Historical Changes Of The Amarna Period

The Amarna period, which lasted about thirty years at the end of the 18th dynasty in ancient Egypt brought many historical changes to ancient Egypt. These drastic changes are represented in the art of the period. A new pharaoh came to power and declared a new religion for all of Egypt. Although this new religion was far from supported by the citizens, the pharaoh, Akhenaten enforced the changes. Temples worshipping other gods were torn down, names were changed, even language experienced a shift. The most notable change of this period was the art style. The typical style of canon proportion, which Egypt had utilized since the third dynasty was ignored. No longer did human figures fit the calculated outlines they always had. Now under the pharaoh

The two main inscriptions depict Akhenaten alongside his oldest daughter Meretaten/ Meriaten, making offerings to the Aten which takes the form of a sun with rays extending down to them with arms as the rays. In the first image, Akhenaten is offering double cartouches to the Aten. Based on other, more well preserved artifacts, the cartouches are probably Aten’s early name. The picture also depicts other cartouches, most likely names from the royal family, and in the lower right corner, some flowers reaching up to the Aten. In the other picture, the pharaoh is holding up his hands to the sun disk but it is unclear what he is holding. This type or relief carving is called sunken relief which in traditional ancient Egypt was used in a much larger scale, and on large walls on the outside of buildings. The Amarna period began using it in smaller works of art and repurposed the technique. Sunken reliefs were typically drawn with straight and geometric lines, very unlike the lines used to make the Amarna style figures. The reason sunken relief is usually used in large scale and is put outside, is because it is a shallow relief that is most visible in bright sunlight. Akhenaten may have decided to utilize this style in more places to farther honor the Aten and its life-giving