{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_62434/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_62434","id":"gutenberg_62434","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62434","summary":null,"tags":["Akhenaton, King of Egypt","Category: Biographies","Category: History - Ancient","Category: History - Religious","Egypt -- History -- Eighteenth dynasty, ca. 1570-1320 B.C.","Egypt -- History -- To 332 B.C.","Egypt -- Religion","Pharaohs -- Biography"],"text":"TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTE\n\n Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.\n\n Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have\n been placed at the end of the book.\n\n Footnotes [79] and [82] have a translation of some heiroglyphic\n words, using several accented characters. These will display,\n using Unicode combining diacriticals, on this device as\n \u0227 (a with dot above)\n \u1e25 and \u1e24 (h and H with dot below)\n a\u0351 and A\u0351 (a and A with half left circle above)\n\n Pages 155 and 156 of the original book have a two-column side by\n side comparison of \u201cAkhnaton\u2019s Hymn\u201d and \u201cPsalm CIV\u201d. The Psalm\n has been placed under the Hymn in this etext.\n\n Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.\n\n\n\n\n _BY THE SAME AUTHOR._\n\n\n Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. net. With numerous Illustrations.\n\n TRAVELS IN THE UPPER EGYPTIAN DESERTS.\n\n \u201cSince the times of Eliot Warburton and Kinglake many writers\n have celebrated the delights of travel in the desert. None, I\n think, has realised the fascination of the desert more fully than\n Mr Weigall.\u201d--_Westminster Gazette._\n\n JOHN WARD, F.S.A. (author of \u2018Pyramids and Progress,\u2019 &c.),\n writes: \u201c... The very best book of travel ... I have seen for\n years; so interesting that it can be read with pleasure by people\n who know not Egypt, and so unpretendingly scientific ... that\n to one who is an expert Egyptologist it is a treasure-trove.\n The language is so clear, the descriptive portions so graphic,\n and yet the style so simple, that the work is, in its way,\n a masterpiece. Then the clear type, the handy size, and the\n exquisite photographs make the book a rare possession.\u201d\n\n\n Demy 8vo. With Illustrations. 7s. 6d. net.\n\n \u201cInteresting and readable in no common degree.\u201d--_Scotsman._\n\n THE TREASURY OF ANCIENT EGYPT.\n\n Chapters on Ancient Egyptian History and Arch\u00e6ology.\n\n Mr Weigall has performed a remarkable literary feat. He has\n truly made dry bones live, and has presented his researches in\n Egyptology in a manner so fascinating as to arouse the enthusiasm\n of the patrons of the circulating libraries. Of this volume it is\n enough to say that it is worthy of the author of \u2018The Life and\n Times of Akhnaton.\u2019\n\n\n WM. BLACKWOOD & SONS, EDINBURGH AND LONDON.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: PAVEMENT DECORATION FROM THE PALACE OF AMONHOTEP III.]\n\n\n\n\n The Life and Times of\n\n Akhnaton\n\n\n\n\n The Life and Times of\n\n Akhnaton\n\n Pharaoh of Egypt\n\n\n BY\n\n ARTHUR E. P. WEIGALL\n\n CHIEF INSPECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTIQUITIES, UPPER EGYPT\n\n AUTHOR OF \u2018A REPORT ON THE ANTIQUITIES OF LOWER NUBIA,\u2019\n \u2018A CATALOGUE OF THE WEIGHTS AND BALANCES IN THE CAIRO\n MUSEUM,\u2019 \u2018A GUIDE TO THE ANTIQUITIES OF UPPER EGYPT,\u2019\n \u2018DIE MASTABA DES GEMNIKAI\u2019 (WITH PROFESSOR VON\n BISSING), \u2018TRAVELS IN THE UPPER EGYPTIAN\n DESERTS,\u2019 ETC.\n\n\n \u201cYe ask who are those that draw us to the Kingdom if the Kingdom\n is in Heaven? The fowls of the air, and all the beasts that are\n under the earth or upon the earth, and the fishes of the sea, these\n are they which draw you, and the Kingdom of Heaven is within you.\u201d\n --GRENFELL AND HUNT: _Oxyrhynchus Papyri_, iv. 6.\n\n\n SECOND IMPRESSION\n\n\n William Blackwood and Sons\n Edinburgh and London\n 1911\n\n _ALL RIGHTS RESERVED_\n\n\n\n\n _TO_\n\n _THEODORE M. DAVIS,_\n\n _THE DISCOVERER OF_\n _THE BONES OF AKHNATON_,\n\n This Book is Dedicated.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS.\n\n\n PAGE\n INTRODUCTION 1\n\n\n I.\n\n THE PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS OF AKHNATON.\n\n 1. THE ANCESTORS OF AKHNATON 7\n 2. THE GODS OF EGYPT 11\n 3. THE DEMIGODS AND SPIRITS--THE PRIESTHOODS 18\n 4. THOTHMES IV. AND MUTEMUA 21\n 5. YUAA AND TUAU 25\n 6. AMONHOTEP III. AND HIS COURT 33\n\n\n II.\n\n THE BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS OF AKHNATON.\n\n 1. THE BIRTH OF AKHNATON 42\n 2. THE RISE OF ATON 45\n 3. THE POWER OF QUEEN TIY 49\n 4. AKHNATON\u2019S MARRIAGE 53\n 5. THE ACCESSION OF AKHNATON 58\n 6. THE FIRST YEARS OF AKHNATON\u2019S REIGN 62\n 7. THE NEW ART 68\n 8. THE NEW RELIGION DEVELOPS 76\n 9. THE NATURE OF THE NEW RELIGION 84\n\n\n III.\n\n AKHNATON FOUNDS A NEW CITY.\n\n 1. THE BREAK WITH THE PRIESTHOOD OF AMON-RA 88\n 2. AKHNATON SELECTS THE SITE OF HIS CITY 92\n 3. THE FIRST FOUNDATION INSCRIPTION 94\n 4. THE SECOND FOUNDATION INSCRIPTION 101\n 5. THE DEPARTURE FROM THEBES 105\n 6. THE AGE OF AKHNATON 110\n\n\n IV.\n\n AKHNATON FORMULATES THE RELIGION OF ATON.\n\n 1. ATON THE TRUE GOD 115\n 2. ATON THE TENDER FATHER OF ALL CREATION 118\n 3. ATON WORSHIPPED AT SUNRISE AND SUNSET 124\n 4. THE GOODNESS OF ATON 127\n 5. AKHNATON THE \u201cSON OF GOD\u201d BY TRADITIONAL RIGHT 130\n 6. THE CONNECTIONS OF THE ATON WORSHIP WITH OLDER\n RELIGIONS 135\n 7. THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH 138\n 8. THE MATERIAL NEEDS OF THE SOUL 143\n\n\n V.\n\n THE TENTH TO THE TWELFTH YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON.\n\n 1. THE HYMNS OF THE ATON WORSHIPPERS 149\n 2. THE SIMILARITY OF AKHNATON\u2019S HYMN TO PSALM CIV. 155\n 3. MERYRA IS MADE HIGH PRIEST OF ATON 157\n 4. THE ROYAL FAMILY VISIT THE TEMPLE 162\n 5. AKHNATON IN HIS PALACE 167\n 6. HISTORICAL EVENTS OF THIS PERIOD OF AKHNATON\u2019S REIGN 169\n 7. QUEEN TIY VISITS THE CITY OF THE HORIZON 176\n 8. TIY VISITS HER TEMPLE 182\n 9. THE DEATH OF QUEEN TIY 184\n\n\n VI.\n\n THE THIRTEENTH TO THE FIFTEENTH YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON.\n\n 1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELIGION OF ATON 189\n 2. AKHNATON OBLITERATES THE NAME OF AMON 193\n 3. THE GREAT TEMPLE OF ATON 198\n 4. THE BEAUTY OF THE CITY 202\n 5. AKHNATON\u2019S AFFECTION FOR HIS FAMILY 208\n 6. AKHNATON\u2019S FRIENDS 213\n 7. AKHNATON\u2019S TROUBLES 217\n\n\n VII.\n\n THE LAST TWO YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON.\n\n 1. THE HITTITE INVASION OF SYRIA 223\n 2. AKHNATON\u2019S CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTIONS TO WARFARE 226\n 3. THE FAITHLESSNESS OF AZIRU 230\n 4. THE FIGHTING IN SYRIA BECOMES GENERAL 235\n 5. AZIRU AND RIBADDI FIGHT TO A FINISH 239\n 6. AKHNATON CONTINUES TO REFUSE TO SEND HELP 243\n 7. AKHNATON\u2019S HEALTH GIVES WAY 246\n 8. AKHNATON\u2019S LAST DAYS AND DEATH 252\n\n\n VIII.\n\n THE FALL OF THE RELIGION OF AKHNATON.\n\n 1. THE BURIAL OF AKHNATON 258\n 2. THE COURT RETURNS TO THEBES 264\n 3. THE REIGN OF HOREMHEB 268\n 4. THE PERSECUTION OF AKHNATON\u2019S MEMORY 272\n 5. THE FINDING OF THE BODY OF AKHNATON 276\n\n\n INDEX 285\n\n\n\n\n ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n PAGE\n\n PAVEMENT DECORATION FROM THE PALACE OF AMONHOTEP III.\n (_coloured_) _Frontispiece_\n\n CEILING DECORATION FROM THE PALACE OF AMONHOTEP III.\n (_coloured_) 36\n\n THOTHMES IV. SLAYING ASIATICS 22\n\n TUAU, GRANDMOTHER OF AKHNATON 26\n\n CHEST BELONGING TO YUAA 28\n\n QUEEN TIY 30\n\n YUAA, GRANDFATHER OF AKHNATON 32\n\n AMONHOTEP-SON-OF-HAPU, THE \u201cWISE MAN\u201d OF THE COURT\n OF AMONHOTEP III. 34\n\n SITE OF THE PALACE OF QUEEN TIY 38\n\n COFFIN OF YUAA 40\n\n AMONHOTEP III. 54\n\n AKHNATON 58\n\n THE ART OF AKHNATON COMPARED WITH ARCHAIC ART 72\n\n THE ARTIST AUTA 76\n\n AKHNATON AND NEFERTITI WITH THEIR THREE DAUGHTERS 108\n\n THE HEAD OF THE MUMMY OF THOTHMES IV., THE GRANDFATHER\n OF AKHNATON 110\n\n AKHNATON DRIVING WITH HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER 130\n\n AKHNATON AND HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN 134\n\n AN EXAMPLE OF THE FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN SYRIA\n AND EGYPT 190\n\n CARVED WOODEN CHAIR, THE DESIGNS PARTLY COVERED\n WITH GOLD-LEAF 202\n\n AKHNATON. (_From a Statuette in the Louvre_) 206\n\n HEAD OF AKHNATON\u2019S DAUGHTER 208\n\n LETTER FROM RIBADDI TO THE KING OF EGYPT, REPORTING\n THE PROGRESS OF THE REBELLION UNDER AZIRU. (_British\n Museum, No. 29,801_) 234\n\n DEATH MASK OF AKHNATON 258\n\n THE TEMPLE AT LUXOR 270\n\n\n MAP OF AKHETATON, THE CITY OF THE HORIZON OF ATON\n (TEL EL AMARNA) _At end._\n\n\n\n\n \u201cHow much Akhnaton understood we cannot say, but he had certainly\n bounded forward in his views and symbolism to a position which\n we cannot logically improve upon at the present day.\u201d--PETRIE:\n \u2018History of Egypt.\u2019\n\n\n\n\n THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AKHNATON.\n\n\n\n\n INTRODUCTION.\n\n\nThe reign of Akhnaton, for seventeen years Pharaoh of Egypt (from\nB.C. 1375 to 1358), stands out as the most interesting epoch in the\nlong sequence of Egyptian history. We have watched the endless line\nof dim Pharaohs go by, each lit momentarily by the pale lamp of our\npresent knowledge, and most of them have left little impression\nupon the mind. They are so misty and far off, they have been\ndead and gone for such thousands of years, that they have almost\nentirely lost their individuality. We call out some royal name,\nand in response a vague figure passes into view, stiffly moves\nits arms, and passes again into the darkness. With one there comes\nthe muffled noise of battle; with another there is singing and\nthe sound of music; with yet another the wailing of the oppressed\ndrifts by. But at the name Akhnaton there emerges from the darkness\na figure more clear than that of any other Pharaoh, and with it\nthere comes the singing of birds, the laughter of children, and the\nscent of many flowers. For once we may look right into the mind\nof a king of Egypt and may see something of its workings; and all\nthat is there observed is worthy of admiration. Akhnaton has been\ncalled \u201cthe first individual in human history\u201d;[1] but if he is\nthus the first historical figure whose personality is known to us,\nhe is also the first of all human founders of religious doctrines.\nAkhnaton may be ranked in degree of time, and perhaps also in\ndegree of genius, as the world\u2019s first idealist; and, since in all\nancient Oriental research there never has been, and probably never\nwill be, brought before us a subject of such intellectual interest\nas this Pharaoh\u2019s religious revolution, which marks the first point\nin the study of advanced human thought, a careful consideration of\nthis short reign deserves to be made.\n\nThe following pages do not pretend to do more than acquaint the\nreader with the subject, at a time when, owing to the recent\ndiscovery of the Pharaoh\u2019s bones, some interest may have been\naroused in his career. A series of volumes have lately been issued\nby the Egypt Exploration Fund,[2] in which accurate copies are to\nbe found of the reliefs, paintings, and inscriptions upon the walls\nof the tombs of some of Akhnaton\u2019s disciples and followers. In the\nyear 1893 Professor Flinders Petrie excavated the site of the city\nwhich the Pharaoh founded, and published the results of his work\nin a volume entitled \u2018Tell el Amarna.\u2019[3] Recently Professor J. H.\nBreasted has devoted some space to a masterly study of this period\nin his \u2018History of Egypt\u2019 and \u2018Ancient Records of Egypt.\u2019[4] From\nthese publications the reader will be able to refer himself to the\nremaining literature dealing with the subject; but he should bear\nin mind that the discovery[5] of the bones of Akhnaton himself,\nwhich have shown us how old he was when he died--namely, about\ntwenty-eight years of age,--have modified many of the deductions\nthere made. Those who have travelled in Egypt will probably have\nvisited the site of Akhnaton\u2019s city, near the modern village of El\nAmarna; and in the museums of Cairo, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna,\nLeiden, and elsewhere, they will perhaps have seen some of the\nrelics of his age.\n\nDuring the last few years an extraordinary series of discoveries\nhas been made in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes.\nIn 1903 the tomb of Thothmes IV., the paternal grandfather of\nAkhnaton, was discovered; in 1905 the tomb of Yuaa and Tuau, the\nmaternal grandparents of Akhnaton, was found; in 1907 Akhnaton\u2019s\nbody was discovered in the tomb of his mother, Queen Tiy; and\nin 1908 the tomb of the Pharaoh Horemheb, one of the immediate\nsuccessors of Akhnaton, was brought to light. At all but the\nfirst of these discoveries the present writer had the pleasure\nof assisting; and a particular interest in the period was thus\nengendered, of which the following sketch, prepared during an Upper\nEgyptian summer, is an outcome. It must be understood, however,\nthat a volume written at such times as the exigencies of official\nwork allowed--partly in the shade of the rocks beside the Nile,\npartly at railway-stations or in the train, partly amidst the ruins\nof ancient temples, and partly in the darkened rooms of official\nquarters--cannot claim the value of a treatise prepared in an\nEnglish study where books of reference are always at hand. It is\nhoped, however, that no errors have been made in the statement of\nthe facts; and the deductions drawn therefrom are frankly open to\nthe reader\u2019s criticism. There will certainly be no two opinions\nas to the acknowledgment of the originality, the power, and the\nidealism of the Pharaoh whose life is now to be outlined.[6]\n\n\n\n\n I.\n\n THE PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS OF AKHNATON.\n\n\n 1. THE ANCESTORS OF AKHNATON.\n\nThe Eighteenth Dynasty of Egyptian kings took possession of the\nthrone of the Pharaohs in the year 1580 B.C., over thirteen hundred\nyears after the buildings of the great pyramids, and some two\nthousand years after the beginning of dynastic history in the\nNile Valley. The founder of the dynasty was the Pharaoh Aahmes I.\nHe drove out the Asiatics who had overrun the country during the\nprevious century, and pursued them into the heart of Syria. His\nsuccessor, Amonhotep I., penetrated as far as the territory between\nthe Orontes and the Euphrates; and the next king, Thothmes I., was\nable to set his boundary-stone at the northern limits of Syria, and\nthus could call himself the ruler of the entire east end of the\nMediterranean, the emperor of all the countries from Asia Minor to\nthe Sudan. Thothmes II., the succeeding Pharaoh, was occupied with\nwars in his southern dominions; but his successor, the famous Queen\nHatshepsut, was able to devote the years of her reign to the arts\nof peace.\n\nShe was followed by the great warrior Thothmes III., who conducted\ncampaign after campaign in Syria, and raised the prestige of Egypt\nto a point never attained before or after that time. Every year he\nreturned to Thebes, his capital, laden with the spoils of Asia.\nFrom the capture of the city of Megiddo alone he carried away 924\nsplendid chariots, 2238 horses, 2400 head of various kinds of\ncattle, 200 shining suits of armour, including those of two kings,\nquantities of gold and silver, the royal sceptre, the gorgeous tent\nof one of the kings, and many minor articles. Booty of like value\nwas brought in from other shattered kingdoms, and the Egyptian\ntreasuries were full to overflowing. The temples of the gods also\nreceived their share of the riches, and their altars groaned\nunder the weight of the offerings. Cyprus, Crete, and perhaps the\nislands of the \u00c6gean, sent their yearly tribute to Thebes, whose\nstreets, for the first time in their history, were thronged with\nforeigners. Here were to be seen the long-robed Asiatics bearing\nvases fresh from the hands of Tyrian craftsmen; here were chariots\nmounted with gold and electrum drawn by prancing Syrian horses;\nhere were Ph\u0153nician merchants with their precious wares stripped\nfrom the kingdoms of the sea; here were negroes bearing their\nbarbaric treasures to the palace. The Egyptian soldiers held their\nheads high as they walked through these streets, for they were\nfeared by all the world. The talk was everywhere of conquest, and\nthe tales of adventure now related remained current in Egypt for\nmany a century. War-songs were composed, and hymns of battle were\ninscribed upon the temple walls. The spirit of the age will be seen\nin the following lines, in which the god Amon addresses Thothmes\nIII.:--\n\n \u201cI have come, giving thee to smite the princes of Zahi,\n I have hurled them beneath thy feet among their highlands....\n Thou hast trampled those who are in the districts of Punt,\n I have made them see thy majesty as a circling star....\n Crete and Cyprus are in terror....\n Those who are in the midst of the great sea hear thy roarings;\n I have made them see thy majesty as an avenger,\n Rising upon the back of his slain victim....\n I have made them see thy majesty as a fierce-eyed lion,\n While thou makest them corpses in their valleys....\u201d\n\nIt was a fierce and a splendid age--the zenith of Egypt\u2019s great\nhistory. The next king, Amonhotep II., carried on the conquests\nwith a degree of ferocity not previously apparent. He himself was\na man of great physical strength, who could draw a bow which none\nof his soldiers could use. He led his armies into his restless\nAsiatic dominions, and having captured seven rebellious Syrian\nkings, he hung them head downwards from the prow of his galley as\nhe approached Thebes, and later sacrificed six of them to Amon\nwith his own hand. The seventh he carried up to a distant city of\nthe Sudan, and there hung him upon the gateway as a warning to all\nrebels. Dying in the year 1420 B.C., he left the throne to his son,\nThothmes IV., the grandfather of Akhnaton, who at his accession\nwas about eighteen years of age.[7]\n\n\n 2. THE GODS OF EGYPT.\n\nWith the reign of Thothmes IV. we reach a period of history in\nwhich the beginnings are to be observed of certain religious\nmovements, which become more apparent in the time of his son\nAmonhotep III. and his grandson Akhnaton. We must look, therefore,\nmore closely at the events of this reign, and must especially\nobserve their religious aspect. For this reason, and also in order\nthat the reader may the more readily appreciate, by contrast, the\npure teachings of the Pharaoh whose life forms the subject of the\nfollowing pages, it will be necessary to glance at the nature of\nthe religions which now held sway. Egypt had at this time existed\nas a civilised nation for over two thousand years, during the\nwhole of which period these religious beliefs had been developing;\nand now they were so engrained in the hearts of the people that\nchanges, however slight, assumed revolutionary proportions,\nrequiring a master-mind for their initiation, and a hand of iron\nfor their carrying into execution. At the time of which we now\nwrite, this mind and this hand had not yet come into existence, and\nthe old gods of Egypt were at the zenith of their power.\n\nOf these gods Amon, the presiding deity of Thebes, was the most\npowerful. He had been originally the tribal god of the Thebans, but\nwhen that city had become the capital of Egypt, he had risen to\nbe the state god of the country. The sun-god Ra, or Ra-Horakhti,\noriginally the deity of Heliopolis, a city not far from the modern\nCairo, had been the state god in earlier times, and the priests of\nAmon contrived to identify the two deities under the name \u201cAmon-Ra,\nKing of the Gods.\u201d Amon had several forms. He was usually regarded\nas a man of shining countenance, upon whose head two tall feathers\narose from a golden cap. Sometimes, however, he assumed the form\nof a heavy-horned ram. Sometimes, again, he adopted the appearance\nof a brother god, named Min, who was later identified with the\nGreek Pan; and it may be mentioned in passing that the goat-form\nof the Greek deity may have been derived from this Min-Amon of the\nThebans. On occasions Amon would take upon himself the likeness of\nthe reigning Pharaoh, choosing a moment when the monarch was away\nor was asleep, and in this manner he would obtain admittance to the\nqueen\u2019s bed-chamber. Amonhotep III. himself was said to be the son\nof a union of this nature, though at the same time he did not deny\nthat his earthly father was Thothmes IV. Amon delighted in battle,\nand gave willing assistance to the Pharaohs as they clubbed the\nheads of their enemies or cut their throats. It is possible that,\nlike other of the Egyptian gods, he was but a deified chieftain\nof the prehistoric period whose love of battle had never been\nforgotten.\n\nThe goddess Mut, \u201cthe Mother,\u201d was the consort of Amon, who would\nsometimes come to earth to nurse the king\u2019s son at her breast. By\nAmon she had a son, Khonsu, who formed the third member of the\nTheban trinity. He was the god of the Moon, and was very fair to\nlook upon.\n\nSuch were the Theban deities, whose influence upon the court was\nnecessarily great. The Heliopolitan worship of the sun had also a\nvery considerable degree of power at the palace. The god Ra was\nbelieved to have reigned as Pharaoh upon earth in the dim ages of\nthe past, and it was thought that the successive sovereigns of\nEgypt were his direct descendants, though this tradition actually\ndid not date from a period earlier than the Fifth Dynasty. \u201cSon of\nthe Sun\u201d was one of the proudest titles of the Pharaohs, and the\npersonal name of each successive monarch was held by him in the\nofficial titulary as the representative of Ra. While on earth Ra\nhad had the misfortune to be bitten by a snake, and had been cured\nby the goddess Isis, who had demanded in return the revealing of\nthe god\u2019s magical name. This was at last told her; but for fear\nthat the secret would come to the ears of his subjects, Ra decided\nto bring about a general massacre of mankind. The slaughter was\ncarried out by the goddess Hathor in her form of Sekhmet, a fierce\nlion-headed woman, who delighted to wade in streams of blood; but\nwhen only the half of mankind had been slain, Ra repented, and\nbrought the massacre to an end by causing the goddess to become\ndrunk, by means of a gruesome potion of blood and wine. Weary,\nhowever, with the cares of state, he decided to retire into the\nheavens, and there, as the sun, he daily sailed in his boat from\nhorizon to horizon. At dawn he was called Khepera, and had the\nform of a beetle; at noon he was Ra; and at sunset he took the\nname of Atum, a word derived from the Syrian Adon, \u201cLord,\u201d better\nknown to us in its Greek translation \u201cAdonis.\u201d As the rising and\nthe setting sun--that is to say, the sun near the horizon--he was\ncalled Ra-Horakhti, a name which the reader must bear in mind.\n\nThe goddess Isis, mentioned in the above tradition, was the consort\nof Osiris, originally a Lower Egyptian deity. Like Ra, this god had\nalso reigned upon earth, but had been murdered by his brother Set,\nhis death being ultimately revenged by his son Horus, the hawk.\nThus Osiris, Isis, and Horus formed a trinity, which at this time\nwas mainly worshipped at Abydos, a city of Upper Egypt, where it\nwas thought that Osiris had been buried. Having thus ceased to\nlive upon earth, Osiris became the great King of the Underworld,\nand all persons prayed to him for their future welfare after death.\n\nMeanwhile Horus, the hawk, was the tribal god of more than one\ncity. At Edfu he was worshipped as the conqueror of Set; and in\nthis manifestation he was the husband of Hathor, the lady of\nDendereh, a city some considerable distance from Edfu. At Ombos,\nhowever, Set was worshipped, and in the local religion there was\nno trace of aught but the most friendly relations between Set and\nHorus. The goddess Hathor, at the same time, had become patron of\nthe Western Hills, and in one of her earthly forms--namely, that of\na cow--she is often seen emerging from her cavern in the cliffs.\n\nAt Memphis the tribal god was the little dwarf Ptah, the European\nVulcan, the blacksmith, the artificer, and the potter of the gods.\nIn this city also, as in many other districts of Egypt, there was\na sacred bull, here called Apis, who was worshipped with divine\nhonours and was regarded as an aspect of Ptah. At Elephantine a\nram-headed deity named Khnum was adored, and there was a sacred\nram kept in his temple for ceremonial purposes. As Khnum had some\nconnection with the First Cataract of the Nile, which is situated\nnear Elephantine, he was regarded as of some importance throughout\nEgypt. Moreover, he was supposed by some to have used the mud at\nthe bottom of the Nile to form the first human being, and thus he\nfound a place in the mythology of several districts.\n\nA vulture, named Nekheb, was the tribal deity of the trading city\nof Eileithiaspolis; a ferocious crocodile, Sebek, was the god of\na second city of the name of Ombos; an ibis, Thoth, was that of\nHermopolis; a cat, Bast, that of Bubastis; and so on--almost every\ncity having its tribal god. Besides these there were other more\nabstract deities: Nut, the heavens, who, in the form of a woman,\nspread herself across the sky; Seb, the earth; Shu, the vastness\nof space; and so forth. The old gods of Egypt were indeed a\nmultitude. Here were those who had marched into the country at the\nhead of conquering tribes; here were ancient heroes and Chieftains\nindividually deified, or often identified with the god whom their\ntribe had served; here were the elements personified; here the orbs\nof heaven which man could see above him. As intercourse between\ncity and city became more general, one set of beliefs had been\nbrought into line with another, and myths had developed to explain\nthe discrepancies. Thus in the time of Thothmes IV. the heavens\nwere crowded with gods; but standing above them all, the reader\nwill do well to familiarise himself with the figure of Amon-Ra, the\ngod of Thebes, and with Ra-Horakhti, the god of Heliopolis. In the\nfollowing pages the lesser denizens of the Egyptian Olympus play\nno great part, save as a routed army hurled back into the ignorant\ndarkness from which they came.\n\n\n 3. THE DEMIGODS AND SPIRITS--THE PRIESTHOODS.\n\nThe sacred bulls and rams mentioned above were relics of an ancient\nanimal-worship, the origin of which is lost in the obscurity of\nprehistory. The Egyptians paid homage to a variety of animals, and\nalmost every city or district possessed its particular species to\nwhich special protection was extended. At Hermopolis and in other\nparts of Egypt the baboon was sacred, as well as the ibis, which\ntypified the god Thoth. Cats were sacred both at Bubastis, where\nthe cat-goddess, Bast, resided, and in various other districts.\nCrocodiles were very generally held in reverence, and several river\nfish were thus treated. The snake was much feared and reverenced;\nand, as a pertinent example of this superstition, it may be\nmentioned that Amonhotep III., the father of Akhnaton, placed a\nfigure of the agathodemon serpent in a temple at Benha. The cobra\nwas reverenced as the symbol of Uazet, the goddess of the Delta,\nand, first used as a royal emblem by the archaic kings of that\ncountry, it became the main emblem of sovereignty in Pharaonic\ntimes. It is unnecessary here to look more closely at this aspect\nof Egyptian religion; and but a word need be said of the thousand\ndemons and spirits which, together with the gods and the sacred\nanimals, crowded the regions of the unknown. Many were the names\nwhich the magician might call upon in the hour of his need, and\nmany were the awful forms which the soul of a man who had died\nwas liable to meet. Osiris, the great god of the dead, was served\nby four such genii, and under his authority there sat no less\nthan forty-two terrible demons whose business it was to judge the\nquavering soul. The numerous gates of the underworld were guarded\nby monsters whose names alone would strike terror into the heart,\nand the unfortunate soul had to repeat endless and peculiarly\ntedious formul\u00e6 before admittance was granted.\n\nTo minister to these hosts of heaven there had of necessity to be\nvast numbers of priests. At Thebes the priesthood of Amon formed\nan organisation of such power and wealth that the actions of the\nPharaoh had largely come to be controlled by it. The High Priest\nof Amon-Ra was one of the most important personages in the land,\nand his immediate subordinates, the Second, Third, and Fourth\nPriests, as they were called, were usually nobles of the highest\nrank. The High Priest of Amon was at this period often Grand Vizir\nalso, and thus combined the highest civil appointment with the\nhighest sacerdotal office. The priesthood of Ra at Heliopolis,\nalthough of far less power than that of Amon, was also a body of\ngreat importance. The High Priest was known as \u201cthe Great One of\nVisions,\u201d and he was probably less of a politician and more of\na priest than his Theban colleague. The High Priest of Ptah at\nMemphis was called \u201cthe Great Master Artificer,\u201d Ptah being the\nVulcan of Egypt. He, however, and the many other high priests of\nthe various gods, did not rank with the two great leaders of the\nAmon and the Ra priesthoods.\n\n\n 4. THOTHMES IV. AND MUTEMUA.\n\nWhen Thothmes IV. ascended the throne he was confronted by a very\nserious political problem. The Heliopolitan priesthood at this\ntime was chafing against the power of Amon, and was striving to\nrestore the somewhat fallen prestige of its own god Ra, who in\nthe far past had been the supreme deity of Egypt, but had now to\nplay an annoying second to the Theban god. Thothmes IV., as we\nshall presently be told by Akhnaton himself,[8] did not altogether\napprove of the political character of the Amon priesthood, and it\nmay have been due to this dissatisfaction that he undertook the\nrepairing of the great Sphinx at Gizeh, which was in the care of\nthe priests of Heliopolis. The sphinx was thought to represent a\ncombination of the Heliopolitan gods Horakhti, Khepera, Ra, and\nAtum, who have been mentioned above; and, according to a later\ntradition, Thothmes IV. had obtained the throne over the heads of\nhis elder brothers through the mediation of the Sphinx--that is\nto say, through that of the Heliopolitan priests. By them he was\ncalled \u201cSon of Atum and Protector of Horakhte, ... who purifies\nHeliopolis and satisfies Ra,\u201d[9] and it seems that they looked to\nhim to restore to them their lost power. The Pharaoh, however, was\na physical weakling, whose small amount of energy was entirely\nexpended upon his army, which he greatly loved, and which he led\ninto Syria and into the Sudan. His brief reign of somewhat over\neight years, from 1420 to 1411 B.C., marks but the indecisive\nbeginnings of the struggle between Amon and Ra, which culminated in\nthe early years of the reign of his grandson Akhnaton.\n\n[Illustration: _Thothmes IV. slaying Asiatics._]\n\nSome time before he came to the throne he had married a daughter\nof the King of Mitanni, a North-Syrian state which acted as a\nbuffer between the Egyptian possessions in Syria and the hostile\nlands of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, and which it was desirable,\ntherefore, to placate by such a union. There is little doubt that\nthis princess is to be identified with the Queen Mutemua, of whom\nseveral monuments exist, and who was the mother of Amonhotep III.,\nthe son and successor of Thothmes IV. A foreign element was thus\nintroduced into the court which much altered its character, and led\nto numerous changes of a very radical nature. It may be that this\nAsiatic influence induced the Pharaoh to give further encouragement\nto the priest of Heliopolis. The god Atum, the aspect of Ra as the\nsetting sun, was, as has been said, of common origin with Aton or\nAdonis, who was largely worshipped in North Syria; and the foreign\nqueen with her retinue may have therefore felt more sympathy with\nHeliopolis than with Thebes. Moreover, it was the Asiatic tendency\nto speculate in religious questions, and the doctrines of the\npriests of the northern god were more flexible and more adaptable\nto the thinker than was the stiff, formal creed of Amon. Thus,\nthe foreign thought which had now been introduced into Egypt, and\nespecially into the palace, may have contributed somewhat to the\ndissatisfaction with the state religion which becomes apparent\nduring this reign.\n\nVery little is known of the character of Thothmes IV., and\nnothing which bears upon that of his grandson Akhnaton is to be\nascertained. Although of feeble health and unmanly physique, he was\na fond upholder of the martial dignity of Egypt. He delighted to\nhonour the memory of those Pharaohs of the past who had achieved\nthe greatest fame as warriors. Thus he restored the monuments of\nThothmes III., of Aahmes I., and of Senusert III.,[10] the three\ngreatest military leaders of Egyptian history. As a decoration for\nhis chariot there were scenes representing him trampling upon his\nfoes; and when he died many weapons of war were buried with him.\nOf Queen Mutemua\u2019s character nothing is known; and the attention\nof the reader may at once be carried on to Akhnaton\u2019s maternal\ngrandparents, the father and mother of Queen Tiy.