Egyptian Dreams

[dzama923]

I need a book that tells the history of Amarna. It seems to me, from what I heard a time that was short lived. Can someone give me a synopsis of why it was destroyed?

[Montuhotep88]

It really wasn't so much destroyed as abandoned... and as the years went by, mudbrick decayed and stone was taken for other purposes (such as building at Hermopolis, and, much later, limestone was burned in lime kilns).

[Lutz]

Barry Kemp : The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti - Amarna and its People. - London : Thames and Hudson, 2012. - 320 pp., 340 ill.

Richard Bußmann : Review - Barry Kemp, City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti - Amarna and its People, 2012. - In: Cambridge Archaeological Journal 23-3. - 2013. - pp. 557 - 559. - [PDF - 1 MB].
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[Montuhotep88]

I have that one on order, but it's been delayed... apparently on back-order.

[Lutz]

find-more-books.com
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[dzama923]

Oh, wow, that is interesting. I saw a documentary that said they found pieces of the temples buried away, and maybe even in the pillars of temples. They said it was destoryed by the priesthood that wanted the bid for power. The mudbrick buildings deteriorating is interesting, though. The temples weren't made out of mudbrick, though. The temples could have been destroyed, and the mudbrick buildings abandoned. That might be what the directors were thinking.
Still, it is sad that so much discrepancies can arise, and contradictions, too. I like to assume we have good information, but it seems like we do not. This is troubling to me. This is, also, a completely new view of history for me, that it was abandoned. It reminds me of the Mayan culture, that had its peak and then the people abandoned their cities, aparently, going north to settle in present day America.

[Lutz]

Amarna Project and Amarna Trust ---> Downloadable Resources
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[Nefer-Ankhe]

The book Lutz recommended by Barry Kemp is amazing and always one of the first books I recommend people that want an accurate and unbiased synopsis of Amarna.

Ultimately after Akhenaten died there was nothing keeping people there. Officials moved back to Waset (Thebes) with Tutankhamun, and naturally, others followed suit. The landscape was rather difficult to maintain pleasant living conditions also, as evident by the examination of burial remains in Amarna.

Afterward, Amarna was plundered for all it was worth, hidden family treasures were dug up and stolen, bricks/talatat were taken to use on other building projects, and Akhetaten became a distant memory essentially forgotten until rediscovered in the late 19th century.

Hope this helps,

Nefer.

[karnsculpture]

Horemheb who followed deconstructed the Aten temples and used them as filler or with blocks turned around on later construction work. The same followed under later kings during the 19th Dynasty. There is evidence of statues being destroyed and images of Akhenaten in particular, and his name, being delibrately removed or damaged. The city itself was just abandoned when the court it appears under Tutankhamun moved to Memphis. I'm basing that opinion on the fact that a good number of senior courtiers under Tutankhamun built tombs there. However no doubt the court was also based at Thebes as it remained a major centre of activity, particularly religious.

[Lutz]

[Lutz]

M.L. Bierbrier : The British Museum - Hieroglyphic Texts from Egyptian Stelae etc. - Part 10. - London : British Museum Publications, 1982. - Page 9 / Plate 1.2 + 2.2 :


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