Akademik

   The modern Arabic name el-Amarna or Tell el-Amarna denotes the site of the capital city Akhetaten founded by Akhenaten in Middle Egypt in his year 5 (1348 BC). Akhenaten claimed to have chosen a virgin site to become the new capital, away from the religious intolerance of Thebesand where he was free to pursue the worship of Aten. The site consists of the remains of royal palaces, villas, temples, private dwellings, and a workmen’s village, and the boundaries were marked by a series of stelae. The sculptor Thutmose’s workshop yielded the famous bust of Nefertiti, now in the Berlin Egyptian Museum. Tombsfor officials were cut in the nearby cliffs, and a royal tomb was built for the king. The scenes on the walls are not fully preserved, but one depicts the death of the Princess Meketaten, although the circumstances of her passing are unclear. The city was abandoned by Tutankhamun and used as building material by later rulers, notably Ramesses II. The site was first excavated by Flinders Petrie in 1891–1892 and then a German expedition in 1907 and 1911–1914. The tombs were copied by an expedition of the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1901–1907. In 1921–1936, further excavations were carried out by the British organization, renamed the Egypt Exploration Society, and work was resumed under its auspices in 1977.