Egypt's Amarna Period

Virtually no phase in the history of our planet's civilisations has so many unanswered questions, and attracts so many theories, as the Egyptian 'Amarna Period' when the Heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten turned away from the traditional gods and embraced his one god, the Aten sun disk.

Why did he turn his back on the existing Gods and close their temples, what was the relationship between Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, and what was the real reason for the apparent massive anti-Atenist backlash that followed his death ?


Amenhotep III

Akhenaten's father, his reign saw the rise of the Aten 

 

 Tiye

Akhenaten's mother, and a regular visitor to Akhetaten.

 

 Akhenaten

The 'Heretic Pharaoh' who turned his back on 3,000 years of state religion.

 

 Tutankhamun

An insignificant Child King, his almost intact tomb assured him of the immortality he sought.

 Smenkhkare

Akhenaten's successor, one of the Amarna Period's biggest mysteries.

 Horemheb

Akhenaten's General, as Pharaoh he was credited with restoring the temples. 

 Ay

A high official throughout the Amarna Period, and Tutankhamun's successor as Pharaoh.

 

 Nefertiti

Akhenaten's Sun Queen, one of history's most famous faces.

 

 Kiya

Another enigma, did she succeed Nefertiti as Queen, and was she Tutankhamun's mother.

 

 

 The Amarna Cache - Tomb KV 55

One of the most controversial finds in the Valley of the Kings

 

 The Talitat Wall

A monumental Amarna jigsaw puzzle

 

 Amarna items in the N.M.S.

A fine collection of Amanra objects in Edinburgh

 

 The Royal Tomb at Akhetaten

Akhenaten's eternal home.

 

 


Of course there is much more to Ancient Egyptian then the mysteries of the Amarna Period. To find out more about different aspects of Ancient Egypt, why not visit

one of the UK's oldest Egyptological websites.

Akhenaten : King of Egypt

Akhenaten
and the Religion of Light

The Complete Tutankhamun 

 

The Akhet-Aten Homepage
Kate Stange's excellent site

The Amarna List
Amarna discussion group

Mansoor Amarna Collection
Genuine or Not ??

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Amarna Index - Amenhotep III - Akhenaten - Smenkhkare - Tutankhamun - Ay - Horemheb

Tiye - Nefertiti - Kiya - Amarna Art and Architecture