\n\n\n 5. YUAA AND TUAU.\n\nSomewhere about the year 1470 B.C., while the great Thothmes III.\nwas campaigning in Syria, the child was born who was destined to\nbecome the grandfather of the most remarkable of all the Pharaohs\nof Egypt. Neither the names of the parents nor the place of birth\nare known; and the reader will presently find that it is not easy\nto say whether the child was an Egyptian or a foreigner. His name\nis written Aau, Aay, Aai, Ayu, A-aa, Yaa, Yau, and most commonly\nYuaa; and this variety of spelling seems rather to indicate that\nits pronunciation, being foreign, did not permit of a correct\nrendering in Egyptian letters. He must have been some twenty years\nof age when Thothmes III. died; and thus it is quite possible that\nhe was one of those Syrian princes whom the Pharaoh brought back\nto Egypt from the courts of Asia to be educated in the Egyptian\nmanner. Some of these hostages who were not direct heirs to Syrian\nthrones may have taken up their permanent residence on the banks\nof the Nile, where it is certain that a fair number of their\ncountrymen were settled for business and other purposes. During the\nreign of Amonhotep II., Yuaa must have passed the prime years of\nhis life, and at that king\u2019s death he had probably reached about\nthe forty-fifth year of his age. He had married a woman called\nby the common Egyptian name of Tuau, regarding whose nationality\nthere is, therefore, not much question. Two children were born\nof the marriage, the first a boy who was named Aanen, and the\nsecond a girl named Tiy, who later became the great queen. Tiy was\nprobably a little girl some two years old when Thothmes IV. came\nto the throne, and as her parents both held appointments at court,\nshe must have presently received those first impressions of royal\nluxury which influenced her childhood and her whole life.\n\n[Illustration: _Tuau, grandmother of Akhnaton._]\n\nAt this time Yuaa held the sacerdotal office of Priest of Min, one\nof the most ancient of the Egyptian gods. Min, who had many of\nthe characteristics of, and was later identified with, the Greek\nPan, was worshipped at three or four cities of Upper Egypt, and\nthroughout the Eastern Desert to the Red Sea coast. He was the god\nof fecundity, fertility, generation, reproduction, and the like,\nin the human, animal, and vegetable worlds. In his form of Min-Ra\nhe was a god of the sun, whose fertilising rays made pregnant the\nwhole earth. He was more noble than the Greek Pan, and represented\nthe pristine desires of lawful reproduction in the family, rather\nthan the erotic instincts for which the Greek god was famous.\nWere one to compare him with any of the gods of the countries\nneighbouring to Egypt, he would be found to have as much likeness\nto the above-mentioned Adonis, who in North Syria was a god of\nvegetation, as to any other deity. This fact offers food for some\nthought, for if Yuaa was a foreigner, hailing, as may be supposed,\nfrom Syria, there would have been no Egyptian god, except Atum,\nto whose service he would have attached himself so readily as to\nthat of Min. Although a tribal god, Min was not essentially the\nprotector and upholder of Egyptian rights and Egyptian prejudices.\nHe was, in one form or another, universal; and he must have\nappealed to the sense and the senses of Syrian and Egyptian alike.\n\nAt this time, as we have seen, the priests of Amon, whose wealth\nhad brought corruption in its train, were under the cloud of royal\ndispleasure, and the court was beginning to display a desire to\nrid itself of an influence which was daily becoming less exalted.\nIt may be that Yuaa, upholding the doctrines of Min and of Adonis,\nhad some connection with this movement, for he was now a personage\nof considerable importance at the palace. He may have already held\nthe title of Prince or Duke, by which he is called in his funeral\ninscriptions; and one may suppose that he was a favourite of the\nyoung king, Thothmes IV., and of his wife, Queen Mutemua, whose\nblood was soon to unite with his own in the person of Akhnaton.\nWhen Thothmes IV. died at the age of twenty-six, and his son\nAmonhotep III., a boy of twelve years of age, came to the throne,\nYuaa was a man of over fifty, and his little daughter Tiy was a\ngirl of marriageable age according to Egyptian ideas, being about\nten years old.[11]\n\n[Illustration: _Chest belonging to Yuaa._]\n\nThe court at this time was more or less under the influence of\nthe now Queen-Regent Mutemua and her advisers, for Amonhotep III.\nwas still too young to be allowed to go entirely his own way,\nand amongst those advisers it seems evident that Yuaa was to be\nnumbered. Now the boy-king had not been on the throne more than a\nyear, if as much, when, with feasting and ceremony, he was married\nto Tiy; and Yuaa and Tuau became the proud parents-in-law of the\nPharaoh.\n\nIt is necessary to consider the significance of the marriage.\nThe royal pair were the merest children; and it is impossible\nto suppose that the marriage was not arranged for them by their\nguardians. If Amonhotep at this early age had simply fallen in love\nwith this girl, with whom probably he had been brought up, he, no\ndoubt, would have insisted on marrying her, and she would have been\nplaced in his _har\u00eem_. But she became his Great Queen, was placed\non the throne beside him, and received honours which no other queen\nof the most royal blood had ever received before. It is clear that\nthe king\u2019s advisers would never have permitted this had Tiy been\nbut the pretty daughter of a noble of the court. There must have\nbeen something in her parentage which entitled her to these honours\nand caused her to be chosen deliberately as queen.\n\nThere are several possibilities. Tuau may have had royal blood in\nher veins, and may have been, for instance, the granddaughter of\nThothmes III., to whom she bears some likeness in face. Queen Tiy\nis often called \u201cRoyal Daughter\u201d as well as \u201cRoyal Wife\u201d; and it is\npossible that this is to be taken literally. In a letter sent by\nDushratta, King of Mitanni, to Akhnaton, Tiy is called \u201cmy sister\nand thy mother\u201d; and though it is possible that the word \u201csister\u201d\nis here used to indicate the general cousinship of royalty, it\nis more probable that some real connection is meant, for other\nrelationships, such as \u201cdaughter,\u201d \u201cwife,\u201d and \u201cfather-in-law,\u201d\nare precisely stated in the letter. Yuaa may have been indirectly\nof royal Egyptian blood, or he may have been, as we have seen,\nthe offspring of some Syrian royal house, such as that of Mitanni,\nrelated by marriage with the Pharaoh; and thus Tiy may have had\nsome distant claim to the throne, and Dushratta would have had\nreason for calling her his sister. Queen Tiy, however, has so often\nbeen called a foreigner for reasons which have now been shown to be\nquite erroneous that we must be cautious in adopting any of these\npossibilities. It has been stated that her face is North-Syrian\nin type,[12] and, as the portrait upon which this statement is\nbased is, in all features except the nose, reminiscent of Yuaa,\nthat noble would also resemble the people of that country; and in\nthis connection it must be remembered that the marriage of Tiy\nand Amonhotep took place under the regency of Mutemua, herself\nprobably a North-Syrian princess. Be this as it may, however, the\ntwo children, not yet in their \u2019teens, ruled Egypt together, and\nYuaa and Tuau stood behind the throne to advise them.\n\n[Illustration: _Queen Tiy._]\n\nTuau now included amongst her titles those of \u201cRoyal Handmaid,\u201d or\nlady-in-waiting, \u201cthe favoured-one of Hathor,\u201d \u201cthe favourite of\nthe King,\u201d and \u201cthe Royal mother of the great wife of the King,\u201d a\ntitle which may indicate that she was of royal blood. Amongst the\ntitles of Yuaa one may mention those of \u201cMaster of the Horse and\nChariot-Captain of the King,\u201d \u201cthe favourite, excellent above all\nfavourites,\u201d and \u201cthe mouth and ears of the King,\u201d--that is to say,\nhis agent and adviser. He was a personage of commanding presence,\nwhose powerful character showed itself in his face. One must\npicture him now as a tall man, with a fine shock of white hair; a\ngreat hooked nose, like that of a Syrian; full, strong lips; and\na prominent, determined jaw. He has the face of an ecclesiastic,\nand there is something about his mouth which reminds one of the\nlate Pope, Leo XIII. One feels, in looking at his well-preserved\nfeatures, that here perhaps may be found the originator of the\ngreat religious movement which his daughter and grandson carried\ninto execution.\n\n[Illustration: _Yuaa, grandfather of Akhnaton._]\n\n\n 6. AMONHOTEP III. AND HIS COURT.\n\nBesides Yuaa and Tuau and the Queen-Dowager Mutemua, there was\na certain noble, named Amonhotep-son-of-Hapu, who may have\nexercised considerable influence upon the young Pharaoh. So good\nand wise a man was he, that in later times he was regarded almost\nas a divinity, and his sayings were treasured from generation\nto generation. It may be that he furthered the cause of the\nHeliopolitan priesthood against that of Amon; and it is to be\nobserved in this connection that, in the inscription engraved upon\nhis statue, he refers to the Pharaoh as the \u201cheir of Atum\u201d and\nthe \u201cfirst-born son of Horakhti,\u201d those being the Heliopolitan\ngods. When, presently, a daughter was born to Tiy, who was named\nSetamon, this philosopher was given the honorary post of \u201cSteward\u201d\nto the princess; while at the same time he filled the office of\nMinister of Public Works, and held various court appointments. At\nthis period, when religious speculation was beginning to be freely\nindulged in, the influence of a \u201cwise man\u201d of this character\nwould necessarily be great; and should any of his sayings come to\nlight, they will perhaps be found to bear upon the subject of the\nreligious changes which were now taking place. A late tradition\ntells us that this Amonhotep had warned the Pharaoh that if he\nwould see the true God he must drive from his kingdom all impure\npersons; and herein one may perhaps observe some reference to the\ncorrupt priests of Amon, whose ejection from their offices was\ndaily becoming more necessary.\n\n[Illustration: _Amonhotep-son-of-Hapu, the \u201cwise man\u201d of the Court\nof Amonhotep III._]\n\nAt the time of which we write Egypt still remained at that height\nof power to which the military skill of Thothmes III. had raised\nher. The Kings of Palestine and Syria were tributaries to the\nyoung Pharaoh; the princes of the sea-coast cities sent their\nyearly impost to Thebes; Cyprus, Crete, and even the Greek islands,\nwere Egyptianised; Sinai and the Red Sea coast as far south as\nSomaliland were included in the Pharaoh\u2019s dominions; and the\nnegro tribes of the Sudan were his slaves. Egypt was indeed the\ngreatest state in the world, and Thebes was a metropolis at which\nthe ambassadors, the merchants, and the artisans from these\nvarious countries met together. Here they could look upon buildings\nundreamed of in their own lands, and could participate in luxuries\nunknown even in Babylon. The wealth of Egypt was so enormous that\na foreign sovereign who wrote to the Pharaoh asking for gold\nmentioned that it could not be considered as anything more valuable\nthan so much dust by an Egyptian. Golden vases in vast quantities\nadorned the tables of the king and his nobles, and hundreds of\ngolden vessels of different kinds were used in the temples.\n\nThe splendour and gaiety of the court at Thebes remind one of the\ntales from the Arabian Nights. One reads of banquets, of splendid\nfestivals on the water, of jubilee celebrations, and of hunting\nparties. When the scenes depicted on the monuments are gathered\ntogether in the mind, and the ruins which are left are there\nreconstructed, a life of the most intense brilliancy is shown. This\nwas rather a development of the period than a condition of things\nwhich had been derived from an earlier _r\u00e9gime_. The Egyptians\nhad always been a happy, light-hearted people; but it was the\nconquests of Thothmes III. that had given them the security and\nthe wealth to live as luxuriously as they pleased. The tendency of\nthe nation was now to break away from the old, hardy traditions of\nthe earlier periods of Egyptian history; and virtually no other\nbody, except the priesthood of Amon, held them down to ancient\nconventionalities. But while the king and his court made merry\nand amused themselves in sumptuous fashion, that god Amon and his\nrepresentatives towered over them like some sombre bogie, holding\nthem to a religion which they considered to be obsolete, and\nclaiming its share of royal wealth.\n\n[Illustration: CEILING DECORATION FROM THE PALACE OF AMONHOTEP III.]\n\nAbout the time of his marriage Amonhotep built a palace on the\nwestern bank of the Nile, on the edge of the desert under the\nTheban hills, and here Queen Tiy held her brilliant court. The\npalace was a light but roomy structure of brick and costly woods,\nexquisitely decorated with paintings on stucco, and embellished\nwith delicate columns. Along one side ran a balcony on which were\nrugs and many-coloured cushions, and here the king and queen could\nsometimes be seen by their subjects. Gardens surrounded the\npalace, almost at the gates of which rose the splendid hills. On\nthe eastern side of the building the king later constructed a huge\npleasure-lake especially for the amusement of Tiy. The mounds of\nearth which were thrown up during its excavation were purposely\nformed into irregular hills, and these were covered with trees and\nflowers. Here the queen floated in her barge, which, in honour of\nthe Heliopolitan god, she called \u201cAton-gleams\u201d; and as she watched\nthe reflections of the hills and the trees in the still water, she\nmay well have imagined herself in those fair lands of Syria from\nwhich Aton or Adonis had come.\n\nThe name Aton was Syrian. The setting sun, as we have seen, was\ncalled in Egypt Atum, which was derived from the Asiatic Adon or\nAton; and it is now that we first find the word introduced into\nEgypt as a synonym of Ra-Horakhti-Khepera-Atum of Heliopolis.\nPresently we find that one of the Pharaoh\u2019s regiments of soldiers\nis named after this god Aton, and here and there the word now\noccurs upon the monuments. Thus, gradually, the court was bringing\na new-named deity into prominence, closely related to the gods\nof Heliopolis; and it may be supposed that the priesthood of Amon\nwatched the development with considerable perturbation. The Pharaoh\nhimself does not seem to have worried very considerably with regard\nto these religious matters. He was, it seems, a man addicted to\npleasure, whose interests lay as much in the hunting-field as in\nthe palace. He loved to boast that during the first ten years of\nhis reign he had slain 102 lions; but as he was a mere boy when he\nfirst indulged in this form of sport, it is to be presumed that his\nnobles assisted him handsomely in the slaughter on each occasion.\nIn one day he is reported to have killed fifty-six wild cattle, and\na score more fell to him a few days later; but here again one may\nsuppose that the glory and not the deed was his.\n\n[Illustration: _Site of the Palace of Queen Tiy._]\n\nIn the fifth year of his reign he led an expedition into the\nSudan to chastise some tribe which had rebelled, and he records\nwith pride the slaughter which he had made. It is stated that\nthese negroes \u201chad been haughty, and great things were in their\nhearts; but the fierce-eyed lion, this prince, he slew them by the\ncommand of Amon-Atum.\u201d It is interesting to notice that Atum is\nthus brought into equal prominence with Amon, and one may see from\nthis the trend of public opinion.\n\nAt this time the Vizir, a certain Ptahmes, held also the office of\nHigh Priest of Amon; but when he died he was not succeeded in his\nduties as Vizir by the new head of the Amon priesthood, as was to\nbe expected. The Pharaoh appointed a noble named Rames as his prime\nminister, and thus separated the civil and the religious power:\na step which again shows us something of the movement which was\nsteadily diminishing the power of Amon.\n\nQueen Tiy seems to have borne several daughters to the king, and\nit is possible that she had also presented him with a son. But,\nif this is so, he had died in early childhood, and no heir to\nthe throne was now living. It may have been partly due to this\nfact that Amonhotep, in the tenth year of his reign, married\nthe Princess Kirgipa or Gilukhipa, daughter of the King of\nMitanni, and probably niece of the Dowager-Queen Mutemua.[13] The\nprincess came to Egypt in considerable state, bringing with her\n317 ladies-in-waiting; but she seems to have been thrust into\nthe background by Tiy, who, even in the official record of the\nmarriage, is called the king\u2019s chief wife. The marriage may have\nbeen purely political, as was that of Thothmes IV.; and there is\ncertainly no record of any children born to Gilukhipa. She and\nher ladies but added a further foreign element to the life of the\npalace, and swelled the numbers of those who had no sympathy with\nthe old gods of Thebes.\n\n[Illustration: _Coffin of Yuaa._]\n\nIt must have been somewhere about the year 1390 B.C. that Tiy\u2019s\naged father, Yuaa, died; and Tuau soon followed him to the grave.\nThey were buried in a fine sepulchre in the Valley of the Tombs\nof the Kings at Thebes; and if they are not to be considered as\nroyal, this will have been the first time that persons not of royal\nblood had been buried in a tomb of large size in this valley.\nA quantity of funeral furniture was placed around the splendid\ncoffins in which their mummies lay, and amongst this there were\na few objects which evidently had been presented by the bereaved\nking and queen and by the young princesses, Setamon and another\nwhose name is now lost. Yuaa and his wife had evidently been much\nbeloved at the court, and as the parents of the great queen they\nhad commanded the respect of all men. To us they are remarkable as\nthe grandparents of that great teacher, Akhnaton, whose birth has\nnow to be recorded.\n\n\n\n\n II.\n\n THE BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS OF AKHNATON.\n\n\n 1. THE BIRTH OF AKHNATON.\n\nIt has been seen that Queen Tiy presented several children to the\nking; but it was not until they had reigned some twenty-five or\ntwenty-six years that the future monarch was born. As the years\nhad passed the queen must have grown more and more anxious for a\nson, and many must have been the prayers she offered up that a\nmale child might be vouchsafed to her. In Egypt at the present\nday the desire to bear a son holds dominion in the heart of every\nyoung woman; and those to whom this privilege has not been granted\nforsake the laws of the prophet and still lay their passionate\nappeal before the old gods. The present writer was asked recently\nby a young peasant to allow his wife to walk round the outer wall\nof an ancient temple, in order that she might perchance bear a male\nchild thereafter; and on another occasion three young women were\nseen sliding down the plinth of an overturned statue of Rameses\nthe Great for the same purpose. With similar emotion, though with\ngreater intelligence, Queen Tiy must have turned in her grief from\none god to another, promising them all manner of gifts if they\nwould grant her desire. To Ra-Horakhti Aton she appears to have\nturned with the most confidence; and perhaps, as will presently\nbe seen, she vowed that if a son were granted to her she would\ndedicate him to the service of that god.\n\nIt is probable that the little prince first saw the light in the\nroyal palace at Thebes, which was situated on the edge of the\ndesert at the foot of the western hills. It was, as has been said,\nan extensive building, lightly constructed and gaily decorated.\nThe ceilings and pavements of its halls were fantastically painted\nwith scenes of animal life: wild cattle ran through reedy swamps\nbeneath the royal feet, and there many-coloured fish swam in the\nwater; while overhead flights of pigeons, white against a blue sky,\npassed across the hall, and wild duck hastened towards the open\ncasements. Through curtained doorways one might obtain glimpses of\nthe garden planted with flowers foreign to Egypt; and on the east\nof the palace shone the great pleasure-lake, surrounded by the\ntrees of Asia.\n\nIn all the world there are few places more beautiful than the site\nof this palace. Here one may sit for many an hour watching the\nchanging colours on the wonderful cliffs, the pink and the yellow\nof the rocks standing out from the blue and the purple of the deep\nshadows. In the fields which now surround the ruined palace, where\nthe royal gardens were laid out, one obtains an impression of\ncolour, of beauty, and of gaiety--if it can be so expressed--which\nis not easily equalled. The continuous sunshine and the bracing\nwind render one intensely awake to natural joys; and here, indeed,\nwas a fitting birthplace, one feels, for a king who taught his\npeople to study the beauties of nature.\n\n\n 2. THE RISE OF ATON.\n\nThe little prince was named Amonhotep,[14] \u201cthe Peace-of-Amon,\u201d\nafter his father; but though the supremacy of Amon was thus\nacknowledged, the Heliopolitan deity appears to have been\nconsidered as the protector of the young boy. While the luxurious\ncourt rejoiced at the birth of their future king, one feels that\nthe ancient priesthood of Amon-Ra must have looked askance at the\nbaby who was destined one day to be their master. This priesthood\nstill demanded implicit obedience to its stiff and ancient\nconventions, and it refused to recognise the growing tendency\ntowards religious speculation.\n\nProbably stronger measures would have been taken by it to resist\nthe growing power of Ra-Horakhti, had it not been for the fact that\nRa was also a form of Amon, and had been identified with him under\nthe name of Amon-Ra. The god Amon was originally but the local\ndeity of Thebes; and, when the Theban Pharaohs of the Eighteenth\nDynasty had elevated him to the position of the state god of all\nEgypt, they made him acceptable to the various provinces, as we\nhave seen, by pointing to his identification with Ra, the sun-god,\nwho, under one form or another, found a place in every temple and\nheld high rank in every variety of mythology. As Amon-Ra he was\nable to be appreciated by the sun-worshippers of Syria and by those\nof Nubia, for there were few races who would not do homage to the\ngreat giver of warmth and light.\n\nIt is possible that those more thoughtful members of the court\nwho were quietly attempting to undermine the influence of the\npriesthood of Amon, and who were beginning to carry into execution\nthe schemes of emancipation which we have already noticed, now\nendeavoured to strip Amon of his association with the sun; for\nthat identity was really his simple claim to acceptance by any\nbut Thebans. The priesthood, on their part, it may be supposed,\ndrew as much attention as possible to the connection of their\ndeity with Ra; for they knew that none but the Heliopolitan god\ncould be advanced with success as a rival of Amon by those who\ndesired to overthrow the Theban god. Thus one finds that the High\nPriest of Ra at Heliopolis was given, and was obliged to accept,\nthe honorary office of Second Priest of Amon at Thebes,[15] which\nat once placed him under the thumb of the Theban High Priest. The\npropounders of the new thought, however, met this move by bringing\ninto greater prominence the claims, not of Ra-Horakhti, but of\nAton, which was merely a more elusive form of the sun-god. The\npriesthood of Amon had always checked the individual growth of\nRa-Horakhti by regarding him simply as an aspect of Ra, and hence\nof Amon-Ra. One of the essential features of the new movement was\nthe regarding of Ra as an aspect of Ra-Horakhti, and the calling\nof Ra-Horakhti by the uncontaminated name of Aton. Aton, in fact,\nwas originally introduced into the matter largely for the purpose\nof preventing any identification between Amon-Ra and Ra-Horakhti.\nSoon the name of Aton, entirely supplanting that of Atum, was heard\nwith some frequency at Thebes and elsewhere, but always, it must\nbe remembered, as another word for Ra-Horakhti.\n\nThe desire of the court for a change of religion is understandable.\nThe cult of the god Amon, as has been said, was so hedged about\nwith conventionalities that free thought was impossible. We have\nseen, however, that the upper classes were passing through a phase\nof religious speculation, and they were ready to revolt against the\ndomination of a priesthood which forbade criticism. The worship of\nthe intangible power of the sun, under the name of Aton, offered\nendless possibilities for the exercise of those tendencies towards\nthe abstract which were now beginning to be felt all over the\ncivilised world. This was man\u2019s first age of philosophical thought,\nand for the first time in history the gods were being endued with\nideal qualities.\n\nApart from all questions of religion, the priesthood of Amon had\nobtained such power and wealth that it was a very serious menace\nto the dignity of the throne. The great organisation which had its\nheadquarters at Karnak had become an incubus which weighed heavily\nupon the state. For political reasons alone, therefore, it was\ndesirable to push the priests of Heliopolis into a more prominent\nposition.\n\nThere was, moreover, a third consideration. The god Aton, with\nwhom Ra and Ra-Horakhti were now being identified, was, we have\nseen, originally the same as the Syrian and Greek Adonis, the word\n\u201cAdon\u201d or \u201cAton\u201d meaning simply \u201clord.\u201d Thus the propounders of the\nnew doctrines must have dreamt of an Egypto-Syrian empire bound\ntogether by the ties of a common religion. With one god understood\nand worshipped from the cataracts of the Nile to the distant\nEuphrates, what power could destroy the empire?\n\n\n 3. THE POWER OF QUEEN TIY.\n\nIn Amonhotep III. one may see the lazy, speculative Oriental, too\nopinionated and too vain to bear with the stiff routine of his\nfathers, and yet too lacking in energy to formulate a new religion.\nOn the other hand, there is every reason to suppose that Queen\nTiy possessed the ability to impress the claims of the new thought\nupon her husband\u2019s mind, and gradually to turn his eyes, and those\nof the court, away from the sombre worship of Amon, \u201cthe unknown\ngod,\u201d into the direction of the brilliant cult of the sun. Those\nwho have travelled in Egypt will realise how completely the land\nis dominated by the sun. The blue skies, the shining rocks, the\ngolden desert, the verdant fields, all seem to cry out for joy of\nthe sunshine. The extraordinary energy which one may feel in Egypt\nat sunrise, and the deep melancholy which sometimes accompanies the\nred nightfall, must have been felt by Tiy also in her palace at\nThebes.\n\nAs the years passed the power and influence of Queen Tiy increased;\nand now that she had borne a son to the king there was added to\nher great position as royal wife the equally great _r\u00f4le_ of\nroyal mother. Never before had a queen been so freely represented\non all the king\u2019s monuments, nor had so fine a series of titles\nbeen given before to the wife of a Pharaoh. At Sed\u00eanga, far up in\nthe Sudan, her husband erected a temple for her; and in distant\nSinai a beautiful portrait head of her was recently found. All\nvisitors to Thebes have seen her figures by the side of the legs of\nthe two great colossi at the edge of the Western Desert; and the\nhuge statues of herself and her husband, now in the Cairo Museum,\nwill have been seen by those who have visited that collection. Of\nGrilukhipa,[16] however, and the king\u2019s other wives, one hears\nnothing at all: Queen Tiy relegated them to the background almost\nbefore their marriage ceremonies were over.\n\nBy the time that Amonhotep III. had reigned for thirty years or\nso, he had ceased to give much attention to state affairs, and\nthe power had almost entirely passed into the capable hands of\nTiy. Already an influence, which we may presume to have been to a\nlarge extent hers, was being felt in many directions: Ra-Horakhti\nand Aton were being brought into the foreground, a tone of\nthought which can hardly be regarded as purely Egyptian was being\ndeveloped, the art was undergoing modifications and had risen to a\npitch of excellence never attained before or after. The exquisite\nlow-reliefs of the end of the reign of Amonhotep III.--for example,\nthose to be seen at Thebes in the tombs of Khaemhat and Rames,[17]\nboth of which are definitely dated to the close of the reign--stir\none almost as do the works of the early Florentine masters. There\nis an elusive grace in the dainty figures there sculptured, which,\nthrough another medium and under other laws of convention, cause\nthem to appeal with the same force of indefinable sweetness as do\nthe figures in the works of Filipino Lippi and Botticelli. In the\nmass of Egyptian painting and sculpture of secondary importance\nsuch gems as these have been overlooked and have not been\nappreciated by the public; but the present writer ventures to think\nthat some day they will set the heart of all art-lovers dancing as\ndanced those of Queen Tiy\u2019s great masters.\n\nThe court in which the little prince passed his earliest years was\nmore brilliant than ever it had been before, and Queen Tiy presided\nover scenes of indescribable splendour. Amonhotep III. has been\ntruly called \u201cthe Magnificent\u201d; and at no period, save that of\nThothmes III., were the royal treasuries so full or the nobles so\nwealthy. Out of a pageant of festivities, from amidst the noise\nof song and laughter, the little sad-eyed prince first emerges on\nto the stage of history, led by the hand of Queen Tiy; but as he\nappears before us, above the clink of the golden wine-bowls, above\nthe sound of the timbrels, one seems to hear the lilt of a more\nsimple song, and the peaceful singing of a lark.\n\n\n 4. AKHNATON\u2019S MARRIAGE.\n\nDuring the last years of his reign the Pharaoh, although well under\nfifty years of age,[18] seems to have suffered from permanent\nill-health. On two occasions the King of Mitanni sent to Egypt a\nmiracle-working statuette of the goddess Ishtar, apparently in the\nhope that Amonhotep might be cured of his illness by it. It is\nprobable that the king had never been a very strong man. Having\nbeen born when his father--himself extremely delicate--was but\na child, he had had little chance of enjoying a robust middle\nage, and he passed on to his children this inherent weakness. One\nhears no more of his daughters,[19] whom we have seen mourning for\ntheir grandparents Yuaa and Tuau, and there is some likelihood\nthat they died young. The little Prince Amonhotep was already\ndeveloping constitutional weaknesses which rendered his life very\nprecarious. His skull was misshapen, and he must have been subject\nto occasional epileptic fits. And now Queen Tiy gave birth to a\ndaughter, who was named Baketaton in honour of the new god, and who\nseems to have lived less than a score of years, since nothing more\nis heard of her after her twelfth or thirteenth year.\n\n[Illustration: _Amonhotep III._]\n\nAs Amonhotep, at the age of forty-eight or forty-nine, felt his\nend approaching, he seems to have shown considerable anxiety in\nregard to the succession. Here was his only son--now a boy of ten\nor eleven years of age--in so sad a state of health that he could\nnot be expected to live to manhood, and in the event of his\ndeath the throne would be without an occupant in the direct line.\nObviously it was necessary that he should be married as soon as\npossible, in order that he might become a father as early as that\nwas naturally possible. Amonhotep III. himself had been married to\nTiy when he was about twelve years of age, and his father Thothmes\nIV. had likewise been married at that early age.[20] The little\nPrince Amonhotep should, therefore, also be given a wife at once;\nand the Pharaoh now began to look around for a suitable consort\nfor him. He had heard that Dushratta, King of Mitanni, had a small\ndaughter who was said to be a comely maiden; but it appears that\nshe was only eight or nine years of age,[21] and therefore could\nnot be expected to provide an heir for at least another four years.\nNevertheless there were many political reasons for proposing the\nunion. Mitanni was, as we have seen, the buffer state between\nthe Pharaoh\u2019s Syrian possessions and the lands of the Hittites\nand of the Mesopotamians. Thothmes IV. had asked a bride from\nMitanni, and Amonhotep III. himself had obtained Gilukhipa from\nthence, if not Queen Tiy also: both these being probably political\nmatches, designed for the welfare of the Syrian empire. The Pharaoh\ntherefore decided upon this marriage for his sickly son, and sent\nan embassy to Dushratta to negotiate the union between these two\nchildren.\n\nThe reply of Dushratta has, fortunately, been preserved to us. The\nMitannian king acknowledges the arrival of the envoy, and is much\nrejoiced at this further binding together of the two countries. In\na subsequent letter it is evident that the princess has already\nbeen sent to Egypt, and we are led to suppose that Prince Amonhotep\nhas at once been married to her. The little princess was named\nTadukhipa, but on her arrival in Egypt she was renamed Nefertiti.