(no subject)
Were there any periods during Egyptian history in which there were radical changes in art and religion?
The time is 1400 BCE, and life is good in Egypt. You are an artisan working for the palace, and you have perfected your style of art. You know what is beautiful, and you are very good at creating your specialty, sunken reliefs of your pharaoh giving offerings to your many gods. Your father did this before you, and his father before him, and so on. Life goes on as it has for centuries, your beliefs about art and religion flowing in a steady pattern. A question is posed: Were there any periods during Egyptian history in which this continuity in art and religion did not hold?
The answer to this is yes. Akhenaton, who ruled during the New Kingdom, emphasized a very different style of art and religion that completely altered the Egyptian way of life. During the reign of Akhenaton the formerly polytheistic religion of Egypt was changed to a more or less monotheistic one, and the art was reformed by including new styles, subjects, and ideas into art while keeping certain ideals the same.
From his birth, Akhenaton, previously known as Amenhotep IV, was destined to become a powerful ruler. He was born around 1394 BCE to King Amenhotep III in the New Kingdom of Egypt. At this point in time, Egypt was at a new height of power and prosperity because of Amenhotep III. Amenhotep III conducted many large building projects such as constructing and adding on to major Egyptian cities, gained treasure from neighboring empires, and perfected classical art styles.
When Amenhotep IV was around sixteen, he was appointed ruler of Egypt. He was given a wife, Queen Nefertiti, and had two daughters. Once he became ruler, he immediately began his transformation of art and religion in the Egyptian culture.
Reforming religion was one of Amenhotep IV’s main focuses in his rule. Some might call Amenhotep IV a religious fanatic; others might simply call him devoted. Whatever he was, he made a major change in religion by changing Egypt’s polytheistic beliefs to monotheism. For all of Egypt’s history many gods had been worshipped, so demanding the worship of only one god was a major alteration and something unthinkable. In fact, Atenism, the worship of only one god, Aten, was the first monotheistic religion ever.
Recreating the symbol of Re Herakhty was a significant milestone. Re Herakhty, one of the many gods that was worshipped before Amenhotep IV, was depicted in artwork as a man with a falcon head crowned with the disk of a sun encircled by a uraeus, which is the figure of the Egyptian sacred serpent, a sign of imperial dominion. Amenhotep IV changed this image to just the disk itself, surrounded by he uraeus with an ankh, the Egyptian sign of life. In reliefs and wall paintings the disk sends forth long rays of life with hands at the end that is able to accept offerings or gives the human subject in the painting the “breath of life”.
This reformation of Aten’s image was important because creating a new image for a god was not done. It was of a great importance when it was, and therefore not taken lightly. This was also a momentous point because at this time the art of Egypt was beginning to transform.
Besides changing the image of Re Herakhty, Amenhotep IV also changed his name as well. Re Herakhty’s name was changed to Aten, so as to differentiate Re Herakhty, one of many gods, to a single, all powerful god, and also so it wouldn’t suggest an old god, Shu, in spelling. The name also coincided with other spellings that could refer to goddesses. Amenhotep IV wanted there to be no confusion that the belief in many gods would not be accepted. In addition, Amenhotep IV changed his own name to Akhenaton, meaning “It is well with Aten”.
Akhenaton displayed his devotion to Aten by having many places of worship constructed. The temple at Karnak was Akhenaton’s first major building project. Of course, the temple would be devoted to only one god, Aten, the temple’s name literally meaning “Re Herakhty in his aspect of the sunlight which is Aten”. It was a major project. Quarries were opened to extract vast amounts of sandstone, which would later be turned into hundreds of colossal columns, walls and gateways that made up the large, intricate temple. Many laborers worked to cut and transport the sandstone to Karnak, and high officials directed the laborers and the process.
An even more ambitious architectural project was the creation of Akhetaten, or its modern name, Tel El Amarna. Akhenaton became obsessed with finding Aten’s origin, or place where it manifested. When he found it, he planned to make it the new capital of Egypt. Claiming to be guided by Aten, Akhenaton searched for this place until he found the site. It was a huge natural amphitheater eight miles wide on the East bank of the Nile, right between the capital, Thebes, and another major city, Memphis. It was then he named it Akhetaten, meaning “the Seat of Aten”. He immediately proclaimed the land belonged to no one, and luckily it didn’t. This was probably the case because the land was almost barren, making the living conditions less than ideal.
