The temple was entirely surrounded by a high wall, and in this respect was not unlike the existing temple of Edfu, which the visitor to Egypt will assuredly have seen. Inside the area thus enclosed there were two buildings, the one behind the other, standing clear of the walls, thus leaving a wide ambulatory around them. Upon passing through the gates of the enclosing wall there was seen before one the façade of the first of the two temples, while to right and left there stood a small lodge or vestry. The façade of the temple was most imposing. Two great pylons towered up before one, rising from behind a pillared portico, and between them stood the gateway with its swinging doors. Up the face of each pylon shot five tall masts, piercing the blue sky above, and from the heads of each there fluttered a crimson pennant. Passing through the gateway one entered an open court, in the midst of which stood the high altar, up to which a flight of steps ascended. On either side of this sun-bathed enclosure stood a series of small chapels or chambers; while in front of one, in the axial line, there was another gateway leading on into the second court, from which one passed again into a third court. Passing through yet another gateway, a fourth division of the temple was reached, this being a pillared gallery or colonnade where one might rest for a while in the cool shadow. Then onwards through another gateway into the fifth court, crossing which one entered the sixth court, where stood another altar in the full sunshine. A series of some twenty little chambers passed around the sides of this court, and looking into the darkness beyond each of their doorways one might discern the simple tables and stands with which the rooms were furnished. A final gateway now led one into the seventh and last court, where again there was an altar, and again a series of chambers surrounded the open space.
Behind this main temple, and quite separate from it though standing within the one enclosure, stood the lesser temple, which was probably the more sacred of the two. It was fronted by a pillared portico, and before each column stood a statue of Akhnaton, beside which was a smaller figure of his wife or one of his daughters. Passing through the gateway, which was so designed that nothing beyond could be seen, one entered an open court in which stood the altar, and around the sides of which were small chambers. Here the temple ended, save for a few chambers of uncertain use, approached from the ambulatory.
Both buildings were gay with colours, and at festivals there were numerous stands heaped high with flowers and other offerings, while red ribbons added their notes of brilliant colour on all sides. There was nothing gloomy or sombre in this temple of Aton; and it contrasts strikingly with the buildings in which Amon was worshipped. There vast halls were lit by minute windows, and a dim uncertainty hovered around the worshipper. Such temples lent themselves to mystery, and amidst their gloomy shadows many a supplicant’s heart beat in terror. Dark stairways led to subterranean passages, and these passages to black chambers built in the thickness of the wall, from whence the hollow voice of the priest throbbed as from mid-air upon the ears of the crouching congregation. But in Akhnaton’s temple each court was open to the full blaze of the sunlight.[69] There was, there could be, no mystery; nor could there be any terror of darkness to loosen the knees of the worshipper. Akhnaton, true scientist that he was, had no sympathy for the occult and no interest in spiritualism. Boldly he looked to God as a child to its father; and having solved what he deemed to be the riddle of life, there was no place in his mind for aught but an open, fearless adoration of the Creator of that vital energy which he saw in all things. Akhnaton was the sworn enemy of the table-turners of his day, and the tricks of priestcraft, the stage effects of religiosity, were anathema to his pure mind.
4. THE BEAUTY OF THE CITY.
The City of the Horizon of Aton was now a place of surpassing beauty. Eight or nine years of lavish expenditure in money and skill had transformed the fields and the wilderness into as fair a city as the world had ever seen. One of the nobles who lived there, by name May, describes it in these words: “The mighty City of the Horizon of Aton, great in loveliness, mistress of pleasant ceremonies, rich in possessions, the offering of the sun being in her midst. At the sight of her beauty there is rejoicing. She is lovely and beautiful: when one sees her it is like a glimpse of heaven.”
Carved Wooden Chair, the designs partly covered with gold-leaf.
There was almost constant music in her streets, and the scent of flowers was wafted upon every breeze. Besides the temples and public buildings the city was adorned with numerous palaces, each standing in fair gardens. One of these mansions,[70] represented in the tomb of Meryra, seems to have constituted a happy combination of comfort and simplicity, as may be seen from its pictures. One entered a walled court, and so passed to the main entrance of the house. A portico, the roof of which was supported by four decorative columns festooned with ribbons, sheltered the elaborate doorway from the sunshine. Passing through this doorway, from the top of which a row of cobras gleamed down upon one, a pillared hall was reached; and beyond this the visitor entered the great dining-hall. Twelve columns supported the ceiling, which was probably painted with flights of birds; and under a kind of kiosk in the middle of the hall stood the dining-table and several comfortable arm-chairs, cushioned in bright colours. Beyond this hall there was a court, at the back of which were several chambers, one being a bedroom, as a great cushioned bedstead clearly shows. The owner’s womenfolk probably occupied another portion of the building not shown in the representations.
The palace of Ay, Akhnaton’s father-in-law, was a more pretentious building. It was entered by a fine doorway which led into a court. A second door gave entrance to the large, pillared dining-hall, and through this one passed into a court from which bedrooms and boudoirs led off. In one of these rooms two women, clad in airy garments, are seen to be dancing with one another, while a man plays a harp. In another room a girl likewise dances to the strains of a harp, while a servant dresses the hair of one of the gentlemen of the household. Other rooms contain lutes, harps, and lyres, as well as objects of the toilet. A little court is now reached, where fragrant flowers grow, and tanks of water, sunk in the decorated pavement, give a sense of coolness to the air. Beyond this are more apartments, and finally the kitchens are reached. Throughout the house stand delicate tables upon which jars of wine or dishes of fruit are to be seen; and cushioned arm-chairs, with footstools before them, are ready for the weary. Servants are seen passing to and fro bearing refreshments, or stopping to dust the floor, or again idly talking in the passages.
Akhnaton’s palace is not very clearly shown in the tomb reliefs or paintings, but portions of it were found in the modern excavations on the site[71]. Like all the residential buildings of the period, it was an airy and light structure made of brick. The walls, ceilings, and floors were covered with the most beautiful paintings; and delicate pillars, inlaid with coloured glass and stone, or covered with realistically painted vines and creepers, supported the light roofs of its halls. Portions of the pavement are still preserved, and the visitor to the site of the city may still see the paintings there depicted. A young calf, frisking in the sunlight, gallops through a field of red poppies; wild geese rise from the marshes and beat their way through the reeds, disturbing the butterflies as they do so; amidst the lotus-flowers resting upon the rippling water the sinuous fish are seen to wander. These are but fragments of the paintings which once delighted the eyes of the Pharaoh, or brought a sigh to the lips of his queen.