The Life and Times of Akhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt

by Arthur E. P. Brome Weigall

No son was yet forthcoming, and both the king and the queen must now have suffered six successive disappointments. It may be mentioned here that the next child born to the unfortunate couple in the following year proved to be a seventh girl and a seventh disappointment; and in the remaining two years of the reign no other child was born, or at any rate was weaned, so that Akhnaton died sonless. It is strange to picture this lofty-minded preacher in his home, with his six little girls around him, as he is shown upon the monuments. No other Pharaoh thus portrayed himself surrounded by his family; but Akhnaton seems to have never been happy unless all his children were with him and his wife by his side. The charm of family life, and the sanctity of the relationship of husband and wife, parents and children, seems to have been an important point of doctrine to him. He urged his nobles, also, to give their attention to their families; and in the tomb of Panehesy, for example, one may see representations of that personage sitting with his wife and his three daughters around him.

Akhnaton’s affection for his daughters is now shown to us in another manner. When Amonhotep III. had asked the King of Mitanni for one of his daughters to be given in marriage to Akhnaton, the little Nefertiti was at once dispatched, although she was not yet old enough to cohabit with her husband. He had no scruples about sending the child of eight years old to a foreign country, and seems to have packed her off without a thought. Now, however, we obtain a glimpse of Akhnaton’s actions under similar circumstances, and the difference is marked. The King of Babylon, Burraburiash, wrote to Akhnaton in about the fourteenth or fifteenth year of the reign, asking for one of the Pharaoh’s daughters as a wife for his son. Wishing to be on friendly terms with Babylonia, Akhnaton consented to the union, and selected probably his fourth daughter, Nefernefernaton, as the future Queen of Babylon. His eldest daughter subsequently married a noble named Smenkhkara, who succeeded to the throne after the death of Akhnaton; and his third daughter was later married to another noble named Tutankhaton, who usurped the throne, as we shall see in the sequel. The fact that neither of these daughters was now chosen to marry the Babylonian prince indicates that they were already betrothed to their future husbands, and hence this event could not have taken place much earlier than at the date mentioned above. The second daughter, Meketaton, was not selected for the reason that she seems to have been in a precarious state of health. The little princess who was chosen was born in the tenth year of the reign, and was now not more than five years of age. Akhnaton, unlike the King of Mitanni, did not at once send the child to her future home, but arranged the marriage by proxy, and thus kept his daughter with him for yet a few years. This is made evident from the fact that in a letter from Burraburiash to Akhnaton, the Babylonian king states that he is sending a necklace of over a thousand stones to the “Pharaoh’s daughter, the wife of his son,” who is thus evidently still resident in Egypt.

Besides Akhnaton’s six, and presently seven, daughters there were two other princesses probably in residence at the palace. One of these, his young sister Baketaton, whom we have seen visiting the City of the Horizon with her mother, is not again heard of, and perhaps did not long survive the dowager-queen’s death. The other was Nezemmut, the sister of Queen Nefertiti, who seems to have lived in Egypt continuously since the time of the founding of the new city, when we last saw her.[75] Her portraits are shown in the tombs of May, Panehesy, and Ay; and she is generally seen to be accompanied by two female dwarfs, named Para and Reneheh, who appear to have waddled after her wherever she went. She was still, no doubt, very young, and these two grotesque attendants were entrusted with her safety as well as her amusement.

6. AKHNATON’S FRIENDS.

The simple and homely manner in which Akhnaton is represented by his artists, surrounded by his children, is an indication that although he demanded much homage from his subjects in his capacity as their Pharaoh, he but asked for their sympathy and affection in all other connections. As Pharaoh his person was inapproachable and his attitude aloof, but as a man he never failed to set an example of what he considered a man should do; and even upon his throne, to which one might but advance with bowed head and bended knee, he displayed his mortal nature to all beholders by joking with his children or paying fond attention to his wife. So, also, many of his disciples and courtiers, who so ceremoniously approached the steps of his throne, were in reality his good friends and intimates. Akhnaton did not care a snap of the fingers for aristocratic traditions, and although he demanded the conventional respect of his subjects, and upheld the less tiresome rules of court etiquette, many of his closest friends were of peasant origin, and the hands which now held the jewelled ostrich-plume standards could as easily grasp the pick or the plough.

May, a high official of the city, speaks of himself in the following words: “I was a man of low origin both on my father’s and on my mother’s side, but the King established me.... He caused me to grow ... by his bounty when I was a man of no property; ... he gave me food and provisions every day, I who had been one that begged bread.” Huya, Queen Tiy’s steward, speaks of the king as selecting his officials from the ranks of the yeomen. Panehesy tells us that Akhnaton is one “who maketh princes and formeth the humble,” and he adds: “When I knew not the companionship of princes I was made an intimate of the King.” But if the Pharaoh raised men from the ranks, he was also capable of degrading those who offended against the standards which he had set up. Thus May seems to have been disgraced and turned out of the city.

The tomb of the police official, Mahu, who was a favourite of the king, though probably not of exalted origin, has provided us with some scenes relating to his official work which are of considerable interest. In one series of these we are shown the capture of some foreigners, or perhaps Beduin, who may have belonged to some gang of thieves or anarchists. Mahu has been awakened in the early hours of a winter morning by the news of the disturbance, and as he listens to the report a servant blows a small fire into flame, since the morning air is chilly. He then sends for his chariot and drives to the scene of the crime, whatever it may be; and soon he has effected the arrest of some of the culprits. These men are then conveyed to the Vizir, who, with his staff, receives Mahu with exclamations of approval. “Examine these men, O Princes,” says the police officer, “whom the foreigners have instigated.” From these words it might seem that the prisoners were foreign spies, or even assassins plotting against the life of the Pharaoh.

Whether from fear of a revolt in Egypt or from mere custom, the City of the Horizon was closely defended at this time, and there is a scene in this same tomb in which Akhnaton is shown inspecting the fortifications. He drives in his chariot with his wife and his eldest daughter Merytaton; and although the spirited horses would appear to be difficult to manage, the more so because the mischievous Merytaton is poking them with a stick, Akhnaton is a sufficiently good driver to be able to carry on a conversation with the queen, and to address a few words to Mahu, who runs by the side of the chariot. In striking contrast to the custom of other Pharaohs, Akhnaton is accompanied by an unarmed bodyguard of police as he drives round the defences; and in this we may perhaps see an indication of his popularity. The fortifications, it may be noted, consist of blockhouses built at regular intervals, and defended by wire or rope entanglements.

In several of the tombs there are representations of their owners receiving rewards from the king for their diligence in their official works, or for their intelligent acceptance of his teaching. A high official named Pentu has left us a scene in which Akhnaton is shown seated in the hall of his palace, while Pentu stands before him to receive numerous golden collars at the royal hands in recognition of his services. A part of the palace is shown, but the scene is much damaged: a small pond or tank surrounded by flowers is shown in one corner of the enclosure, but the plan of the various rooms is confused, and is quite subsidiary to the representation of the hall where the Pharaoh receives the happy Pentu. Akhnaton seems to have been a good friend, as he was a stern enemy; and those who assisted him in the difficult tasks which he had set himself were lavishly rewarded for their pains.