Tell El- ' Amarna Annotated Bibliography Essay

The pharaoh was undoubtedly the most important terrestrial figure in ancient Egypt and played a significant role in the functioning of Egyptian society. Entrusted with governing the realm of Egypt and providing a link between the Egyptian people and the gods, pharaohs were “an essential element in the maintenance of the position of society in the order of creation”. This idea has been substantiated through the various artefacts located in tombs in the Valley of the Kings, particularly that of Tutankhamun. These finds have shed light on the role and lifestyle of the pharaoh in ancient Egypt. Through the discovery and analysis of these items, historians and archaeologists alike have been able to glean considerable amounts of information in

The ancient civilizations of the Ancient Egypt, as well as the great Mesopotamia, are the world’s greatest civilization as recorded by history. The civilization was highly facilitated by rivers which cut across their land. The Euphrates, Nile, as well as Tigris, constantly moving along the river banks which in turn resulted in the adjoining land is extremely fertile (Backman). This led to flourishment and development of Ur and Eriku cities in Mesopotamia as well as the city of Thebes in Egypt (Backman). The Nile was very significant in Ancient Egypt as it made invasion by enemies impossible due to its marshy deltas (Backman). On the other hand, Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia differed fundamentally in many aspects more specifically in how their societies were structured, cultural orientation, religion, technological experiences, literature, and art among other things (Backman). This paper will center on examining these differences as well as similarities between these two regions as well as what they communicate concerning the circumstances that people from these two regions faced.

In addition, it was an effort to institute a monotheistic tradition in the country that was quite unfamiliar for that era and unexpected for that level of the expansion of ancient Egyptian philosophy and evolution. In fact, religion was extremely important to ancient Egyptian society because people at the era deeply trusted on the natural forces and they created different cults worshiping gods of the sun, earth, and water. In such a way, they believed that through reverencing these gods they could merit their provision and, therefore, ancient Egyptians totaled for higher harvests, revenue and improved existence which they could achieve only with the support of various deities. Moreover, it is obvious the amount to which the attempt of Akhenaten to introduce monotheism in ancient Egypt was radical. It is obvious that the honoring of one god, Aten, should change the opinion of the surrounding world and the position of gods in the life of ancient Egyptian people.

When Akhenaten took over the throne he made many religious changes. Firstly, he changed the religion from polytheism to monotheism. The people of Egypt have traditionally worshipped many Gods who were in human or animal forms, but when Akhenaten took over he introduced the idea of worshipping in one God; Aten or sun-disc (BBC). This shows he is a visionary because he is one of the first people in history to introduce such an idea. Now many religions worship one God, but the first person to ever think of this idea was Akhenaten, which shows he thought ahead of his time and developed a new trend. Moreover, he changed the temples to being open to more people and not just high priests. He introduced a new form of temple which had open roofs so the sunlight can shine on the worshippers. The temple was more open to the public and more accessible. In modern society areas of worship are open to the public, this is similar to what Akhenaten tried to accomplish. He tried to show that a place of worship

The Ancient Egyptian were polytheistic most of the time, which means that they believed in multiple gods. When Akhenaten was pharaoh, the Egyptians were monotheistic, meaning they worshiped only one god. He ended the worship of other gods and claimed that Aten, the lord of all was the only god in Egypt. The Egyptians didn't like this idea, so on their own,

The ruler of Egypt noted for his monotheism religious beliefs and relocation of the capital to Amarna was named Akhenaten.

Furthermore, Akhenaten sought to remove the power of the priesthood and so he moved the capital from Thebes to a new ground where he made a new capital for his own god Aten: Akhetaten or El-Amarna. This is categorically stated by English Egyptologist, Reeves (2001) who argues that El-Amarna was well structured and as mysterious as Akhenaten and his wife themselves. It is also said that Amarna was well suited topographically and precisely midway between the traditional Egyptian borders unlike Thebes which was the centre of Greater Egypt. The city didn’t solely bare the traditional temples but also included a higher class residential quarter in the South Suburb with large floor areas where many notable individuals lived including

Religious life was tied to social life in every aspect, and the Egyptian year was based around religious festivals. These festivals stopped under Atenism, and the people of Egypt were introduced to a new tradition: the procession of Akhenaten and Nefertiti mirroring the sun moving across the sky. However, this new tradition was not capable of adequately replacing the traditions of the past: “The festivals of the past which had divided the year and provided the stops and starts which powered day-to-day living were removed; and they do not seem to have been replaced-despite the fact, as Barry Kemp has observed that ‘worship of the sun provides a ready-made set of calendrical feasts [in the form of] the solstices and equinoxes.’ The progress of the king along the Royal Road, however splendidly orchestrated, offered but a poor substitute.” Egyptians lived their lives based around the various festivals of their gods, and in removing these festivals, Akhenaten removed a piece of culture he could not replace. Maat, the Egyptian concept of order controlled by the pharaoh meant that every single part of daily life was touched by the introduction of the new religion. Thebes, the cultural center of Egypt, was abandoned by the pharaoh, and he moved life to Akhenaten. For Egyptians outside of the city, what they experienced of Atenism was a loss of traditions they had followed for generations, and these changes did not bode well for a long-lasting