\nHer age, as mentioned above, is apparent from the fact that,\nalthough in after life she gave birth to children at very regular\nintervals, her first child was not born until nearly five years\nafter her marriage.[22] So young was she that she did not at once\ncohabit with the prince, but was put under the care of a certain\nlady of the court named Ty, the wife of a noble of the name of Ay,\nwho afterwards usurped the throne. This lady Ty called herself in\nlater years \u201cgreat nurse and nourisher of the Queen,\u201d and Ay always\ncalled himself the king\u2019s father-in-law (_neter at_). It would thus\nseem that they had become the actual foster-parents of the little\nSyrian girl. It was not at all unusual in Egypt for a child to be\nadopted thus; and it is a curious fact that if a woman gave the\nbreast to a child of any age but for a moment, or if a man placed\nhis finger in the child\u2019s mouth, a formal adoption was considered\nto have been made.[23]\n\nThe court had hardly settled down after the celebration of the\nmarriage of Amonhotep and Tadukhipa-Nefertiti, when it was thrown\ninto mourning by the death of Amonhotep \u201cthe Magnificent,\u201d which\noccurred in the thirty-sixth year of his reign. Queen Tiy at\nonce assumed control of state affairs, on behalf of her barely\neleven-year-old son, who as Amonhotep IV. now ascended the throne\nof the Pharaohs.\n\n\n 5. THE ACCESSION OF AKHNATON.\n\nOn coming to the throne the young king fixed his titulary in the\nfollowing manner:--\n\n Mighty Bull, Lofty of Plumes; Favourite of the Two Goddesses,\n Great in Kingship in Karnak; Golden Hawk, Wearer of Diadems\n in the Southern Heliopolis; King of Upper and Lower Egypt,\n Beautiful-is-the-Being-of-Ra, the Only-One-of-Ra; Son of the\n Sun, Peace-of-Amon (Amonhotep), Divine Ruler of Thebes; Great in\n Duration, Living for Ever and Ever, Beloved of Amon-Ra, Lord of\n Heaven.\n\nThese titles were drawn up on more or less prescribed lines, and\nconformed to the old custom of the Pharaohs. Like his ancestors,\nhe was called \u201cBeloved of Amon-Ra,\u201d although, as we have seen, the\npower of that god was already much undermined. To counterbalance\nthis reference to the god of Thebes, however, one finds the\nsurprising title--\n\n High Priest of Ra-Horakhti, rejoicing in the horizon in his name,\n \u201cHeat-which-is-in-Aton.\u201d\n\nLet the boy be said to be beloved of Amon-Ra till the walls of\nThebes reverberate with the cry; let Amon-Ra be called Lord of\nHeaven till the priestly heralds can shout no more: the doom of the\ngod of Thebes cannot now be averted, for the reigning Pharaoh is\ndedicated to another god.\n\n[Illustration: _Akhnaton._]\n\nIt is obvious that a boy of eleven years of age could not himself\nhave claimed the office of the High Priest of Ra-Horakhti.\nQueen Tiy and her advisers must have deliberately endowed the\nyouthful king with this office, largely in order to set the seal\nupon the fate of Amon. There were, perhaps, other reasons why\nthis remarkable step was decided upon. It may be, as has been\nsaid, that the queen, before the birth of her son, had vowed him\nto Ra-Horakhti. Again, the boy was epileptic, was subject to\nhallucinations; and it may be that while in this condition he had\nseen visions or uttered words which led his mother to believe\nhim to be the chosen one of the Heliopolitan god, whose name the\nprince must have been constantly hearing. In a palace where the\nmystical \u201cHeat-which-is-in-Aton,\u201d which was the new elaboration of\nthe god\u2019s name, was being daily invoked, and where the youthful\nmaster of Egypt was constantly falling into what appeared to be\nholy frenzy, it is not unlikely that the rising deity would be\nconnected with the eccentricities of the young Pharaoh. The High\nPriest of Ra-Horakhti was always called \u201cThe Great of Visions,\u201d and\nwas thus essentially a visionary prophet either by nature or by\ncircumstance; and the unfortunate boy\u2019s physical condition may have\nbeen turned, thus, to account in the struggle against Amon-Ra.\n\nOne may now imagine the Pharaoh as a pale, sickly youth. His head\nseemed too large for his body; his eyelids were heavy; his eyes as\none imagines them were wells of dream. His features were delicately\nmoulded, and his mouth, in spite of a somewhat protruding lower\njaw, is reminiscent of the best of the art of Rossetti. He seems\nto have been a quiet, studious boy, whose thoughts wandered in\nfair places, searching for that happiness which his physical\ncondition had denied to him. His nature was gentle; his young heart\noverflowed with love. He delighted, it would seem, to walk in the\ngardens of the palace, to hear the birds singing, to watch the fish\nin the lake, to smell the flowers, to follow the butterflies, to\nwarm his small bones in the sunshine. There was a grave dignity\nin his gait, or the artists have lied; and his words were already\nfraught with wisdom. The great crown of the Pharaohs sat easily\nupon his head, for his every movement was royal. He accepted as\nhis due the homage of the court; yet he does not seem to have\nacted with arrogance, and was ever a tender-hearted, impulsive\nchild. Already he was sometimes called \u201cLord of the Breath of\nSweetness\u201d;[24] and already he was so much beloved by his subjects\nthat their adherence to him through the rough places of his future\nlife was assured. For the first years of his reign he was, of\ncourse, entirely under the regency of his mother. Dushratta, the\nKing of Mitanni, writing to congratulate the boy on his accession,\naddressed himself to Queen Tiy, as though he thought the king\nwould hardly yet be able to understand a letter; and in a later\ncommunication he asks the Pharaoh to inquire of his mother as to\ncertain matters of international policy. But although so young, the\nking was wise beyond his years, as the reader will presently see.\n\n\n 6. THE FIRST YEARS OF AKHNATON\u2019S REIGN.\n\nIn a subsequent chapter it will be the writer\u2019s purpose to show\nto what heights of ideal thought, and to what profundities of\nreligious and moral philosophy, this boy, in the years of his\nearly manhood, attained; and it will but enhance our respect for\nhis abilities when he reached maturity, if we find in his early\ntraining all manner of shortcomings. The beautiful doctrines of\nthe religion with which this Pharaoh\u2019s name is identified were\nproductions of his later days; and until he was at least seventeen\nyears of age neither his exalted monotheism nor any of his future\nprinciples were really apparent. Some time after the eighth year of\nhis reign one finds that he had evolved a religion so pure that one\nmust compare it with Christianity in order to discover its faults;\nand the reader will presently see that this superb theology was not\nderived from his education.\n\nOne of the first acts of the king\u2019s reign, undertaken at the\ndesire of Queen Tiy or of the royal advisers, was the erection of\na temple to Ra-Horakhti Aton at Karnak.[25] This was in no way an\ninsult to Amon, for Thothmes III. and other Pharaohs had dedicated\ntemples at Karnak to gods other than Amon. The priesthood of\nAmon-Ra recognised the existence of the many deities of Egypt, and\ngave them their place in the constitution of heaven, reserving for\ntheir own god the title of \u201cKing of the Gods.\u201d There was a temple\nof Ptah here; there were shrines set apart for the worship of Min;\nand other gods, unconnected with Amon, were here accommodated. The\npriests of Amon-Ra thus could not offer any serious objection to\nthe project. The building[26] was to be constructed of sandstone,\nand therefore various officials were dispatched to the great\nquarries of Gebel Silsileh, which lie on the river between Edfu\nand Kom Ombo, and to those near Esneh. Large tablets were there\ncarved upon the cliffs towards the close of the work, and on them\nthe figure of the Pharaoh was represented worshipping Amon, who\nwas thus still the state god. Above the king\u2019s figure, however,\nthe disk of the sun is seen, and from it a number of lines,\nrepresenting rays, project downwards towards the royal figure.\nThese rays terminate in hands, which thus seem to be distributing\nthe \u201cHeat-which-is-in-Aton\u201d around the Pharaoh. This is the first\nrepresentation of the afterwards famous symbol of the religion of\nAton, and it is significant that it should make its _d\u00e9but_ in a\nscene representing the worship of Amon.\n\nThe king is called the High Priest of Ra-Horakhti; but the title\n\u201cLiving in truth,\u201d which he took to himself in later years, and\nwhich had reference to the religion of Aton which he was soon to\nevolve, does not yet appear.\n\nA large number of fragments from this shrine have been\ndiscovered, and on these one sees references to the gods Horus,\nSet, Wepwat, and others. The king is still called by the name\nAmonhotep, which was later banned, and the names of Aton,\nafterwards always written within the royal ovals or cartouches,\nare still lacking in that distinction. The temple was called\n\u201cAton-is-found-in-the-House-of-Aton,\u201d a curious name of which\nthe meaning is not clear.[27] A certain official named Hataay was\n\u201cScribe and Overseer of the Granary of the House of the Aton,\u201d\nby which this temple is probably meant; and in the tomb of Rames\na reference is made to the building by its full name, and a\npicture of it is given, but otherwise one knows little about it.\nThe rapidity with which it was desired to be set up is shown by\nthe fact that the great, well-trimmed blocks of stone usually\nemployed in the construction of sacred buildings were largely\ndispensed with, and only small easily-handled blocks were used. The\nimperfections in the building were then hidden by a judicious use\nof plaster and cement, and thus the walls were smoothed for the\nreception of the reliefs. The quarter in which the temple stood was\nnow called \u201cBrightness of Aton the Great,\u201d and Thebes received the\nnew name of \u201cCity of the Brightness of Aton.\u201d\n\nThere are two other monuments which date from these early years of\nthe king\u2019s reign: both are tombs of great nobles. At this period\none of the greatest personages in the land was the above-mentioned\nRames, the Vizir of Upper Egypt. This official was now engaged in\nconstructing and decorating a magnificent sepulchre for himself in\nthe Theban necropolis. In the great hall of this tomb the artists\nwere busy preparing the beautiful sculptures and paintings which\nwere to cover the walls, and ere half their work was finished they\nset themselves to the making of a fine figure of Amonhotep IV.\nseated upon his throne, with the goddess Maat standing behind him.\nThe scene was probably executed a few months before the making of\nthe tablets at the quarries. The sun\u2019s rays do not appear, and\nthe work was carried out strictly according to the canons of art\nobtaining during the last years of Amonhotep III. and the first of\nhis son. But hardly had the figures been finished before the order\ncame that the Aton rays had to be included, and certain changes in\nthe art had to be recognised; and therefore the artists set to work\nupon another figure of the king standing under these many-handed\nbeams of \u201cheat,\u201d and now accompanied by his, as yet, childless\nwife. The two scenes may be seen by visitors to Thebes standing\nside by side, and nowhere may the contrast between the old order\nof things and the new be so clearly observed.\n\nWhile Rames was providing a tomb for himself at Thebes, another\ngreat noble named Horemheb, who ultimately usurped the throne, was\nconstructing his sepulchre at Sakk\u00e2rah, the Memphite necropolis\nnear Cairo. Horemheb was commander-in-chief of the army, and in his\ntomb some superb reliefs are carved showing him receiving rewards\nin that capacity from the king. Some of the scenes represent the\narrival of Asiatic refugees in Egypt, who ask to be allowed to take\nup their abode on the banks of the Nile, and the figures of these\nforeigners rank amongst the finest specimens of Egyptian art. In\nthe inscriptions, Horemheb, who is supposed to be addressing the\nking, states that the Pharaoh owes his throne to Amon,[28] but yet\nwe see that the figure of the king is drawn in that style of art\nwhich is typical of the new religion.[29]\n\n\n 7. THE NEW ART.\n\nThis sudden change in the style of the reliefs which we have\nobserved in these two tombs and on the quarry tablets seems to be\nattributable to about the fourth year of the king\u2019s reign. The\nreliefs which were now carved upon the walls of the new temple of\nRa-Horakhti at Karnak show us a style of art quite different from\nthat of the king\u2019s early years. The figure of the Pharaoh, which\nthe artists in the tomb of Rames represented as standing below the\nnewly-invented sun\u2019s rays, is as different from the earlier figure\nthere executed as chalk is from cheese. The Pharaoh whom we see\nin the tomb of Horemheb and on the quarry tablets is represented,\naccording to canons of art, entirely different from those existing\nat the king\u2019s accession.\n\nIn the drawing of the human figure, and especially that of the\nPharaoh, there are three very distinct characteristics in this new\nstyle of art. Firstly, as to the head: the skull is elongated;\nthe chin, as seen in profile, is drawn as though it were sharply\npointed; the flesh under the jaw is skimped, thus giving an upward\nturn to the line; and the neck is represented as being long and\nthin. Secondly, the stomach is made to obtrude itself upon the\nattention by being drawn as though from a fat and ungainly model.\nAnd thirdly, the hips and thighs are abnormally large, though\nfrom the knee downwards the legs are of more natural size. This\ndistortion of human anatomy is marked in a lesser degree in all the\nlines of the body; and the whole figure becomes a startling type\nof an art which seems at first to have sprung fully developed from\nthe brain of the boy-Pharaoh or from one of the eccentrics of the\ncourt.\n\nThe king was now fifteen years old, and seems to have been\nextraordinarily mature for his age. It may be that he had objected\nto be represented in the conventional manner, and had told his\nartists to draw him as he was. The elongated skull, the pointed\nchin, and even, perhaps, the protruding paunch, may thus have\noriginated. But the ungainly thighs could only be accounted for\nby some radical deformity in the royal model, and that he was a\nwell-made man in this respect his recently discovered bones most\nclearly show.\n\nPurely tentatively a suggestion may here be offered to account for\nthis peculiar treatment of the human body. It is probable that the\nking had now, in a boyish way, become deeply interested in the\nreligious contest which was beginning to be waged between Amon-Ra\nand Ra-Horakhti Aton. Having listened to the arguments on both\nsides, it may have occurred to him to study for himself the ancient\ndocuments and inscriptions bearing on the matter. In so doing, he\nwould have found that Amon had become the state god only some few\nhundred years before his own time, and that previous to his ascent\nto this important position, previous even to the earliest mention\nof his name, Ra-Horakhti had been supreme. Carrying his inquiries\nback, past the days of the pyramid kings to the archaic Pharaohs\nwho reigned at the dim beginning of things, he would still have\nfound the Heliopolitan god worshipped. One of the Pharaohs\u2019 most\ncherished titles was \u201cSon of the Sun,\u201d which, as we have seen, had\nbeen borne by each successive sovereign since the days of the Fifth\nDynasty, whose kings claimed descent from Ra himself. Such studies\nwould inevitably bring two matters into prominence: firstly,\nthat Amon was, after all, but a usurper; and, secondly, that as\nPharaoh he was the descendant of Ra-Horakhti, and was that god\u2019s\nrepresentative on earth.\n\nOn these grounds, more than on any others, all things connected\nwith Amon would become distasteful to him. He was too young to\nunderstand fully which of the two religions was the better morally\nor theologically; but he was old enough to be moved by the romance\nof history, and to feel that those great, shadowy Pharaohs who\nlived when the world was young, and who at the dawn of events\nworshipped the sun, were the truest and best examples for him to\nfollow. They were his ancestors, and as they were the sons of Ra,\nso he, too, was the proud descendant of that great god. In his\nveins there ran the blood of the sun, that \u201cHeat-which-is-in-Aton\u201d\npulsed through and through him; and the more he read in those old\ndocuments the more he was stirred by the glory of that distant\npast when men worshipped the god whose rights Amon had usurped.\nNow the canons of art were regarded as a distinctly religious\ninstitution, and the methods of treating the human figure then in\nvogue had in the first place the sanction of the priesthood of\nAmon; and few things would be more upsetting to their _r\u00e9gime_\nthan the abandoning of these canons. This was probably recognised\nby those who were furthering the cause of Ra-Horakhti, and the\nyoung king may have been assisted and encouraged in his views.\nPresently it may have been brought home to him that, since he was\nthus the representative of those archaic kings and the High Priest\nof their god, it was fitting that the canons acknowledged by those\nfar-off ancestors should be recognised by him. Here, then, he would\nboth please his own romantic fancy and deal a blow at the Amon\npriesthood by banning the art which they upheld, and by infusing\ninto the sculptures and paintings of his time something of the\nspirit of the most ancient art of Egypt.\n\n[Illustration: _The Art of Akhnaton compared with Archaic Art._\n\n 1. The head of Akhnaton. From a contemporary drawing.\n 2. The head of a king. From an archaic statuette found by\n Professor Petrie at Abydos.\n 3. The head of Akhnaton. From a contemporary drawing.\n 4. The head of a prince. From an archaic tablet found by\n Professor Petrie at Abydos.\n 5. An archaic statuette found by Professor Petrie at Diospolis,\n showing the large thighs found in the art of Akhnaton.]\n\nIn the old temples of Heliopolis and elsewhere a few relics of\nthat period, no doubt, were still preserved; and the king was thus\nable to study the wood and slate carvings and the ivory figures of\narchaic times. We of the present day can also study such figures,\na few specimens having been brought to light by modern excavators;\nand the similarity between the treatment of the human body in this\narchaic art and the new art of Akhnaton at once becomes apparent.\nIn the accompanying illustrations some archaic figures are shown,\nand one may perhaps see in them the origin of the idiosyncrasies\nof the new school. Here and in all representations of archaic men\none sees the elongated skull so characteristic of the king\u2019s style;\nin the ivory figure of an archaic Pharaoh one sees the well-known\ndroop of Akhnaton\u2019s head and his pointed chin; in the clay and\nivory figures is the prominent stomach; and here also, most\napparent of all, are the unaccountably large thighs and ponderous\nhips.\n\nAkhnaton\u2019s art might thus be said to be a kind of renaissance--a\nreturn to the classical period of archaic days; the underlying\nmotive of this return being the desire to lay emphasis upon the\nking\u2019s character as the representative of that most ancient of all\ngods, Ra-Horakhti.\n\nAnother feature of the new religion now becomes apparent. In the\nworship of Ra-Horakhti Aton there was an endeavour to do honour to\nthe Pharaoh as the son of the sun, and to the god as the founder of\nthe royal line. Tradition stated that Ra or Ra-Horakhti had once\nreigned upon earth, and that his spirit had passed from Pharaoh to\nPharaoh. This god was thus the only true King of Heaven, and Amon\nwas but a usurper of much more recent date. It was for this reason\nthat the names of the new god were placed within royal cartouches;\nand for this reason the king was so careful to call Ra-Horakhti\nhis \u201cfather,\u201d and to name him \u201cgod and king.\u201d For this reason also\nAkhnaton often wore the crown of Lower Egypt which was used at\nHeliopolis, but never the crown of Upper Egypt, which history told\nhim did not exist when Ra ruled on earth.[30]\n\nApart from the representation of the human form, the new art is\nchiefly characterised by its freedom of poses. An attempt is made\nto break away from tradition, and a desire is shown to have done\nwith the conventions of the age. Never before had the artists\ncaught the swing of a walk, the relaxation of a seated figure, so\nwell or so truthfully. Sculpture in the round now reached a height\nof perfection which places it above all but the art of the Greeks\nin the old world; and there is a grace and naturalness in the\nlow-reliefs which command one\u2019s admiration.\n\nThere are only two artists of the period who are known by name.\nThe one was a certain Auta, who is represented in a relief dating\nfrom some eight years after the change in the art had taken place.\nIt is a significant fact that this personage held the post of\nmaster-artist to Queen Tiy; and it is possible that in him and his\npatron we have the originators of the movement. The king, however,\nwas now old enough to take an active interest in such matters; and\nthe other artist who is known by name, a certain Bek, definitely\nstates that the king himself taught him. Thus there is reason to\nsuppose that the young Pharaoh\u2019s own hand is to be traced in the\nnew canons, although they were instituted when he was but fifteen\nyears old.\n\n\n 8. THE NEW RELIGION DEVELOPS.\n\nThere is an interesting record, apparently dating from about\nthis period, which is to be seen upon the rocks near the breccia\nquarries of Wady Hammam\u00e2t. Here there are three cartouches standing\nupon two _neb_ signs, symbolic of sovereignty, and above them is\nthe disk and rays of the new religion. One of these cartouches,\nsurmounted by the tall feathers worn by the queens of this period,\ncontains a very short name, which can only be that of Queen\nTiy.[31] The other two cartouches contain the names Amonhotep (IV.)\nand the Pharaoh\u2019s second designation. Thus we see that after the\nnew religious symbol had been introduced, and just before the king\ntook the name of \u201cAkhnaton,\u201d Queen Tiy still held equal royal rank\nwith him, and was evidently Regent.\n\n[Illustration: _The Artist Auta._]\n\nDuring the fifteenth to the seventeenth years of his age the king\ndevoted a considerable amount of time and thought to the changes\nwhich were taking place. With the enthusiasm of youth he threw\nhimself into the new movement, and one may suppose that it required\nall Queen Tiy\u2019s tact and diplomacy to keep him from offending his\ncountry by some rash action against the priesthood of Amon. Those\npriests were by no means reconciled to the king\u2019s devotion to\nRa-Horakhti; and although he still nominally served the Theban god,\nthey felt that every day he was becoming more estranged from that\ndeity. No doubt there were many passages of arms between the High\nPriest of Amon-Ra and this royal High Priest of the sun, young as\nhe was. The new art, upsetting all the old religious conventions,\nwas distasteful to the priests; the new religious thought did not\nconform to their stereotyped doctrines; and much that the king said\nwas absolutely heretical to their ears. The tide of new thought,\ndirected in so eager and boyishly unreserved a manner, was sweeping\nthem from their feet, and they knew not whither they were being\ncarried.\n\nThe court officials blindly followed their young king, and to\nevery word which he spoke they listened attentively. Sometimes\nthe thoughts which he voiced came direct from the mazes of his\nown mind; sometimes perhaps he repeated the utterances of his\ndeep-thinking mother; and sometimes there passed from his lips the\npearls of wisdom which he had gleaned from the wise men of his\ncourt. It had been the boy\u2019s desire to listen to the dreams of\nthe East, to receive into his brain those speculations which ever\nmeander so charmedly through the lands more near the sunrise. At\nhis behest the dreamers of Asia related to him their visions; the\nphilosophers made pregnant his mind with the mystery of knowledge;\nthe poets sung to him harp-songs in which echoed the cry of the\nelder days; the priests of strange gods submitted to him the\ncreeds of strange people. To him was made known the sweetness of\nthe legends of Greece. The laughter of the woods rang in his ears,\nthough never in narrow Egypt had he felt the enchantment of great\nforests. He had not seen the mountains, and the wooded slopes which\nrise from the Mediterranean were scenes but dreamed of; and yet it\nwas the flute of Pan and the song of the nymphs in the mountain\nstreams which set the thoughts dancing within his misshapen skull.\nHe had not walked in the shadow of the cedars of Lebanon, nor had\nhe ascended the Syrian hills; but nevertheless the hymns of Adonis\nand the chants of Baal were as familiar to him as were the solemn\nchants of Amon-Ra. The rose-gardens of Persia, the incense-groves\nof Araby, added their philosophies to his dreams, and the\nhaunting lips of Babylon whispered to him tales of far-off days.\nFrom Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, and Cyprus there came to him the\ndoctrines of those who had business in great waters; and Libya and\nEthiopia disclosed their mysteries to his eager ears. The fertile\nbrain of the Pharaoh was thus sown at an early age with the seed of\nall that was wonderful in the world of thought.\n\nIt must always be remembered that the king had much foreign blood\nin his veins. On the other hand, those men to whom he spoke, though\nhighly educated, were but superstitious Egyptians who could not\nrelieve themselves of the belief that a divine power rested upon\nthe Pharaoh. Thus his speculative young brain poured its fantasies\ninto attentive minds unbiassed by rival speculations, though\nnarrowed by conventions. Egyptians, ever lacking in originality,\nhave always possessed the power to imitate and adapt; and those\nnobles whose fortunes were dependent upon the royal favour soon\nlearnt to attune their minds to the note of their king. Daily they\nmust have gone about their business, ostentatiously attempting to\nhold to the difficult path of truth; laboriously telling themselves\nwhat wonders the new thought revealed to them; loudly praising the\nwisdom of the boy-Pharaoh; and nervously asking themselves whether\nand when the wrath of Amon would smite them.\n\nThus encouraged, the king and his mother developed their\nspeculations, and drew into their circle of followers some of\nthe greatest nobles of the land. A striking example of this\nproselytising is to be found in the tomb of the Vizir Rames. It has\nalready been stated that that official had constructed for himself\na sepulchre in the Theban necropolis, upon the walls of which he\nhad first caused a portrait of the young king to be sculptured in\nthe old conventional style, and later had added another portrait\nof the Pharaoh standing beneath the radiating beams of the sun,\nexecuted in the new style. Rames now added various other scenes and\ninscriptions, and he records a certain speech made by the king to\nhim, and his own reply.\n\n \u201cThe words of Ra,\u201d the king had said, \u201care before thee.... My\n august father[32] taught me their essence and [revealed] them\n to me.... They were known in my heart, opened to my face. I\n understood....\u201d\n\n \u201cThou art the Only One of Aton; in possession of his designs,\u201d\n replied Rames. \u201cThou hast directed the mountains. The fear of\n thee is in the midst of their secret chambers, as it is in the\n hearts of the people. The mountains hearken to thee as the people\n hearken.\u201d\n\nThus one sees how the king was already formulating some kind of\ndoctrine in his head, and that the nobles were receiving it; but it\nis significant that there are here representations of Rames loaded\nwith gifts by the Pharaoh, as though in reward for his allegiance.\nThe Pharaoh seems, indeed, to have showered honours upon those\nwho appeared to grasp intelligently the thoughts which were\nstill immature in his own head; and there must have been many an\nantagonist who rallied to his standard from the sheer love of gold.\nThe king was in need of all the support which he could muster,\nfor an open break with the priesthood of Amon-Ra grew more and\nmore probable as his doctrines shaped themselves in his mind; and\nalthough the people of Egypt as a whole would, without question,\nfollow their Pharaoh for the one reason that he _was_ Pharaoh,\nthere was every probability that the Amon priesthood and the Theban\npopulace would make something of a stand against any infringement\nof the rights of their local god.\n\nThe young Pharaoh seems to have been very popular, and one may\npresume that he inherited, from his illustrious fathers, the\ncharm of manner which there is not a little evidence to show they\npossessed. Throughout his life, and for some years after his death,\nhe retained the affection of his people; and when one considers\nhow faithfully his nobles followed him so long as he had strength\nand health to lead them, and how completely lost they were at his\ndeath, one realises how great an influence he must have exerted\nover them. Even at this early age they seem to have possessed a\ndeep regard for the grave, thoughtful boy; and behind all the\npretence, the hypocrisy, and the merely conventional loyalty, one\nsurely catches a glimpse of a strong, personal affection for the\nking.\n\nWe must here record the birth of the king\u2019s first daughter, which\noccurred in about the fifth year of his reign, when he was some\nsixteen years of age, and when Nefertiti was about thirteen years\nold. The child was named Merytaton, \u201cBeloved of Aton\u201d; and though\nthe advent of a daughter instead of a son must have been a\ngrave disappointment to the royal couple, a remarkable degree of\naffection was lavished upon the little girl, as will be apparent in\nthe sequel.\n\n\n 9. THE NATURE OF THE NEW RELIGION.\n\nThere was nothing strikingly exalted in the religion which was\nnow so filling the king\u2019s mind. Ra-Horakhti Aton was in no\nwise considered as the only god: there were as yet no ideas of\nmonotheism in the doctrine. In the new temple at Karnak, as we have\nseen, Horus, Set, Wepwat, and other gods were named; and elsewhere\nAmon was reluctantly recognised. The goddess Maat, in the tomb\nof Rames, was not obliterated from the walls, but still stood\nprotecting the king; and in the same tomb Horus of Edfu is invoked.\nIn the tomb of Horemheb, Horus, Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, and Hathor\nare mentioned, and the gods of the Necropolis still receive honour;\nHoremheb himself still holds the honorary post of High Priest of\nHorus, Lord of Alabastronpolis; Thoth and Maat are referred to;\nand there is a magical prayer to Ra, which is by no means of\nlofty character. Scarabs of this period speak of the Pharaoh as\nbeloved of Thoth. And in a letter to the king dated in the fifth\nyear of his reign, Ptah and \u201cthe gods and goddesses\u201d of Memphis are\nreferred to.\n\nThis letter is of such interest that a fuller account of it must\nhere be given. It was addressed to the king, who is still called\nAmonhotep, by a royal steward named Apiy, who lived at Memphis.\nTwo copies of the letter were found at Gurob,[33] both dated in\nthe fifth year of the king\u2019s reign, the third month of winter,\nand the nineteenth day. The letter begins with the full titles of\nthe Pharaoh, including the phrase \u201cliving in truth,\u201d which from\nthis time onwards was always added to his name. Then follows the\ninvocation: \u201cMay Ptah of the beautiful countenance work for thee,\nwho created thy beauties, thy true father who raised (?) thee from\nhis house to rule the orbit of the Aton.\u201d Next comes the real\nbusiness of the letter: \u201cA communication is this to the Master,\n[to whom be] life, prosperity, and health, to give information\nthat the temple of thy father Ptah ... is sound and prosperous; the\nhouse of Pharaoh ... is flourishing; the establishments of Pharaoh\n... are flourishing; the residence of Pharaoh ... is flourishing\nand healthy; the offerings of all the gods and goddesses who are\nupon the soil (?) of Memphis are ... complete; complete [are they]\nthere is nothing delayed from them.\u201d Again the titles of the king\nare given, and the letter ends with the date.\n\nThus in the fifth year of the king\u2019s reign, when he was about\nsixteen years of age, the various gods of Egypt were still\nacknowledged; and, though the art had been changed and the worship\nof Ra-Horakhti under the name of Aton had made great strides\ntowards supremacy, there is as yet no sign of the lofty monotheism\nwhich the Pharaoh was soon to propound.\n\nIn the portions of the tomb of Horemheb which date from\nthis period, Ra-Horakhti is invoked in the following words:\n\u201cRa-Horakhti, great god, Lord of heaven, Lord of earth, who cometh\nforth from his horizon and illuminateth the Two Lands [of Egypt],\nthe sun of darkness as the great one, as Ra;\u201d and again: \u201cRa,\nLord of Truth, great god, sovereign of Heliopolis, ... Horakhti,\nonly god, king of the gods, who rises in the west and sendeth\nforth his beauty.