He demanded more and more temples to be built as rapidly as possible—the South Cemetery at Amarna contains the remains of children whose bones show evidence of hard physical labor. He demoted the Theban gods Amun, Mut, and Khonsu , had their temples dismantled, and killed or sent away the priests. By the 12th year of his reign, Nefertiti disappeared—some scholars believe she became the new co-king, Ankhheperure Neferneferuaten.
The next year, two of their daughters died, and his mother Queen Tiy died in the 14th year. Egypt suffered a devastating military loss, losing its territories in Syria. And the same year, Akhenaten became a true fanatic. Ignoring the foreign political losses, Akhenaten instead sent out his agents bearing chisels and orders to destroy all carved references to Amun and Mut, even if they were carved on granite stele many stories above the ground, even if they were small hand-held personal items, even if they were used to spell Amenhotep III's name.
A total eclipse occurred on May 14, BCE, and it lasted for over six minutes, which must have seemed an omen of displeasure from the king's chosen parent. After a brutal reign of 17 years, Akhenaten died and his successor—who may have been Nefertiti—immediately but slowly began dismantling the physical elements of Akhenaten's religion.
His son Tutankhamun ruled ca. Although there is no recorded dissension or push back from the people while the king lived, once he was gone, everything was disassembled. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile.
Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Kris Hirst. Archaeology Expert. Kris Hirst is an archaeologist with 30 years of field experience. Her work has appeared in scholarly publications such as Archaeology Online and Science.
Bek, AAkhenaton's "Chief Sculptor and Master" proclaims in a stele that the king told the artists to create "what they saw". This led to the development of a more realistic style in the official art that in many cases continued on after Akhenaton's time. When the first portraits of Akhenaton and his wife Nefertiti was uncovered they were thought to represent two women because of Akhenaton's body style. Akhenaton's sculptures usually show him with an elongated neck, protruding belly and a lower body form more closely related to the way women were depicted.
For awhile it was thought that Akhenaton was actually a woman. Today there is a theory that Akhenaton may have developed a condition known as Frolich's Syndrome late in life.
This tumor of the pituitary gland can result in body deformations very similar to Akhenaton's depiction. Skip to main content. You are here Home » Biographies. Around BC, Akhenaten ordered that a new city be built to honor Aten. At the time, the city was simply named Akhenaten; but nowadays, archaeologists call it Amarna. He had a new royal palace built there, as well as the Great Temple of Aten.
Following his death, it lost much of its significance; the capital city moved back to Thebes, and the royal palace and temple built there were abandoned entirely.
0コメント