Amarna

Amarna (Arabic: العمارنة al-‘amārnä) is on the east bank of the Nile in the modern Egyptian province of Minya. It is a big archaeological site. It has the remains of the capital city built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1353 BC), and abandoned shortly afterwards. The Amarna period is the time when Amarna was the capital. "Amarna" is the Arabic name for the place. The name for the city used by the ancient Egyptians is written as Akhetaten in English. It translates to "the Horizon of the Aten" (Akh-t-Aten). Amarna art The Amarna art-style broke with the old Egyptian conventions. It showed its people more realistically. It included informal scenes, such as affection within the royal family or playing with their children. It no longer portrayed women as lighter coloured than men. The art had a realism that sometimes shocks. This art had a more lasting legacy than the religion. References Other websites The University of Cambridge's Amarna Project Amarna Art Gallery Shows just a few, but stunning, examples of the art of the Amarna period. Wallis Budge describes the discovery of the Amarna tablets Satellite image M.A. Mansoor Amarna Collection-