Location & discovery of the site

The palace of the Pharaoh Akhenaten is located at the modern day Tell-el-Amarna of Minya Governorate of Egypt. This site is of the ruins & tombs of the city of Akhenaten. It was discovered during the eighteenth century. ‘Amarna’ is a modern Arabic name for the site.

The capital of Akhenaten

Pharaoh Akhenaten ruled Egypt between 1353 – 1336 BCE. The modern city Tell-el-Amarna was founded on the bank of Nile by Akhenaten during his reign as the new capital of Egypt. It was formerly known as Akhetaten.

The Amarna Palace: an amazing archaeological discovery

The discovery of the Amarna Palace, as well as the ancient city of Akhetaten, is considered as one of the amazing archaeological discoveries that unfolded the grandeur of ancient Egyptian civilization. When the site was first discovered, it was the habitat of a tribe called ‘Beni Amran’. This is the reason for which this site is officially known as Tell-el-Amarna.

Among the temples, residences. administrative buildings, he erected a palace to the north of the city which was decorated not only with architectural & artistic marvelous works but also with extensive gardens. The Amarna Palace or the North Palace is located between the north suburb & the north city of ancient Akhetaten.

aerial_view_of_the_central_part_of_the_palace (photo courtesy: www.amarnaproject.com)
aerial_view_of_the_western_part_of_the_palace (photo courtesy: www.amarnaproject.com)

A great number of significant ruins of monumental structures have been excavated & uncovered by archaeologists through extensive excavations at the site. Some of those are going to be discussed briefly below:

Solar Temple

During his reign, Akhenaten introduced a new religious pantheon in Egypt. This new system was a monotheist religious system known as ‘Atenism’ where only one god was worshipped. He was the sun god Aten.

Ruins of a solar temple can be traced inside the palace. This temple is dedicated to god Aten. It had three alters & the base can be seen even today.

ruins_of_the_solar_temple (photo courtesy: www.amarnaproject.com)
reconstruction_of_the_alter (photo courtesy: www.amarnaproject.com)

Green room & Sunken garden

There is a well decorated green room at the northern side of the palace. It reflected the nature of the region. There is also a series of slots which may have contained the nest of certain species of animals. There is another set of the garden located below the ground level which is known as ‘sunken garden’ for its appearance. It was visible from the garden room.

the_sunken_garden (photo courtesy: www.amarnaproject.com)
view_of_the_garden_court (photo courtesy: www.amarnaproject.com)
garden_court_full_view (photo courtesy: www.amarnaproject.com)

Pylons

There were four entrances to the palace. These entrances are characterized by ‘pylons’. This is a pyramid-shaped construction that was an important element of ancient Egyptian architecture. There were also pylons in the inter-entrances.

Well-planned compartments

In the eastern part of the palace, there was the throne room of Pharaoh & royal apartments for him & his family. On the southern side of the palace, ruins of small compartments can be traced. These may have been used by the service stuff & guards of the palace.

Was it made for Akhenaten’s Daughter?

Although. the North Palace at Amarna is thought to be made by & for Akhenaten himself, inscriptions recovered from the site say a different story. Many inscriptions show it may have been originally made for Akhenaten’s queen Nefertiti. Later, it was converted into a palace for his eldest daughter Princess Meritaten.

inscription_showing_name_of_meritaten (photo courtesy: www.amarnaproject.com)

Source: www.amarnaproject.com

Ancient Egypt, Parragon Books Ltd, 2014