The Amarna Period

Amenhotep III was an 18th dynasty king who ruled at a time when Egypt was at the peak of her glory. He lived a life of pleasure, building huge temples and statues, but unlike his predecessors, encouraged realism in art. A rarity among Egyptian kings, he married Tiyi, a non-royal. Most royal marriages are not ordinarily made of love there is normally a political motive. But there is evidence of Amenhotep’s genuine regard for Tiyi. It is recorded that, in her Town of T’aru he made for her a lake 3600 cubits long by 600 cubits wide. He then held a festival on this lake with himself and Tiyi sailing a boat called the ‘Disk of Beauties’.

Their son Akhenaten was an even more unusual character. He tried to change the Egyptian people to a concept of godhead which was both monotheistic and abstract. He worshiped the sun (Aten) as the one true god and it is possible that the Hebrew prophets' concept of a universal God was derived in part from this cult.

Akhenaten also introduced an entirely new and more intimate form of expression into Egyptian art. Among the surviving works of this period are the colossal statues of Akhenaten, the paintings from his private residence, the bust of his wife, Nefertiti and his mother Queen Tiyi. These works are unique in Egyptian art, they do not flatter the king and his family but reveal the real people in all their beauty and decay. They demonstrate a sophistication and creative freedom which was certainly revolutionary in their time.

However, this artistic renaissance was short lived; Akhenaten made himself unpopular by closing the temples and his lack of enthusiasm for the practical duties of kingship was to the detriment of Egypt's Imperial interests. Eventually his successor and son-in-law, the famous Tutankhamun, returned Egypt to its traditional values. Akhenaten's memory was erased and later Egyptian historians would only refer to him as the heretic king.