The Life and Times of Akhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt

by Arthur E. P. Brome Weigall

5. THE DEPARTURE FROM THEBES.

From the above inscription one sees that Akhnaton had now decided to include the west bank of the river, opposite to the original site, in the new domain; and the great boundary tablets are there to be found as on the eastern side. By the time these decrees were engraved the Pharaoh was nearly eighteen years of age; and these developments in his plans are the natural signs of the progress of his brain towards that of a grown man.

Having laid the foundations of the city, the king probably returned to Thebes, where he waited as patiently as possible for his dream to take concrete form. This period of waiting must have been peculiarly trying to him, for his troubles with the Amon priesthood must have embittered his days. He seems, however, to have been extremely devoted to his wife, Nefertiti, who had now grown, it would seem, into a beautiful young woman of fifteen or sixteen years of age; and the arrival of the second baby afforded an interest which meant much to him. One may now picture the king and queen living, in the seclusion of the palace, a homely, simple existence, ever dwelling in a happy day-dream upon the future glories of the new city, and the rising power of the religion of Aton. Akhnaton’s ill-health, of course, must have caused both his friends and himself much anxiety; but even this had its compensations, for those who suffer from epilepsy are by the gods beloved, and Akhnaton, no doubt, believed the hallucinations due to his disease to be god-given visions. There must have been a very considerable amount of business to be worked through in connection with the building of the city, and he could have had little time to brood upon what he now considered to be the wrongs inflicted upon him and his house by the priests of Amon.

So passed the seventh year of his reign without any particular records to mark it. At Aswan there is a monument which perhaps dates from about this period. The king’s chief sculptor, Bek, was there employed in obtaining red granite for the decoration of the new city; and he caused to be made upon a large rock a commemorative tablet. On it one sees him before Akhnaton, whose figure has been erased at a later date; and the altar of the Aton, above which are the usual sun’s rays, stands beside them. Bek calls himself “The Chief of the Works in the Red [Granite] Hills, the assistant whom his Majesty himself taught, Chief of the Sculptors on the great and mighty monuments of the King in the house of Aton in the City of the Horizon of Aton.” Here also one sees Men, the father of Bek, who was also Chief of the Sculptors, presenting an offering to a statue of Amonhotep III., under whom he had served.

The eighth year of Akhnaton’s reign, and the nineteenth year of his age, was memorable, for it would seem that he now took up his permanent residence in the City of the Horizon. On some of the boundary tablets a repetition of the royal oath is recorded; and, as this is the last mention of a visit made by Akhnaton to the new capital, one may suppose that henceforth he was resident there. The inscription reads:—

This oath (of the sixth year) was repeated in year eight, first month of the second season, eighth day. The King was in the City of the Horizon of Aton, and Pharaoh stood mounted on a great chariot of electrum, inspecting the boundary-stones of the Aton....

Then follows a list of these boundary-stones, and the inscription ends with the words:—

And the breadth of the City of the Horizon of Aton is from cliff to cliff, from the eastern horizon of heaven to the western horizon of heaven. It shall be for my father Ra-Horakhti Aton, its hills, its deserts, all its fowl, all its people, all its cattle, all things which the Aton produces, on which his rays shine, all things which are in ... the City of the Horizon, they shall be for the father, the living Aton, unto the temple of Aton in the City of the Horizon for ever and ever; they are all offered to his spirit. And may his rays be beauteous when they receive them.

Akhnaton and Nefertiti with their three Daughters.

Thus was the king’s city planned and laid out. The two years of feverish work had probably produced considerable results, and already we may picture the city taking form. The royal palace was perhaps almost finished by now, and the villas of some of the nobles were habitable. With many a sigh of relief Akhnaton must have bade farewell to Thebes. A third daughter, who was named Ankhsenpaaton, had just been born; and one may thus picture the royal party which sailed down the river as being very distinctly a family. One sees Akhnaton, a sickly young man of nineteen years of age, walking to and fro upon the deck of the royal vessel, with his hand upon the shoulder of his fair young wife, now some seventeen years old, in whose arms the baby princess is carried. Toddling beside them are the two other princesses, one somewhat over two years of age, the other about four years. The queen’s sister, Nezemmut, records of whose existence soon become apparent, was perhaps also of the party, having left the court of Mitanni to be a companion to Nefertiti. Ay and Ty, the foster-parents of Nefertiti, were doubtless with the royal family now as they sailed down the river; and several of the nobles who play a part in the following pages no doubt formed the suite which attended to the royal commands.