The Amarna period of Egyptian history is filled with romantic mysteries and puzzles for generations of archaeologists to debate.
Akhenaten, Smenkhare, and Tutankhamen were the only Eighteenth Dynasty kings of Egypt who lived for any time at Amarna (Akhetaten). Before and after, Egyptian pharaohs ruled from Luxor (Thebes), but even though the heyday of Amarna was fleeting, the period fascinates us because of an imagined connection between the theology of Akhenaten and the beliefs of Judaism, sexual scandal, and the mystery of the genealogy of the Amarna pharaohs. Such is the stuff of not only dreams and fiction, but also scholarly debates -- as recently examined by archaeologist Christine El Mahdy in Tutankhamen.
Akhenaten, Smenkhare, and Tutankhamen were the only Eighteenth Dynasty kings of Egypt who lived for any time at Amarna (Akhetaten). Before and after, Egyptian pharaohs ruled from Luxor (Thebes), but even though the heyday of Amarna was fleeting, the period fascinates us because of an imagined connection between the theology of Akhenaten and the beliefs of Judaism, sexual scandal, and the mystery of the genealogy of the Amarna pharaohs. Such is the stuff of not only dreams and fiction, but also scholarly debates -- as recently examined by archaeologist Christine El Mahdy in Tutankhamen.
