Volume 20, Number 1, June 2014 The President’s Papyrus Published twice per year since 1993 Greeting fellow Amarnaphiles, Copyright 2014, The Amarna Research Foundation Summer is now in full force here in Denver. I hope that each and every one of you is having a great summer and that all is well with you and yours. The political situation in Egypt continues to evolve and one can only hope for the best concerning the well being of all Table of Contents our friends in Egypt. Article -- Author Page As far as Egyptology goes, progress and new discoveries continue to be made. This is especially true for research that has bearing on Amarna Art – the Amarna period. Certain of my contacts who keep me informed Floyd Chapman 2 of their work have reported intriguing finds that have the potential Getting to the bottom of the of shedding greater insight in the events that took place during the Great Aten Temple -- reign of Akhenaten. These contacts have assured me that once the Barry Kemp 12 appropriate analysis and study is completed, this newsletter will be the beneficiary with exciting new articles reporting the conclusions Part of a new statue of Nefertiti of such research. Your continued support will ensure that you will from the Great Aten Temple – Marsha Hill 20 continue to receive the latest information being generated by that research. The Amarna Research Foundation has been in the forefront of following and reporting on Amarna research now for almost 20 years. We could not have done it without your interest as reflected Officers and Directors by your financial support. President – Floyd Chapman Please enjoy this latest edition of the Sun. Vice President – David Pepper Secretary – Anita McHugh Treasurer – Evan Mitchell Wishing you all the best, Membership – Jill Taylor Pepper Publications – David Pepper Website – Merrie P. Wycoff Floyd Chapman Founder – Robert Hanawalt 1 Amarna and the Art of Heresy By Floyd Chapman The Setting: At the time of the Amarna revolution, Egypt was already an ancient civilization. Seventeen dynasties had already come and gone and the eighteenth was in its glory. The reign of Amenhotep III (1390 - 1352 BCE) stood at the apex of its international power and influence among its neighboring nations, and Amenhotep III presided over a renaissance of the arts throughout his kingdom. Heir to the conquests of Tuthmosis III, Egypt was the richest and most powerful nation it would ever be. Akhenaten and the Orthodox Canon: Egyptian art has often been characterized as being static and lacking originality. However, it is this sameness in style which makes it universally recognizable and appreciated. The ancient scribes were expected to copy what they were given to create and did not enjoy working freely. Artistic production was an extension of the writing system, and was believed to have been created by the gods. Established at the beginning of Egyptian civilization, it was governed by a strict canon, that everyone was expected to follow. However, all artistic traditions do evolve over time and Egypt’s was no exception. At the time Amenhotep III ascended the throne, the Egyptian religion had already acquired a huge pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their complex iconography. Such deities like Osiris, Isis and Horus, pictured at right (Fig. 1) in this marvelous example of the goldsmith craft, on exhibit in the Louvre museum, along with all the other gods and goddesses--with the exception of Ra--had no place in Akhenaten’s Figure 1: Osiris, Isis, and Horus religion of the Aten - the religion of light. 2 Akhenaten simply discarded a belief system and world view that had formed the core principles upon which the Egyptian civilization was founded. Such a radical change must have sent shockwaves throughout the national consciousness. In volume one of The Rock Tombs of El Amarna, Davies states, “If Akhenaten had abolished all gods but one, he had not surrendered the claim of Egyptian kings to what was almost or quite a secondary worship. He is still the ‘Son of Ra’, and, by synonym, ‘the offspring of Aten’ is hailed as ‘the good god’, saluted along with the deity and so associated with him in the ascription of praise and reception of prayer that is often difficult to assign what belongs to each. This prominence of the king is not undue arrogation, but is the outcome of the changed condition of the pantheon.” Furthermore, Akhenaten continually refers to the Aten as his father. This should not come as a surprise, when his real father, Amenhotep III had in fact been so deified and claimed that he was the “Dazzling Sun-Disk”. In other words the Aten. The illustration below (Fig. 2), is a full color reconstruction by the author of a carved wall