Over time, Akhenaton traveled to Akhetaten to specify boundaries, and to plan they layout of the proposed palaces, temples and other buildings. The buildings that were to be built were to be greater than ever. The Central City contained residential houses for the very wealthy and the poor and the Great Palace, which was huge- it ran along the Nile more than 750 meters. There was also the Great Temple, and the Mansion of the Aten. The South City was dedicated to pampering Queen Nefertiti and the princesses, and to replenish the Queen’s powers. These buildings were made out of a variety of materials. Familial houses were built out of mud brick, which were plastered and then painted over. They had stone windows and doorways. The temples and offices, however, were made entirely out of stone.
By creating these temples and capital city, Akhenaton presented the idea of monotheism to the world. He was adamant in making sure only Aten was worshipped. He built the said temples and capital, all devoted to the predominant god, Aten. He even took extremes like defacing all art that depicted multiple gods and goddesses, or referred to them in any way. In conclusion, Akhenaton went out of his way to make sure that only the one god, Aten, was worshipped. Unfortunately, he failed to do so in one major way: Akhenaton was still thought of as a god as well as Aten. In pre Akhenaton Egyptian culture, pharaohs were considered and treated as gods, and Akhenaton did not do anything to oppose this belief. Because two gods were being worshipped, it was not truly monotheism.
While this immense religious reform was taking place, another major change was occurring as well, and this was the alteration of Egyptian art. The art that Akhenaton imposed upon Egypt was very different from the art of Amenhotep III’s rule. In the past, royal art served as no more than memorials to kings. Sculptures were impersonal, focusing on making the pharaohs seem as authoritative and intimidating as possible. The art on temple walls was limited to pharaohs and their families giving offerings to the many gods they worshipped, or performing a religious ceremony. In short, the pharaoh wanted to be remembered as the greatest, most powerful ruler dedicated to religion and doing good deeds. Because of this intention, sculptures, paintings and reliefs often barely resembled the pharaohs or other royal subjects they were based upon.
There were many techniques used to make the pharaoh look ideal. In wall paintings, the pharaoh would be portrayed as twice the size of others in the picture, illustrating his immortality and supremacy. Sculptures of the pharaoh were formed in a solid, bulky way, creating a sense of looming power and strength.
Portrayal of the pharaoh wasn’t the only thing that was unrealistic about art in the pre Amarna period. In wall paintings and reliefs, the bodies of the figures were extremely disproportionate. Legs and arms were elongated, the chest was twisted around so it faced the onlooker, and faces were devoid of emotion. The figures also were very stiff looking, and this was accentuated by their boxy shoulders and upright posture. There was no attempt to make the art look more natural, because that wasn’t considered to be royal or beautiful.
This being said, it is reasonable to say that art from the Amarna period was unlike anything that had ever been created in Egypt’s past. Akhenaton is often referred to as a “naturalist” because of his insistency to having art look more realistic. To do this, artists made figures in the art with shortened legs, narrowed shoulders, and joints in the body amongst various other techniques.
Akhenaton did not only administer this to others in Egyptian art- he also imposed the unflattering style upon himself, something that also had never been done before. Instead of having himself portrayed as a huge, strong god like usual, Akhenaton had artists depict him as flawed so he would look more realistic. In statues, reliefs and wall paintings, he was illustrated having thin, limp arms, wrinkles around his mouth, an oversized, egg shaped head, large lips, and a predominant abdominal pooch. Now artwork was less of a memorial, and more of an accurate portrayal the subjects that were being depicted.
Akhenaton’s wish to have things portrayed exactly as they were in real life expanded royal art in Egypt’s subject matter. In the pre Amarna times, art served strictly as memorials. In Amarna art, every day scenes and happenings were created. Things like ducks in a pond, ordinary children sitting, and old women were now being sculpted and displayed. As well as everyday events of the people of Egypt, daily events of royalty were depicted. Intimate scenes of Akhenaton, his wife, and daughters sitting together were made, which had been done before but not in such a personal way. These themes had not been accepted before the Amarna period.
Even though Amarna art was individualistic and anticlassical, it also had definite ceremonial and conventional aspects to it as well. Akhenaton still had memorials built to himself, and in reliefs and paintings he was still portrayed as much bigger than normal mortals. Despite the fact that the style of Amarna art was very different from pre Amarna, certain styles were still continued to be used, such as the chest facing the onlooker. It was almost as if Akhenaton could not imagine art looking another way, it was so engrained into Egyptian art and culture. This demonstrates how conservative pre Amarna art was, and also shows how difficult it must have been to create an entirely different way of art. Because not all of conventional Egyptian art styles were eradicated, tradition was kept alive in this way.