\u201d From other sources, which we have seen, the\ngod is called \u201cRa-Horakhti rejoicing in the horizon in his name\nHeat-which-is-in-Aton.\u201d\n\nHere we have simply the old religion of Heliopolis, to which has\nbeen grafted something of the doctrines of the Syrian Adonis or\nAton. At Heliopolis there was a sacred bull, known as Mnevis, which\nwas regarded as the living personification of Ra-Horakhti, and\nwhich was treated with divine honours, like the more famous Apis\nbull of Memphis. Even this superstition was accepted by the king at\nthis time, and continued to be acknowledged by him for yet another\nyear or two.[34] The \u201cHeat-which-is-in-Aton\u201d offered food for much\nspeculation, and, by directing the attention to an intangible\nquality of the sun, opened up the widest fields for religious\nthought. But, with this exception, there was nothing as yet in the\nnew religion to command one\u2019s admiration.\n\n\n\n\n III.\n\n AKHNATON FOUNDS A NEW CITY.\n\n \u201cA brave soul, undauntedly facing the momentum of immemorial\n tradition ... that he might disseminate ideas far beyond and\n above the capacity of his age to understand.\u201d--BREASTED: \u2018History\n of Egypt.\u2019\n\n\n 1. THE BREAK WITH THE PRIESTHOOD OF AMON-RA.\n\nThe expected break with the priesthood of Amon was not long in\ncoming. One knows nothing of the details of the quarrel, but it may\nbe supposed that Akhnaton himself flung down the gauntlet, making\nthe rash attempt to rid himself of the weight of an organisation\nwhich had proved such a drag upon his actions. There is no evidence\nto show that he disbanded the priesthood, or prohibited the\nworship of Amon at this period of his reign; but as the ultimate\npersecution of that god, some years later, commenced very soon\nafter the death of his mother, one may suppose that it was her\nrestraining influence which prevented him from precipitating a\nstruggle to the death with the god of Thebes. The king was now\nentering upon the sixth year of his reign and the seventeenth of\nhis age, and he was already developing in his mind theories and\nprinciples which were soon to produce radical changes in the new\nreligion of the Court. He found, no doubt, that it was hopeless\nto attempt to convert the people of Thebes to the new doctrines;\nand daily he realised the more clearly that the development either\nof the faith of Ra-Horakhti Aton, or of the ideals which he was\nbeginning to find therein, was cramped and checked by the hostility\nof the influences which pressed around his immediate circle. From\nthe walls of every temple, from pylons and gateways, pillars and\nobelisks, the figure of Amon stared down at him in defiance;\nand everywhere he was confronted with the tokens of that god\u2019s\npower. His little temple at Karnak was overshadowed by the larger\nbuildings of Amon; and the few priests who served at the new altar\nwere lost amidst the crowds of the ministers of the Theban god. How\ncould the flower thrive and bloom in such uncongenial soil? How\ncould the sun shine through such density of conventional tradition?\n\nThe king, no doubt, endeavoured to cripple the priesthood of Amon\nby cutting down its budget as much as possible, and by attempting\nto win over to his side some of the priests of high standing. Had\nhe succeeded in reducing it to the rank of the smaller cults, it\nis probable that he would have been satisfied so to leave it; for\nat this time he wished only to place Ra-Horakhti in a position of\nundoubted supremacy above all other gods. But the vast resources of\nAmon seemed unconquerable, and there appeared to be little chance\nof reducing the priesthood to a position of inferior rank.\n\nIn this dilemma the king took a step which had been for some\ntime considered in his mind and in the minds of his advisers. He\ndecided to abandon Thebes. He would build a city far away from all\ncontaminating influences, and there he would hold his court and\nworship his god. On clean, new soil, he would establish the earthly\nhome of Ra-Horakhti Aton, and there, with his faithful followers,\nhe would develop those schemes which now so filled his brain. Thus\nalso, by reducing Thebes to the position of a provincial town, he\nmight lessen the power of the priesthood of Amon; for no longer\nwould Amon be the royal god, the god of the capital. He would shake\nthe dust of Thebes from off his sandals, and never again would\nhe allow himself to be baffled and irritated by the sight of the\nglories of Amon.\n\nThe first step which he took was that of changing his\nname from Amonhotep, \u201cThe-Peace-of-Amon,\u201d to Akhnaton,\n\u201cThe-Glory-of-Aton\u201d; and from that time forth the word Amon hardly\npassed his lips. He retained two of his other names,--_i.e._,\n\u201cBeautiful-is-the-Being-of-Ra,\u201d and \u201cThe-Only-One-of-Ra,\u201d the\nlatter being often used by him; but such titles and names as that\nwhich made mention of Karnak be entirely dispensed with. He now\nlaid more stress upon the nature of his god as \u201cAton\u201d or \u201cthe\nAton\u201d[35] than as Ra-Horakhti; and from this time onwards the\nname Ra-Horakhti becomes less and less prominent, though retained\nthroughout the king\u2019s reign.\n\n\n 2. AKHNATON SELECTS THE SITE OF HIS CITY.\n\nDown the river it would seem that the young Pharaoh now sailed\nin his royal _dahabiyeh_, looking to right and left as he went,\nnow inspecting this site and now examining that. At last he came\nupon a place which suited his fancy to perfection. It was situated\nabout 160 miles above the modern Cairo. At this point the limestone\ncliffs upon the east bank leave the river and recede for about\nthree miles, returning to the water some five or six miles farther\nalong. Thus a bay is formed which is protected on its west side\nby the river in which there here lies a small island, and in all\nother directions by the crescent of the cliffs. Upon the island\nhe would erect pavilions and pleasure-houses. Along the edge of\nthe river there was a narrow strip of cultivated land whereon he\nwould plant his palace gardens, and those of the nobles\u2019 villas.\nBehind this verdant band the smooth desert stretched, and here\nhe would build the palace itself and the great temples. Behind\nthis again, the sand and gravel surface of the wilderness gently\nsloped up to the foot of the cliffs, and here there would be roads\nand causeways whereon the chariots might be whirled in the early\nmornings. In the face of the cliffs he would cut his tomb and those\nof his followers; and at intervals around the crescent of these\nhills he would cause great boundary-stones to be made, so that all\nmen might know and respect the limits of his city. What splendid\nquays would edge the river, what palaces reflect their whiteness\nin its waters! There would be broad shaded avenues, and shimmering\nlakes surrounded by the fairest trees of Asia. Temples would raise\ntheir lofty pylons to the blue skies, and broad courts should lie\nstretched in the sunlight.\n\nIn Akhnaton\u2019s youthful mind there already stood the temples and\nthe mansions; already he heard the sound of sweet music. The\nlaughter of maidens was added to the singing of the birds which\nhe heard in the trees; the pomp of imperial Egypt displaced the\nfarm-houses and the fields of corn which now occupied the site;\nand the song of the shepherd in the wilderness was changed to the\nrolling psalms of the Aton. Fair was this dream and enthralling to\nthe dreamer. To Queen Tiy it probably did not appeal so strongly;\nfor Thebes was full of associations to her, and her palace beside\nthe lake was very dear. There is, indeed, every reason to suppose\nthat the dowager-queen lived on at Thebes after her son had\nabandoned it.\n\n\n 3. THE FIRST FOUNDATION INSCRIPTION.\n\nPreparations were soon made for the laying out of the city, and\nin a very short time Akhnaton was called upon to visit the site\nin order to perform the foundation ceremonies. Fortunately the\ninscriptions upon some of the boundary tablets in the desert tell\nus something of the manner in which the king marked the limits of\nthe city.[36] The first inscription reads as follows:--\n\n Year 6, fourth month of the second season, day 13.[37] ... On\n this day the King was in the City of the Horizon of Aton.[38] His\n Majesty ascended a great chariot of electrum, [appearing] like\n Aton when he rises from his [eastern] horizon and fills the land\n with his love; and he started a goodly course [from his camping\n place] to the City of the Horizon.... Heaven was joyful, earth\n was glad, and every heart was happy when they saw him. And his\n Majesty offered a great sacrifice to Aton, of bread, beer, horned\n bulls, polled bulls, beasts, fowl, wine, incense, frankincense,\n and all goodly herbs on this day of demarcating the City of the\n Horizon....\n\n After these things, the good pleasure of Aton being done, ...\n [the King returned from] the City of the Horizon, and he rested\n upon his great throne with which he is well pleased, which\n uplifts his beauties. And his Majesty continued in the presence\n of his father Aton, and Aton shone upon him in life and length of\n days, invigorating his body each day.\n\n And his Majesty said, \u201cBring me the companions of the King, the\n great ones and the mighty ones, the captains of soldiers, and\n the nobles of the land in its entirety.\u201d And they were conducted\n to him straightway, and they lay on their bellies before his\n Majesty, kissing the ground before his mighty will.\n\n And his Majesty said unto them, \u201cYe behold the City of the\n Horizon of Aton, which the Aton has desired me to make for him as\n a monument in the great name of my Majesty for ever. For it was\n the Aton, my father, that brought me to this City of the Horizon.\n There was not a noble who directed me to it; there was not any\n man in the whole land who led me to it, saying, \u2018It is fitting\n for his Majesty that he make a City of the Horizon of Aton in\n this place.\u2019 Nay, but it was the Aton, my father, that directed\n me to it to make it for him.... Behold the Pharaoh found that\n [this site] belonged not to a god, nor to a goddess, it belonged\n not to a prince, nor to a princess. There was no right for any\n man to act as owner of it.\u201d ...\n\n [... And they answered and said] \u201cLo! it is Aton that putteth\n [the thought] in thy heart regarding any place that he desires.\n He doth not uplift the name of any King except thy Majesty; he\n doth not [exalt] any other except [thee.] ... Thou drawest unto\n Aton every land, thou adornest for him the towns which he had\n made for his own self, all lands, all countries, the Hanebu[39]\n with their products and their tribute upon their backs for him\n that made their life, and by whose rays one lives and breathes\n the air. May he grant eternity in seeing his rays.... Verily, the\n City of the Horizon will thrive like Aton in heaven for ever and\n ever.\u201d\n\n Then his Majesty lifted his hand to heaven unto Him that formed\n him, saying, \u201cAs my father Ra-Horakhti Aton liveth, the great\n and living Aton, ordaining life, vigorous in life, my father,\n my rampart of a million cubits, my remembrancer of eternity,\n my witness of that which pertains to eternity, who formeth\n himself with his own hands, whom no artificer hath known, who is\n established in rising and in setting each day without ceasing.\n Whether he is in heaven or in earth,[40] every eye seeth him\n without [failing,] while he fills the land with his beams and\n makes every face to live. With seeing whom may my eyes be\n satisfied daily, when he rises in this temple of Aton in the City\n of the Horizon, and fills it with his own self by his beams,\n beauteous in love, and lays them upon me in life and length of\n days for ever and ever.\n\n \u201cI will make the City of the Horizon of Aton for the Aton, my\n father, in this place. I will not make the City south of it,\n north of it, west of it, or east of it. I will not pass beyond\n the southern boundary-stone southward, neither will I pass beyond\n the northern boundary-stone northward to make for him a City of\n the Horizon there; neither will I make for him a city on the\n western side. Nay, but I will make the City of the Horizon for\n the Aton, my father, upon the east side, the place which he did\n enclose for his own self with cliffs, and made a plain (?) in\n the midst of it that I might sacrifice to him thereon: this is\n it. Neither shall the Queen say unto me, \u2018Behold, there is a\n goodly place for the City of the Horizon in another place,\u2019 and\n I hearken unto her. Neither shall any noble nor [any one] of all\n men who are in the whole land [say unto me], \u2018Behold, there is a\n goodly place for the City of the Horizon in another place,\u2019 and\n I hearken unto them. Whether it be down-stream or southwards,\n or westwards, or eastwards, I will not say \u2018I will abandon this\n City of the Horizon and will hasten away and make the City of\n the Horizon in this other goodly place\u2019 for ever. Nay, but I did\n find this City of the Horizon for the Aton, which he had himself\n desired, and with which he is pleased for ever and ever.\n\n \u201cI will make a temple of Aton for the Aton, my father, in this\n place. I will make a ... of Aton for the Aton, my father, in this\n place. I will make a Shadow-of-the-Sun[41] of the Great Wife of\n the King, Nefertiti, for the Aton, my father, in this place. I\n will make a House of Rejoicing for the Aton, my father, on the\n island of \u2018Aton illustrious in Festivals\u2019 in this place.... I\n will make all works which are necessary for the Aton, my father,\n in this place. I will make ... for the Aton, my father, in this\n place. I will make for myself the Palace of Pharaoh; and I will\n make the Palace of the Queen in this place. There shall be made\n for me a sepulchre in the eastern hills; my burial shall be\n made therein ... and the burial of the Chief Wife of the King,\n Nefertiti, shall be made therein, and the burial of the King\u2019s\n daughter Merytaton shall be made therein. If I die in any town\n of the north, south, west, or east, I will be brought here and\n my burial shall be made in the City of the Horizon. If the Great\n Queen, Nefertiti, who lives, die in any town of the north, south,\n west, or east, she shall be brought here and buried in the City\n of the Horizon. If the King\u2019s daughter Merytaton die in any town\n of the north, south, west, or east, she shall be brought here\n and buried in the City of the Horizon. And the sepulchre of\n Mnevis shall be made in the eastern hills and he shall be buried\n therein. The tombs of the High Priests and the Divine Fathers\n and the priests of the Aton shall be made in the eastern hills,\n and they shall be buried therein. The tombs of the officers, and\n others, shall be made in the eastern hills, and they shall be\n buried therein.\n\n \u201cFor as my father Ra-Horakhti Aton liveth ... [the words?] of\n the priests, more evil are they than those things which I heard\n until the year four, more evil are they than those things which I\n have heard in ... more evil are they than those things which King\n [Nebmaara[42]] heard, more evil are they than those things which\n Menkheperura[43] heard....\u201d\n\nThe rest of the inscription is so much broken that only a few\nwords here and there can be read. They seem to refer to the king\u2019s\nfurther projects,--how he will make ships to sail to and from the\ncity, how he will build granaries, celebrate festivals, plant\ntrees, and so on.\n\nThe reference to the year four is very interesting, and it would\nseem that it was at about that date that the king\u2019s eyes were\nopened to the necessity of making war upon the priesthood of Amon.\nAs we have seen, it was in about the fourth year of his reign that\nthe great changes in the art took place, and the symbol of the\nsun\u2019s rays was introduced into the sculptures. The mention of the\ntwo previous Pharaohs shows that troubles were already brewing\nthen; but it had remained for the energetic young Akhnaton to bring\nmatters to a head.\n\n\n 4. THE SECOND FOUNDATION INSCRIPTION.\n\nThe inscription recording these events was probably not written\nuntil some months after they had occurred. Just when the engravers\nhad made an end of their work a second daughter was born to the\nking and queen, whom they named Meketaton; and orders were given\nthat her figure should be added upon the boundary tablet beside\nthat of her sister, which already appeared there with Akhnaton and\nNefertiti. The king was somewhat distressed that a son had not been\ngranted to him; for the thought was bitter that, in the event of\nhis death, all his projects would fall to the ground. He therefore\naltered the wording of the inscriptions about to be written on the\nother boundary tablets; and, by including his oath in the text,\nhe added an even greater integrity to the decree. The name of the\nsecond daughter was now inserted in this inscription, which reads:--\n\n Year six, fourth month of the second season, thirteenth day.\n\n On this day the King was in the City of the Horizon of Aton, in\n the parti-coloured tent made for his Majesty in the City of the\n Horizon, the name of which is \u201cThe Aton is well pleased.\u201d And his\n Majesty ascended a great chariot of electrum, drawn by a span\n of horses, and [he appeared] like Aton when he rises from the\n horizon and fills the two lands with his love. And he started\n a goodly course to the City of the Horizon, on this the first\n occasion, ... to dedicate it as a monument to the Aton, even as\n his father Ra-Horakhti Aton had given command.... And he caused\n a great sacrifice to be offered.\n\n And his Majesty went southward, and halted on his chariot before\n his father Ra-Horakhti Aton, at the [foot of the] south-east\n hills, and Aton shone upon him in life and length of days,\n invigorating his body every day.\n\n Now this is the oath pronounced by the King:--\n\n \u201cAs my father Ra-Horakhti Aton liveth, as my heart is happy in\n the Queen and her children--as to whom may it be granted that\n the Chief Wife of the King, Nefertiti, living for ever and ever,\n grow aged after a multitude of years, in the care of the Pharaoh,\n and may it be granted that the King\u2019s daughter Merytaton and the\n King\u2019s daughter Meketaton, her children, grow old in the care of\n the Chief Wife of the King, their mother....\n\n \u201cThis is my oath of truth which it is my desire to pronounce, and\n of which I will not say \u2018It is false\u2019 eternally for ever.\n\n \u201cThe southern boundary-stone which is on the eastern hills. It is\n the boundary-stone of the City of the Horizon, namely this one by\n which I have made halt. I will not pass beyond it southwards for\n ever and ever. Make the south-west boundary-stone opposite it on\n the western hills of the City of the Horizon exactly.\n\n \u201cThe middle boundary-stone which is on the eastern hills. It is\n the boundary-stone of the City of the Horizon by which I have\n made halt on the eastern hills of the City of the Horizon. I will\n not pass beyond it eastwards for ever and ever. Make the middle\n boundary-stone which is to be on the western hills opposite it\n exactly.\n\n \u201cThe north-eastern boundary-stone by which I have made halt. It\n is the northern boundary-stone of the City of the Horizon. I will\n not pass beyond it down-stream for ever and ever. Make the north\n boundary-stone which is to be on the western hills opposite it\n exactly.\n\n \u201cAnd the City of the Horizon of Aton extends from the south\n boundary-stone as far as the north boundary-stone, measured\n between boundary-stone and boundary-stone on the eastern, hills\n [which measurement] amounts to 6 _ater_,[44] \u00be _khe_, and 4\n cubits. Likewise from the south-west boundary-stone to the\n north-west boundary-stone on the western hills [the measurement]\n amounts to 6 _ater_, \u00be _khe_, and 4 cubits likewise exactly.\n\n \u201cAnd the area within these four boundary-stones from the eastern\n hills to the western hills is the City of the Horizon of Aton\n in its proper self. It belongs to my father Ra-Horakhti Aton:\n mountains, deserts, meadows, islands, high-ground, low-ground,\n land, water, villages, embankments, men, beasts, groves, and all\n things which the Aton my father shall bring into existence for\n ever and ever.\n\n \u201cI will not neglect this oath which I have made to the Aton my\n father for ever and ever; nay, but it shall be set on a tablet\n of stone as the south-east boundary, likewise as the north-east\n boundary of the City of the Horizon; and it shall be set likewise\n on a tablet of stone as the south-west boundary, likewise as the\n north-west boundary of the City of the Horizon. It shall not be\n erased, it shall not be washed out, it shall not be kicked,\n it shall not be struck with stones, its spoiling shall not be\n brought about. If it be missing, if it be spoilt, if the tablet\n on which it is shall fall, I will renew it again afresh in the\n place in which it was.\u201d\n\n\n 5. THE DEPARTURE FROM THEBES.\n\nFrom the above inscription one sees that Akhnaton had now decided\nto include the west bank of the river, opposite to the original\nsite, in the new domain; and the great boundary tablets are there\nto be found as on the eastern side. By the time these decrees were\nengraved the Pharaoh was nearly eighteen years of age; and these\ndevelopments in his plans are the natural signs of the progress of\nhis brain towards that of a grown man.\n\nHaving laid the foundations of the city, the king probably\nreturned to Thebes, where he waited as patiently as possible for\nhis dream to take concrete form. This period of waiting must have\nbeen peculiarly trying to him, for his troubles with the Amon\npriesthood must have embittered his days. He seems, however, to\nhave been extremely devoted to his wife, Nefertiti, who had now\ngrown, it would seem, into a beautiful young woman of fifteen or\nsixteen years of age; and the arrival of the second baby afforded\nan interest which meant much to him. One may now picture the king\nand queen living, in the seclusion of the palace, a homely, simple\nexistence, ever dwelling in a happy day-dream upon the future\nglories of the new city, and the rising power of the religion of\nAton. Akhnaton\u2019s ill-health, of course, must have caused both\nhis friends and himself much anxiety; but even this had its\ncompensations, for those who suffer from epilepsy are by the gods\nbeloved, and Akhnaton, no doubt, believed the hallucinations due to\nhis disease to be god-given visions. There must have been a very\nconsiderable amount of business to be worked through in connection\nwith the building of the city, and he could have had little time to\nbrood upon what he now considered to be the wrongs inflicted upon\nhim and his house by the priests of Amon.\n\nSo passed the seventh year of his reign without any particular\nrecords to mark it. At Aswan there is a monument which perhaps\ndates from about this period. The king\u2019s chief sculptor, Bek,\nwas there employed in obtaining red granite for the decoration\nof the new city; and he caused to be made upon a large rock a\ncommemorative tablet. On it one sees him before Akhnaton, whose\nfigure has been erased at a later date; and the altar of the Aton,\nabove which are the usual sun\u2019s rays, stands beside them. Bek calls\nhimself \u201cThe Chief of the Works in the Red [Granite] Hills, the\nassistant whom his Majesty himself taught, Chief of the Sculptors\non the great and mighty monuments of the King in the house of Aton\nin the City of the Horizon of Aton.\u201d Here also one sees Men, the\nfather of Bek, who was also Chief of the Sculptors, presenting an\noffering to a statue of Amonhotep III., under whom he had served.\n\nThe eighth year of Akhnaton\u2019s reign, and the nineteenth year of\nhis age, was memorable, for it would seem that he now took up his\npermanent residence in the City of the Horizon. On some of the\nboundary tablets a repetition of the royal oath is recorded; and,\nas this is the last mention of _a visit_ made by Akhnaton to the\nnew capital, one may suppose that henceforth he was resident there.\nThe inscription reads:--\n\n This oath (of the sixth year) was repeated in year eight, first\n month of the second season, eighth day. The King was in the\n City of the Horizon of Aton, and Pharaoh stood mounted on a\n great chariot of electrum, inspecting the boundary-stones of the\n Aton....\n\nThen follows a list of these boundary-stones, and the inscription\nends with the words:--\n\n And the breadth of the City of the Horizon of Aton is from cliff\n to cliff, from the eastern horizon of heaven to the western\n horizon of heaven. It shall be for my father Ra-Horakhti Aton,\n its hills, its deserts, all its fowl, all its people, all its\n cattle, all things which the Aton produces, on which his rays\n shine, all things which are in ... the City of the Horizon, they\n shall be for the father, the living Aton, unto the temple of\n Aton in the City of the Horizon for ever and ever; they are all\n offered to his spirit. And may his rays be beauteous when they\n receive them.\n\n[Illustration: _Akhnaton and Nefertiti with their three Daughters._]\n\nThus was the king\u2019s city planned and laid out. The two years\nof feverish work had probably produced considerable results, and\nalready we may picture the city taking form. The royal palace was\nperhaps almost finished by now, and the villas of some of the\nnobles were habitable. With many a sigh of relief Akhnaton must\nhave bade farewell to Thebes. A third daughter, who was named\nAnkhsenpaaton, had just been born; and one may thus picture the\nroyal party which sailed down the river as being very distinctly\na family. One sees Akhnaton, a sickly young man of nineteen years\nof age, walking to and fro upon the deck of the royal vessel,\nwith his hand upon the shoulder of his fair young wife, now some\nseventeen years old, in whose arms the baby princess is carried.\nToddling beside them are the two other princesses, one somewhat\nover two years of age, the other about four years. The queen\u2019s\nsister, Nezemmut, records of whose existence soon become apparent,\nwas perhaps also of the party, having left the court of Mitanni\nto be a companion to Nefertiti. Ay and Ty, the foster-parents of\nNefertiti, were doubtless with the royal family now as they sailed\ndown the river; and several of the nobles who play a part in the\nfollowing pages no doubt formed the suite which attended to the\nroyal commands.\n\n\n 6. THE AGE OF AKHNATON.\n\nWe have spoken of the king as being nineteen years old. The story\nhas now reached a point at which we must pause to consider this\nvexed question of Akhnaton\u2019s age. In the above pages it has been\nsaid that the Pharaoh was about eleven years old at his marriage\nand accession to the throne; was fifteen when the canons of art\nwere changed and the symbols of the Aton religion introduced; was\nseventeen when the foundations of the new city were laid; and was\nnineteen when he took up his residence there. Let us study these\nages in the above order.\n\n[Illustration: _The Head of the Mummy of Thothmes IV., the\ngrandfather of Akhnaton._]\n\nFirstly, then, as to the king\u2019s marriage. The mummy of Thothmes\nIV., the grandfather of Akhnaton, has been shown by Dr Elliot\nSmith to be that of a man not more than about twenty-six years of\nage. That king was succeeded by his son Amonhotep III., who is\nknown to have been married to Queen Tiy before the second year\nof his reign, and to have been old enough at that time to begin\nto hunt big game. It would be difficult to believe that he would\nbe permitted to join any hunting party, however secure against\naccident, before the twelfth year of his age; but, on the other\nhand, if he was more than that age, his father would have to have\nbeen less than twelve at _his_ marriage. Thus the only possible\nconclusion is that both Thothmes IV. and Amonhotep III. were barely\nthirteen when they were married, and very possibly even younger.\nThis is shown to be a correct conclusion by the fact that the mummy\nof Amonhotep III. has been pronounced by Dr Elliot Smith to be\nthat of a man of forty-five or fifty; and as he reigned thirty-six\nyears he must have been _at most_ fourteen, and probably some years\nyounger, at his accession and marriage.\n\nThere is not sufficient evidence to show at what ages the previous\nPharaohs of the dynasty had married, but as Akhnaton\u2019s father and\ngrandfather entered into matrimony at this early age, it would not\nbe safe to suppose that he himself delayed his marriage till a\nlater age. Queen Tiy was in all probability married when she was\nten or eleven years old.[45] Akhnaton\u2019s daughter Merytaton, who\nwas born in the fourth or fifth year of his reign, was, as will\nbe seen in due course, married before the seventeenth year of the\nreign--that is to say, when she was twelve or younger. The Princess\nAnkhsenpaaton, who was born in the eighth year, was married, at\nlatest, two years after Akhnaton\u2019s death--_i.e._, when she was\neleven. Another of Akhnaton\u2019s daughters, Nefernefernaton, who has\nnot yet appeared, was born in her father\u2019s eleventh year and was\nmarried before the fifteenth, and therefore could only have been\nfour or five years of age.\n\nChild-marriages such as these are common in Egypt, even at the\npresent day. Those who have lived on the Nile, and have studied the\nnational habits, will assuredly fix the probable age of a royal\n_mariage de convenance_ at about thirteen years, and will agree\nthat eleven and twelve are also highly likely ages.\n\nSecondly, as to Akhnaton\u2019s age at the changing of the art. In the\nbiography of Bakenkhonsu, the High Priest of Amon under Rameses\nII., that official tells us that he arrived at the state of manhood\nat the age of sixteen, and one may therefore suppose that this was\nthe recognised legal age at which a man became a responsible agent\nin Egypt. Now it has been clearly seen that Akhnaton was under the\nregency of his mother during the first years of his reign, and\nmention has been made of the inscription at Wady Hammam\u00e2t, where,\nalthough the new symbol of the religion is shown, Queen Tiy\u2019s name\nis placed beside that of her son in an equally honourable position.\nShe was thus still Queen Regent when the art was changed, and her\nson could not yet have come of age--_i.e._, he must then have been\nunder sixteen.\n\nThirdly, we have to consider the question of his age when he laid\nthe foundations of the new city. This was the first decisive action\nperformed by the king in which his mother has no concern, and of\nwhich she perhaps even disapproved, and it surely marks the period\nat which he took the government into his own hands. If, like\nBakenkhonsu, he came of age at sixteen, in the fifth year of his\nreign, the founding of the new capital in the following year would\nwell fit in with the supposition that the abandoning of Thebes\nmarks the date of the king\u2019s arrival at maturity.\n\nIt may be asked how so young a person could conceive that great\ndream of the new city dedicated to the Aton. But, after all, he was\nseventeen years of age when the idea came to him, nineteen when he\nhad properly developed the plan, and perhaps as much as twenty when\nhe took up his residence there. Akhnaton\u2019s greatness, as will be\nseen later, dates from the height of his reign in the City of the\nHorizon, and not from his early years. Still, when one calls to\nmind the infant prodigies, the child preachers who stir an audience\nat the age of twelve, one may credit a boy of sixteen or seventeen\nwith the planning of a new city. Even in the cold Occident such\nyouthful wiseacres are not rare, and surely they blossom forth less\ninfrequently in the maturing warmth of the Orient.\n\n\n\n\n IV.\n\n AKHNATON FORMULATES THE RELIGION OF ATON.\n\n \u201cNo such grand theology had ever appeared in the world before, so\n far as we know; and it is the forerunner of the later monotheist\n religions.\u201d--PETRIE: \u2018The Religion of Ancient Egypt.\u2019\n\n\n 1. ATON THE TRUE GOD.\n\nAmidst the fair palaces and verdant gardens of the new city,\nAkhnaton, now a man of some twenty years, turned his thoughts fully\nto the development of his religion. It is necessary, therefore, for\nus to glance at the essential features of this the most enlightened\ndoctrine of the ancient world, and in some degree to make ourselves\nacquainted with the creed which the king himself was evolving out\nof that worship of Ra-Horakhti Aton in which he had been educated.\n\nOriginally the Aton was the actual sun\u2019s disk; but, as has been\nsaid, the god was now called \u201cHeat-which-is-in-Aton,\u201d and Akhnaton,\nconcentrating his attention on this aspect of the godhead, drew\nthe eyes of his followers towards a force far more intangible\nand distant than the dazzling orb to which they bowed down.\nAkhnaton\u2019s conception of God, as we now begin to observe it, was\nas the power which created the sun, the energy which penetrated\nto this earth in the sun\u2019s heat and caused all things to grow.