Akhenaten

and the art of

The Amarna Period

Amenhotep, (Akhenaten) who came to the

throne of Egypt about 1352 BCE, was one

of the most unconventional rulers of

Ancient Egypt.

Amenhotep IV• Initiated radical religious change.

• Founded a new religiondemanding belief in a single god:The life-giving sun disk Aten.

• Changed his name to Akhenaten.“Blessed spirit of the Aten”

• Initiated a significant change inartistic styles and subjects.

• Moved capital of Egypt fromThebes to Amarna

Old versus New Religious Ideas

• Akhenaten's worship of Aten as the sole god of creation was

revolutionary.

• The stela of Wesi shows the worship of the god of the afterlife,

Osiris, one of the many gods to whom Egyptians had prayed

for centuries.

•

• The relief from the Great Palace at Amarna depicts

Akhenaten's worship of Aten, the light within the sun's disk.

See how some elements remained the same, some changed

dramatically.

Painted papyrus

reproduction of the

relief from the

great palace at

Amarna.

Representation of the god

The Worshipers

Offerings and Instruments

Offering table

Family Members

Purpose of the relief

• This funerary monument was probably placed

either in Wesi’s tomb or in a temple. Most likely,

he would have commissioned only one such

image, specifically to provide for their afterlife.

• This carving represents an actual

ceremony, a daily ritual carried out by the

royal family. The carving ornamented a

processional ramp in the Great Palace at

Amarna; many such images were carved

for Amarna's buildings.

Maat : Divine Truth• With his new religion,

Ahkenaten emphasized thephilosophical principle ofdivine truth.

• His concern for truth wasreflected in artisticexpression of the period.

• This shift in attitudechanged many long standingconventions of Egyptian art.

• In royal portraits, the kingencouraged artists to includehis unusual physicalcharacteristics.

Changes in artistic styles under Amenhotep

III, and Amenhotep IV, (aka Akhenaten)

• Egyptian art was generally very formal, presenting an idealizedversion of the subject matter.

• Egyptian art stuck closely to strict guidelines and depicted people informal poses.

• Images were idealized, but retained some actual facialcharacteristics.

• Towards the end of the reign of Amenhotep III and throughout thereign of his son Akhenaten, a new more flowing art form evolved.

• Through his new religion, Akhentaten emphasized maat, or divinetruth.

• While this new style is oftendescribed as more'naturalistic' it remainshighly stylized in itsportrayal of the humanfigure.

• Statues depicting Akhenatengo well beyond a natural orrealistic representation of themale form.

• Akhenaten was depictedwith an elongated skull, widehips, spindly legs and apendulous breasts and arounded belly.

• Some scholars believe hewas born with Marfansyndrome and really lookedlike that.

• Akhenaten was notthe only person to bedepicted with apeculiar bonestructure.

• His wife, Nefertitiand his daughters,the princesses werealso portrayed morerealistically.

In his quest for truth, Akhenaten urged his artists to

portray the royal family in informal situations.

• Akhenaten and His Family, painted limestone 1352-1336 BCE

• Sunken relief outlines of figures have been carved into the surfaceof the stone, instead of being formed by cutting away the background

• Royal couple is receiving the blessings of Aten.

• This scene of two parents lovingly engaged with their children wasnever seen in Egypt before.

Akhenaten and Nefertiti Models

1353 - 1336 BCE Limestone

Among the most intriguing objects from Amarna are the models, practice pieces,

and unfinished statues uncovered in what must have been sculptors' workshops.

These royal images may have been used as models by artists carving the numerous

images of Akhenaten and Nefertiti found throughout the city.

Queen Tiy1352 BCE

• Miniature portrait head, only3.75” high.

• Made of ebony, glass, silver gold,lapis lazuli and clay.

• Mother of Akhenaten.

• She fully supported her son in hisrevolutionary vision.

• This naturalistic portrait revealsher bone structure and carefullydefined features.

• Royal torso

1353 - 1336 BCE

Quartzite

• Carved by a master sculptor

with the skill to translate a

sheer, close-fitting garment

into stone.

• This sculpture illustrates the

Amarna artistic ideal, with

high waist, full belly, and

voluptuous thighs.

