Friday, June 23, 2017

El-Amarna - The City of Akhenaten .. The Main City – The North City - The Tombs - The Altars – The Tomb Chapels .. Part ( 3 )

When the city of Akhenaten grew and the population increased it naturally expanded towards the North, occupying an area beyond the wady north of the Great Temple but still within easy reach of the centre of the city . To this area the name of the North Suburb has been given . That it is a later expansion is proved not only by the comparatively high proportion of objects bearing the names of Akhenaten's immediate successors, but also by the fact that, as we have seen, it was still spreading northwards when the city was deserted .

El-Amarna - The City of Akhenaten .. General Thoroughfares and The Limits of The City – The Central – The Official Quarters .. ( Part 2 )

The site chosen by Akhenaten for his new capital lies about halfway between Cairo and Luxor on the East bank of the Nile . Here the cliffs of the high desert recede from the river, leaving a great semicircle about eight miles long and three broad .

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

El-Amarna – Historical Notes .. Part ( 1 )

We are now within the sacred territory of Akhenaten's holy city, Akhetaten, better known to most people as El-Amarna . The present appearance of this once great and famous city is not imposing . The area is located on the east bank of the Nile River in the modern Egyptian province of Minya, some 58 km ( 36 miles ) south of the city of al-Minya .