EGYPT UNDER THE PHAROAHS APAH – GARDINER CHAPTER 3-4 PP

AKHENATON AND THE AMARNA PERIOD  Akhenaton (r ) abandons the traditional Egyptian religion in favor of Aton, the sun disk -> declared him to be the universal and only god  Empties the great temples, outrages the priests, moves the capital from Thebes to Amarna  Akhenaton’s god was not depicted as an animal or human -> instead, as a sun disk emitting life giving rays  After his reign the new religious revolution was undone and Amarna was abandoned

Amarna Period  Akhenaton from the temple Aton, Karnak, BCE, sandstone, 13’ high  Androgynous image -> effeminate body, long face, full lips, heavy lidded eyes  Weak arms, narrow waist, protruding belly, wide hips, fatty thighs  Deliberate reaction against the established style?  Portrayal of pharaoh as Aton, the sexless sun disk?

NEFERTITI  Painted limestone bust  Thutmose, Nefertiti from Amarna, BCE  Nefertiti is Akhenaton’s wife -> long, elegant neck, soft delicate New Kingdom features  Amarna style

TIYE  Miniature head of Queen Tiye, mother of Akhenaton  Carved of dark yew wood  Amarna period  Older woman with lines and furrows  New relaxation of the artistic rules in the Amarna period

FAMILY PORTRAITURE  Sunken relief stele of the royal family  Undulating curves replace rgid lines  Bellies  Royal family basks in the rays of Aton  Intimate and informal portrait of the royal family -> radicalism of Amarna art

THE TOMB OF TUTANKHAMEN AND THE POST-AMARNA PERIOD  Famous tomb discovered by Howard Carter in 1922  Mummified body of King Tutankhamen buried with 143 objects  Gold coffin, 6’7” long contained the body of the boy king

SCROLL OF HU-NEFER  Illustrated papyrus scrolls were vital equipment for the tomb of elites and officials  Hu-Nefer -> royal scribe/official  Scroll found in his tomb in the Theban necropolis  Represents the final judgment of the deceased Hu-Nefer/Anubis/scales/Ammit monster/Thoth/Horus/Osiris

FIRST MILLENIUM BCE  During the first millennium Egypt’s power and empire dwindled away  Conquered by Alexander the Great  Ptolemy, one of the six somatophylakes (bodyguards) who served as Alexander the Great's generals and deputies, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. In 305 BC, he declared himself King Ptolemy I, later known as "Soter" (saviour). The Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of independent Egypt. Ptolemy's family ruled Egypt until the Roman conquest of 30 BC