\nAt the present day the scientist will tell you that God is the\nultimate source of life, that where natural explanation fails there\nGod is to be found: He is, in a word, the author of energy, the\nprimal motive-power of all known things. Akhnaton, centuries upon\ncenturies before the birth of the scientist, defined God in just\nthis manner. In an age when men believed, as some do still, that a\ndeity was but an exaggerated creature of this earth, having a form\nbuilt on material lines, this youthful Pharaoh proclaimed God to\nbe the formless essence, the intelligent germ, the loving force,\nwhich permeated time and space. Let it be clearly understood that\nthe Aton as conceived by the young Pharaoh was in no sense one of\nthose old deities which our God ultimately replaced in Egypt. The\nAton is God as we conceive Him. There is no quality attributed by\nthe king to the Aton which we do not attribute to our God. Like a\nflash of blinding light in the night-time the Aton stands out for\na moment amidst the black Egyptian darkness, and disappears once\nmore,--the first signal to this world of the future religion of the\nWest. No man whose mind is free from prejudice will fail to see a\nfar closer resemblance to the teachings of Christ in the religion\nof Akhnaton than in that of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The faith of\nthe patriarchs is the lineal ancestor of the Christian faith; but\nthe creed of Akhnaton is its isolated prototype. One might believe\nthat Almighty God had for a moment revealed himself to Egypt, and\nhad been more clearly, though more momentarily, interpreted there\nthan ever He was in Syria or Palestine before the time of Christ.\n\n\n 2. ATON THE TENDER FATHER OF ALL CREATION.\n\nAmon-Ra and the old gods of Egypt were, for the most part, but\ndeified mortals, endued with monstrous, though limited, powers, and\nstill having around them traditions of aggrandised human deeds.\nOthers, we have seen, had their origin in natural phenomena: the\nwind, the Nile, the starry heavens, and the like. All were terrific\nor revengeful, if so they had a mind to be, and all were able\nto be moved by human emotions. But to Akhnaton, although he had\nabsolutely no precedent upon which to launch his thoughts, God\nwas the intangible and yet ever-present Father of mankind, made\nmanifest in sunshine. The youthful high priest called upon his\nsubjects to search for their God not in the confusion of battle\nor behind the smoke of human sacrifices, but amidst the flowers\nand the trees, amidst the wild duck and the fishes. He preached an\nenlightened nature-study: in some respects he was, perhaps, the\nfirst apostle of the Simple Life.\n\nHe strove to break down conventional thought, and ceaselessly he\nurged his people to worship \u201cin truth,\u201d simply, without an excess\nof ceremonial. While the elder gods had been apparent in natural\nconvulsions and in the more awful incidents of life, Akhnaton\u2019s\nkindly father could be seen in the little details of existence, in\nthe growing poppies, in the soft wind which filled the sails of the\nships, in the fish which leapt from the river. Like a greater than\nhe, Akhnaton taught his disciples to address their maker as their\n\u201cFather which art in Heaven.\u201d The Aton was the joy which caused\nthe young sheep \u201cto dance upon their legs,\u201d and the birds \u201cto\nflutter in their marshes.\u201d He was the god of the simple pleasures\nof life; and although Akhnaton himself was indeed a man of sorrows,\nplenteously acquainted with grief, happiness was the watchword\nwhich he gave to his followers.\n\nAkhnaton did not permit any graven image to be made of the Aton.\nThe True God, said the king, had no form; and he held to this\nopinion throughout his life. The symbol of the religion was\nthe sun\u2019s disk, from which there extended numerous rays, each\nray ending in a hand; but this symbol was not worshipped. To\nChristians, in the same way, the cross is the symbol of their\ncreed; but the cross itself is not worshipped. Never before had\nman conceived a formless deity, a god who was not endowed with the\nfive human senses. The Hebrew patriarchs believed God to be capable\nof walking in a garden in the cool of the evening, to have made\nman in his own image, to be possessed of face, form, and hinder\nparts. But Akhnaton, stemming with his hand the flood of tradition,\nboldly proclaimed God to be a life-giving, intangible essence: the\n_heat_ which is in the sun. He was \u201cthe living Aton,\u201d--that is to\nsay, the power which produced and sustained the energy and movement\nof the sun. Although he was so often called \u201cthe Aton,\u201d he was\nmore closely defined as \u201cthe Master of the Aton.\u201d[46] The flaming\nglory of the sun was the most practical symbol of the godhead, and\nthe warm rays of sunshine constituted the most obvious connection\nbetween heaven and earth; but always Akhnaton attempted to raise\nthe eyes of the thinkers beyond this visible or understandable\nexpression of divinity, to strain them upwards in the effort to\ndiscern that which was \u201cbehind the veil.\u201d In lighting on a motive\npower more remote than the sun, and acting through the sun, the\nyoung Pharaoh may be said to have penetrated as far behind the\neternal barrier as one may ever hope to penetrate this side the\nchurchyard. But though so remote, the Aton was the tender, loving\nFather of all men, ever-present and ever-mindful of his creatures.\nThere dropped not a sigh from the lips of a babe that the\nintangible Aton did not hear; no lamb bleated for its mother but\nthe remote Aton hastened to soothe it. He was the loving \u201cFather\nand Mother of all that He had made,\u201d who \u201cbrought up millions by\nHis bounty.\u201d\n\nThe destructive qualities of the sun were never referred to, and\nthat pitiless orb under which Egypt sweats and groans for the\nsummer months each year had nothing in common with the gentle\nFather conceived by Akhnaton. The Aton was \u201cthe Lord of Love.\u201d\nHe was the tender nurse who \u201ccreates the man-child in woman, and\nsoothes him that he may not weep\u201d; whose love, to use an Egyptian\nphrase of exquisite tenderness, \u201cmakes the hands to faint.\u201d His\nbeams were \u201cbeauteous with love\u201d as they fell upon His people and\nupon His city, \u201cvery rich in love.\u201d \u201cThy love is great and large,\u201d\nsays one of Akhnaton\u2019s psalms. \u201cThou fillest the two lands of Egypt\nwith Thy love;\u201d and another passage runs: \u201cThy rays encompass the\nlands.... Thou bindest them with Thy love.\u201d\n\nSurely never in the history of the world had man conceived a god\nwho \u201cso loved the world.\u201d One may search the inscriptions in vain\nfor any reference to a malignant power, to vengeance, to jealousy,\nor to hatred. The Hebrew psalmist said of God, \u201cLike as a father\npitieth his children, even so is the Lord merciful\u201d; and Akhnaton,\nmany a century before those words were written, attributed just\nsuch a nature to the Aton. The Aton was compassionate, was\nmerciful, was gentle, was tender; He knew not anger, and there\nwas no wrath in Him. His overflowing love reached down the paths\nof life from mankind to the beasts of the field and to the little\nflowers themselves. \u201cAll flowers blow,\u201d says one of Akhnaton\u2019s\nhymns, \u201cand that which grows on the soil thrives at Thy dawning, O\nAton. They drink their fill [of warmth] before Thy face. All cattle\nleap upon their feet; the birds that were in the nest fly forth\nwith joy; their wings which were closed move quickly with praise to\nthe living Aton.\u201d\n\nOne stands amazed as one reads in pompous Egypt of a god who\nlistens \u201cwhen the chicken crieth in the egg-shell,\u201d and gives him\nlife, delighting that he should \u201cchirp with all his might\u201d when\nhe is hatched forth; who finds pleasure in causing \u201cthe birds to\nflutter in their marshes, and the sheep to dance upon their feet.\u201d\nFor the first time in the history of man the real meaning of God,\nas we now understand it, had been comprehended; and the idea of a\nbeneficent Creator who, though remote, spiritual, and impersonal,\ncould love each one of His creatures, great or small, had been\ngrasped by this young Pharaoh. God\u2019s unspeakable goodness and\nloving-kindness were as clearly interpreted by Akhnaton as ever\nthey have been by mortal man; and the wonder of it lies in this,\nthat Akhnaton had absolutely nothing to base his theories upon. He\nwas, so far as we know, the first man to whom God revealed Himself\nas the passionless, all-loving essence of unqualified goodness.\n\n\n 3. ATON WORSHIPPED AT SUNRISE AND SUNSET.\n\nIn order to prevent the more ignorant of his disciples from\nworshipping the sun itself, Akhnaton seems to have selected the\nsunrise and the sunset as the two hours for ceremonial adoration;\nfor then the light, the beauty, the tenderness, of the celestial\nphenomenon could be appreciated, and the awful majesty of the sun\nwas not in great prominence. Akhnaton attempted to cultivate in\nhis followers an appreciation of the gentle hues of daybreak and\nof evening; and he taught them to believe that the oft-mentioned\n\u201cbeauties\u201d of the Aton were only to be fully understood at these\ntimes. In the gladness of sunrise and in the hush of the sunset,\nthe emotions are most apt to be touched and moved; for in Egypt\nthere is always praise in the heart in the cool opalescence of the\ndawn, and in the red dusk there is many and many a dream.\n\nPhrases such as the following may be gleaned from Akhnaton\u2019s hymns:\n\u201cThy rising is beautiful in the horizon of heaven, O living Aton,\nwho dispensest life; shining from the eastern horizon of heaven,\nThou fillest Egypt with Thy beauty.\u201d \u201cThy setting is beautiful, O\nliving Aton, ... who guidest ... all countries that they may make\nlaudations at Thy dawning and at Thy setting.\u201d \u201cWhen the Aton rises\nall the land is in joy; His rays produce eyes for all that He has\ncreated; and men say, \u2018It is life to see Him, there is death in not\nseeing Him.\u2019\u201d \u201cWhen Thou settest alive,[47] O Aton, West and East\ngive praise to thee.\u201d \u201cThou settest behind the western horizon;\nThou settest in life and gladness, and every eye rejoices though\nthey are in darkness after Thou settest.\u201d \u201cWhen Thou hast risen\nthey live; when Thou settest they die.\u201d\n\nThe ceremonial side of the religion does not seem to have been\ncomplex. The priests, of whom there were very few, offered\nsacrifices, consisting mostly of vegetables, fruit, and flowers, to\nthe Aton, and at these ceremonies the king and his family often\nofficiated. They then sang psalms and offered prayers, and, with\nmuch sweet music, gave praise to the great Father of joy and love.\nThe Aton, however, was not thought to delight in these ceremonies\nas He did in more natural thanksgivings. Why should God be praised\nin set phrases and studied poses when all the fair world was\nshouting for the joy of Him? The young calf frisking through the\npoppy-covered meadows, the birds singing upon the trees, the clouds\nracing across the sky, were the true worshippers of God.\n\nOne of the recently discovered sayings of Christ closely parallels\nAkhnaton\u2019s utterances. \u201cYe ask,\u201d it runs, \u201cwho are those that draw\nus to the kingdom if the kingdom is in heaven? The fowls of the\nair, and all the beasts that are under the earth or upon the earth,\nand the fishes in the sea, these are they which draw you, and the\nkingdom is within you.\u201d The contemplation of nature was more to\nAkhnaton than many ceremonies, and his thoughts were more easily\ndrawn upwards by the rustle of the leaves than by the shaking of\nthe systrum.\n\n\n 4. THE GOODNESS OF ATON.\n\nIn the gardens of the City of the Horizon Akhnaton was surrounded\non all sides by the joyous beauties of nature. Here the birds\nsang merrily in the laden trees, here the cool north wind rustled\nthrough the leaves, setting them dancing upon their stems, here\nthe many-coloured blossoms nodded to their reflections in the\nstill lakes; and, as he watched the sunlight playing with the blue\nshadows, his heart seemed to fill to repletion with gratitude to\nGod. \u201cO Lord, how manifold are Thy works!\u201d was his constant cry.\n\u201cThe whole land is in joy and holiday because of Thee. They shout\nto the height of heaven, they receive joy and gladness when they\nsee Thee.\u201d How \u201cfair of form\u201d was the formless Aton, how \u201cradiant\nof colour\u201d! \u201cAll that Thou hast made,\u201d said the king, \u201cleaps before\nThee.\u201d \u201cThou makest the beauty of form through Thyself alone.\u201d\n\u201cEyes have life at sight of Thy beauty; hearts have health when the\nAton shines.\u201d\n\nAs the psalmist sang, \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd, I shall not\nwant,\u201d so Akhnaton, in the fulness of his heart, cried, \u201cThere is\nno poverty for him who hath set Thee in his heart; such an one\ncannot say, \u2018O, that I had.\u2019\u201d \u201cWhen Thou bringest life to men\u2019s\nhearts by Thy beauty, there is indeed life.\u201d The Aton \u201cgave health\nto the eyes by His rays,\u201d and, \u201cbright, great, gleaming, high\nabove all the earth,\u201d he was \u201cthe cause of plenty,\u201d--the very\n\u201cfood and fatness of Egypt.\u201d To David, several centuries later,\nGod seemed to be \u201ca strong tower of defence\u201d; and, thinking along\nthe same lines, Akhnaton called the Aton his \u201cwall of brass of a\nmillion cubits.\u201d The Aton was \u201cthe witness of that which pertains\nto eternity,\u201d and to those whose thoughts had strayed he was \u201cthe\nremembrancer of eternity.\u201d He was the \u201cLord of Fate,\u201d the \u201cLord\nof Fortune,\u201d the \u201cMaster of that which is ordained,\u201d the \u201cOrigin\nof Fate,\u201d the \u201cChance which gives Life\u201d; and in so describing him\nAkhnaton reached a philosophical position which even to-day is\nquite unassailable.\n\nUnlike Jehovah, who was described as \u201cgreat above all other gods,\u201d\nthe Aton was conceived as being without rivals; and Akhnaton now\nnever mentions the word \u201cgods.\u201d \u201cThe living Aton beside whom there\nis no other,\u201d is one of the common phrases; and of Him again it is\nwritten, \u201cThou art alone, but infinite vitalities are in Thee by\nmeans of which to give life to Thy creatures.\u201d\n\nUnlike Jehovah again, who was not infrequently thought to be a\nwrathful god, surrounded by clouds and darkness, and speaking\nthrough the roar of the thunders, the Aton was the \u201cLord of Peace,\u201d\nwho could not tolerate battle and strife. Akhnaton was so opposed\nto war that he persistently refused to offer an armed resistance\nto the subsequent revolts which occurred in his Asiatic dominions.\nThe Aton was a deity to whose tender heart human bloodshed made no\nappeal. In an age of martial glory, when the sword and buckler,\nthe plumed helmet and the shirt of mail, glittered in every street\nand upon every highway, Akhnaton set himself in opposition to all\nheroics, and saw God without melodrama.\n\nAbove all things the Aton loved truth. Frankness, sincerity,\nstraightforwardness, honesty, and veracity were qualities not\nalways to be found in the heart of an Egyptian; and Akhnaton, in\nantagonism to the sins of hypocrisy and deception which he saw\naround him, always spoke of himself as \u201cliving in truth.\u201d \u201cI have\nset truth in my inward parts,\u201d says one of his followers, \u201cand\nfalsehood is my loathing; for I know that the King rejoiceth in\ntruth.\u201d\n\n\n 5. AKHNATON THE \u201cSON OF GOD\u201d BY TRADITIONAL RIGHT.\n\nIt may be understood how the boy longed for truth in all things\nwhen one remembers the thousand exaggerated conventions of Egyptian\nlife at this time. Court etiquette had developed to a degree\nwhich rendered life to the Pharaoh an endless round of unnatural\nposes of mind and body. In the preaching of his doctrine of truth\nand simplicity Akhnaton did not fail to call upon his subjects\nto regard their Pharaoh not as a celestial god, as had been the\ncustom, but as a man, though, of course, one of divine origin.\nIt was usual for the Pharaoh to keep aloof from his people:\nAkhnaton was to be found in their midst. The court demanded that\ntheir lord should drive in solitary state through the city:\nAkhnaton stood in his chariot with his wife and children, and\nallowed the artist to represent him joking therein with his little\ndaughter. In portraying the Pharaoh the artist was expected to draw\nhim in some conventional attitude of dignity: Akhnaton insisted\nupon being shown in all manner of natural attitudes--now leaning\nlanguidly upon a staff, now nursing his children, and now eating\nhis dinner. Thus again one sees his objection to heroics, and his\nlove of naturalness.\n\n[Illustration: _Akhnaton driving with his Wife and Daughter._]\n\nBut while he strove for truth and sincerity in this manner he\ndid not attempt to remove from his mind the belief in which he\nhad been brought up, that as Pharaoh of Egypt he was himself\npartly divine. Not only was he by reason of his religion the\nrepresentative, and hence, in a manner of speech, the \u201cson\u201d of\nGod, but by right of royal descent he was the \u201cson of the Sun.\u201d\nThe names of the Pharaohs were always surrounded by an oval band,\nknown as a cartouche, which was the distinguishing mark of a royal\nname. Akhnaton wrote the name of the Aton within such an oval,\nthus indicating that the Pharaoh\u2019s royal rights were also held\nby, and therefore derived from, God Himself. There was thus, as\nChrist later taught His disciples to believe, a kingdom of heaven\nover which God presided; and although impersonal, intangible, and\nincomprehensible, the Aton was the very \u201cKing of kings, the only\nruler of princes.\u201d Amon-Ra and other of the old deities had been\ncalled at various times \u201cKing of the gods.\u201d Akhnaton, however,\napplied to Aton the words \u201cKing and God.\u201d\n\nAkhnaton is spoken of as \u201cthe unique one of Ra, whose beauties\nAton created,\u201d and as \u201cthe beloved son of Aton,\u201d whom \u201cAton bare.\u201d\nAddressing the Aton, his courtiers were wont to say, \u201cThy rays\nare on Thy bright image, the Ruler of Truth (_i.e._, the King),\nwho proceeded from eternity. Thou givest to him Thy duration and\nThy years; Thou hearkenest to all that is in his heart, because\nThou lovest him. Thou makest him like the Aton, him Thy child, the\nKing.\u201d \u201cThou lookest on him, for he proceeded[48] from Thee.\u201d\n\u201cThou hast placed him beside Thee for ever and ever, for he loves\nto gaze upon Thee.... Thou hast set him there till the swan shall\nturn black and the crow turn white, till the hills rise up to\ntravel and the deeps rush into the rivers.\u201d \u201cWhile heaven is,\nhe shall be.\u201d Some of the Pharaohs had called themselves \u201cthe\nbeautiful child of Amon\u201d; and Akhnaton, borrowing this phrase, was\nsometimes spoken of as \u201cthe beautiful child of the Aton.\u201d[49]\n\n[Illustration: _Akhnaton and his Wife and Children._]\n\nIn his capacity as Pharaoh and \u201cson of God,\u201d Akhnaton demanded\nand received a very considerable amount of ceremonial homage; but\nhe never blinded himself to the fact that he was primarily but a\nsimple man. He most sincerely wished that his private life should\nbe a worthy example to his subjects, and he earnestly desired that\nit should be observed in all its naturalness and simplicity. He\ndid his utmost to elevate the position of women and the sanctity\nof the family by displaying to the world the ideal conditions of\nhis own married life. He made a point of caressing his wife in\npublic, putting his arm around her neck in the sight of all men. As\nwe have seen, one of his forms of oath was, \u201cAs my heart is happy\nin the Queen and her children....\u201d He spoke of his wife always as\n\u201cMistress of his happiness, ... at hearing whose voice the King\nrejoices.\u201d \u201cLady of grace\u201d was she, \u201cgreat of love\u201d and \u201cfair\nof face.\u201d Every wish that she expressed, declared Akhnaton, was\nexecuted by him. Even on the most ceremonious occasions the queen\nsat beside her husband and held his hand, while their children\nfrolicked around them; for such things pleased that gentle father\nmore than the savour of burnt-offerings. It is seldom that the\nPharaoh is represented in the reliefs without his family; and, in\nopposition to all tradition, the queen is shown upon the same scale\nof size and importance as that of her husband. Akhnaton\u2019s devotion\nto his children is very marked, and he taught his disciples to\nbelieve that God was the father, the mother, the nurse, and the\nfriend of the young. Thus, though \u201cson of God,\u201d Akhnaton\npreached the beauty of the human family, and laid stress on the\nsanctity of marriage and parenthood.\n\n\n 6. THE CONNECTIONS OF THE ATON WORSHIP WITH OLDER RELIGIONS.\n\nIn developing his religion Akhnaton must have come into almost\ndaily conflict with the priesthoods of the old gods of Egypt;\nand even the Heliopolitan Ra-Horakhti, from which his own faith\nhad been evolved, now fell far short of his ideals. He does not\nseem, however, to have yet imposed the worship of the Aton upon\nthe provinces, nor to have persecuted the various priesthoods.\nHe hoped, no doubt, that he would be able to persuade the whole\ncountry to his views as soon as those views were thoroughly\nmatured; and, secure in his new city, he was free to purge his\nreligion of its faults before declaring all other creeds illegal.\n\nIt is probable that the sacred bull, Mnevis, was banished from his\nceremonies at an early date, for no tombs seem to have been made\nfor these holy creatures, and they are not referred to after the\nsixth year of the king\u2019s reign. The priests of Heliopolis would\nnow have hardly recognised their doctrines in the exalted faith of\nthe Aton, though here and there some point of close contact might\nhave been observed. One may also detect slight resemblances to the\nAdonis religions of Syria, from whence the Aton had originally\ncome. Mention has already been made of the worship of Adonis. So\nwidespread was that deity\u2019s power that it very naturally affected\nmany other religions. In the Biblical Psalms one finds several\nechoes of this old pagan worship, as for example in the lines from\nPsalm xix., which read:--\n\n The heavens declare the glory of God....\n In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,\n Which is a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,\n And he rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.\n There is nothing hid from the heat thereof.\n\nHere one surely must recognise the youthful Adonis, the bridegroom\nof Venus. And similarly in the Heliopolitan worship, at the\ncommencement of Akhnaton\u2019s reign, the sun, Ra, is referred to in\nthe following terms: \u201cThou art beautiful and youthful as Aton\nbefore thy mother Hathor [Venus].\u201d\n\nIn Akhnaton\u2019s religion one may still catch a fleeting glimpse of\nAdonis. One of the king\u2019s courtiers, named May, held the office of\n\u201cOverseer of the House for sending Aton to rest.\u201d[50] Akhnaton\u2019s\nqueen is mentioned in the tomb of Ay under the peculiar title of\n\u201cShe who sends the Aton to rest with a sweet voice, and with her\ntwo beautiful hands bearing two systrums.\u201d This \u201chouse\u201d was, no\ndoubt, the temple at which the vesper prayers to the Aton were\nsaid at sunset, and from the above title of the queen it would\nseem that she had particular charge of these evening ceremonies.\nOne cannot contemplate the fact that it was a woman who officiated\nat a ceremony which consisted of a lament[51] for the death of\nthe sun without seeing in it some connection, however faint,\nwith the story of Venus and Adonis. The lament of Venus for the\ndeath of Adonis--_i.e._, the setting of the sun--was one of the\nfundamental ceremonies of the Mediterranean religions. Here again\nwas a connection with an older religion for Akhnaton to consider\nand perhaps to purge away; and one may suppose that all such\nderivatives from earlier faiths were gradually eliminated as the\nyoung king developed his creed. Soon not a scrap of superstition\nremained in the religion; and one may credit this Pharaoh of three\nthousand years ago with as great a freedom from the trammels of\ntraditional superstition as that of the advanced thinker of to-day.\n\n\n 7. THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH.\n\n\u201cTruly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes\nto behold the sun,\u201d says Holy Writ in words which might have fallen\nfrom the lips of Akhnaton; \u201cbut though a man live many years and\nrejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for\nthey shall be many.\u201d As Akhnaton had completely revolutionised the\nbeliefs of the Egyptians as to the nature of God, so he altered\nand purged their theories regarding the existence of the soul after\ndeath. According to the old beliefs, as we have seen, the soul of\na man had to pass through awful places up to the judgment throne\nof Osiris, where he was weighed in the balances. If he was found\nwanting he was devoured by a ferocious monster, but if the scales\nturned in his favour he was accepted into the Elysian fields. So\nmany were the spirits, bogies, and demigods which he was likely to\nmeet before the goal was reached that he had to know by heart a\ntedious string of formul\u00e6, the correct repetition of which, and the\ncorrect making of the related magic, alone ensured his safe passage.\n\nAkhnaton flung all these formul\u00e6 into the fire. Djins, bogies,\nspirits, monsters, demigods, demons, and Osiris himself with all\nhis court, were swept into the blaze and reduced to ashes. Akhnaton\nbelieved that when a man died his soul continued to exist as a kind\nof astral, immaterial ghost, sometimes resting in the dreamy halls\nof heaven, and sometimes visiting, in shadowy form, the haunts\nof the earthly life. By some of the inscriptions one is led to\nsuppose that, as in the fourth article of the Christian faith, so\nin the teachings of Akhnaton, the body was thought to take again\nafter death its \u201cflesh, bones, and all things appertaining to\nthe perfection of man\u2019s nature.\u201d But just as there is some doubt\nand some vagueness in the mind of Christian thinkers as to the\nmeaning of this article, so in Akhnaton\u2019s doctrine there was some\nuncertainty as to whether the body was entirely spiritual or in a\nmanner material in its hazy existence in the Hills of the West.\nThe disembodied soul still craved the pleasures of earthly life\nand shunned its sorrows; still felt hunger and thirst and enjoyed\na draught of water or a meal of solid food; still warmed itself in\nthe sunshine or sought coolness in the shadows.\n\nWe hear nothing of hell; for Akhnaton, in the tenderness of his\nheart, could not bring himself to believe that God would allow\nsuffering in any of His creatures, however sinful. The inscriptions\nseem rather to indicate that there was no future life for the\nwicked,--that they were annihilated; though in almost every man one\nmay suppose that there was enough good to recommend him to the\nmercy of a God so loving as the Aton.\n\nThe first great wish of the deceased was that he might each day\nleave the dim underworld in order to see the light of the sun\nupon earth. This had been the prayer of the Egyptians from time\nimmemorial, and to suit the religion of the Aton its wording alone\nwas changed. The disciple of Akhnaton asked to be allowed \u201cto go\nout from the underworld in the morning to see Aton as he rises.\u201d\nHe prayed insistently, passionately, in varied language, that his\nspirit might \u201cgo forth to see the sun\u2019s rays,\u201d that his \u201ctwo eyes\nmight be opened to see the sun,\u201d that there might be \u201cno failure\nto see it,\u201d that the \u201cvision of the sun\u2019s fair face might never be\nlost to him,\u201d that he \u201cmight obtain a sight of the beauty of each\nrecurring sunrise,\u201d and that \u201cthe sun\u2019s rays might spread over\nhis body.\u201d Sometimes it is the Aton whom the soul thus craves to\nsee; sometimes it is Ra, the sun; but always it seems to be the\nactual light and warmth of the sunshine which is so passionately\ndesired. The abstract conditions of the future life could but be\ninterpreted in terms of human experience; and in contemplating\nthat cold, desolate mystery of death, Akhnaton could find no better\nmeans of banishing the gloom than by praying for a continuance of\nthe blessed light of the day. And the man who prayed that his soul\nmight see the sunshine but asked that he might still know the joy\nof the presence of God, for God was the light of the world.\n\nHis second wish was that he might retain the favour of the king and\nqueen after death, and that his soul might serve their souls in the\npalaces of the dead. He asks for \u201creadiness in the presence of the\nKing\u201d to do his bidding; he prays that he may be admitted into the\npalace, \u201centering it in favour and leaving it in love\u201d; that he may\n\u201cattend the King every day\u201d; and that he may \u201creceive honour in the\npresence of the King.\u201d\n\nFor his mental contentment in the underworld he earnestly desired\nthat \u201chis name might be remembered and established on earth,\u201d that\nthere might be \u201ca happy memory of him in the King\u2019s palace,\u201d and\n\u201ca continuance of his name in the mouths of the courtiers,\u201d where\nhe hoped that it \u201cmight be welcome.\u201d \u201cMay my name thrive in the\ntomb-chapel,\u201d he says. \u201cMay my name not be to seek in my mansion.\nMay it be celebrated for ever.\u201d So, too, at the present day the\nwords _In Memoriam_ are goodly words; and that a man\u2019s memory may\nbe kept green is a thing very generally desired.\n\n\n 8. THE MATERIAL NEEDS OF THE SOUL.\n\nIn order that the soul might have its link with earth, the\nworshipper of the Aton prayed that his mummy might remain \u201cfirm\u201d\nand uncorrupted, that the \u201cflesh might live upon the bones,\u201d and\nthat his limbs might remain \u201cknit together.\u201d The Egyptians of\nother days believed that the body itself would live again at the\nresurrection, this being the reason why they attempted so carefully\nto preserve it; and Akhnaton does not appear to have altered this\nconception of the nature of the material body. So, too, in the\nChristian faith it is thought that at the last day the graves will\ngive up their dead.\n\nThe spiritual body retained the form and the individuality of the\nmaterial body, and therefore, in a somewhat vague manner, it was\nthought that the needs of the soul would not be very dissimilar\nfrom those of the body upon earth. Christ, after His resurrection,\nasked for food; and the feasts of Paradise are more than allegory\nto many a Christian. Likewise the follower of Akhnaton believed\nthat material food, or its spiritual equivalent, would be necessary\nto the soul\u2019s welfare in the next world. \u201cMay I be called by my\nname,\u201d says he, \u201cand come at the summons, in order to feed upon the\ngood things provided upon the temple altar.\u201d It would seem that\nthrough fidelity to the Aton creed he might have the privilege of\npartaking of the offerings made at the great ceremonies in the\ntemple; for, after these sacrifices had been offered, the food,\nprobably, was distributed to the priests and to those attached to\nthe tombs, who represented the interests of the dead. Thus the\ndeceased prays that he may enjoy \u201ca reception of that which has\nbeen offered in the temple\u201d; \u201ca reception of offerings of the\nKing\u2019s giving in every shrine\u201d; \u201ca drink-offering in the temple of\nAton\u201d; \u201cfood deposited on the altar every day\u201d; and \u201ceverything\nthat is offered in the sanctuary of Aton in the City of the\nHorizon of Aton.\u201d He further asks that \u201cwine may be poured out\u201d for\nhim, and that \u201cthe children of his house may spill a libation for\nhim at the entrance of his tomb.\u201d\n\nWhile life lasted God was very apparent to those who sought Him.\nWherever the sun shone, wherever the great pulse of the earth beat\nbeneath one, wherever the river flowed or the garden bloomed, there\nwas God to be found; for God was happiness, was beauty, was love.\nBut when the cold mists of death had enveloped a man, when there\nwas no longer any spring-time nor any opening of the blossoms, how\nshould there be contentment any more? From the depths of his heart\nAkhnaton urged his followers to pray God that He might provide this\nhappiness, though it could only be voiced in very human words. It\nwas not \u201csweet perfume\u201d nor \u201cthe smell of incense\u201d that the soul\nrequired; but how else could the pleasure of light-heartedness\nbe worded? They prayed that their \u201climbs might be provided with\npleasure every day.\u201d In the stagnant air of the tomb they craved\nfor the touch of the \u201csweet breeze,\u201d for \u201cthe breath of the\npleasant airs of the north wind.\u201d They hoped in shadowy form to be\nable to visit the beloved scenes of their lifetime. \u201cMay I raise\nmyself up and forget languor,\u201d prays one. \u201cMay I leave and enter\nmy mansion,\u201d says another. \u201cMay my soul not be shut off from that\nwhich it desires. May I walk as I will in the grove that I have\nmade upon earth. May I drink the water at the edge of my lake every\nday without ceasing.\u201d \u201cMay water be poured out from my cistern,\u201d\ncries a third; \u201cmay I receive fruit from my trees.