Akhenaten of the eighteenth Dynasty built Akhetaten as the new capital city of Egypt.Kemp, "el-Amarna" 123 For the location, he chose Amarna, a fresh site on the eastern bank of the Nile, about 275 kilometers northwest of the old capital city of Thebes. After his death, the city was virtually abandoned. The degree of planning involved in the construction of Amarna involved for the most part the administrative and religious buildings of the Central City.Kemp, Ancient Egypt 284 Even the planned part of the city was somewhat hastily designed and assembled.Redford 144 Most of the city was built along an eight kilometer north-south main street, referred to today as the “Royal Road,” which connected the Central City with the North City, an outlying satellite and the probable residence of the king.Kemp, Ancient Egypt 284 The king probably lived in the North Riverside Palace in the North City, a large building on the east side of the Royal Road and separate from the rest of the city, protected by a fortified wall which enclosed a complex of royal service buildings. On the opposite side of the road from the palace lay a group of some of the largest houses in the city, probably belonging to nobles who were very close to the king. An administrative building containing an enormous warehouse formed the northern limit of the North City. At the southern end of the Royal Road lay the Central City, a group of temples, palaces, and administrative buildings forming the executive hub of the city. The planned buildings of the Central City can be found in an inscription on one of the Amarna Boundary Stelae which marked the boundaries of the city at its founding.Fairman In it, Akhenaten describes the main buildings he will construct in his new capital: … I am making a House of the Aten for the Aten my father in Akhetaten in this place. I am making the Mansion of the Aten for the Aten my father in Akhetaten in this place. I am making the “ Sunshade of Re ” of the [great] royal wife … for the Aten my father in Akhetaten in this place. I am making a House of Rejoicing for the Aten my father in the island of “ Aten distinguished in jubilees ” in Akhetaten in this place. I have made a house of Re-[joicing of the Aten] for the Aten my father in the island of “ Aten distinguished in jubilees ” in Akhetaten in this place.Fairman 136 Some of these buildings can be identified easily by their inscriptions, but we know the names of others only through this speech. On the entire western side of the road and probably reaching down to the riverside was the Great Palace, consisting of several stone courts and halls, and housing at its center a huge courtyard surrounded by statues of Akhenaten.Kemp, Ancient Egypt 184 Across the road and connected by a brick bridge lay the King's House, a small palace and residence of the king.Kemp, Ancient Egypt 287 South of the palace (on the west side of the road) was the Mansion of the Sun-disc, a religious building whose purpose is not completely understood but was likely the king's mortuary temple.Redford 146 In the northernmost position on the east side of the road in the Central City was the largest temple of all, the House of the Sun-disc, or the Great Temple of the Aten, which lay on an east-west axis and consisted of a rectangular walled area measuring 760 by 290 meters, enclosing several individual temples. Near the temples were long storehouses and priests ’ housing.Redford 148 Due east of the king's house were offices, the archives (in which the Amarna Letters were found), and police and military barracks. On the eastern outskirts of the Central City was a walled workmen's village housing the workers during the city's construction. Villas of the king's vizier's and priests sprawled along both sides of the Royal Road to the south. At the far south of the city was an unusual complex called the Maru-Aten, a walled complex of gardens, pools, an artificial island, and open-air kiosks.Redford 149 While it was originally mistaken by excavators as a sort of pleasure resort, it is understood now to be a religious building. Most of Amarna's housing was in two large areas north and south of the Central City.Kemp, Ancient Egypt 327 These sprawling suburbs housed the large population needed to maintain the court and run the administration of the Central City. Residing in the suburbs was a very mixed collection of social groups, the priests, soldiers, builders, sculptors and scribes having the most prominent houses. As far as the residential sections of Amarna are concerned, there is almost a complete absence of an imposed layout. Outside the corridor of the Royal Road, there were a few broad, far from straight streets running more or less north and south and joining the suburbs to the center, crossed by perpendicular, smaller streets. The houses themselves are arranged in arbitrary clusters which create distinct neighborhoods. There does not seem to be any concept of “prime location,” except to be located on one of the main north-south streets, and rich and poor seemed to live side by side. Proximity to the Central City or the Royal Road seems to have been unimportant, and there is at least one example of a royal vizier who seems to have chosen to live as far away from the king as possible.