scene from the tomb of Khaemhat, depicting the enthroned Amenhotep III in the full glory of the classical Memphite style of representation. It shows him wearing the more elaborate clothing that proclaimed his elevated divine status. Figure 2: Amenhotep III 3 Another aspect of the classical canon had to do with the way human figures were to be drawn. They used a grid known as the Canon of Proportion which specified that each square matched the clenched fist of the person and dictated that 18 of these squares would form the height of an individual measured from the bottom of the feet all the way up to the hairline. Furthermore, the canon prescribed the specific positions of a person’s features within the grid. The illustration above is a perfect example of how the canon was so beautifully applied. However, this too was changed by Akhenaten sometime in his fourth year. He instructed his royal artists Hor and Suti to increase the span of the grid from 18 to 21. This change is probably one of the chief reasons for the curious distortion that seems to be the hallmark of the Amarna style. See illustration (Fig. 3) from the tomb of Apy drawn by Davies. Figure 3: The Royal Family make votive offerings to the Sun Figure 4: The Aten 4 Since Akhenaten had banished the pantheon of the gods and goddesses along with their iconography to the trash bin of history; with what subject matter did he replace them? The answer becomes simple and logical. If his fathe,r Amenhotep III, had merged with Ra and become the “Dazzling Sun-Disk,” the Aten; then he had become god. That being the case, as his son, Akhenaten was the son of god and his family was therefore the divine family of god. Hence, there is only one supreme god, the Aten; and his iconography, which Akhenaten himself had designed, is all pervasive and ubiquitous. The worship of the Aten becomes the supreme act of piety by Akhenaten, the divine son (Son of Ra). And, this was necessary for the maintenance of cosmic order. Therefore, it is logical that the subject matter of Amarna art became primarily the Aten and his worship by his divine son and family. And, the daily life activities of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their children, and depictions of officials and all classes of underlings, were required to ensure that this cosmic order was maintained. Obviously, the subject of this article could and does fill volumes, but that is not my objective here. Rather, I want to focus on Amarna art as a tool of propaganda by Akhenaten to promote his new world order, and to also look at the quality of production. Remember, I said at the beginning how Egypt was the most prosperous and powerful nation in its history when Akhenaten became pharaoh. Egypt had experienced a renaissance in all of the arts under his father and Akhenaten inherited all of those resources. For the balance of this article, I will show some beautiful examples of the art that was produced during this unique and fascinating period and comment on it. All the photographs that I use in this article are my property and were taken in visits to the museums taken over the course of several European vacations. The exceptions being the black and white line drawings that I have scanned from various volumes of “The Rock Tombs of El Amarna” by Norman Davies; all of which are now in the public domain. Egyptian Polychromy: From the very beginning of their civilization, the Egyptians cultivated and perfected the fine art of painting their monuments and sculpture in color. A tradition later emulated by the Greeks and Romans. The most famous piece of Amarna art is, of course, the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti (not shown). It is a masterpiece of painted limestone. My first two examples are less well known pieces (Fig. 5 & Fig. 6), now in the Louvre, showing the royal couple themselves and a famous painted bust of one of their daughters. I did some enhancements to the first picture in Photoshop for presentation purposes without compromising its legitimacy as example of a fully painted piece of limestone. Notice that the skin color on all of the figures is painted a reddish brown. This is the very same color used for the Aten. This clearly is intentional and identifies them with the Aten and, once again, is a break from orthodox tradition which dictated that a women’s skin color should be painted yellow. The next two examples of Amarna sculpture are made out of very fine stone which the Egyptian usually did not paint. The first is a headless statue of Nefertiti (Fig. 7), in the Louvre, though damaged, is still a masterpiece of the sculptor’s craft, showing the very fine articulation of the shear linen garment, and the second, is of Akhenaten (Fig.