Finds from the Amarna Period at the Hecht Museum

FINDS FROM THE AMARNA PERIOD AT THE HECHT MUSEUM The nine finds on which this discussion centers belong to the time of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, Akhenaten, known by historians of ancient Egypt as the Amarna period. This was an extraordinary age in the his- tory of Egypt, marked by change and variation, an enigmatic time where the unknown outweighs the known. Not surprisingly, therefore, the Amarna period generated different interpretations and approaches in research. The following brief review, based on that research as well as on our own investigation, seeks to illumine the historical and artistic background of the finds in the Hecht Museum. HISTORICAL SURVEY Pharaoh Amenhotep IV ascended the throne in 1351 BCE. During his reign of just 17 years (until 1334 BCE) he wrought the changes characteristic of the Amarna period1. The foremost of these was religious reform: the god Aten (sun disc in Egyptian), the concrete manifestation of the sun, in rays of sunlight, was set at the head of the Egyptian pan- theon2. This change left its mark on various levels of life, particularly on the contemporary art. It was clearly a religion that, on the one hand, derived from and was related to previous solar doctrines, but on the other hand, came into * This publication is part of a larger project covering publication of all the Egyptian exhibits in the Hecht Museum catalogue 1 Although there is still considerable debate as to whether there was a coregency between Akhenaten and his father, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten probably shared the throne with his father in his initial years (see Allen 1994, who relies on new graffito from Dashur and cf. Aldred 1988: 169-189, who assumes 12 years of coregency). More recently this assumption has been rejected by HORNUNG 1995: 38-39; cf. also FRITZ 1991 and SCHLÖGL 1993: 14-17, who presents a detailed survey of the various scholarly views). The absolute chronology of the early Egyptian dynasties and the length of their kings’ reigns are also disputed. The dates given in this article are based on the up-to-date research of Beckerath 1999. 2 The main motive for Akhenaten’s reform was probably political, namely the posi- tion attained by the state god Amun and his priests whose wide ranging authority under- mined the central rule. For other proposed reasons to account for Akhenaten’s reform, see SILVERMAN 1995: 80-85; O’CONNOR 1983: 219-221. 46 N. SHUPAK AND H. PITSCH being as a reaction to them and differed from them in essential features. One of its basic presuppositions, characteristic also of the monotheistic world-view, was the uniqueness of the god; being alone in his solar journey, the sun-god was a solitary god who acted without other gods, without “constellation partners” (Assmann 1995:68-69). Thus it seems that the new doctrine was closer to monotheism than any other religious belief that had ever sprung up in the Nile valley; the term “Egyptian monotheism” suits it very well3. Most of our knowledge of the new religion arises from the “The Hymn to the Aten”4, and the artistic works of the Period. These include the reliefs that adorned walls of buildings built by the new king at Karnak and at Amarna as well as the tombs of his officials at the new capital. These finds demonstrate that Akhenaten not only reserved for himself the role of the sole teacher of the new doctrine but also that he functioned as the principal priest and prime worshipper of the deity, the “First Prophet of Harakhty”. He was the image and the representative on earth of the celestial god, enjoying proximity or even identity with the Aten5. The traditional mythology, the stories of gods and triads of gods, was replaced by the “visible interaction and textual description of the relationship between the king and Aten” (Silverman 1995: 76). The reform instituted by Akhenaten was gradual. At first he estab- lished his residence in the city of Karnak, where remains of four temples to the god Aten have been discovered (Redford 1984: 71-78). But probably in the fourth year of his reign Akhenaten transferred his capital north to a new residence. This newly built city, now known by its later name Amarna,, Akhenaten called Akhetaten, “the horizon of the Aten”. To distinguish the new sun religion from the old, several changes were introduced based on the above mentioned recognition that the god was the king; and the reverse, the king was the earthly manifestation of the heavenly god. These were the following: 3 Cf. HORNUNG 1995: 103-104. 4 For a translation of the hymn see LICHTHEIM 1976: 96-100. This hymn is also known for its amazing similarity to Psalm 104. For recent treatments of this issue, see DION 1991: 43-71; HOFFMAN, 1992; REDFORD 1987: 27; SHUPAK 1995: 24-25; TAYLOR 1993: 225-230. 