Akhenaten of the eighteenth Dynasty built Akhetaten as the new capital city of Egypt.Kemp, "el-Amarna" 123 For the location, he chose Amarna, a fresh site on the eastern bank of the Nile, about 275 kilometers northwest of the old capital city of Thebes. After his death, the city was virtually abandoned. The degree of planning involved in the construction of Amarna involved for the most part the administrative and religious buildings of the Central City.Kemp, Ancient Egypt 284 Even the planned part of the city was somewhat hastily designed and assembled.Redford 144 Most of the city was built along an eight kilometer north–south main street, referred to today as the "Royal Road", which connected the Central City with the North City, an outlying satellite and the probable residence of the king.Kemp, Ancient Egypt 284 The king probably lived in the North Riverside Palace in the North City, a large building on the east side of the Royal Road and separate from the rest of the city, protected by a fortified wall which enclosed a complex of royal service buildings. On the opposite side of the road from the palace lay a group of some of the largest houses in the city, probably belonging to nobles who were close to the king. An administrative building containing an enormous warehouse formed the northern limit of the North City. At the southern end of the Royal Road lay the Central City, a group of temples, palaces, and administrative buildings forming the executive hub of the city. The planned buildings of the Central City can be found in an inscription on one of the Amarna Boundary Stelae which marked the boundaries of the city at its founding.Fairman In it, Akhenaten describes the main buildings he will construct in his new capital: … I am making a House of the Aten for the Aten my father in Akhetaten in this place. I am making the Mansion of the Aten for the Aten my father in Akhetaten in this place. I am making the " Sunshade of Re " of the [great] royal wife … for the Aten my father in Akhetaten in this place. I am making a House of Rejoicing for the Aten my father in the island of " Aten distinguished in jubilees " in Akhetaten in this place. I have made a house of Re-[joicing of the Aten] for the Aten my father in the island of " Aten distinguished in jubilees " in Akhetaten in this place.Fairman 136 Some of these buildings can be identified easily by their inscriptions, but we know the names of others only through this speech. On the entire western side of the road and probably reaching down to the riverside was the Great Palace, consisting of several stone courts and halls, and housing at its center a huge courtyard surrounded by statues of Akhenaten.Kemp, Ancient Egypt 184 Across the road and connected by a brick bridge lay the King's House, a small palace and residence of the king.Kemp, Ancient Egypt 287 South of the palace (on the west side of the road) was the Mansion of the Sun-disc, a religious building whose purpose is not completely understood but was likely the king's mortuary temple.Redford 146 In the northernmost position on the east side of the road in the Central City was the largest temple of all, the House of the Sun-disc, or the Great Temple of the Aten, which lay on an east–west axis and consisted of a rectangular walled area measuring 760 by 290 meters, enclosing several individual temples. Near the temples were long storehouses and priests ' housing.Redford 148 Due east of the king's house were offices, the archives (in which the Amarna Letters were found), and police and military barracks. On the eastern outskirts of the Central City was a walled workmen's village housing the workers during the city's construction. Villas of the king's vizier's and priests sprawled along both sides of the Royal Road to the south. At the far south of the city was an unusual complex called the Maru-Aten, a walled complex of gardens, pools, an artificial island, and open-air kiosks.Redford 149 While it was originally mistaken by excavators as a sort of pleasure resort, it is understood now to be a religious building. Most of Amarna's housing was in two large areas north and south of the Central City.Kemp, Ancient Egypt 327 These sprawling suburbs housed the large population needed to maintain the court and run the administration of the Central City. Residing in the suburbs was a very mixed collection of social groups, the priests, soldiers, builders, sculptors and scribes having the most prominent houses. As far as the residential sections of Amarna are concerned, there is almost a complete absence of an imposed layout. Outside the corridor of the Royal Road, there were a few broad, far from straight streets running more or less north and south and joining the suburbs to the center, crossed by perpendicular, smaller streets. The houses themselves are arranged in arbitrary clusters which create distinct neighborhoods. There does not seem to be any concept of "prime location" except to be located on one of the main north–south streets, and rich and poor seemed to live side by side. Proximity to the Central City or the Royal Road seems to have been unimportant, and there is at least one example of a royal vizier who seems to have chosen to live as far away from the king as possible.
R
north-south
north–south
R
“Royal Road,”
"Royal Road",
D
very
R
“
"
R
”
"
R
“
"
R
”
"
R
“
"
R
”
"
R
east-west
east–west
R
’
'
R
“prime location,”
"prime location"
R
north-south
north–south