The Life and Times of Akhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt

by Arthur E. P. Brome Weigall

Year 6, fourth month of the second season, day 13.[37] ... On this day the King was in the City of the Horizon of Aton.[38] His Majesty ascended a great chariot of electrum, [appearing] like Aton when he rises from his [eastern] horizon and fills the land with his love; and he started a goodly course [from his camping place] to the City of the Horizon.... Heaven was joyful, earth was glad, and every heart was happy when they saw him. And his Majesty offered a great sacrifice to Aton, of bread, beer, horned bulls, polled bulls, beasts, fowl, wine, incense, frankincense, and all goodly herbs on this day of demarcating the City of the Horizon....

After these things, the good pleasure of Aton being done, ... [the King returned from] the City of the Horizon, and he rested upon his great throne with which he is well pleased, which uplifts his beauties. And his Majesty continued in the presence of his father Aton, and Aton shone upon him in life and length of days, invigorating his body each day.

And his Majesty said, “Bring me the companions of the King, the great ones and the mighty ones, the captains of soldiers, and the nobles of the land in its entirety.” And they were conducted to him straightway, and they lay on their bellies before his Majesty, kissing the ground before his mighty will.

And his Majesty said unto them, “Ye behold the City of the Horizon of Aton, which the Aton has desired me to make for him as a monument in the great name of my Majesty for ever. For it was the Aton, my father, that brought me to this City of the Horizon. There was not a noble who directed me to it; there was not any man in the whole land who led me to it, saying, ‘It is fitting for his Majesty that he make a City of the Horizon of Aton in this place.’ Nay, but it was the Aton, my father, that directed me to it to make it for him.... Behold the Pharaoh found that [this site] belonged not to a god, nor to a goddess, it belonged not to a prince, nor to a princess. There was no right for any man to act as owner of it.” ...

[... And they answered and said] “Lo! it is Aton that putteth [the thought] in thy heart regarding any place that he desires. He doth not uplift the name of any King except thy Majesty; he doth not [exalt] any other except [thee.] ... Thou drawest unto Aton every land, thou adornest for him the towns which he had made for his own self, all lands, all countries, the Hanebu[39] with their products and their tribute upon their backs for him that made their life, and by whose rays one lives and breathes the air. May he grant eternity in seeing his rays.... Verily, the City of the Horizon will thrive like Aton in heaven for ever and ever.”

Then his Majesty lifted his hand to heaven unto Him that formed him, saying, “As my father Ra-Horakhti Aton liveth, the great and living Aton, ordaining life, vigorous in life, my father, my rampart of a million cubits, my remembrancer of eternity, my witness of that which pertains to eternity, who formeth himself with his own hands, whom no artificer hath known, who is established in rising and in setting each day without ceasing. Whether he is in heaven or in earth,[40] every eye seeth him without [failing,] while he fills the land with his beams and makes every face to live. With seeing whom may my eyes be satisfied daily, when he rises in this temple of Aton in the City of the Horizon, and fills it with his own self by his beams, beauteous in love, and lays them upon me in life and length of days for ever and ever.

“I will make the City of the Horizon of Aton for the Aton, my father, in this place. I will not make the City south of it, north of it, west of it, or east of it. I will not pass beyond the southern boundary-stone southward, neither will I pass beyond the northern boundary-stone northward to make for him a City of the Horizon there; neither will I make for him a city on the western side. Nay, but I will make the City of the Horizon for the Aton, my father, upon the east side, the place which he did enclose for his own self with cliffs, and made a plain (?) in the midst of it that I might sacrifice to him thereon: this is it. Neither shall the Queen say unto me, ‘Behold, there is a goodly place for the City of the Horizon in another place,’ and I hearken unto her. Neither shall any noble nor [any one] of all men who are in the whole land [say unto me], ‘Behold, there is a goodly place for the City of the Horizon in another place,’ and I hearken unto them. Whether it be down-stream or southwards, or westwards, or eastwards, I will not say ‘I will abandon this City of the Horizon and will hasten away and make the City of the Horizon in this other goodly place’ for ever. Nay, but I did find this City of the Horizon for the Aton, which he had himself desired, and with which he is pleased for ever and ever.

“I will make a temple of Aton for the Aton, my father, in this place. I will make a ... of Aton for the Aton, my father, in this place. I will make a Shadow-of-the-Sun[41] of the Great Wife of the King, Nefertiti, for the Aton, my father, in this place. I will make a House of Rejoicing for the Aton, my father, on the island of ‘Aton illustrious in Festivals’ in this place.... I will make all works which are necessary for the Aton, my father, in this place. I will make ... for the Aton, my father, in this place. I will make for myself the Palace of Pharaoh; and I will make the Palace of the Queen in this place. There shall be made for me a sepulchre in the eastern hills; my burial shall be made therein ... and the burial of the Chief Wife of the King, Nefertiti, shall be made therein, and the burial of the King’s daughter Merytaton shall be made therein. If I die in any town of the north, south, west, or east, I will be brought here and my burial shall be made in the City of the Horizon. If the Great Queen, Nefertiti, who lives, die in any town of the north, south, west, or east, she shall be brought here and buried in the City of the Horizon. If the King’s daughter Merytaton die in any town of the north, south, west, or east, she shall be brought here and buried in the City of the Horizon. And the sepulchre of Mnevis shall be made in the eastern hills and he shall be buried therein. The tombs of the High Priests and the Divine Fathers and the priests of the Aton shall be made in the eastern hills, and they shall be buried therein. The tombs of the officers, and others, shall be made in the eastern hills, and they shall be buried therein.

“For as my father Ra-Horakhti Aton liveth ... [the words?] of the priests, more evil are they than those things which I heard until the year four, more evil are they than those things which I have heard in ... more evil are they than those things which King [Nebmaara[42]] heard, more evil are they than those things which Menkheperura[43] heard....”