Akhenaten and Akhetaten

Kattullus — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:55:59 -0800

Akhetaten (a.k.a. Amarna) was the city built by Pharaoh Akhenaten, famous for his monotheistic beliefs and his queen, Nefertiti and son, Tutankhamun. The Amarna Letters has translations of correspondence sent to the Akhenaten, but a trove of it was found at the Amarna site. During his reign a distinctive style of art rose to prominence, only to vanish after his death. The Boston MFA has 40 objects from the era in its collection. Perhaps the most famous of the cultural artifacts of Akhenaten is the Great Hymn to Aten (hieroglyphics, four different English translations: 1, 2, 3, 4). This poem was set to music by Philip Glass for his opera Akhnaten (information about the opera). Some see direct parallels between The Great Hymn to Aten and Psalm 104. Though it was billed as a new beginning, like many utopias, Amarna was no haven for the regular folk who lived there.

lagado — Wed, 20 Jun 2001 18:06:25 -0800

Queen Nefertiti found in the attic. Well, not exactly but the mummy of Nefertiti, the most famous queen of ancient Egypt except for Cleopatra, has been found kicking around in a museum unrecognized for a hundred years. Also, you can own your own Nefertiti for only $39.99 (gold costs a lttle more).

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Akhenaten and Akhetaten