When people hear “Tell Amanra”, most of them would just shrug as the name doesn’t say anything to them. But say the name of Nefertiti and everyone would think of the famous emblem of the Amazing Ancient Beauty and even many will know her face, thanks to the world-known bust of Nefertiti that was discovered in some ancient worker’s workshop.
Well, little known though of the fact, that Nefertiti, being quite outstanding lady herself, had a husband that was no less famous and much more controversial. Queen Nefertiti was the wife of the most outrageous king – Akhenaten.
I don’t know about you, but personally, I’ve found them to be a very special union. Firstly, if you look at Akhenaton’s and Nefertiti's images, even the shape of the face, all the features are somewhat unusual. This was one of the strangest kings in history and has caused much speculation about the nature of this very peculiar monarch who had himself depicted in an almost grotesque way with female hips and breasts and an elongated face with pouting lips. (All other pharaohs had themselves depicted by their artists as physically perfect, beautiful beings of godlike proportions.)
There are different theories about this – one and the most probable was a genetic disorder, but also it could be that the hermaphrodite aspects of his physique could have been specifically accentuated for religious reasons. The Aton – God of the Sun - was seen as being neither male nor female, but both and Akhenaton was “the living image of the Aton” and therefore Aton-look-alike. This, actually could be well interpreted into the ridiculous theory of him being of an alien race – he was, in the end of a day – a visitor from another spiritual dimension, a man ahead of his time…
Besides being scandalous for his faith, Akhenaton also established a new wave in the art, which slightly resembles realism. All his images found so far show him without any flattering. It does seems even as if he felt really proud being so unusual shaped…And also in the art of “Amanra Period” the pharaoh can be found depicted in cosy atmosphere of his home, with his family…This is the first time the pharaoh were portrayed with his family rather then in the company of the Gods.
The most speculating story of the life of Akhenaton and Nefertiti that I’ve ever heard was a theory that Nefertiti was …a male lover of Akhenaton! That they would share the throne and everything else until Akhenaton dies under suspicious circumstances. Apparently, after his death a new king turned up whos physical features were very similar to those of Nefertiti and whos name was – Smenkhkare. In the Valley of the Kings his tomb has been discovered with a coffin made as if for a woman and all the funerary arrangements being made as if it was for a lady, not a man! How strange, eh? The same time Nefertiti disappears and no one still know what happened to her. There are no records found of the fate of her or anybody else closed to Akhenaton.
However, it is know that Nefertiti and Akhenaton had six daughters. For a long time this strange family remained unrecorded in history, forgotten even in legend. Their names were chiseled off the monuments; their faces were defaced from the statues; their city was razed to the ground, its very bricks stolen and carried off. And it’s only in the beginning of 20 century the picture of a crazy pharaoh emerged from the oblivion and the legend of his life calls for the puzzle to be solved.
He was the only king that has earned the title of King-Heretic. Why? All their lives and all their parent’s lives and all their grandparent’s lives Egyptians worshiped numerous gods. Just like the “delegation” works in a well organised company, the responsibilities were distributed between various gods and goddesses…the lesser aspect of life one god is responsible for, more chances he/she will have time to attend all the prayers…very convenient indeed – “one thing at a time” .
Then there comes someone who declares that there is only one God – Aton and he’s the one to pray to. I don’t think it was smart of Akhenaton to think that he could turn the wheel against the stream and everybody will swim along. However, personally I feel deep respect for the man who was completely alone in his quest, yet he went ahead with his dream.
So what he’s done once became a pharaoh? First thing – transferred Egyptian capital to the place exactly in the middle between two ex-capitals: Thebes and Memphis. And he…built a city in the middle of nowhere, from scratch. And this city was made up of temples, government establishments, grain silos and bakeries, palaces and common mudbrick homes, several necropolises, as well as a number of zoos, gardens and other public buildings. In fact, the scope of this city is somewhat amazing if one considers that it was founded in about 1350 BC and abandoned only some twenty years later. The population of the city has been estimated to have been between twenty and fifty thousand inhabitants.
Today the city of Akhenaton called Tell-Amarna. It lasted only a few years before being destroyed by those loyal to the old gods of Egypt. But for those few brief years it existed, nowadays it still remains for Egypt a kind of mysterious Camelot.The ancient capital of Akhetaten (that’s how it was called in the pharaoh’s times) lies in a natural amphitheatre between cliffs. This is a narrow opening along the Nile and it has depth of about five kilometres.
When the Egyptian government find a wealthy foreign investor, they will restore the city and make it yet another place for the pilgrimage. For today all it is – a vast area of a desert, surrounded by the eerie orange cliffs. There is not much to see there. A set of recently discovered tombs and a breathtaking view on the plain from the stairs leading to the top of the cliff, to the stella. The stella measures about 7-8 meters from top to bottom and occupies almost the entire height of the cliff in a little bay to the north of the entrance.
Amarna is unique in Egypt. Even cities built up by foreign rulers did not suffer the same fate. It was established most probably from scratch, and appears to have been completely abandoned a short time after Akhenaten's death.
Later I will tell a story of our travel to Mynia to see the legendary city of Akhenaton, as well as some other places of a different nature, but no less fascinating...