermopolis.
Today the city is covered with sand or badly eroded for the most part. What was left behind were the walls of sun-dried mud brick from which the houses and large parts of the palaces had been constructed. These have been reduced to ruins by wind, occasional rain, and human reuse of building materials, and are now largely sanded over.
Last update: October 5, 2024
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