Ancient Egypt is such an interesting and amazing society to study due to the various factors that allowed the city and population to thrive. The culture, quite different to other cultures around the world in ancient times, developed quite unique traditions, technologies and ideas. Small features of this society including aligning the 4 corners of the pyramids and being able to divide the year into 365 days makes it truly fascinating, The main reason that this society was able to thrive and be successful can be attributed to the great Nile River. Due to this people were able to settle which lead to the creation of a surplus, which could be sustained for around 2000 years.

The Egyptian civilization was founded in much the same way as the Sumerian cities; the banks of the Nile River, which overflowed on a regular timetable, provided the necessary nutrients to the normally dry desert soil, allowing the people to build a thriving empire that lasted over 3000 years. This overflowing and irrigation of the river regulated Egyptian farming, and allowed for specialization within the society. (Chavalas, 42) The people of Egypt recognized this, and there are many places in their writings where they thank the gods for gifting them with the Nile: for example, this line in Akhenaton’s Hymn to the Aton which says, “You create Hapy, the Nile…to bring him, at your desire, to nourish the people.” (Brophy, 65) In addition to the river, the harsh climate of the desert around them protected them from military attack and allowed income and resources to be invested in arts and architecture, as opposed to weapons and the cultivation of an army. The combination of these two forces encouraged the creation of a class system within Egyptian society, where people could develop skills as artisans, merchants, scribes, priests, government officials, and may other varied professions. The complex and ritualistic religion of the Egyptians, as well as their favorable views on the afterlife, were also created through the time that they were able to spend philosophizing, instead of fighting to

     During the New Kingdom of Egypt (from 1552 through 1069 B.C.), there came a sweeping change in the religious structure of the ancient Egyptian civilization. "The Hymn to the Aten" was created by Amenhotep IV, who ruled from 1369 to 1353 B.C., and began a move toward a monotheist culture instead of the polytheist religion which Egypt had experienced for the many hundreds of years prior to the introduction of this new idea. There was much that was different from the old views in "The Hymn to the Aten", and it offered a new outlook on the Egyptian ways of life by providing a complete break with the traditions which Egypt held to with

Rarely is there enough information about ancient cultures to satisfy contemporary interest. This is especially true of ancient Egypt and particularly of ancient Egyptian law. The civilization that left so many grand edifices dedicated to its gods and kings left little evidence of the laws those gods and king laid down. This dearth of evidence paired with the absence of a written code of law makes some scholars skeptical of speaking of Egyptian law as law in a proper sense (Théodoridès 291). But if one reviews what we do know about this aspect of ancient Egyptian society, the missing code fades away as a problem even if it does not evaporate completely.

Ancient Egypt was a civilization in north east Africa along the Nile River, it was one of six civilizations to rise independently. The history of ancient Egypt occurred in kingdoms and was part of the Bronze Age. Success of ancient Egypt civilization came partly from ability to adapt to conditions of the Nile River for agriculture. Ancient Egypt was a hierarchy that had a bureaucracy government and were a polytheistic religion. As well, their economy was based on their surroundings and they had many great achievements.

Amenhotep IV was the first pharaoh to challenge the Egyptian culture and religious beliefs. His decision to make Aten, “The God of the Sun Disk”, the only god, took power away from the temple priests. Before Amenhotep IV made the changes, Egypt practiced polytheism not only worshiping the Sun Disk God, but around 12 other gods with roles such as fertility, the sky, the Nile River, childbirth, etc. With Egypt practicing monotheisms the temple priest have lost control of any political or religious gain they once held. This will be the first time Egypt practices monotheism. In making this change Amenhotep IV became known as Akhenaten, “Shining Spirit of Aten”. Becoming Akhenaten was not the only changes reflected from his reign as pharaoh.

The Egyptian city of Amarna was a capital built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten which was abandoned shortly after his death in 1332 BCE. The city of Amarna was where Akhenaten pursued his vision of a society dedicated to the devotion of the power of the sun god, the Aten. It remains the largest accessible living site of Ancient Egypt. It is a key to the history of the religious experiences of Egypt and to a fuller extent the life of an egyptian. There is no other site like it. The website mentions that the site is in danger of encroachment. This sounds very interesting to me and I’d like to see how the life of an Egyptian was at the time. I don’t know much about the Egyptians, but I’d like to learn more