• The figure probably

represented Nefertiti or

perhaps one of her daughters.

Later Amarna Period

After the death of the court sculptor

named Bik a new sculptor, Thutmose,

returned to a more traditional style.

Akhenaton

Queen Nefertiti1352-1356 BCE

• Painted limestone

– 20” high

• One of the most well knownpieces of art in history.

• Beautifully refined features.

• Excellent use of color.

• Carved by Thutmose,probably to serve as a modelof the queen for other piecesof art.

Glass Fish Shaped Bottle, c. 1352-1336glass blowing also flourished during the Amarna Period

Glass CupNew Kingdom

1370-1335 BCE

Return to Tradition

The Royal Tombs of Tutankhamen

and Nefertari

The Valley of the Queens

Queen Nefertari while giving offerings

to goddess Hathou

Queen Nefertari in front of God Thut,

god of wisdom.

A very life like picture of the god Anubis;

god of mummification.

Nefertari making an offering to Isis.

Egyptian Book of the Dead

• By the New Kingdom period, Egyptians came to believethat only a person free from sin could enjoy the gift of theafter-life.

• Believed that the dead had to undergo a kind of “LastJudgment”consisting of two tests.

• Osiris, god of the dead and the jackal headed, Anubis, godof funerals, presided over the tests.

• First the deceased was questioned by the gods about theirbehavior in life.

• Then their hearts, believed to be the seat of their soulswere weighed on a scale against an ostrich feather, thesymbol of Maat, the goddess of truth.

• In order to help their deceased friends and

relatives pass these difficult tests, many Egyptians

commissioned papyrus scrolls containing magical

spells or texts.

• These scrolls were placed inside the mummy

wrappings of the deceased.

• Early collectors of Egyptian artifacts called these

beautiful illustrated scrolls, Books of the Dead.

Judgement before Osiris, Book of the Deadc.1285 BCE

Left: Anubis leads the deceased to the scale where is heart will be weighed against the

feather. Center: Horus presents the deceased to Osiris Top: Deceased in the afterlife,

kneeling before the nine gods of Helioplis, sacred city of the sun god, Ra.

Section from a Book of the Dead

ca. 1070-945 B.C. Painted and inscribed papyrus

Opening Wah’s Coffin

Unwrapping of Wah’s Mummy

Coming

Attractions….

King Tut:

The Boy King

The Tutankhamun Collection

Basic Funeral Equipment

Gold Death Mask of

Tutankhamun

• This mask of solid gold,beaten and burnished, wasplaced over the head andshoulders ofTutankhamun's mummy,outside the linen bandagesin which the whole bodywas wrapped. It weighsabout twenty - fourpounds.

An Outer (second) Coffin of Wood Overlaid

with Gold and Semiprecious Stones

Canopic Chest and Jars

Miniature Canopic coffins

Innermost

Golden Coffin

• Like the internal organs of the king,

his mummy was also within several

series of containers.

• Three mummi-form coffins, one

inside the other, and weighing over

three thousand pounds, were inside a

carved quartzite sarcophagus, whose

cracked lid was made of granite.

• The four goddesses, Isis, Selket,

Neith and Nepthys each carved on a

corner, spread protective wings

around the sides and utter words on

behalf of the deceased king.

Funerary Bed

Goddesses Selket and Isis

guarding the tomb

Tut’s

Golden Throne

Gold pendant with Various Deities

Pectoral of Kheper Scarab

Squatting Figure of a King

Necklace of

the Sun on

the Eastern

Horizon

Pendant Depicting the Solar Beetle

Flanked by Baboons

Life size head of

Tutankhamun on a Lotus

Remember Ahkenaten was King Tut’s Father.

Painted Wooden Torso of the King

Life-Size Wooden

Statue of the King

Gold Gilded Wooden Chariot

• Works referenced:

• Janson, History of Art, Abrams 2001

• Marilyn Stockstad’s Art History: Second Edition (Volumes one andtwo)

• Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Timeline of Art History.” Availableonline at http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm

• Strickland, Carol. The Annotated Mona Lisa. 1992

• “The Web Gallery of Art.” Available online at http://www.wga.hu

• http://www.artchive.com/artchive