“This is my oath of truth which it is my desire to pronounce, and of which I will not say ‘It is false’ eternally for ever.
“The southern boundary-stone which is on the eastern hills. It is the boundary-stone of the City of the Horizon, namely this one by which I have made halt. I will not pass beyond it southwards for ever and ever. Make the south-west boundary-stone opposite it on the western hills of the City of the Horizon exactly.
“The middle boundary-stone which is on the eastern hills. It is the boundary-stone of the City of the Horizon by which I have made halt on the eastern hills of the City of the Horizon. I will not pass beyond it eastwards for ever and ever. Make the middle boundary-stone which is to be on the western hills opposite it exactly.
“The north-eastern boundary-stone by which I have made halt. It is the northern boundary-stone of the City of the Horizon. I will not pass beyond it down-stream for ever and ever. Make the north boundary-stone which is to be on the western hills opposite it exactly.
“And the City of the Horizon of Aton extends from the south boundary-stone as far as the north boundary-stone, measured between boundary-stone and boundary-stone on the eastern, hills [which measurement] amounts to 6 ater,[44] ¾ khe, and 4 cubits. Likewise from the south-west boundary-stone to the north-west boundary-stone on the western hills [the measurement] amounts to 6 ater, ¾ khe, and 4 cubits likewise exactly.
“And the area within these four boundary-stones from the eastern hills to the western hills is the City of the Horizon of Aton in its proper self. It belongs to my father Ra-Horakhti Aton: mountains, deserts, meadows, islands, high-ground, low-ground, land, water, villages, embankments, men, beasts, groves, and all things which the Aton my father shall bring into existence for ever and ever.
“I will not neglect this oath which I have made to the Aton my father for ever and ever; nay, but it shall be set on a tablet of stone as the south-east boundary, likewise as the north-east boundary of the City of the Horizon; and it shall be set likewise on a tablet of stone as the south-west boundary, likewise as the north-west boundary of the City of the Horizon. It shall not be erased, it shall not be washed out, it shall not be kicked, it shall not be struck with stones, its spoiling shall not be brought about. If it be missing, if it be spoilt, if the tablet on which it is shall fall, I will renew it again afresh in the place in which it was.”
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.