114: Amarna, City of Akhenaten (Part 1)

Establishing Amarna. Pharaoh was at a crossroads. Having declared his intentions to build a new royal residence, away from Thebes, Akhenaten now needed to develop it...

Part 1: The new city of Akhet-Aten would grow outwards from a central quarter, focussed on pharaoh and his government's needs. Grand palaces, lavish homes and secret gardens characterise the heart of Akhenaten's famous city...

Part 2: We explore Akhenaten's mind-set around the time he moved to Amarna. Did the King always plan this city? Did he want to live here forever and never leave? And how did he think about the community he was developing?

NOTE: Originally released as 114 and 114b. The two episodes are now compiled.

• Date: c.1357 BCE (regnal year 6)
• King: Akhenaten (Nefer-kheperu-Re Wa-en-Re)
• Queen: Nefertiti (Nefer-neferu-Aten)
• Cities: Amarna (Akhet-Aten)
• Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
• Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
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• Music by Keith Zizza (www.keithzizza.com).
• Music by Michael Levy (www.ancientlyre.com).

Select Bibliography:

Betsy M. Bryan, “New Kingdom Sculpture,” in Allan B. Lloyd, A Companion to Ancient Egypt, 2 volumes, 2010.

Aidan Dodson, Amarna Sunrise, 2014.

Barry Kemp, The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and Its People, 2012.

Dominic Montserrat, Akhenaten: History, Fantasy and Ancient Egypt, 2005.

William J. Murnane, Texts From the Amarna Period in Egypt, 1995.

T.E. Peet and C. Leonard Woolley, The City of Akhenaten Part I: Excavations of 1921 and 1922 at El-Amarneh, 1923.

J.D.S Pendlebury, The City of Akhenaten Part III: The Central City and The Official Quarters, 2 volumes, 1951. Available at Archive.org: Volume I: Texts & Volume II: Plates

Sir W. M. Flinders Petrie, Tell el Amarna, 1894. Available at Archive.org.

Donald B. Redford, Akhenaten: The Heretic King, 1984.

Donald B. Redford, “Akhenaten: New Theories, Old Facts,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 369 (2013): 9-34.

Patrick C. Salland, Palatial Paintings and Programs: The Symbolic World of the Egyptian Palace in the New Kingdom (c. 1550-1069 BCE), Unpublished PhD Dissertation, 2015.

Fran Weatherhead, Wall-Paintings from the King’s House at Amarna, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 81 (1995): 95-113.

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