\u201d Incessantly\neach man implores God to grant that he may cool his parched lips\nwith water. \u201cA draught of water at the banks of the river,\u201d is\nhis desire; \u201ca draught of water at the swirl of the stream.\u201d\nWhile he smells \u201cthe scent of the wind\u201d blowing amidst the petals\nof \u201ca bouquet of Aton,\u201d and while there runs \u201ca brook of water\u201d\nby his side, he need not know the horror of death. And thus, by\nreceiving \u201ceverything good and sweet,\u201d he may hope for \u201chealth and\nprosperity\u201d in the hills and the valleys of the West; for a \u201chappy\nlife, provided with pleasure and joy,\u201d for \u201camusement, merriment,\nand delight,\u201d and for a \u201cdaily rejoicing\u201d throughout eternity.\n\nIt may be argued that this material conception of the life after\ndeath is not equal in purity of tone to the faith of the Aton.\nBut is it, then, less lofty to believe in a heaven in which there\nis joy and laughter, a scent of flowers, and a breath of north\nwind, than in one where the streets are paved with gold, and\nwhere there are many mansions? By no religion in the world is\nChristianity so closely approached as by the faith of Akhnaton; and\nif the Pharaoh\u2019s doctrines as to immortality are not altogether\nconvincing, neither are the Christian doctrines, as they are\nnow interpreted, altogether without fault. In the above pages\nit has been necessary always to compare Akhnaton\u2019s creed with\nChristianity, since there is so much common to the two religions;\nbut it should be remembered that this comparison must of necessity\nbe unfavourable to the Pharaoh\u2019s doctrine, revealing as it does\nits shortcomings. Let the reader remember that Akhnaton lived some\nthirteen hundred years before the birth of Christ, at an age when\nthe world was steeped in superstition and sunk in the fogs of\nidolatry. Bearing this in mind, he will not fail to see in that\ntenderly loving Father whom the boy-Pharaoh worshipped an early\nrevelation of the God to whom we of the present day bow down; and\nonce more he will find how true are the words--\n\n \u201cGod fulfils Himself in many ways.\u201d\n\nSince writing the above, another point in Akhnaton\u2019s teaching\nhas become apparent, from the scenes, recently discovered by the\npresent writer, in the tomb of Rames. There is a scene often\nrepresented upon the walls of tombs of Dynasty XVIII. which seems\nto represent human sacrifice. The figure of a man is seen dragged\nto the tomb upon a sledge, and Sir Gaston Maspero has pointed out\nthat this can hardly be anything else than such a sacrifice. This\nscene was shown on one of the walls of the tomb of Rames, and\nevidently dated from a period previous to Akhnaton\u2019s revolution.\nWhen, however, the young king had formulated his religion of love\nhe could not tolerate a barbaric and cruel ceremony of this kind.\nWe thus find that the entire scene is here obliterated, almost\ncertainly by the king\u2019s agents. The objection to human sacrifice is\nclosely in accord with his objection to human suffering as recorded\non page 175.\n\n\n\n\n V.\n\n THE TENTH TO THE TWELFTH YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON.\n\n \u201cOne must be moved with involuntary admiration for the young king\n who in such an age found such thoughts in his heart.\u201d--BREASTED:\n \u2018History of Egypt.\u2019\n\n\n 1. THE HYMNS OF THE ATON WORSHIPPERS.\n\nIn the tombs of rich persons who had lived and died previous to the\ntime of Akhnaton, a large portion of the walls had been covered\nwith religious inscriptions; and when at first the nobles of the\nCity of the Horizon of Aton were planning their sepulchres they\nmust have been at a loss to know what to substitute for these\nforbidden formul\u00e6. Soon, however, it became the custom to write\nthere short extracts from the hymns which were sung in the temples\nof the Aton. In a few cases these inscriptions supply us with a\ndefinite psalm which, although short, seems to be complete. In one\ntomb--that of Ay--however, there is a copy of a much more elaborate\nhymn; and it would thus seem that there were two main psalms in\nuse in the temples, a longer and a shorter version of the same\ncomposition.\n\nIt was not unusual for the Egyptians to compose hymns in honour of\ntheir gods, and a few such have been preserved to us upon the walls\nof the old temples. Like the Hebrew psalms of later date, they are\nnot always of a very high moral tone. They are often but chants\nof victory, dealing in battles, in thunders, and in tempests, and\nglorying in the wrath of heaven. The longer hymn to the Aton, which\nis here given in full, is quite unlike any of these compositions,\nand both in purity of tone and in beauty of style it must rank high\namongst the poems of antiquity.\n\n [52]\u201cThy dawning is beautiful in the horizon of heaven,\n O living Aton, Beginning of life!\n When Thou risest in the eastern horizon of heaven,\n Thou fillest every land with Thy beauty;\n For Thou are beautiful, great, glittering, high over the earth;\n Thy rays, they encompass the lands, even all Thou hast made.\n Thou art Ra, and Thou hast carried them all away captive;\n Thou bindest them by Thy love.\n Though Thou art afar, Thy rays are on earth;\n Though Thou art on high, Thy footprints are the day.\n\n When Thou settest in the western horizon of heaven,\n The world is in darkness like the dead.\n Men sleep in their chambers,\n Their heads are wrapped up,\n Their nostrils stopped, and none seeth the other.\n Stolen are all their things that are under their heads,\n While they know it not.\n Every lion cometh forth from his den,\n All serpents, they sting.\n Darkness reigns,\n The world is in silence:\n He that made them has gone to rest in His horizon.\n\n Bright is the earth, when Thou risest in the horizon,\n When Thou shinest as Aton by day.\n The darkness is banished\n When Thou sendest forth Thy rays;\n The two lands [of Egypt] are in daily festivity,\n Awake and standing upon their feet,\n For Thou hast raised them up.\n Their limbs bathed, they take their clothing,\n Their arms uplifted in adoration to Thy dawning.\n Then in all the world they do their work.\n\n All cattle rest upon the herbage,\n All trees and plants flourish;\n The birds flutter in their marshes,\n Their wings uplifted in adoration to Thee.\n All the sheep dance upon their feet,\n All winged things fly,\n They live when Thou hast shone upon them.\n\n The barques sail up-stream and down-stream alike.\n Every highway is open because Thou hast dawned.\n The fish in the river leap up before Thee,\n And Thy rays are in the midst of the great sea.\n\n Thou art He who createst the man-child in woman,\n Who makest seed in man,\n Who giveth life to the son in the body of his mother,\n Who soothest him that he may not weep,\n A nurse [even] in the womb.\n Who giveth breath to animate every one that He maketh.\n When he cometh forth from the body ...\n On the day of his birth,\n Thou openest his mouth in speech,\n Thou suppliest his necessities.\n\n When the chicken crieth in the egg-shell,\n Thou givest him breath therein, to preserve him alive;\n When Thou hast perfected him\n That he may pierce the egg,\n He cometh forth from the egg,\n To chirp with all his might;\n He runneth about upon his two feet,\n When he hath come forth therefrom.\n\n How manifold are all Thy works!\n They are hidden from before us,\n O Thou sole God, whose powers no other possesseth.\n Thou didst create the earth according to Thy desire,\n While Thou wast alone:\n Men, all cattle large and small,\n All that are upon the earth,\n That go about upon their feet;\n All that are on high,\n That fly with their wings.\n The countries of Syria and Nubia\n The land of Egypt;\n Thou settest every man in his place\n Thou suppliest their necessities.\n Every one has his possessions,\n And his days are reckoned.\n Their tongues are divers in speech,\n Their forms likewise and their skins,\n For Thou, divider, hast divided the peoples.\n\n Thou makest the Nile in the nether world,\n Thou bringest it at Thy desire, to preserve the people alive.\n O Lord of them all, when feebleness is in them,\n O Lord of every house, who risest for them,\n O sun of day, the fear of every distant land,\n Thou makest [also] their life.\n Thou hast set a Nile in heaven,\n That it may fall for them,\n Making floods upon the mountains, like the great sea,\n And watering their fields among their towns.\n\n How excellent are Thy designs, O Lord of eternity!\n The Nile in heaven is for the strangers,\n And for the cattle of every land that go upon their feet;\n But the Nile, it cometh from the nether world for Egypt.\n Thus Thy rays nourish every garden;\n When Thou risest they live, and grow by Thee.\n\n Thou makest the seasons, in order to create all Thy works;\n Winter bringeth them coolness,\n And the heat [the summer bringeth].\n Thou hast made the distant heaven in order to rise therein,\n In order to behold all that Thou didst make,\n While Thou wast alone,\n Rising in Thy form as Living Aton,\n Dawning, shining afar off, and returning.\n\n Thou makest the beauty of form through Thyself alone,\n Cities, towns, and settlements,\n On highway or on river,\n All eyes see Thee before them,\n For Thou art Aton of the day over the earth.\n\n Thou art in my heart;\n There is no other that knoweth Thee,\n Save Thy son Akhnaton.\n Thou hast made him wise in Thy designs\n And in Thy might.\n The world is in Thy hand,\n Even as Thou hast made them.\n When Thou hast risen they live;\n When Thou settest they die.\n For Thou art duration, beyond mere limbs;\n By Thee man liveth,\n And their eyes look upon Thy beauty\n Until Thou settest.\n All labour is laid aside\n When Thou settest in the west.\n When Thou risest they are made to grow....\n Since Thou didst establish the earth,\n Thou hast raised them up for Thy son,\n Who came forth from Thy limbs,\n The King, living in truth, ...\n Akhnaton, whose life is long;\n [And for] the great royal wife, his beloved,\n Mistress of the Two Lands, ... Nefertiti,\n Living and flourishing for ever and ever.\u201d\n\n\n 2. THE SIMILARITY OF AKHNATON\u2019S HYMN TO PSALM CIV.\n\nIn reading this truly beautiful hymn one cannot fail to be struck\nby its similarity to Psalm civ. A parallel will show this most\nclearly:--\n\n AKHNATON\u2019S HYMN.\n\n The world is in darkness\n like the dead. Every lion\n cometh forth from his den;\n all serpents sting. Darkness\n reigns.\n\n When Thou risest in the\n horizon ... the darkness is\n banished.... Then in all\n the world they do their work.\n\n All trees and plants flourish,\n ... the birds flutter in their\n marshes.... All sheep dance\n upon their feet.\n\n The ships sail up-stream and\n down-stream alike.... The\n fish in the river leap up before\n Thee; and Thy rays are in the\n midst of the great sea.\n\n How manifold are all Thy\n works!... Thou didst create\n the earth according to Thy desire,--men,\n all cattle, ... all\n that are upon the earth....\n\n Thou hast set a Nile in\n heaven that it may fall for\n them, making floods upon the\n mountains ... and watering\n their fields. The Nile in\n heaven is for the service of\n the strangers, and for the\n cattle of every land.\n\n Thou makest the seasons....\n Thou hast made the\n distant heaven in order to\n rise therein, ... dawning,\n shining afar off, and returning.\n\n The world is in Thy hand,\n even as Thou hast made them.\n When thou hast risen they live;\n when Thou settest they die....\n By Thee man liveth.\n\n\n PSALM CIV.\n\n Thou makest the darkness\n and it is night, wherein all\n the beasts of the forest do\n creep forth. The young lions\n roar after their prey; they seek\n their meat from God.\n\n The sun riseth, they get them\n away, and lay them down in\n their dens. Man goeth forth\n unto his work, and to his\n labour until the evening.\n\n The trees of the Lord are\n full of sap, ... wherein the\n birds make their nests....\n The high hills are a refuge for\n the wild goats.\n\n Yonder is the sea, great and\n wide, wherein are ... both\n small and great beasts. There\n go the ships....\n\n O Lord, how manifold are\n Thy works! In wisdom hast\n Thou made them all. The\n earth is full of Thy creatures.\n\n He watereth the hills from\n above: the earth is filled with\n the fruit of Thy works. He\n bringeth forth grass for the\n cattle, and green herb for the\n service of men.\n\n He appointed the moon for\n certain seasons, and the sun\n knoweth his going down.\n\n These wait all upon Thee....\n When Thou givest them [food]\n they gather it; and when Thou\n openest Thy hand they are filled\n with good. When Thou hidest\n Thy face they are troubled:\n when Thou takest away their\n breath they die.\n\nIn face of this remarkable similarity one can hardly doubt that\nthere is a direct connection between the two compositions; and it\nbecomes necessary to ask whether both Akhnaton\u2019s hymn and this\nHebrew psalm were derived from a common Syrian source, or whether\nPsalm civ. is derived from this Pharaoh\u2019s original poem. Both\nviews are admissible; but in consideration of Akhnaton\u2019s peculiar\nability and originality there seems considerable likelihood that he\nis the author in the first instance of this gem of the Psalter.\n\nWhen the young Pharaoh composed this hymn he was probably neither\nmuch more nor less than twenty or twenty-one years of age,--a\nperiod of life at which many of the world\u2019s greatest poets have\nwritten some of their fairest poems. One sees that he believed\nhimself to be the only man to whom God had revealed Himself; and\nthe fact that he never admits that he was in any way taught to\nregard God as he did, but always speaks of himself, and is spoken\nof, as the originator and teacher of the faith, indicates that the\nideas expressed in the hymn were entirely his own.\n\n\n 3. MERYRA IS MADE HIGH PRIEST OF ATON.\n\nThe religion of the Aton had now assumed shape and symmetry, and\nhad been firmly established in the new capital as the creed of the\ncourt. Akhnaton was thus able to intrust its administration and\norganisation there to one of his nobles who had hearkened to his\nteaching, and to turn his attention to other affairs, and more\nespecially to the conversion of the rest of Egypt. As head of the\nstate a thousand matters daily claimed his consideration, and his\nhigh principles led him to stray further along the by-paths of\nadministration than had been the wont of the Pharaohs before him.\nHis ill-health did not permit him to tax his brain with impunity,\nand yet there was never a king of Egypt before or after him whose\nmind was so fruitful of thoughts and of schemes. The young king\nhimself expounded to his followers the doctrines which he wished\nthem to embrace, and one may suppose that he sat for many an hour\nin the halls of his palace, or under the trees in the gardens\nbeside the Nile, earnestly telling of the beauties of the Aton to\nofficials and nobles.\n\nNo one had accepted the king\u2019s teaching with greater readiness\nthan a certain Meryra, who seems to have early associated himself\nwith the movement; and it was to him that Akhnaton now handed\nover the office of \u201cHigh Priest of the Aton in the City of the\nHorizon of Aton,\u201d in order to free himself for the great task of\nadministering his kingdom and converting it to his way of thinking.\nUnfortunately we know very little of the career of Meryra, but on\nthe walls of his tomb in the hills behind the capital there are a\nfew reliefs which may here be described as illustrating events in\nhis life and in the life of Akhnaton.\n\nOne of these scenes shows us the investiture of Meryra as High\nPriest. The king is seen with his wife and one of his daughters\nstanding at a window of the gaily decorated _loggia_ of the palace.\nThe sill of the window is massed with bright-coloured cushions,\nand over these the royal personages lean forward to address\nMeryra and the company assembled in the pillared gallery outside.\nThe outer surface of the _loggia_ wall is brightly ornamented\neither with real or painted garlands of lotus-flowers, and with\nthe many-coloured patterns usual upon such buildings in ancient\nEgypt. Ribbons, fluttering in the breeze, hang from the delicate\nlotus-pillars which support the roof, and vie in brilliancy with\nthe red and blue ostrich-plume fans and standards carried by the\nofficials.\n\nLeaning from the window, with arm outstretched, Akhnaton bids\nMeryra rise from his knees, on to which he had cast himself on\nreaching the royal presence. Then solemnly the king addresses his\nfavoured disciple in the following words:--\u201cBehold, I make thee\nHigh Priest of the Aton for me in the Temple of the Aton in the\nCity of the Horizon of Aton. I do this for love of thee, and I say\nunto thee: O my servant who hearkenest to the teaching, my heart is\nsatisfied with everything which thou hast done. I give thee this\noffice, and I say unto thee: thou shalt eat the food of Pharaoh,\nthy lord, in the Temple of Aton.\u201d\n\nImmediately the assembled company crowd round Meryra and lift him\nshoulder-high, while the new High Priest cries, \u201cAbundant are the\nrewards which the Aton knows to give when his heart is pleased.\u201d\nThe king then presents Meryra with the insignia of his office,\nand with various costly gifts, which are taken charge of by the\nservants and attendants who stand outside the gallery. Behind these\nattendants, at the outskirts of the scene, one observes the chariot\nwhich is to convey the High Priest back to his villa; fan-bearers\nwho shall run before and behind him; women of the household who\nshall beat upon tambourines at the head of the procession, and who\nalready dance with excitement as they see Meryra hoisted on to his\nfriend\u2019s shoulder; and still other women who shall make the roadway\nrich with flowers.\n\nThis is no solemn and occult initiation of an ascetic into the\nmystery of the new religion, but rather the elevation of a good\nfellow to a popular post of honour. There was no mystery in the\nfaith of the Aton. Frankness, openness, and sincerity were the\ndominant themes of Akhnaton\u2019s teaching,--a worship of God in the\nblessed light of the day, the singing of merry psalms in the\nopen courts of the temple; and the chosen High Priest was more\nlikely to have been a deep-thinking, clean-lived, honest-hearted,\nGod-fearing, family man, than an ascetic who had abandoned the\npomps and the vanities of this world. The point at which Akhnaton\u2019s\nreligion differs most widely from Christianity is here to be\nobserved: the Pharaoh, while encouraging the Simple Life, did\nnot preach the mortification of the flesh, but only the control\nof the body. The comforts of life, the brilliancy of decoration,\nthe charms of music, the beauties of painting and sculpture,\nthe pleasure of good company, the tonic of a bowl of wine, were\nall as acceptable to him, in moderation, as to the Preacher in\nEcclesiastes.\n\n\n 4. THE ROYAL FAMILY VISIT THE TEMPLE.\n\nWhen Meryra had been installed, the king and royal family made\na formal visit to the temple at the time of sunset, and this is\nlikewise represented in the High Priest\u2019s tomb. For the first time\nin the history of Egypt one is permitted to see the Pharaoh as he\ndrove through the streets of the capital in his chariot. No king\nbefore Akhnaton had allowed an artist to represent him in aught but\ncelestial poses; but out of his love for truth and reality Akhnaton\nhad dispensed with this convention, and encouraged the regarding of\nhimself as a mortal man. On this occasion we see him standing in\nhis gorgeously decorated chariot, reins and whip in hand, himself\ndriving the two spirited horses, the coloured ostrich plumes on\nwhose heads nod and toss as the superb animals prance along. The\nqueen, also driving her own chariot, follows close behind; and\nafter her again come the princesses, heading a noble group of\nchariots belonging to the court officials and ladies-in-waiting,\nthese being driven by charioteers. The shining harness, the dancing\nred and blue plumes of the horses, the many-coloured robes, the\nfeathered standards of the nobles, the fluttering ribbons, all go\nto make the cavalcade a sight to bring the townspeople running from\ntheir houses. A guard of soldiers, armed with spears, shields,\nbattle-axes, bows, and clubs, races along on foot in front of the\nroyal party to clear the road. Here, besides Egyptians, are bearded\nAsiatics from the king\u2019s Syrian dominions, befeathered negroes from\nthe Mazoi tribes of Nubia, and Libyans from the west, wearing the\nplaited side-lock of hair hanging from their heads.\n\nThe party is seen to be nearing the temple, and Meryra stands\nbefore the gateway ready to greet his lord. Four men kneel near\nhim holding aloft the coloured ostrich-plume fans, which will be\nwafted to and fro above the king\u2019s head when he has alighted from\nhis chariot; and others kneel, lifting their hands in reverent\nsalutation. Great bulls, fattened like the prize cattle of modern\ntimes, are led forth, garlands of flowers thrown around their huge\nnecks, and bouquets of flowers fastened between their horns. These\nare attended by grooms, also bearing bunches of flowers. Two groups\nof female musicians, clad in flowing robes, wave their arms and\nbeat upon tambourines.\n\nThe temple, which will be described later, is this day garlanded\nwith flowers, and every altar is heaped high with offerings. Now\nthe king has entered the building, and a further scene shows the\nroyal family worshipping at the high altar, which is piled up with\nofferings of joints of meat, geese, vegetables, fruit, and flowers,\nsurmounted by bronze bowls filled with burning oil. Akhnaton and\nNefertiti stand before the altar, each with the right arm raised in\nthe act of sprinkling the fragrant gums of Araby upon the flames.\nThe upper part of the king\u2019s body is bare, but from his waist\ndepends a graceful skirt of fine linen, ornamented with sash-like\nribbons of a red material, which flutter about his bare legs. The\nqueen\u2019s robe covers the whole of her body, but is so transparent\nthat one can see her fair form with almost the distinctness of\nnudity. A red sash is bound round her waist, and the two ends fall\nalmost to the ground. Neither of the two wears any jewels; and\nthe simplicity of the soft, flowing robes, with their bright-red\nsashes, is extremely marked. Two little princesses stand behind the\nking and queen, each shaking from a systrum a note of praise to\nGod. Meryra, accompanied by an assistant, stands bowing before the\nking, and near by another priest burns some sweet-smelling incense.\nNot far away there sits a group of eight blind musicians,--fat\nelderly men, who clap their hands and sing to the accompaniment\nof a seven-stringed harp, giving praise to the sunlight which\nthey cannot see, but yet can feel as \u201cthe heat which is in Aton\u201d\npenetrates into their bones.\n\nIn still another series of reliefs we are shown a scene\nrepresenting the reward of Meryra by Akhnaton on some occasion\nwhen he had been particularly successful in collecting the yearly\ndues of the temple from the estates on the opposite bank of the\nriver. The ceremony took place in the granary buildings at the edge\nof the water. One sees a group of boats moored at the quay, and on\nthe shore are several cattle-pens filled with lowing cattle. The\ngranaries are stored with all manner of good things, and Meryra\nstands triumphant in front of them as the king addresses him.\n\n\u201cLet the Superintendent of the Treasury of the Jewels take Meryra,\u201d\nsays Akhnaton, \u201cand hang gold on his neck at the front, and gold\non his feet, because of his obedience to the teaching of Pharaoh;\u201d\nand immediately the attendants literally heap the gold collars and\nnecklaces one above the other upon the High Priest\u2019s neck. Scribes\nwrite down a rapid summary of the events; the attendants and\nfan-bearers bow low; and Meryra is conducted back to his village\nwith music and with dancing, while Akhnaton returns to his palace,\nand, no doubt, sinks exhausted on to his cushions.\n\n\n 5. AKHNATON IN HIS PALACE.\n\nThe reliefs and paintings upon the tombs often show the Pharaoh\nreclining thus, in a languid manner, as though the duties of his\nhigh calling had sapped all the strength from him. Never before had\na Pharaoh been represented to his subjects in such human attitudes.\nThe privacy of the palace is penetrated in these scenes, and we\nsee the king, who loved to teach his followers the beauty of\nfamily life, in the midst of his own family. One or two of these\nrepresentations must here be described. In one instance the royal\nfamily is shown inside a beautiful pavilion, the roof of which is\nsupported by wooden pillars painted with many colours and having\ncapitals carved in high relief to represent wild geese suspended by\ntheir legs, and above them bunches of flowers: just such a grouping\nas one might see in some sporting house of the present day. The\npillars are hung with garlands of flowers, and from the ceiling\nthere droop festoons of flowers and trailing branches of vines. The\nroof of the pavilion on the outside is edged by an endless line of\ngleaming cobras, probably wrought in bronze.\n\nInside this fair arbor stand a group of naked girls playing upon\nthe harp, the lute, and the lyre, and, no doubt, singing to that\naccompaniment the artless love-songs of the period. Servants are\nshown attending to the jars of wine which stand at the side of the\nenclosure. The king is seen leaning back upon the cushions of an\narm-chair, as though tired out and sick at heart. In the fingers\nof his left hand he idly dandles a few flowers, while with his\nright hand he languidly holds out a delicate bowl in order that the\nwine in it may be replenished. This is done by the queen, who is\nstanding before him, all solicitous for his comfort. She pours the\nwine from a vessel, causing it to pass through a strainer before\nflowing into the bowl. Three little princesses stand near by: one\nof them laden with bouquets of flowers, another holding out some\nsweetmeat upon a dish, and a third talking to her father.\n\nIn another scene the king and queen are both shown seated upon\ncomfortable chairs, while a servant waits upon them. The king is\neating a roasted pigeon, holding it in his fingers; and Nefertiti\nis represented drinking from a prettily shaped cup. The light,\ntransparent robes which they wear indicate that this is the midday\nmeal; but unfortunately the painting is so much damaged that\nnothing but the royal figures remains.\n\n\n 6. HISTORICAL EVENTS OF THIS PERIOD OF AKHNATON\u2019S REIGN.\n\nThere is very little historical information to be procured for\nthese years of the king\u2019s reign. When he had been about ten or\neleven years upon the throne, and was some twenty-one years of\nage, his fourth daughter, Nefernefernaton, was born. The queen had\npresented no son to Akhnaton to succeed him, but he does not seem\nin this emergency to have cared to turn to any secondary wives;\nand, as far as we can tell, he remained all his life a monogamist,\nalthough this was in direct opposition to all traditional custom.\nSteadily during these years the king\u2019s health seems to have grown\nmore precarious, for almost daily he must have overtaxed his\nstrength. His brain was so active that he could not submit to be\nidle; and even when he reclined amidst the flowers in his garden,\nhis whole soul was straining upwards in the attempt to pierce the\nbarrier which lay between him and the God who had caused those\nflowers to bloom. The maturity of his creed at this period leads\none to suppose that he had given to it his very life\u2019s force; and\nwhen it is remembered that at the same time his attention was\noccupied by the administration of a kingdom which he had twisted\nout of all semblance to its former shape, the wonder is that his\nbrain was at all able to stand the incessant strain. Rare indeed\nmust have been those idle moments which the artists of the City of\nthe Horizon attempted to represent.\n\nIn the twelfth year of his reign, the tribute of the vassal\nkingdoms reached such a high value that a particular record was\nmade of it, and scenes showing its reception were sculptured in the\ntombs of Huya and Meryra II.[53] An inscription beside the scene\nin the tomb of Huya reads thus:--\n\n Year twelve, the second month of winter, the eighth day.... The\n King ... and the Queen ... living for ever and ever, made a\n public appearance on the great palanquin of gold, to receive the\n tribute of Syria and Ethiopia, and of the west and the east. All\n the countries were collected at one time, and also the islands\n in the midst of the sea; bringing offerings to the King when he\n was on the great throne of the City of the Horizon of Aton, in\n order to receive the imposts of every land and granting them [in\n return] the breath of life.\n\nThe king and queen are shown seated in the state palanquin side\nby side; and although Akhnaton holds the insignia of royalty,\nand is evidently very much upon his dignity, the queen\u2019s arm has\nfound its way around his waist, and there lovingly rests for all\nthe world to see. The palanquin, probably made of wood entirely\ncovered with gold foil, is a very imposing structure: a large\ndouble throne, borne aloft by stout poles upon the shoulders of the\ncourt officials. The arm-rests are carved in the form of sphinxes,\nwhich rise above a glistening hedge of cobras, and the throne is\nflanked on either side by the figure of a lion carved in the round.\nA priest walks in front of the palanquin sending up a cloud of\nincense from a censer, and professional mummers dance and skip in\nthe roadway in advance of the procession. Behind the royal couple\nwalk the princesses, attended by their nurses and ladies; and on\nall sides are arrayed courtiers, officers, soldiers, and servants.\n\nSoon the ground marked out for the ceremony is reached, and the\nking and queen betake themselves to a gorgeous little pavilion\nwhich has been erected for them, and here they sit together upon a\ndouble throne, their feet supported upon hassocks. The queen sits\nupon Akhnaton\u2019s left, and in the picture her figure is hidden by\nthat of her husband; but as her right arm is seen to encircle his\nwaist, and her left hand to hold his left hand, one may suppose\nthat she is reclining against him, with her royal head upon his\nshoulder. Nefertiti was the mother of a family of children, but was\nnot more than about twenty[54] years of age; and as she is said to\nhave been extremely beautiful, one may presume that this scene of\nconjugal affection was not without its charm. The little princesses\ncluster round the throne, one of them holding a young gazelle in\nher arms, while another strokes its head.\n\nIn front of this pavilion the deputations from the vassal kingdoms\npass by; and in order that the king may not be wearied by their\nceremonious homage, a group of professional wrestlers, boxers,\nand fencers is provided for his diversion; while near them some\nbuffoons and mummers dance and tumble to the accompaniment of\ncastanets and hand-clapping. The tribute of Syria is brought\nby long-robed Asiatics, who cast themselves upon their knees\nbefore the throne with hands uplifted in salutation. Splendid\nSyrian horses are led past, and behind them chariots are wheeled\nor carried along. Then come groups of slaves, handcuffed, but\nnot cruelly bound nor maltreated, as was the custom under other\nPharaohs. Bows, spears, shields, daggers, elephant-tusks, and other\nobjects, are carried past and deposited upon the ground near the\npavilion; while beautiful vases of precious metal or costly stone\nare held aloft for the king to admire. Wild animals are led across\nthe ground by their keepers, and amongst these a tame mountain lion\nmust have caused something of a sensation. Several nude girls,\nselected probably for their beauty, walk past; and one may suppose\nthat they will find subsequent employment amongst the handmaidens\nin the palace.\n\nFrom the \u201cislands in the midst of the sea\u201d come beautiful vases,\nsome ornamented with figures in the round. From Libya ostrich\neggs and ostrich feathers are brought. The tribute of Nubia and\nthe Sudan is carried past by befeathered negroes, and consists\nmainly of bars and rings of gold and bags of gold-dust, procured\nfrom the mines in the Eastern Desert. Shields, weapons, tusks, and\nskins are also to be seen, and cattle and antelopes are led before\nthe throne. As the Asiatics had startled the assembly by bringing\nwith them a lion, so the negroes cause a stir by leading forward a\npanther of large size. Finally, male and female slaves, the latter\ncarrying their babies in baskets upon their backs, are marched past\nthe pavilion; but here again these slaves are not maltreated. It is\nparticularly noticeable that the groups of miserable captives which\none sees in all such scenes of other periods, with their arms bound\nin agonising positions and their knees giving way under them, are\nentirely absent from the representations of Akhnaton\u2019s ceremonies.\nHuman suffering was a thing hateful to the young Pharaoh who knew\nso well the meaning of physical distress; and the tortures of the\nprisoners, or the beheading of some rebel, such as would have been\na feature of an occasion of this kind under Amonhotep II., or even,\nperhaps, under Amonhotep III., would have been as revolting to\nAkhnaton as it would be to us.\n\n\n 7. QUEEN TIY VISITS THE CITY OF THE HORIZON.