Amarna

Where it was

Children with pens and papyrus scrolls. Relief from Amarna

A house altar showing Akhenaten, Nefertiti and three of their daughters. This detail shows Nefertiti with Meketaten seated on her lap and Ankhesenpaaten leaning against her. 18th dynasty, reign of Akhenaten

Amarna (Arabic: العمارنة al-‘amārnä) is on the east bank of the Nile in the modern Egyptian province of Minya. It is a big archaeological site. It has the remains of the capital city built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1353 BC), and abandoned shortly afterwards. The Amarna period is the time when Amarna was the capital.

"Amarna" is the Arabic name for the place. The name for the city used by the ancient Egyptians is written as Akhetaten in English. It translates to "the Horizon of the Aten" (Akh-t-Aten).

Amarna art

The Amarna art-style broke with the old Egyptian conventions. It showed its people more realistically. It included informal scenes, such as affection within the royal family or playing with their children. It no longer portrayed women as lighter coloured than men. The art had a realism that sometimes shocks. This art had a more lasting legacy than the religion.

Amarna Media

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  Statues to the left of Boundary stela U in el-Amarna

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  Akhenaten seal ring in blue faience. Walters Art Museum

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  Tutankamun Amarna portrait. Altes Museum, Berlin

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  Limestone fragment column showing reeds and an early Aten cartouche. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

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  Siliceous limestone fragment of a statue. There are late Aten cartouches on the draped right shoulder. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

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  Limestone trial piece of a private person. Head of a princess on the reverse. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL, London

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  Alabaster sunken relief depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and daughter Meritaten. Early Aten cartouches on king's arm and chest. From Amarna, Egypt. 18th Dynasty. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

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  One of the Amarna letters

Other websites

• The University of Cambridge's Amarna Project
• Amarna Art Gallery Shows just a few, but stunning, examples of the art of the Amarna period.
• Wallis Budge describes the discovery of the Amarna tablets
• Satellite image
• M.A. Mansoor Amarna Collection-