There is one question that needs be answered: Where did this reformed style of art come from? Obviously the idea of having a much more realistic style of art couldn’t have come out of the air. Of course, Akhenaton preferred the new, reformed style, but what influenced him? One theory, proposed by Arnold Hauser, suggests that Amarna art was influenced by common art of the people, or “folk art”. Folk art was the undercurrent art, art that was not considered valuable because it wasn’t for royalty and it didn’t have classical aspects to it. This art was always in Egyptian culture, but not appreciated in the long run because it wasn’t saved and preserved in temples, so archeologists have never found artifacts of it.
Even though it could have had commoner’s roots, Atenism did not infiltrate into the society. The occupants of Egypt had believed in their many gods for generations, and must have felt angry, betrayed and confused by the religious and artistic revolution. At the time, they couldn’t contradict the pharaoh, so they did nothing and tried to obey the new laws. The priests of Egypt also were disgusted by the change. All their life, they had been teaching about and believing in their many gods. Now their gods didn’t exist. They were outraged. Because the people of Egypt didn’t believe or agree with the changes that were being made, they were resistant. As a consequence, Atenism did not penetrate deeply into the society of the time.
After Akhenaton’s death, society tried to reconstruct their old ways of classical art and religion. Since Akhenaton had ordered every piece of art with other gods on illustrated to be defaced, citizens were very angry and tried to rid him and his ways from their culture. His mummy was destroyed, and references to him were removed from temples and palaces. There was also an attempt to go back to the former style of art, but for some reason it could not be recovered to its former extent.
It seems clear that the reign of Akhenaton was a radical departure from the customs of earlier times. Still, questions remain. What were the factors that caused the revolution to happen at that time instead of before? Was the artistic revolution under Akhenaton’s reign induced by the religious reform? There is still more research to be done. Scholars are working hard to unravel these and other mysteries of the Amarna period, a time of religious and artistic revolution.
The end. Now I just have to do everything else, and I'm good...
The time is 1400 BCE, and life is good in Egypt. You are an artisan working for the palace, and you have perfected your style of art. You know what is beautiful, and you are very good at creating your specialty, sunken reliefs of your pharaoh giving offerings to your many gods. Your father did this before you, and his father before him, and so on. Life goes on as it has for centuries, your beliefs about art and religion flowing in a steady pattern. A question is posed: Were there any periods during Egyptian history in which this continuity in art and religion did not hold?
The answer to this is yes. Akhenaton, who ruled during the New Kingdom, emphasized a very different style of art and religion that completely altered the Egyptian way of life. During the reign of Akhenaton the formerly polytheistic religion of Egypt was changed to a more or less monotheistic one, and the art was reformed by including new styles, subjects, and ideas into art while keeping certain ideals the same.
From his birth, Akhenaton, previously known as Amenhotep IV, was destined to become a powerful ruler. He was born around 1394 BCE to King Amenhotep III in the New Kingdom of Egypt. At this point in time, Egypt was at a new height of power and prosperity because of Amenhotep III. Amenhotep III conducted many large building projects such as constructing and adding on to major Egyptian cities, gained treasure from neighboring empires, and perfected classical art styles.
When Amenhotep IV was around sixteen, he was appointed ruler of Egypt. He was given a wife, Queen Nefertiti, and had two daughters. Once he became ruler, he immediately began his transformation of art and religion in the Egyptian culture.
Reforming religion was one of Amenhotep IV’s main focuses in his rule. Some might call Amenhotep IV a religious fanatic; others might simply call him devoted. Whatever he was, he made a major change in religion by changing Egypt’s polytheistic beliefs to monotheism. For all of Egypt’s history many gods had been worshipped, so demanding the worship of only one god was a major alteration and something unthinkable. In fact, Atenism, the worship of only one god, Aten, was the first monotheistic religion ever.