\n\nAkhnaton had left Thebes, as we have seen, in about the eighth\nyear of his reign; but his mother, Queen Tiy, seems to have been\nunwilling to accompany him, and to have decided to remain in her\npalace at the foot of the Theban hills. It is probable that she had\nnot encouraged her son to create the new capital, and the removal\nof the court from Thebes must have been something of a grief to\nher, though no doubt she recognised the necessity of the step.\nIn spite of advancing years she must have sorely missed the pomp\nand circumstance of the splendid court over which she had once\npresided. Up to the fourth year of her son\u2019s reign she had been\ndominant, and the whole known world had bowed the knee to her. The\nluxuries of the many kingdoms over which she held sway had been\nhers to enjoy; but now, with the king and the nobles gone to the\nCity of the Horizon, and every penny which could be collected gone\nwith them, the old queen must have been obliged to live a quiet,\nretired life in a palace which was probably falling into rapid\nruin. Her little daughter, Baketaton, appears to have lived with\nher; and it may be that some of her other daughters were still with\nher, though of them we hear nothing, and it is more probable that\nthey had already died. It seems likely that she paid occasional\nstate visits to her son, and permanent accommodation was provided\nfor her in the City of the Horizon should she at any time desire to\nstay there. Her major-domo, an elderly man named Huya, appears to\nhave lived for part of the year at the new capital, where a tomb\nwas made for him; and it is from the reliefs on the walls of this\ntomb that we obtain the knowledge of one of these state visits made\nby the old queen to Akhnaton. There is no evidence to show in what\nyear the visit which forms the subject of the representations was\nmade; but as the twelfth year of Akhnaton\u2019s reign is mentioned in\nthis tomb, it is probable that the visit took place somewhere about\nthat time.\n\nThe queen must now have been between fifty and sixty years of\nage,[55] and her daughter Baketaton, born just before the death\nof her husband, was probably not much more than twelve years old.\nAkhnaton received his mother and sister with apparent joy and\nfestivity, and the major-domo, Huya, was called upon to organise\nmany a _f\u00eate_ in their honour. Some of them are shown in the\nreliefs, where even the conventionalities of the artist have\nnot been able to hide from us the luxury of the scene. One sees\nAkhnaton, his wife Nefertiti, his mother Tiy, his sister Baketaton,\nand his two daughters Merytaton and Ankhsenpaaton, seated together\non comfortable cushioned chairs, their feet resting on elaborate\nfootstools. Akhnaton is clad in a skirt of clinging linen, but the\nupper part of his body seems to have been bare. On his forehead\nthere gleams a small golden serpent, and on his feet there are\nelaborate sandals; but with customary simplicity he wears no\njewellery. Queen Nefertiti wears a flowing robe of fine linen, and\non her forehead also there is the royal serpent. Queen Tiy wears\nthe elaborate wig which was in vogue during the days of the old\n_r\u00e9gime_, and upon it there rests an ornamental crown consisting\nof a disk, two horns, two tall plumes, and two small serpents,\nprobably all wrought in gold. A graceful robe of some almost\ntransparent material falls lightly over her figure. The little\ngirls appear to be naked.\n\nAround this happy family group there stand graceful tables upon\nwhich food of all kinds is heaped. Here are joints of meat, dishes\nof confectionery, vegetables, fruit,[56] bread, cakes of various\nkinds, and so on. The tables are massed with lotus-flowers,\naccording to the charming custom of the ancient Egyptians of all\nperiods. Beside the tables stand jars of wine and other drinkables,\nfestooned with ribbons. At the moment selected by the artist for\nreproduction, Akhnaton is seen placing his teeth in the neatly\ntrimmed meat adhering to a large bone which he holds in his hand.\nTo this day it is the custom in Egypt thus to eat with the hands.\nNefertiti has a small roast duck in her hands at which she daintily\nnibbles. Tiy\u2019s morsel cannot now be seen, but as she places it to\nher mouth with one hand she presents a portion to her daughter,\nBaketaton, with the other. The two little princesses feed by\nNefertiti\u2019s side, and appear to be sharing the meal. Meanwhile Huya\nhurries to and fro superintending the banquet, carefully tasting\neach dish before it is presented to the royal party. Two string\nbands play alternately, the one Egyptian and the other apparently\nSyrian. The former consists of four female performers, the first\nplaying on a harp, the second and third on lutes, and the fourth on\na lyre. The main instrument in the foreign band is a large standing\nlyre, about six feet in height, having eight strings, and being\nplayed with both hands. Courtiers clad in elaborate dresses, and\nholding ostrich-plume standards, are grouped around the hall in\nwhich the banquet takes place.\n\nAnother set of reliefs in the tomb of Huya shows us an evening\nentertainment in honour of Queen Tiy. Again the same members of\nthe royal family are represented, but against the cool night air\nmore clothes are worn by each person, and the upper part of the\nking\u2019s body is now seen to be covered by a mantle of soft linen.\nThe king, queen, and queen-dowager are all shown drinking from\ndelicate bowls, probably made of gold. This being an evening\nfestival, little solid food appears to have been eaten, but there\nare three flower-decked tables piled high with fruit. From these\nthe little princesses, now wearing light garments, help themselves\nliberally; and the small Ankhsenpaaton stands upon the footstool of\nher mother\u2019s chair, holding on to her skirts with one hand, while\nwith the other she crams an apricot or some similar fruit into her\nmouth. Two string bands make music as before, and again the groups\nof courtiers stand about the hall; while Huya hastens to and fro\ndirecting the waiters, who, with napkins thrown over their arms,\nreplenish the drinking-bowls from the wine-jars. The hall is lit\nby several flaming lamps set upon tall stands, near each of which\nthese jars have been placed.\n\n\n 8. TIY VISITS HER TEMPLE.\n\nOne more scene from this state visit is shown. Here we observe\nAkhnaton leading his mother affectionately by the hand to a temple\nwhich had been built in her honour, as her private place of\nworship, and which was called the \u201cShade of the Sun.\u201d This temple\nappears to have been a building of great beauty and considerable\nsize. One passed through two great swinging doors fixed between the\nusual two pylons, and so entered the main court, which stood open\nto the sunlight. A pillared gallery passed along either side of\nthis court, and between each of the columns there stood statues of\nAkhnaton, Amonhotep III., and Queen Tiy. In the middle of the court\nrose the altar, to which one mounted by a flight of low steps. At\nthe far end of the court another set of pylons and swinging doors\nled into the inner chambers. Passing through these doors one\nentered a small gallery, on either side of which there were again\nstatues of the Pharaoh and his mother. Beyond stood the sanctuary,\nclosed by swinging doors; and inside this was the second altar,\nflanked by statues of the king and queen-dowager. To right and left\nof the sanctuary there were small chapels; and a passage led round\nbehind the sanctuary to the usual shrines, where more royal statues\nwere to be seen.\n\nThe building seems to have been brilliant with colours; and on\nthis particular occasion the altars were heaped up with offerings.\nGreat jars of wine, decked with garlands of flowers and ribbons,\nstood in the shadow of the colonnades; and meat, bread, fruit, and\nvegetables were piled on delicate stands, ornamented with flowers.\n\nAkhnaton and Tiy were accompanied by the little Princess Baketaton,\nAkhnaton\u2019s sister, and her two ladies-in-waiting. Before them\nwalked the queen\u2019s major-domo, Huya, accompanied by a foreign\nofficial wearing what appears to be Cretan costume.[57] Behind\nthem walked a noble group of courtiers bearing ostrich-plume fans\nand standards; and outside the temple precincts waited a crowd of\npolicemen, servants, charioteers and grooms in charge of the royal\nchariots, fan-bearers, porters, and temple attendants. These people\nshout and cheer loyally as the royal party arrives. \u201cThe ruler of\nthe Aton!\u201d they cry. \u201cHe shall exist for ever and ever!\u201d \u201cShe who\nrises in beauty!\u201d \u201cTo him on whom the Aton rises!\u201d \u201cShe who is\npatron of this temple of Aton!\u201d The old queen must have felt as\nthough she were back once more in the days of her glory; and yet\nhow different the simplicity of the religious ceremonies to those\nof the old priests of Amon-Ra. There was now but a prayer or two\nat the altar, a little burning of incense, a little bowing of the\nhead, and then the procession back to the palace, and the silent\nclosing of the holy gates.\n\n\n 9. THE DEATH OF QUEEN TIY.\n\nIt is possible that Queen Tiy took up her residence at the City\nof the Horizon in recognition of the lavish arrangements which\nher son had made for her. But whether this is so or not, it\ndoes not seem that she lived very long to enjoy such renewals\nof the pomps which she had known in her younger days. Her death\nappears to have taken place shortly after these celebrations,\nand, probably by her express commands, she was embalmed at Thebes\nand carried from her palace up the winding valley to the royal\nburying-ground amongst the rugged Theban hills. Akhnaton showed\nhis affection for her by presenting the furniture for the tomb,\nand in the inscriptions on the outer coffin one reads that \u201che\nmade it for his mother.\u201d The queen-dowager had evidently expressed\na wish to be buried near her father and mother, Yuaa and Tuau;\nfor the tomb, which is situated on the east side of the valley,\nis within a stone\u2019s-throw of the sepulchre where they lay. It\nwas entered by a steep flight of steps leading down to a sloping\npassage, at the end of which was the large burial chamber, the\nwalls of which were carefully whitewashed. On passing into this\nchamber a great box-like shrine, or outer coffin, was to be found,\noccupying the greater part of the room. The door to the shrine\nwas made of costly cedar of Lebanon covered with gold, and was\nfitted with an ornamental bolt. Many of the nails which held the\nwoodwork together were made of pure gold,--a fact which plainly\nshows us the wealth of the royal treasuries at this time. Scenes\nwere embossed on the panels showing the queen standing under the\nrays of the Aton. The shrine itself was also made of cedar, covered\nwith gold, and on all sides were scenes of the Aton worship. Here\nAkhnaton was shown with Tiy, and the life-giving rays of the sun\nstreamed around their naturally drawn figures. Inside this outer\nbox the coffin containing the great queen\u2019s mummy was laid. The\nusual funeral furniture was placed at the sides of the room: gaily\ncoloured boxes, alabaster vases, faience toilet-pots, statuettes,\n&c. Some of the toilet utensils were made in the form of little\nfigures of the grotesque god Bes, which indicates that Akhnaton\nstill tolerated the recognition by other persons of some of the\nold gods. In the inscriptions upon the outer coffin he had been\ncareful to call his father, Amonhotep III., by his second name,\nNebmaara, as often as possible, in order to avoid the writing\nof the word Amon, his dislike of everything to do with that god\nbeing profound. He allowed it to be written, however, here and\nthere, as it seemed right to him that it should appear. Akhnaton\u2019s\nprejudice against the old state god is also shown in another\nmanner. Amon\u2019s consort was the goddess Mut \u201cthe Mother,\u201d whose\nname is written in hieroglyphs by a sign representing a vulture.\nNow when the inscription mentioned the king\u2019s _mother_, Tiy, the\nword _mut_, \u201cmother,\u201d had to be written; but in order to avoid a\nsimilarity--even in spelling--to the name of the goddess, Akhnaton\nhad the word written out phonetically, letter by letter, and\nthus dispensed with the use of the vulture sign.[58] Again, in\nthe name Nebmaara, the meaning of which is \u201cRa, Lord of Truth,\u201d\nthe sign _maa_, \u201ctruth,\u201d represented the goddess of that name.\nAkhnaton\u2019s religion was much concerned with the quality of truth,\nwhich he regarded as one of the greatest necessities to happiness\nand well-being; and the fallacy of supposing that there was an\nactual deity of truth was particularly apparent to him. He was,\ntherefore, careful to write the sign _maa_ in letters instead of\nwith the hieroglyph of the goddess.\n\nWhen the funeral ceremonies came to an end, when the last prayer\nwas said and the last cloud of incense had floated to the roof,\nthe golden door of the shrine was shut and bolted, the outer\ndoorways were walled up, and an avalanche of stones, let down\nfrom the chippings heaped near by, obliterated all traces of the\nentrance. Thus Akhnaton paid his last tribute to his mother and\nto the originator, it may be, of the schemes which he had carried\ninto effect; and his last link with the past was severed. With the\ndeath of this good woman a restraining influence, as kindly as it\nwas powerful, slipped from his arm, and a new and fiercer chapter\nof his short life began.\n\n\n\n\n VI.\n\n THE THIRTEENTH TO THE FIFTEENTH YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON.\n\n \u201cThe episode of the retirement of the king with his whole\n court to the new palace and city, ... and the strange life of\n religious and artistic propaganda which he led there, ... is\n one of the most curious and interesting in the history of the\n world.\u201d--BUDGE: \u2018History of Egypt.\u2019\n\n\n 1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELIGION OF ATON.\n\nIn the Pharaoh\u2019s hymn to the Aton we read these words--\n\n \u201cThou didst create the earth according to Thy desire, ...\n The countries of Syria and Nubia,\n The land of Egypt....\u201d\n\nIt is certainly worthy of note that Syria and Nubia are thus named\nbefore Egypt, and seem to take precedence in Akhnaton\u2019s mind. In\nthe same hymn the following lines occur:--\n\n \u201cThe Nile in heaven is for the strangers, ...\n But the Nile [itself,] it cometh from the nether world for Egypt.\u201d\n\nHere Akhnaton refers to the rain which falls in Syria to water\nthe lands of the stranger, and compares it with the river which\nirrigates his own country. Thus again his thoughts are first for\nSyria and then for Egypt. This is the true imperial spirit: in\nthe broadness of the Pharaoh\u2019s mind his foreign possessions claim\nas much attention as do his own dominions, and demand as much\nlove. The sentiments are entirely opposed to those of the earlier\nkings of this dynasty, who ground down the land of the \u201cmiserable\u201d\nforeigner and extracted therefrom all its riches, without regard to\naught else.\n\nAkhnaton believed that his God was the Father of all mankind, and\nthat the Syrian and the Nubian were as much under His protection\nas the Egyptian. This is a greater advance in ethics than may be\nat once apparent; for the Aton thus becomes the first deity who\nwas not tribal or not national ever conceived by mortal mind.\nThis is the Christian\u2019s understanding of God, though not the\nHebrew conception of Jehovah. This is the spirit which sends the\nmissionary to the uttermost parts of the earth; and it was such\nan attitude of mind which now led Akhnaton to build a temple\nfor the Aton in the heart of Syria, and another far up in the\nSudan.[59] The site of the Syrian temple is now lost, but the\nNubian buildings were recently discovered and seem to have been of\nconsiderable extent.\n\n[Illustration: _An Example of the Friendly Relations between Syria\nand Egypt._\n\nA Syrian Soldier named Terura, and his wife, Aaribur\u00e6, attended by\nan Egyptian servant, who assists him to hold the tube through which\nhe is drinking wine from a jar. From a tablet found at El Amarna.\n(Zeit. Aeg. Spr. xxxvi. 126.)]\n\nAt the same time temples were being erected in various parts of\nEgypt. At Hermonthis a temple named \u201cHorizon of Aton in Hermonthis\u201d\nwas built; at Heliopolis there was a temple named \u201cExaltation of\nRa in Heliopolis,\u201d and also a palace for the king; at Hermopolis\nand at Memphis temples were erected; and in the Fayum and the Delta\n\u201cHouses\u201d of Aton sprang up. Few real converts, however, seem to\nhave been made; for the religion was far above the understanding\nof the people. In deference to the king\u2019s wishes the Aton was\naccepted, but no love was shown for the new form of worship;\nand, indeed, not even in the City of the Horizon itself was it\nunderstood.\n\nA certain change was now made by Akhnaton in the name of the\nAton. The words \u201cHeat which is in Aton\u201d did not seem to him to\nbe very happily chosen. They had been used in the earliest years\nof the movement, and had evidently not been coined by Akhnaton\nhimself. The word \u201cheat\u201d was in spelling very reminiscent of the\nname of one of the old gods, and, to the uninitiate, might suggest\nsome connection. The name of the Aton was therefore changed to\n\u201cEffulgence which comes from Aton,\u201d the new words introducing into\nthe spelling the hieroglyph of Ra, the sun. The exact significance\nof the alteration is not known; but one may suppose that the\nnew words better conveyed the meaning which Akhnaton wished to\nimply. Even now it is not easy to find a phrase to express that\nvital energy, that first cause of life, which the king so clearly\nunderstood.\n\nThe date of this change is somewhat uncertain, though it is\ndefinitely to be placed between the tenth and thirteenth year of\nthe reign, the probability being that it took place at the end\nof the twelfth year, when Akhnaton was about twenty-three years\nold. The inscriptions upon the outer coffin, or shrine, of Queen\nTiy show the older form of wording, and the change, therefore,\ntook place after her death. Now the queen did not die till the\nmiddle or end of the twelfth year, for in the tomb of Huya events\nof that year are recorded,[60] and he still holds the office of\nsteward to the queen, while a letter from Dushratta, mentioning\nTiy, was docketed in the twelfth year. On the other hand, the\nnew name of the Aton occurs in tombs which, by the number of\nAkhnaton\u2019s daughters represented in them, might be thought to have\nbeen constructed earlier than this.[61] Thus there is a slight\ndiscrepancy; but the point of significance is that the change\noccurred after the queen\u2019s death, and was thus concurrent with\nanother change which must here be recorded.\n\n\n 2. AKHNATON OBLITERATES THE NAME OF AMON.\n\nUp till this time it will have been observed that Akhnaton had\nbehaved with great leniency towards the worshippers of the older\ngods, and had not even persecuted the priesthood of Amon-Ra. It\nnow becomes apparent that this restraint was due to his mother\u2019s\ninfluence, for no sooner was she dead than Akhnaton turned with the\nfierceness of a fanatic upon the latter institution. He issued an\norder that the name of Amon was to be erased wherever it occurred,\nand this order was carried out with such amazing thoroughness that\nhardly a single occurrence of the name was overlooked. Although\nthousands of inscriptions, accessible to Akhnaton\u2019s agents, are\nnow known in which the name of Amon occurs, there are but a few\nexamples in which the god\u2019s name has not been mutilated. His agents\nhammered the name out on the walls of the temples throughout Egypt;\nthey penetrated into the tombs of the dead to erase it from the\ntexts; they searched through the minute inscriptions upon small\nstatuettes and figures, obliterating the name therefrom; they\nmade journeys into the distant deserts to cut out the name from\nthe rock-scribbles of travellers; they clambered over the cliffs\nbeside the Nile to erase it from the graffiti; they entered\nprivate houses to rub it from small utensils where it chanced to be\ninscribed.\n\nAkhnaton was always thorough in his undertakings, and half-measures\nwere unknown to him. When it came to the question of his own\nfather\u2019s name, he seems not to have hesitated to order the\nobliteration of the word Amon in it, though one may suppose that\nin most cases he painted over it the king\u2019s second name, Nebmaara.\nHis agents burst their way into the tomb of Queen Tiy and removed\nthe name Amonhotep from the inscriptions upon the shrine, writing\nNebmaara in red ink over each erasure. Having scratched out the\nname even upon one of the queen\u2019s toilet-pots of minute size they\nretired from the tomb, building up the wall at the entrance, and\ncontinued their labours elsewhere. The king was now asked whether\nhis own name, Amonhotep,--which had been used before he adopted the\nbetter known Akhnaton,--was to suffer the same fate, and the answer\nseems to have been in the affirmative. Upon the quarry tablet at\nGebel Silsileh[62] the king\u2019s discarded name is thus erased, though\nit was not damaged in the tomb of Rames. The names of the various\nnobles and officials, male and female, which were compounded with\nAmon--Amonhotep, Setamon, Amonemhat, Amonemapt, and so on--were\nruthlessly destroyed; while living persons bearing such names were\noften obliged to change them.\n\nIn thus mutilating his father\u2019s name Akhnaton did not in any way\nintend to disparage his forbears. He was but desirous of utterly\nobliterating Amon from the memory of man, in order that the true\nGod might the better receive acceptance. He was proud of his\ndescent, and, unlike most of his ancestors, he showed a desire to\nhonour the memory of his father. We have seen[63] how one of his\nartists, Bek, represented the figure of Amonhotep III. upon his\nmonument at Aswan. Huya, Queen Tiy\u2019s steward, was authorised by\nAkhnaton to show that king upon the walls of his tomb;[64] and in\nthe private temple of Queen Tiy, it will be remembered that there\nwere statues of Amonhotep III.[65] Likewise, the earlier kings of\nthe dynasty received unusual recognition. An official named Any\nheld the office of Steward of the House of Amonhotep II.;[66] and\nthere is a representation of Akhnaton offering to Aton in \u201cthe\nHouse of Thothmes IV. in the City of the Horizon.\u201d[67] Upon his\nboundary tablet Akhnaton refers to Amonhotep III. and Thothmes IV.\nas being troubled by the priesthood of Amon.\n\nIt would seem from the above that there were shrines dedicated to\nAkhnaton\u2019s ancestors in the City of the Horizon, each of which had\nits steward and its officials; and it is probable that Akhnaton\narranged that a memorial shrine of the same kind should be erected\nfor himself against his death, for we read of a personage who was\n\u201cSecond Priest\u201d of the king.[68] It was his desire in this manner\nto show the continuity of his descent from the Pharaohs of the\nelder days, and to demonstrate his real claim to that title \u201cSon\nof the Sun\u201d which had been held by the sovereigns of Egypt ever\nsince the Fifth Dynasty, and which was of such vital importance\nin the new religion. It was in this manner that he claimed descent\nfrom Ra, who was to him the same with Aton; and just as the great\nreligious teachers of the Hebrews made careful note of their\ngenealogies in order to prove themselves descended from Adam, and\nhence in a manner from God, so Akhnaton thus demonstrated the\ncontinuity of his line in order to show his real right to the\ntitles \u201cChild of Aton\u201d and \u201cSon of the Sun.\u201d\n\n\n 3. THE GREAT TEMPLE OF ATON.\n\nThe City of the Horizon of Aton must now have been a very city\nof temples. There were these shrines dedicated to the king\u2019s\nancestors; there was the temple of Queen Tiy; there was a shrine\nfor the use of Baketaton, the king\u2019s sister; there was the \u201cHouse\nof putting the Aton to Rest,\u201d where Queen Nefertiti officiated; and\nthere was the great temple of Aton, in which probably were included\nother of the buildings named in the inscriptions. The great temple\nmay here be briefly described, as the reader has so far made the\nacquaintance only of the building belonging to Queen Tiy.\n\nThe temple was entirely surrounded by a high wall, and in this\nrespect was not unlike the existing temple of Edfu, which the\nvisitor to Egypt will assuredly have seen. Inside the area thus\nenclosed there were two buildings, the one behind the other,\nstanding clear of the walls, thus leaving a wide ambulatory around\nthem. Upon passing through the gates of the enclosing wall there\nwas seen before one the fa\u00e7ade of the first of the two temples,\nwhile to right and left there stood a small lodge or vestry. The\nfa\u00e7ade of the temple was most imposing. Two great pylons towered\nup before one, rising from behind a pillared portico, and between\nthem stood the gateway with its swinging doors. Up the face of\neach pylon shot five tall masts, piercing the blue sky above, and\nfrom the heads of each there fluttered a crimson pennant. Passing\nthrough the gateway one entered an open court, in the midst of\nwhich stood the high altar, up to which a flight of steps ascended.\nOn either side of this sun-bathed enclosure stood a series of small\nchapels or chambers; while in front of one, in the axial line,\nthere was another gateway leading on into the second court, from\nwhich one passed again into a third court. Passing through yet\nanother gateway, a fourth division of the temple was reached, this\nbeing a pillared gallery or colonnade where one might rest for a\nwhile in the cool shadow. Then onwards through another gateway into\nthe fifth court, crossing which one entered the sixth court, where\nstood another altar in the full sunshine. A series of some twenty\nlittle chambers passed around the sides of this court, and looking\ninto the darkness beyond each of their doorways one might discern\nthe simple tables and stands with which the rooms were furnished.\nA final gateway now led one into the seventh and last court, where\nagain there was an altar, and again a series of chambers surrounded\nthe open space.\n\nBehind this main temple, and quite separate from it though standing\nwithin the one enclosure, stood the lesser temple, which was\nprobably the more sacred of the two. It was fronted by a pillared\nportico, and before each column stood a statue of Akhnaton, beside\nwhich was a smaller figure of his wife or one of his daughters.\nPassing through the gateway, which was so designed that nothing\nbeyond could be seen, one entered an open court in which stood the\naltar, and around the sides of which were small chambers. Here the\ntemple ended, save for a few chambers of uncertain use, approached\nfrom the ambulatory.\n\nBoth buildings were gay with colours, and at festivals there were\nnumerous stands heaped high with flowers and other offerings,\nwhile red ribbons added their notes of brilliant colour on all\nsides. There was nothing gloomy or sombre in this temple of Aton;\nand it contrasts strikingly with the buildings in which Amon was\nworshipped. There vast halls were lit by minute windows, and\na dim uncertainty hovered around the worshipper. Such temples\nlent themselves to mystery, and amidst their gloomy shadows\nmany a supplicant\u2019s heart beat in terror. Dark stairways led to\nsubterranean passages, and these passages to black chambers built\nin the thickness of the wall, from whence the hollow voice of the\npriest throbbed as from mid-air upon the ears of the crouching\ncongregation. But in Akhnaton\u2019s temple each court was open to the\nfull blaze of the sunlight.[69] There was, there could be, no\nmystery; nor could there be any terror of darkness to loosen the\nknees of the worshipper. Akhnaton, true scientist that he was,\nhad no sympathy for the occult and no interest in spiritualism.\nBoldly he looked to God as a child to its father; and having solved\nwhat he deemed to be the riddle of life, there was no place in\nhis mind for aught but an open, fearless adoration of the Creator\nof that vital energy which he saw in all things. Akhnaton was the\nsworn enemy of the table-turners of his day, and the tricks of\npriestcraft, the stage effects of religiosity, were anathema to his\npure mind.\n\n\n 4. THE BEAUTY OF THE CITY.\n\nThe City of the Horizon of Aton was now a place of surpassing\nbeauty. Eight or nine years of lavish expenditure in money and\nskill had transformed the fields and the wilderness into as fair\na city as the world had ever seen. One of the nobles who lived\nthere, by name May, describes it in these words: \u201cThe mighty City\nof the Horizon of Aton, great in loveliness, mistress of pleasant\nceremonies, rich in possessions, the offering of the sun being in\nher midst. At the sight of her beauty there is rejoicing. She is\nlovely and beautiful: when one sees her it is like a glimpse of\nheaven.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: _Carved Wooden Chair, the designs partly covered\nwith gold-leaf._]\n\nThere was almost constant music in her streets, and the scent of\nflowers was wafted upon every breeze. Besides the temples and\npublic buildings the city was adorned with numerous palaces, each\nstanding in fair gardens. One of these mansions,[70] represented in\nthe tomb of Meryra, seems to have constituted a happy combination\nof comfort and simplicity, as may be seen from its pictures. One\nentered a walled court, and so passed to the main entrance of\nthe house. A portico, the roof of which was supported by four\ndecorative columns festooned with ribbons, sheltered the elaborate\ndoorway from the sunshine. Passing through this doorway, from the\ntop of which a row of cobras gleamed down upon one, a pillared\nhall was reached; and beyond this the visitor entered the great\ndining-hall. Twelve columns supported the ceiling, which was\nprobably painted with flights of birds; and under a kind of kiosk\nin the middle of the hall stood the dining-table and several\ncomfortable arm-chairs, cushioned in bright colours. Beyond this\nhall there was a court, at the back of which were several chambers,\none being a bedroom, as a great cushioned bedstead clearly shows.\nThe owner\u2019s womenfolk probably occupied another portion of the\nbuilding not shown in the representations.\n\nThe palace of Ay, Akhnaton\u2019s father-in-law, was a more pretentious\nbuilding. It was entered by a fine doorway which led into a court.\nA second door gave entrance to the large, pillared dining-hall,\nand through this one passed into a court from which bedrooms and\nboudoirs led off. In one of these rooms two women, clad in airy\ngarments, are seen to be dancing with one another, while a man\nplays a harp. In another room a girl likewise dances to the strains\nof a harp, while a servant dresses the hair of one of the gentlemen\nof the household. Other rooms contain lutes, harps, and lyres, as\nwell as objects of the toilet. A little court is now reached, where\nfragrant flowers grow, and tanks of water, sunk in the decorated\npavement, give a sense of coolness to the air. Beyond this are more\napartments, and finally the kitchens are reached. Throughout the\nhouse stand delicate tables upon which jars of wine or dishes of\nfruit are to be seen; and cushioned arm-chairs, with footstools\nbefore them, are ready for the weary. Servants are seen passing to\nand fro bearing refreshments, or stopping to dust the floor, or\nagain idly talking in the passages.\n\nAkhnaton\u2019s palace is not very clearly shown in the tomb reliefs or\npaintings, but portions of it were found in the modern excavations\non the site[71]. Like all the residential buildings of the\nperiod, it was an airy and light structure made of brick. The\nwalls, ceilings, and floors were covered with the most beautiful\npaintings; and delicate pillars, inlaid with coloured glass and\nstone, or covered with realistically painted vines and creepers,\nsupported the light roofs of its halls. Portions of the pavement\nare still preserved, and the visitor to the site of the city may\nstill see the paintings there depicted. A young calf, frisking\nin the sunlight, gallops through a field of red poppies; wild\ngeese rise from the marshes and beat their way through the reeds,\ndisturbing the butterflies as they do so; amidst the lotus-flowers\nresting upon the rippling water the sinuous fish are seen to\nwander. These are but fragments of the paintings which once\ndelighted the eyes of the Pharaoh, or brought a sigh to the lips of\nhis queen.\n\nThe art of the painter of this period excels in the depiction of\nanimal and plant life. The winding, tangled stems and leaves of\nvines were carefully studied; the rapid motions of animals were\ncorrectly caught; and it has been said that in these things the\nartists of Akhnaton were greater than those in any other Oriental\nart[72]. Sculpture in the round, too, reached a pitch of excellence\nnever before known. The statue of Akhnaton illustrated opposite is\nthe work of one who may rank with Donatello, if not with Cellini.\n\n[Illustration: _Akhnaton._\n\n(From a statuette in the Louvre.)]