When Akhenaton's capital city Akhetaton was abandoned around 1335 BCE, many things were left behind, including an archive of royal correspondence. This archive_ contained some 400 clay tablets inscribed in Babylonian, which was the predominant international language in western Asia in the 14th century BCE.
The tablets were found in 1887 CE by a peasant in the city of Tel el Amarna, which is on the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Akhetaton. The tablets have provided historians with important information about the Amarna period.
The tablets contain part of the correspondence between foreign rulers and the pharaohs Amenhotep III and his son and successor Amenhotep IV, who later became known as Akhenaton. The foreign rulers included the kings of Babylon, Assyria, and Mitanni, all of whom regarded the pharaoh as their equal and addressed him as “my brother.” The rulers of city-states in the region of present-day Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel adopted a more deferential tone. These small princes were unpredictable factors in the power game, because they would ally themselves first with one major power and then with another.
The letters clearly show how the older states were being exposed to new threats. These threats included the great Hittite Empire, which was one of the earliest civilizations in Anatolia (roughly present-day Turkey) and was constantly seeking to extend its territories. Another threat was posed by the roaming Chabiru tribes, who may have been the Hebrews of the Bible. Some of the letters describe how a former vassal of Egypt, Abdi-Ashirta of Amurru, formed an alliance with the Chabiru and later with the Hittites. On the other hand, King Rib-Addi of Byblos remained loyal to the pharaoh and repeatedly wrote to the Egyptian king urging him to send troops quickly to prevent Abdi-Ashirta and other kings from joining forces against Egypt.
In addition to the political information they contain, the letters are valuable for the light they shed on the language of the time. The Canaanite writers did not use pure Babylonian; they used a mixture of Babylonian and their own language. The suffixes of the verbs used by these writers greatly resemble those of the much later Hebrew of the Bible, so the Amarna Letters provide a valuable link in tracing the development of this language.
This relief from a stele depicts the pharaoh Akhenaton and his wife and children. Above is the sun god Aton.
Egyptian religion. It was not unusual for one god to be considered preeminent, but Amenhotep’s unprecedented decree denied the existence of any other divinities, bringing monotheism to Egypt. The temples of the old gods were abandoned, and their images were smashed.
Amenhotep also decreed that the god should be worshipped under a new name, Aton (or Aten), meaning “the disc of the sun.” He changed his own name to Akhenaton (meaning “Servant of Aton”) and, as the son of Aton, announced that he was the only prophet of the new religion. This major religious change was marked by the celebration of the sed (or royal jubilee) in the fourth year after Akhenaton’s accession, although the jubilee traditionally did not take place until the 30th year of a pharaoh’s reign.
Aton was portrayed as the disk of the sun, a glowing circle devoid of all human features. This was a symbol taken from earlier depictions of Re. Images from
This is a copy of a bust depicting Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaton.
Akhenaton’s time show the disk with long radiating rays that end in hands holding the ankh—the symbol of life. Akhenaton bestowed royal status on the god by writing his name in cartouches, the pictorial oval frames that were reserved for the names of royalty.
The pharaoh had a special temple built for Aton at Karnak, and to honor the god further, Akhenaton left Thebes and built a new capital city called Akhetaton (meaning “Aton’s Horizon”) near present-day Tel el Amarna in central Egypt. From the evidence of the stone monuments that mark the city limits, it dates from the sixth year of his reign. It served as the country’s capital until Akhenaton’s death. The royal court that took up residence in the new city consisted mainly of new people. Akhenaton may have wanted to distance himself from the former priests and officials.
The Amarna period lasted through the end of the 18th dynasty. However, the period was so reviled by Egyptian historians that the names of Akhenaton and his immediate successors were left out of the official royal lists. In one very rare case where Akhenaton is mentioned, he is called the “Enemy fTom Akhetaton.”
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