The bits of evidence that we have concerning the impact of the Amarna Period are tantalizing, yet so fragmentary that it is difficult to assess what this era actually meant. Did people go to Amarna out of devotion to the king and genuine endorsement of the new religion? Or, did certain members of the nobility follow the king in order to keep their positions and to hope for advancement in a smaller court setting? In contrast to the opaqueness of the public reaction, the lack of regard for the governmental, political, and religious changes of Amarna by the successors of Akhenaten is quite clear. Within the first few years of his reign, Tutankhamun (who came to the throne as Tutankhaten) abandoned Amarna and returned the court to Thebes and Memphis. His lengthy restoration inscription described the appalling condition of the temples, whose buildings had become "footpaths," and whose shrines were overgrown with grass. Even if it is hyperbole, the text summarized the preceding era as causing the land to fall into "wrack and ruin," stating that the "gods were ignoring the land." The restoration's impact on the people is evident, for the king installed new priests, restored the familiar positions, and reinstituted the offering rituals that employed so many priests and consumed such quantities of incense, fabric, unguents, and food, which must have stimulated the local economy. It is perhaps a mark of the greater utility and the appeal of traditional beliefs that they reemerged so rapidly after the death of Akhenaten.
The Ai
Period
Mama leno'
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Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt Emily Teeter
Book DOI: Http://dx. doi. org/10.1017/CBO9780511780462 Online ISBN: 9780511780462 Hardback ISBN: 9780521848558 Paperback ISBN: 9780521613002
Chapter
Afterword: An Appraisal of Egyptian Religion pp. 197-200 Chapter DOI: Http://dx. doi. org/10.1017/CBO9780511780462.016 Cambridge University Press
World History