5 See also discussion below, and cf. REDFORD 1995: 177-180; SILVERMAN 1995: 73- 75, 79, and MURNANE 1994.. The identity of Akhenaten with Aten may also be inferred from the portrayals of the king’s jubilee (The Sed festival) on talatats from the Karnak temple. Here the king is accompanied by a special priest called “the prophet of the king”, a detail attesting that the king was worshipped as a god. THE AMARNA PERIOD AT THE HECHT MUSEUM 47 1) The soaring falcon, or the winged sun, the symbols of the sun god until then, were replaced by the sun disc, whose rays, terminating in human hands holding signs of power or dominion (was) and life (ankhe) imparted to the royal family6 (see below, objects 2, 3, 4). Similarly, the sun disc was adorned with the uraeus cobra, the symbol of royalty par excellence. 2) The connection between the Aten and the king was substantiated also by the bestowal of titles, enclosed by royal cartouches, on the new god (see object 3 below). 3) The names of the king and the queen were changed to make refer- ence to the name of the new god Aten: the king’s name was changed from Amenhotep (“Amun is content”) to Akhenaten (“beneficial to Aten” or “the brightness of Aten”), and that of his wife from Nefer- titi (“the beautiful or perfect one has come”) to Nefer-neferu-Aten (“the exquisite beauty or perfection of Aten”). The later phases of the reform attest to the intolerance characteristic of the new religion: Emissaries were sent throughout the state to elimi- nate the name of the previous state god Amun, and the plural form “gods” from the different monuments. The reforms initiated by Akhenaten did not survive long. A religion that turned the king into the sole mediator between a man and his god, a religion that negated the direct connection between the worshipper and the object of his prayers, a religion that turned its back on the world of myth, a religion that rejected the cult of the resurrected god, Osiris7, and thus shattered man’s hope in a better future — such a religion contained nothing to capture the heart of the Egyptian masses. And soon after his death, Egypt reverted to the old faith. 6 The radiating arms, reaching everywhere, were probably conceived of as the sun- god agency, bringing life to the world. A new interpretation of this image was suggested by SILVERMAN (1995: 85). He assumes that this was Akhenaten’s new representation of the traditional concept of the royal ka, which previously had been depicted by the hiero- glyph with upraised hands ( ). In his opinion, the new image of the sun disc symbolized Akhenaten’s divine ka, which “incorporated his physical being and his deity, the Aten”. Silverman’s original suggestion merits close scrutiny; however, the fact that the image of the sun-disc’s radiating arms had existed before Akhenaten’s reign both in literature (in the Hymn to Amon-Re, the God is depicted as “the solitary sole one, with many hands”; see ASSMANN 1984: 244) and in art (see HORNUNG 1971: 75 and TAWFIK 1973: 81-82) casts doubt on this interpretation. 7 See discussion on exhibit 1, below. 48 N. SHUPAK AND H. PITSCH The buildings erected by Akhenaten at Karnak and Amarna were torn down, but their building material served for the construction of new ones. For example, the temple of Aten that stood east of the Amun temple at Karnak was demolished by Haremhab (1319-1292 BCE), and Ramesses II (1279-1213BCE), and its blocks were used mainly in the building of the pylons of the Amun temple there; the temple at Amarna was dismantled and its stones were used by Ramesses II for constructing the temple at Hermopolis. The work of reconstruction of the original buildings of Akhenaten is at present based on this building material, which chiefly consists of blocks ornamented with reliefs, known in scholarship as talatat. The work, which has been carried on since 1966 by an expedition from the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania8, is accomplished by a com- puterized assembly of talatats and fragments of talatats, like a huge jig- saw puzzle. To date, about 45,000 blocks have been unearthed, mostly at Karnak and Hermopolis. AMARNA ART The works of the Amarna period in relief, plastics, and drawing are very different from works of other periods. Given the name “Amarna art”, it is noted for its breaking free of the trammels of tradition on the one hand, and for innovations in theme, style, and technique on the other. Subjects The central subject in Amarna art is the royal family, whose members were portrayed as representing the divinity on earth — Akhenaten as a reflection of the sun-god and Nefertiti as his female counterpart.

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