Recreating the symbol of Re Herakhty was a significant milestone. Re Herakhty, one of the many gods that was worshipped before Amenhotep IV, was depicted in artwork as a man with a falcon head crowned with the disk of a sun encircled by a uraeus, which is the figure of the Egyptian sacred serpent, a sign of imperial dominion. Amenhotep IV changed this image to just the disk itself, surrounded by he uraeus with an ankh, the Egyptian sign of life. In reliefs and wall paintings the disk sends forth long rays of life with hands at the end that is able to accept offerings or gives the human subject in the painting the “breath of life”.
This reformation of Aten’s image was important because creating a new image for a god was not done. It was of a great importance when it was, and therefore not taken lightly. This was also a momentous point because at this time the art of Egypt was beginning to transform.
Besides changing the image of Re Herakhty, Amenhotep IV also changed his name as well. Re Herakhty’s name was changed to Aten, so as to differentiate Re Herakhty, one of many gods, to a single, all powerful god, and also so it wouldn’t suggest an old god, Shu, in spelling. The name also coincided with other spellings that could refer to goddesses. Amenhotep IV wanted there to be no confusion that the belief in many gods would not be accepted. In addition, Amenhotep IV changed his own name to Akhenaton, meaning “It is well with Aten”.
Akhenaton displayed his devotion to Aten by having many places of worship constructed. The temple at Karnak was Akhenaton’s first major building project. Of course, the temple would be devoted to only one god, Aten, the temple’s name literally meaning “Re Herakhty in his aspect of the sunlight which is Aten”. It was a major project. Quarries were opened to extract vast amounts of sandstone, which would later be turned into hundreds of colossal columns, walls and gateways that made up the large, intricate temple. Many laborers worked to cut and transport the sandstone to Karnak, and high officials directed the laborers and the process.
An even more ambitious architectural project was the creation of Akhetaten, or its modern name, Tel El Amarna. Akhenaton became obsessed with finding Aten’s origin, or place where it manifested. When he found it, he planned to make it the new capital of Egypt. Claiming to be guided by Aten, Akhenaton searched for this place until he found the site. It was a huge natural amphitheater eight miles wide on the East bank of the Nile, right between the capital, Thebes, and another major city, Memphis. It was then he named it Akhetaten, meaning “the Seat of Aten”. He immediately proclaimed the land belonged to no one, and luckily it didn’t. This was probably the case because the land was almost barren, making the living conditions less than ideal.
Over time, Akhenaton traveled to Akhetaten to specify boundaries, and to plan they layout of the proposed palaces, temples and other buildings. The buildings that were to be built were to be greater than ever. The Central City contained residential houses for the very wealthy and the poor and the Great Palace, which was huge- it ran along the Nile more than 750 meters. There was also the Great Temple, and the Mansion of the Aten. The South City was dedicated to pampering Queen Nefertiti and the princesses, and to replenish the Queen’s powers. These buildings were made out of a variety of materials. Familial houses were built out of mud brick, which were plastered and then painted over. They had stone windows and doorways. The temples and offices, however, were made entirely out of stone.
By creating these temples and capital city, Akhenaton presented the idea of monotheism to the world. He was adamant in making sure only Aten was worshipped. He built the said temples and capital, all devoted to the predominant god, Aten. He even took extremes like defacing all art that depicted multiple gods and goddesses, or referred to them in any way. In conclusion, Akhenaton went out of his way to make sure that only the one god, Aten, was worshipped. Unfortunately, he failed to do so in one major way: Akhenaton was still thought of as a god as well as Aten. In pre Akhenaton Egyptian culture, pharaohs were considered and treated as gods, and Akhenaton did not do anything to oppose this belief. Because two gods were being worshipped, it was not truly monotheism.
While this immense religious reform was taking place, another major change was occurring as well, and this was the alteration of Egyptian art. The art that Akhenaton imposed upon Egypt was very different from the art of Amenhotep III’s rule. In the past, royal art served as no more than memorials to kings. Sculptures were impersonal, focusing on making the pharaohs seem as authoritative and intimidating as possible. The art on temple walls was limited to pharaohs and their families giving offerings to the many gods they worshipped, or performing a religious ceremony. In short, the pharaoh wanted to be remembered as the greatest, most powerful ruler dedicated to religion and doing good deeds. Because of this intention, sculptures, paintings and reliefs often barely resembled the pharaohs or other royal subjects they were based upon.
There were many techniques used to make the pharaoh look ideal. In wall paintings, the pharaoh would be portrayed as twice the size of others in the picture, illustrating his immortality and supremacy. Sculptures of the pharaoh were formed in a solid, bulky way, creating a sense of looming power and strength.
