The artists of the Amarna period departed from the stock poses and royal motifs that has come to define Egyptian art. They inclined instead towards a certain naturalism. The walls and floors of the houses of Amarna were often decorated with scenes from the Nile and its environment.
The artists accurately capture many varieties of ducks and plants that grow the banks of the Nile.
The Cairo Museum. arcGlass
The Amarna period witnessed the mastery of glass production and glazing. Although Egyptian craftsmen did not yet know how to produce clear glass—that development would have to wait until the Roman era—they mastered the technique for producing different colors of glass. Until then the glass produced by artisans was green due to the presence of iron oxides in the silica but the craftsmen at Amarna figured out how to remove the iron oxides in order to produce a glass that was a deep blue color.
The Royal Family
Images of the royal family were everywhere in Amarna. Every home had an altar with a picture of Akhenaten with his wife and children basking in the rays of the Aten. This was a departure from the rigid poses and strict hierarchy that always presented the pharaoh larger than life.
seated under the rays of the Aten with their three daughters. Scenes of intimacy such as this one are unique to the Amarna period, as is the depiction of the pharaoh on the same scale with his wife and children.
The Egyptian Museum of Berlin arcRoyal imagery departed from tradition in more ways than one. In contrast to the usual depiction of pharaoh as an athletic man, Akhenaten is shown with an elongated head, fleshy lips and wide hips. His form is soft and flabby and his face carries a mild, bemused countenance.
shows Akhenaten holding the crook and flail, traditional symbols of kingship. From the Aten Colonnade at Karnak.
The Cairo Museum. arcSome have wondered whether a genetic disorder may perhaps account for the peculiarly shaped head, the long fingers, and extended belly. It is certainly possible, given the Egyptian practice of brother/sister and even father/daughter marriages, that the royal family may have suffered from a genetic disorder. However, such genetic deformities are unlikely to have extended to both Akhenaten and his wife, and all of their children – who are also sometimes shown with elongated heads. 1Another possibility is that the head was purposefully shaped that way after birth when the bone tissue of the skull is quite malleable. An elongated skull can be achieved by wrapping the head of an infant in such a way as to flatten it during the early stages of its development. Such practices are known from Cyprus during the Bronze Age, but not in Egypt. Ultimately, the reason for presenting the head in this manner remains a mystery.
from the lower portion of a fresco uncovered by Petrie at Amarna. The house must have belonged to an important court official.
Nina de Garis Davies. The Metropolitan Museum Archives
Tutankhamen (left) with his head emerging from a lotus blossom. A princess (right) from Amarna.
The artists of the Amarna period departed from the stock poses and royal motifs that has come to define Egyptian art. They inclined instead towards a certain naturalism. The walls and floors of the houses of Amarna were often decorated with scenes from the Nile and its environment.
The artists accurately capture many varieties of ducks and plants that grow the banks of the Nile.
The Cairo Museum. arcGlass
The Amarna period witnessed the mastery of glass production and glazing. Although Egyptian craftsmen did not yet know how to produce clear glass—that development would have to wait until the Roman era—they mastered the technique for producing different colors of glass. Until then the glass produced by artisans was green due to the presence of iron oxides in the silica but the craftsmen at Amarna figured out how to remove the iron oxides in order to produce a glass that was a deep blue color.
The Royal Family
Images of the royal family were everywhere in Amarna. Every home had an altar with a picture of Akhenaten with his wife and children basking in the rays of the Aten. This was a departure from the rigid poses and strict hierarchy that always presented the pharaoh larger than life.
seated under the rays of the Aten with their three daughters. Scenes of intimacy such as this one are unique to the Amarna period, as is the depiction of the pharaoh on the same scale with his wife and children.
The Egyptian Museum of Berlin arcRoyal imagery departed from tradition in more ways than one. In contrast to the usual depiction of pharaoh as an athletic man, Akhenaten is shown with an elongated head, fleshy lips and wide hips. His form is soft and flabby and his face carries a mild, bemused countenance.
shows Akhenaten holding the crook and flail, traditional symbols of kingship. From the Aten Colonnade at Karnak.
The Cairo Museum. arcSome have wondered whether a genetic disorder may perhaps account for the peculiarly shaped head, the long fingers, and extended belly. It is certainly possible, given the Egyptian practice of brother/sister and even father/daughter marriages, that the royal family may have suffered from a genetic disorder. However, such genetic deformities are unlikely to have extended to both Akhenaten and his wife, and all of their children – who are also sometimes shown with elongated heads. 1Another possibility is that the head was purposefully shaped that way after birth when the bone tissue of the skull is quite malleable. An elongated skull can be achieved by wrapping the head of an infant in such a way as to flatten it during the early stages of its development. Such practices are known from Cyprus during the Bronze Age, but not in Egypt. Ultimately, the reason for presenting the head in this manner remains a mystery.
from the lower portion of a fresco uncovered by Petrie at Amarna. The house must have belonged to an important court official.
Nina de Garis Davies. The Metropolitan Museum Archives
Tutankhamen (left) with his head emerging from a lotus blossom. A princess (right) from Amarna.