Portrayal of the pharaoh wasn’t the only thing that was unrealistic about art in the pre Amarna period. In wall paintings and reliefs, the bodies of the figures were extremely disproportionate. Legs and arms were elongated, the chest was twisted around so it faced the onlooker, and faces were devoid of emotion. The figures also were very stiff looking, and this was accentuated by their boxy shoulders and upright posture. There was no attempt to make the art look more natural, because that wasn’t considered to be royal or beautiful.
This being said, it is reasonable to say that art from the Amarna period was unlike anything that had ever been created in Egypt’s past. Akhenaton is often referred to as a “naturalist” because of his insistency to having art look more realistic. To do this, artists made figures in the art with shortened legs, narrowed shoulders, and joints in the body amongst various other techniques.
Akhenaton did not only administer this to others in Egyptian art- he also imposed the unflattering style upon himself, something that also had never been done before. Instead of having himself portrayed as a huge, strong god like usual, Akhenaton had artists depict him as flawed so he would look more realistic. In statues, reliefs and wall paintings, he was illustrated having thin, limp arms, wrinkles around his mouth, an oversized, egg shaped head, large lips, and a predominant abdominal pooch. Now artwork was less of a memorial, and more of an accurate portrayal the subjects that were being depicted.
Akhenaton’s wish to have things portrayed exactly as they were in real life expanded royal art in Egypt’s subject matter. In the pre Amarna times, art served strictly as memorials. In Amarna art, every day scenes and happenings were created. Things like ducks in a pond, ordinary children sitting, and old women were now being sculpted and displayed. As well as everyday events of the people of Egypt, daily events of royalty were depicted. Intimate scenes of Akhenaton, his wife, and daughters sitting together were made, which had been done before but not in such a personal way. These themes had not been accepted before the Amarna period.
Even though Amarna art was individualistic and anticlassical, it also had definite ceremonial and conventional aspects to it as well. Akhenaton still had memorials built to himself, and in reliefs and paintings he was still portrayed as much bigger than normal mortals. Despite the fact that the style of Amarna art was very different from pre Amarna, certain styles were still continued to be used, such as the chest facing the onlooker. It was almost as if Akhenaton could not imagine art looking another way, it was so engrained into Egyptian art and culture. This demonstrates how conservative pre Amarna art was, and also shows how difficult it must have been to create an entirely different way of art. Because not all of conventional Egyptian art styles were eradicated, tradition was kept alive in this way.
There is one question that needs be answered: Where did this reformed style of art come from? Obviously the idea of having a much more realistic style of art couldn’t have come out of the air. Of course, Akhenaton preferred the new, reformed style, but what influenced him? One theory, proposed by Arnold Hauser, suggests that Amarna art was influenced by common art of the people, or “folk art”. Folk art was the undercurrent art, art that was not considered valuable because it wasn’t for royalty and it didn’t have classical aspects to it. This art was always in Egyptian culture, but not appreciated in the long run because it wasn’t saved and preserved in temples, so archeologists have never found artifacts of it.
Even though it could have had commoner’s roots, Atenism did not infiltrate into the society. The occupants of Egypt had believed in their many gods for generations, and must have felt angry, betrayed and confused by the religious and artistic revolution. At the time, they couldn’t contradict the pharaoh, so they did nothing and tried to obey the new laws. The priests of Egypt also were disgusted by the change. All their life, they had been teaching about and believing in their many gods. Now their gods didn’t exist. They were outraged. Because the people of Egypt didn’t believe or agree with the changes that were being made, they were resistant. As a consequence, Atenism did not penetrate deeply into the society of the time.
After Akhenaton’s death, society tried to reconstruct their old ways of classical art and religion. Since Akhenaton had ordered every piece of art with other gods on illustrated to be defaced, citizens were very angry and tried to rid him and his ways from their culture. His mummy was destroyed, and references to him were removed from temples and palaces. There was also an attempt to go back to the former style of art, but for some reason it could not be recovered to its former extent.
It seems clear that the reign of Akhenaton was a radical departure from the customs of earlier times. Still, questions remain. What were the factors that caused the revolution to happen at that time instead of before? Was the artistic revolution under Akhenaton’s reign induced by the religious reform? There is still more research to be done. Scholars are working hard to unravel these and other mysteries of the Amarna period, a time of religious and artistic revolution.
The end. Now I just have to do everything else, and I'm good...