\n\nIt is possible that Auta, the chief sculptor of Queen Tiy,[73] is\nthe creator of this statue, and perhaps also of the head, probably,\nof Akhnaton\u2019s daughter shown opposite next page. In the tomb of\nHuya there is a scene representing this artist seated in his studio\ngiving the final touches to a statue of Princess Baketaton. He sits\nupon a low stool, palette in hand, and, as was the custom, colours\nthe surface of the statue. Unlike the stiff conventional poses of\nearlier work, the attitude of the young girl is easy and graceful.\nOne hand hangs by her side: in the other she holds a pomegranate,\nwhich she is about to raise to her lips. Auta\u2019s assistant stands\nbeside the figure, and near by two apprentices work upon objects of\nless importance, their chisels on a table by their side.\n\nWorks such as these which Auta and his companions were turning out\nare permanent memorials of the reign of Akhnaton, which will carry\nhis name through the years until, as he would say, \u201cthe swan turns\nblack and the crow turns white.\u201d There must surely come a time,\nand soon, when the art of Egypt will receive more attention; and\none may then hear Akhnaton\u2019s name coupled with that of the Medici\nas the patron, if not the teacher, of great masters. It was he\nwho released them from convention, and bade their hands repeat\nwhat their eyes saw; and it was he who directed those eyes to the\nbeauties of nature around them. He, and no other, taught them to\nlook at the world in the spirit of life, to infuse into the cold\nstone something of the \u201ceffulgence which comes from Aton\u201d; and,\nif these few treasures which have survived the utter wreck of the\nCity of the Horizon have put one\u2019s heart to a happy step, it was\nAkhnaton who first set the measure.\n\n\n 5. AKHNATON\u2019S AFFECTION FOR HIS FAMILY.\n\nIn about the thirteenth year of the reign a fifth daughter was\nborn, who was named Neferneferura. This seems to have been the\nfirst daughter born after the changes in the religion recorded\nat the beginning of this chapter[74] had taken place; and it is\nsignificant that the name of Aton, of which all the previous\ndaughters\u2019 names had been compounded, now gives place to Ra.\nA sixth daughter seems to have made her appearance somewhat over\na year later, some time during the fourteenth year of the reign.\nAgain Ra is used in the name instead of Aton, she being called\nSetepenra. It is impossible to say what was the meaning of this\nslight change in the theological aspect of the religion at this\nperiod, but it seems evident that certain developments in which Ra\nfigured were now introduced.\n\n[Illustration: _Head of Akhnaton\u2019s Daughter._]\n\nNo son was yet forthcoming, and both the king and the queen\nmust now have suffered six successive disappointments. It may\nbe mentioned here that the next child born to the unfortunate\ncouple in the following year proved to be a seventh girl and a\nseventh disappointment; and in the remaining two years of the\nreign no other child was born, or at any rate was weaned, so that\nAkhnaton died sonless. It is strange to picture this lofty-minded\npreacher in his home, with his six little girls around him, as\nhe is shown upon the monuments. No other Pharaoh thus portrayed\nhimself surrounded by his family; but Akhnaton seems to have\nnever been happy unless all his children were with him and his\nwife by his side. The charm of family life, and the sanctity of\nthe relationship of husband and wife, parents and children, seems\nto have been an important point of doctrine to him. He urged his\nnobles, also, to give their attention to their families; and in the\ntomb of Panehesy, for example, one may see representations of that\npersonage sitting with his wife and his three daughters around him.\n\nAkhnaton\u2019s affection for his daughters is now shown to us in\nanother manner. When Amonhotep III. had asked the King of Mitanni\nfor one of his daughters to be given in marriage to Akhnaton, the\nlittle Nefertiti was at once dispatched, although she was not yet\nold enough to cohabit with her husband. He had no scruples about\nsending the child of eight years old to a foreign country, and\nseems to have packed her off without a thought. Now, however, we\nobtain a glimpse of Akhnaton\u2019s actions under similar circumstances,\nand the difference is marked. The King of Babylon, Burraburiash,\nwrote to Akhnaton in about the fourteenth or fifteenth year of\nthe reign, asking for one of the Pharaoh\u2019s daughters as a wife\nfor his son. Wishing to be on friendly terms with Babylonia,\nAkhnaton consented to the union, and selected probably his fourth\ndaughter, Nefernefernaton, as the future Queen of Babylon. His\neldest daughter subsequently married a noble named Smenkhkara, who\nsucceeded to the throne after the death of Akhnaton; and his third\ndaughter was later married to another noble named Tutankhaton, who\nusurped the throne, as we shall see in the sequel. The fact that\nneither of these daughters was now chosen to marry the Babylonian\nprince indicates that they were already betrothed to their future\nhusbands, and hence this event could not have taken place much\nearlier than at the date mentioned above. The second daughter,\nMeketaton, was not selected for the reason that she seems to have\nbeen in a precarious state of health. The little princess who was\nchosen was born in the tenth year of the reign, and was now not\nmore than five years of age. Akhnaton, unlike the King of Mitanni,\ndid not at once send the child to her future home, but arranged\nthe marriage by proxy, and thus kept his daughter with him for yet\na few years. This is made evident from the fact that in a letter\nfrom Burraburiash to Akhnaton, the Babylonian king states that he\nis sending a necklace of over a thousand stones to the \u201cPharaoh\u2019s\ndaughter, the wife of his son,\u201d who is thus evidently still\nresident in Egypt.\n\nBesides Akhnaton\u2019s six, and presently seven, daughters there were\ntwo other princesses probably in residence at the palace. One of\nthese, his young sister Baketaton, whom we have seen visiting the\nCity of the Horizon with her mother, is not again heard of, and\nperhaps did not long survive the dowager-queen\u2019s death. The other\nwas Nezemmut, the sister of Queen Nefertiti, who seems to have\nlived in Egypt continuously since the time of the founding of the\nnew city, when we last saw her.[75] Her portraits are shown in\nthe tombs of May, Panehesy, and Ay; and she is generally seen to\nbe accompanied by two female dwarfs, named Para and Reneheh, who\nappear to have waddled after her wherever she went. She was still,\nno doubt, very young, and these two grotesque attendants were\nentrusted with her safety as well as her amusement.\n\n\n 6. AKHNATON\u2019S FRIENDS.\n\nThe simple and homely manner in which Akhnaton is represented by\nhis artists, surrounded by his children, is an indication that\nalthough he demanded much homage from his subjects in his capacity\nas their Pharaoh, he but asked for their sympathy and affection in\nall other connections. As Pharaoh his person was inapproachable and\nhis attitude aloof, but as a man he never failed to set an example\nof what he considered a man should do; and even upon his throne,\nto which one might but advance with bowed head and bended knee,\nhe displayed his mortal nature to all beholders by joking with\nhis children or paying fond attention to his wife. So, also, many\nof his disciples and courtiers, who so ceremoniously approached\nthe steps of his throne, were in reality his good friends and\nintimates. Akhnaton did not care a snap of the fingers for\naristocratic traditions, and although he demanded the conventional\nrespect of his subjects, and upheld the less tiresome rules of\ncourt etiquette, many of his closest friends were of peasant\norigin, and the hands which now held the jewelled ostrich-plume\nstandards could as easily grasp the pick or the plough.\n\nMay, a high official of the city, speaks of himself in the\nfollowing words: \u201cI was a man of low origin both on my father\u2019s\nand on my mother\u2019s side, but the King established me.... He caused\nme to grow ... by his bounty when I was a man of no property; ...\nhe gave me food and provisions every day, I who had been one that\nbegged bread.\u201d Huya, Queen Tiy\u2019s steward, speaks of the king as\nselecting his officials from the ranks of the yeomen. Panehesy\ntells us that Akhnaton is one \u201cwho maketh princes and formeth the\nhumble,\u201d and he adds: \u201cWhen I knew not the companionship of princes\nI was made an intimate of the King.\u201d But if the Pharaoh raised men\nfrom the ranks, he was also capable of degrading those who offended\nagainst the standards which he had set up. Thus May seems to have\nbeen disgraced and turned out of the city.\n\nThe tomb of the police official, Mahu, who was a favourite of the\nking, though probably not of exalted origin, has provided us with\nsome scenes relating to his official work which are of considerable\ninterest. In one series of these we are shown the capture of some\nforeigners, or perhaps Beduin, who may have belonged to some gang\nof thieves or anarchists. Mahu has been awakened in the early\nhours of a winter morning by the news of the disturbance, and as\nhe listens to the report a servant blows a small fire into flame,\nsince the morning air is chilly. He then sends for his chariot and\ndrives to the scene of the crime, whatever it may be; and soon he\nhas effected the arrest of some of the culprits. These men are then\nconveyed to the Vizir, who, with his staff, receives Mahu with\nexclamations of approval. \u201cExamine these men, O Princes,\u201d says the\npolice officer, \u201cwhom the foreigners have instigated.\u201d From these\nwords it might seem that the prisoners were foreign spies, or even\nassassins plotting against the life of the Pharaoh.\n\nWhether from fear of a revolt in Egypt or from mere custom, the\nCity of the Horizon was closely defended at this time, and there\nis a scene in this same tomb in which Akhnaton is shown inspecting\nthe fortifications. He drives in his chariot with his wife and\nhis eldest daughter Merytaton; and although the spirited horses\nwould appear to be difficult to manage, the more so because the\nmischievous Merytaton is poking them with a stick, Akhnaton is a\nsufficiently good driver to be able to carry on a conversation with\nthe queen, and to address a few words to Mahu, who runs by the\nside of the chariot. In striking contrast to the custom of other\nPharaohs, Akhnaton is accompanied by an unarmed bodyguard of police\nas he drives round the defences; and in this we may perhaps see an\nindication of his popularity. The fortifications, it may be noted,\nconsist of blockhouses built at regular intervals, and defended by\nwire or rope entanglements.\n\nIn several of the tombs there are representations of their\nowners receiving rewards from the king for their diligence in\ntheir official works, or for their intelligent acceptance of his\nteaching. A high official named Pentu has left us a scene in\nwhich Akhnaton is shown seated in the hall of his palace, while\nPentu stands before him to receive numerous golden collars at the\nroyal hands in recognition of his services. A part of the palace\nis shown, but the scene is much damaged: a small pond or tank\nsurrounded by flowers is shown in one corner of the enclosure, but\nthe plan of the various rooms is confused, and is quite subsidiary\nto the representation of the hall where the Pharaoh receives the\nhappy Pentu. Akhnaton seems to have been a good friend, as he was\na stern enemy; and those who assisted him in the difficult tasks\nwhich he had set himself were lavishly rewarded for their pains.\n\n\n 7. AKHNATON\u2019S TROUBLES.\n\nAkhnaton\u2019s health was so very uncertain that he hastened to\nconstruct for himself a tomb in the cliffs behind the City of the\nHorizon. He selected as the site of his last resting-place a gaunt\nand rugged valley which here cuts into the hills, leading back,\naround tumbled rocks and up dry watercourses, to the Arabian desert\nbeyond. It is\n\n \u201cA savage place!--as holy and enchanted\n As e\u2019er beneath a waning moon was haunted\n By woman wailing for her demon-lover.\u201d\n\nHere Akhnaton elected to be buried, where hy\u00e6nas prowled and\njackals wandered, and where the desolate cry of the night-owls\nechoed over the rocks. In winter, the cold wind sweeps up this\nvalley and howls around the rocks; in summer the sun makes of it\na veritable furnace unendurable to man. There is nothing here to\nremind one of the God who watches over him, and the tender Aton of\nthe Pharaoh\u2019s conception would seem to have abandoned this place\nto the spirits of evil. There are no flowers where Akhnaton cut\nhis sepulchre, and no birds sing; for the king believed that his\nsoul, caught up into the noon of Paradise, would need no more the\ndelights of earth.\n\nThe tomb consisted of a passage descending into the hill, and\nleading to a rock-cut hall, the roof of which was supported by\nfour columns. Here stood the sarcophagus of pink granite in which\nthe Pharaoh\u2019s mummy would lie. The walls of this hall were covered\nwith scenes carved in plaster,[76] representing various phases of\nthe Aton worship. From the passage there led another small chamber\nbeyond which a further passage was cut, perhaps to lead to a second\nhall in which the queen should be buried; but the work was never\nfinished.\n\nThe construction of the tomb was interrupted by the death of\nAkhnaton\u2019s second daughter, Meketaton, who had barely lived to see\nher ninth birthday. It has already been seen that she seems to have\nbeen ailing for some time, and her death was perhaps no surprise\nto her parents. Their grief, however, was none the less acute for\nthis; and when the body of the little girl had been laid to rest in\none of the chambers of her father\u2019s tomb, the walls were covered\nat Akhnaton\u2019s order with scenes representing the grief of the\nbereaved family. Here Queen Nefertiti is seen holding in her arms\nher lately born seventh daughter, whose name, ending in ... t, is\nnow lost; while the five other little girls weep with their parents\nbeside the bier of their dead sister. It is a pathetic picture, and\none which stirs our sympathy for a Pharaoh who, unlike all other\nkings of Egypt, could weep for the loss of a daughter.\n\nThis was not Akhnaton\u2019s only grief. His doctrines were not being\naccepted in Egypt as readily as he had hoped, and he was probably\nable to detect a considerable amount of insincerity in the attitude\nof those around him. There was hardly a man whom he could trust to\ncontinue in the faith should he himself die; and even as he put the\nlast touches to his temples and his palaces he was aware that he\nhad built his house upon the sand. The empire which he had dreamed\nof, bound together by the ties of a common worship of Aton, was\nfast fading out of sight, and the news which reached him from Syria\nwas disquieting in the extreme.\n\nAt this time the King of Babylon, whose son had married Akhnaton\u2019s\ndaughter, seems to have been on bad terms with his neighbour,\nthe King of Mitanni, the father of the Pharaoh\u2019s much-loved Queen\nNefertiti; and Akhnaton came nigh to being drawn into the quarrel.\nThe Babylonian king had been ill for some time, and in the course\nof the international correspondence Nefertiti had never once sent\nher condolences to him, apparently because he was a poor friend to\nher father. This was much resented, and the King of Babylon at last\nsent an insulting letter to Akhnaton, in which he states that he is\nsending him the usual present of decorative objects which etiquette\nrequired of him, but that he wishes it to be understood that only a\nfraction of the gift is intended for the \u201cmistress of his house,\u201d\n_i.e._, Nefertiti, since she had not troubled to ask after his\nhealth.\n\nShortly after this he wrote another letter to Akhnaton making\nvarious complaints, and stating that his messengers had been robbed\nin territory belonging to the Pharaoh, who must therefore make good\ntheir losses. A third letter makes similar complaints, and hints\nat future trouble. Meanwhile the King of Mitanni was on none too\nfriendly terms with Akhnaton, and appears to have detained the\nPharaoh\u2019s envoy, named Mani, thereby causing Akhnaton considerable\nanxiety. There was, in fact, a general tendency to disparage\nthe Egyptian king, which must have been exceedingly galling to\nAkhnaton, who had the power to let loose upon Asia an army which\nwould silence all insult, but did not find such a step consistent\nwith his principles. In a letter which he wrote to one of the\nSyrian princes whose fidelity was doubtful, Akhnaton ends his\ndespatch with the words: \u201cI am very well, I the sun in the heavens,\nand my chariots and soldiers are exceedingly numerous; and from\nUpper Egypt even unto Lower Egypt, and from the place where the\nsun riseth even unto the place where he setteth, the whole country\nis in good cause and content.\u201d Thus we see that Akhnaton knew his\npower, and wished that others should know it; and it is therefore\nthe more surprising that, as we shall presently find, he never\nchose to use it.\n\n\n\n\n VII.\n\n THE LAST TWO YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON.\n\n \u201cI know, he said, what you like is to look at the mountains,\n or to go up among them and kill things. But I like the running\n water in a quiet garden, with a rose reflected in it, and the\n nightingale singing to it. Listen!\u201d--MIRZA MAHOMED in \u2018The Story\n of Valeh and Hadijeh.\u2019\n\n\n 1. THE HITTITE INVASION OF SYRIA.\n\nThe eastern end of the Mediterranean is bounded on the south by\nEgypt and the desert, on the east by Palestine and Syria, and on\nthe north by Asia Minor, these roughly forming the three sides of\na square. The conquests of the great warrior-Pharaoh Thothmes III.\nhad carried the Egyptian power as far as the north-east corner of\nthis formation--that is to say, to the point where Syria meets Asia\nMinor. The island of Cyprus is in shape not unlike a hand with\nindex finger extended; and this finger may be said to be pointing\nto the limit of Egyptian conquest, somewhere in the neighbourhood\nof the Amanus Mountains. The kingdom of Mitanni, the home of Queen\nNefertiti, was situated on the banks of the Euphrates some distance\ninland from these mountains; and as it acted as a buffer state\nbetween the Egyptian possessions in Syria and the unconquered\nlands beyond, the Pharaohs had taken care to unite themselves by\nmarriage, as we have seen, with its rulers. Behind Mitanni to the\nnorth-east, the friendly kingdoms later known as Assyria marked\nthe limits of the known world; while to the north the hostile\nlands of Asia Minor lay in the possession of the Hittites, a\nwarlike confederacy of peoples, perhaps the ancestors of the modern\nArmenians. From these hardy warriors the greatest danger to the\nEgyptian Empire in Syria was to be expected; and the statesmen of\nEgypt must have cast many an anxious look towards those forbidding\nmountains which loomed beyond Mitanni. A southern movement of the\nHittites, indications of which were already very apparent, would\nbring them swarming over and around the Amanus Mountains, either\nalong the eastern and inland route through Mitanni, or along the\nwestern route beside the sea and over the Lebanon, or again, midway\nbetween these two routes, past the great cities of Tunip, Kadesh,\nand others, which stood to block the way.\n\nWhen Akhnaton ascended the throne, Seplel was king of the Hittites,\nand was by way of being friendly to Egypt. Some of his people,\nhowever, crossed the frontiers of Mitanni and were repulsed by\nDushratta, the king of that country, who was father-in-law to\nAkhnaton. This caused some coldness between Seplel and the Pharaoh;\nand although the former sent an embassy to the City of the Horizon,\nthe correspondence between the two monarchs presently ceased. The\nyoung idealist of Egypt seems to have held warfare in horror; and\nthe Hittites were so essentially a fighting race that Akhnaton\ncould have had no friendly feelings towards them. Soon we find\nthat these Hittites, unable to overflow into the land of Mitanni,\nhave moved along the eastern route and have seized the land of\nAmki, which lay on the sea-coast between the Amanus Mountains and\nthe Lebanon. This movement might have been stopped by Aziru, an\nAmorite prince who ruled the territory between Amki and Mitanni,\nand whose duty, as an Egyptian vassal, was to check the southern\nincursions of the Hittites. But Aziru, like his father Abdashirta\nbefore him, was a man as ambitious as he was faithless, and his\ndealings both with the Hittites and with the Egyptians during the\nfollowing years were unscrupulous in the extreme. It was his policy\nto play the one nation against the other, and to extend the scope\nof his own power at the expense of both.\n\n\n 2. AKHNATON\u2019S CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTIONS TO WARFARE.\n\nAkhnaton\u2019s policy in Syria, when considered from the point of\nview of an ordinary man, was of the weakest. Ideals cannot govern\nan empire, and those who would apply the doctrine of \u201cpeace and\ngoodwill\u201d to subject races endanger the very principles which they\nwould teach. While the young Pharaoh was singing his imperial\npsalms to the Atom in his growing capital, the princes of Syria\nwere whistling the revolutionary ditties which presently were to\nring in the ears of the isolated Egyptian garrisons. Little did\nthey care for that tender Father of Mankind to whom Akhnaton\u2019s thin\nfinger so earnestly pointed. They knew nothing of monotheism; they\nfound no satisfaction in One who was the gentle ruler of all men\nwithout distinction of race. A true god to them was a vanquisher\nof other gods, a valiant leader in battle, a relentless avenger of\ninsult. The furious Baal, the bloodthirsty Tishub, the terrible\nIshtar--these were the deities that a man could love. How they\nscorned that God of Peace who was called the Only One! How they\nlaughed at the young Pharaoh who had set aside the sword for the\npsalter, who hoped to rule his restless dominions by love alone!\n\nLove! One stands amazed at the reckless idealism, the beautiful\nfolly, of this Pharaoh who, in an age of turbulence, preached a\nreligion of peace to seething Syria. Three thousand years later\nmankind is still blindly striving after these same ideals in\nvain. Nowadays one is familiar with the doctrine: a greater than\nAkhnaton has preached it, and has died for it. To-day God is known\nto us, and the peace of God is a thing hoped for; but at that\nfar-off period, thirteen hundred years before the birth of Christ,\ntwo or three centuries before the age of David and Solomon, and\nmany a year before the preaching of Moses, one is utterly surprised\nto behold the true light shining forth for a short moment like\nthe sun through a rift in the clouds, and one knows that it has\ncome too soon. Mankind, even now not ready, was then most wholly\nunprepared, and the price which Egypt paid for the ideals of her\nPharaoh was no less than the complete loss of her dominions.\n\nAkhnaton believed in God, and to him that belief meant a practical\nabhorrence of war. Marshalling the material available for the study\nof this period of history, one can interpret the events in Syria in\nonly one way: Akhnaton definitely refused to do battle, believing\nthat a resort to arms was an offence to God. Whether fortune or\nmisfortune, gain or loss, was to be his lot, he would hold to his\nprinciples, and would not return to the old gods of battle.\n\nIt must be remembered that at this time the empire was the personal\nproperty of the Pharaoh, as every kingdom was of its king. Nobody\never considered a possession as belonging to the nation which had\nlaid hands upon it, but only to that nation\u2019s king. It mattered\nvery little to the Syrian peoples whether their owner was an\nEgyptian or a Syrian, though perhaps they preferred to be possessed\nby one of their own race. Akhnaton was thus doing his will with his\nown property. He was refusing to fight for his own possessions; he\nwas acting literally upon the Christian principle of giving the\ncloak to him who had stolen the coat. Patriotism was a sentiment\nunknown to the world: devotion to the king\u2019s personal interest was\nall that actuated loyalty in the subject, and the monarch himself\nhad but his own interests to consider. Thus Akhnaton cannot be\naccused of ruining his country by his refusal to go to war. He was\nentitled to do what he liked with his own personal property, and\nif he sacrificed his possessions to his principles, the sacrifice\nwas made upon God\u2019s high altar, and the loss would be felt by him\nalone. Such a loss, it is true, would probably break his heart; for\nhe loved Syria dearly, and he had had such great hopes of uniting\nthe empire by the tie of a common religion. But for good or ill, he\nwas determined to stand aloof from the struggles upon which Syria\nwas now entering.\n\n\n 3. THE FAITHLESSNESS OF AZIRU.\n\nWhile Aziru, the Amorite, schemed on the borders of Asia Minor, a\nSyrian prince named Itakama suddenly set up an independent kingdom\nat Kadesh and joined hands with the Hittites, thus cutting off\nthe loyal city of Tunip, the friendly kingdom of Mitanni, and the\nterritory of the faithless Aziru from direct intercourse with the\nLebanon and Egypt\u2019s remaining possessions in Palestine and Syria.\nThree loyal vassal kings, perhaps assisted by Dushratta of Mitanni,\nattacked the rebels, but were repulsed by Itakama and his Hittite\nallies.\n\nAziru at once turned the situation to his own advantage. Hemmed in\nbetween the Hittites on the north and this new kingdom of Kadesh\non the south, he collected his armies and marched down the Orontes\nto the Mediterranean coast, capturing the cities near the mouth of\nthat river and adding them to his possessions. Should the Hittites\nask him to give an account of these proceedings, he could reply\nthat he was, as it were, the advance-guard of the Hittite invasion\nof Syria, and was preparing the road for them. Should Itakama\nquestion him, he could say that he was, with friendly hands,\nlinking the Hittites with Kadesh. And should Akhnaton call upon him\nfor an explanation, he could answer that he was securing the land\nfor the Egyptians against the Hittite advance.\n\nNo doubt Aziru preferred to keep his peace with the Hittites the\nmost secure, for it was obvious that they were the rising people;\nbut at the same time he did not yet dare to show any hostility\nto Egypt, whose armies might at any moment be launched across\nthe Mediterranean. Unable to hold a position of independence,\nhe now thought it most prudent to allow the northmen to swarm\nsouthwards through his dominions, from Amki over and around the\nLebanon to Kadesh, where their ally Itakama dwelt. In return for\nthis assistance he seems to have been allowed a free hand in the\nforwarding of his own interests, and we now find him turning his\nattention to the sea-coast cities of Simyra and Byblos, which\nnestled at the western foot of the Lebanon. Here, however, he\nreceived a check, and failed to obtain a footing. He therefore\nmarched eastwards to the city of Niy, which he captured, slaying\nits king; and both to the Hittites and to the Egyptians he seems to\nhave pretended that he had taken this step in their interests.\n\nOn hearing of the fall of this city the governor of Tunip wrote a\npathetic appeal to Akhnaton, asking for help; for he was now quite\nisolated, and he knew that Aziru was a free-lance who cared not a\njot for any but his own welfare.\n\n \u201cTo the King of Egypt, my lord,\u201d runs the letter. \u201cThe\n inhabitants of Tunip, thy servant. May it be well with thee, and\n at the feet of our lord we fall. My lord, Tunip, thy servant,\n speaks, saying: Who formerly could have plundered Tunip without\n being plundered by Thothmes III.? The gods ... of the King of\n Egypt, my lord, dwell in Tunip. May our lord ask his old men [if\n it be not so.] Now, however, we belong no more to our lord, the\n King of Egypt.... If his soldiers and chariots come too late,\n Aziru will make us like the city of Niy. If, however, we have\n to mourn, then the King of Egypt will mourn over these things\n which Aziru has done, for he will turn his hand against our lord.\n And when Aziru enters Simyra Aziru will do to us as he pleases,\n in the territory of our lord the King, and on account of these\n things our lord will have to lament. And now Tunip, thy city,\n weeps, and her tears are flowing, and there is no help for us.\n For twenty years we have been sending to our lord the King, the\n King of Egypt, but there has not come to us a word--no, not one.\u201d\n\nSeveral points become apparent from this letter. One sees that in\nthe more distant cities of Syria the significance of Akhnaton\u2019s\nnew religion was not understood. The governor of Tunip refers\nto the old gods of Egypt worshipped in that town, and he knows\nnot, or cannot be brought to believe, that Akhnaton has become\na monotheist. One sees that the memory of the terrible Thothmes\nIII. and his victorious armies was still in men\u2019s minds, and was\nprobably one of the main causes of the long-continued peace in\nSyria. Akhnaton\u2019s father, Amonhotep III., had not concerned himself\ngreatly with regard to his foreign dominions, and, as the people\nof Tunip had been asking for assistance for twenty years, it would\nseem that the danger which now beset them was already feared before\nthat Pharaoh\u2019s death.\n\n[Illustration: _Letter from Ribaddi to the King of Egypt, reporting\nthe progress of the rebellion under Aziru._\n\n(British Museum, No. 29,801.)]\n\nHow, one asks, could Akhnaton read such a letter as this, and yet\nrefuse to send a relieving army to Syria? Byblos and Simyra were\nstill loyally holding out; and troops disembarked at these ports\ncould speedily be marched inland to Tunip, could crush Hakama at\nKadesh, and could frighten Aziru into giving real assistance to\nDushratta and other loyal kings in holding the Hittites back behind\nthe Amanus Mountains. But this was Akhnaton\u2019s Gethsemane, if one\nmay say so with reverence; and like that greater Teacher who,\nthirteen hundred years later, was to preach the self-same doctrine\nof personal sacrifice, one may suppose that the Pharaoh suffered a\nvery Agony as he realised that his principles were leading him to\nthe loss of all his dearest possessions. His restless generals\nin Egypt, eager to march into Syria, must have brought every\nargument to bear upon him; but the boy would not now turn back.\n\u201cPut up thy sword into his place,\u201d he seems to have said; \u201cfor all\nthey that take the sword shall perish with the sword.\u201d\n\n\n 4. THE FIGHTING IN SYRIA BECOMES GENERAL.\n\nAt this time the King of Byblos was one named Ribaddi, a fine old\nsoldier who was loyal to Egypt in his every thought and deed. He\nwrote to Akhnaton urging him to send troops to relieve the garrison\nof Simyra, upon which Aziru was again pressing close; for if Simyra\nfell, he knew that Byblos could not for long hold out. Presently\nwe find that Zimrida, the king of the neighbouring port of Sidon,\nhas opened his gates to Aziru, and has marched with him against\nTyre. Abimilki, the King of Tyre, at once wrote to Akhnaton asking\nfor assistance; but on receiving no reply he, too, appears to have\nthrown in his lot with Aziru. Ribaddi was now quite isolated at\nByblos; and from the beleaguered city he wrote to the Pharaoh\ntelling him that \u201cSimyra is like a bird in a snare.\u201d Akhnaton made\nno reply; and in a short time Ribaddi wrote again, saying, \u201cSimyra,\nyour fortress, is now in the power of the Khabiri.\u201d\n\nThese Khabiri were the Beduin from behind Palestine, who were\nbeing used as mercenaries by Aziru, and who themselves were making\nsmall conquest in the south on their own behalf. Thus the southern\ncities of Megiddo, Askalon, Gezer, and others, write to the Pharaoh\nasking for aid against them. Exasperated, however, by Akhnaton\u2019s\ninaction, Askalon and Gezer, together with the city of Lachish,\nthrew off the Egyptian yoke and attacked Jerusalem, which was still\nloyal to Egypt, being held by an officer named Abdkhiba. This loyal\nsoldier at once sent a despatch to Akhnaton, part of which read as\nfollows:--\n\n The King\u2019s whole land, which has begun hostilities with me, will\n be lost. Behold the territory of Seir, as far as Carmel, its\n princes are wholly lost; and hostility prevails against me....\n As long as ships were upon the sea the strong arm of the King\n occupied Naharin and Kash, but now the Khabiri are occupying\n the King\u2019s cities. There remains not one prince to my lord, the\n King; every one is ruined.... Let the King take care of his land,\n and ... let him send troops.... For if no troops come in this\n year, the whole territory of my lord the King will perish.... If\n there are no troops in this year, let the King send his officer\n to fetch me and my brothers, that we may die with our lord, the\n King.\n\nTo this letter the writer added a postscript addressed to\nAkhnaton\u2019s secretary, with whom he was evidently acquainted. \u201cBring\nthese words plainly before my lord the King,\u201d runs this pathetic\nappeal. \u201cThe whole land of my lord, the King, is going to ruin.\u201d\n\nThe letters sent to Akhnaton from the few princes who remained\nloyal form a collection which even now moves the reader. To\nAkhnaton they must have been so many sword-thrusts, and one may\npicture him praying passionately for strength to set them aside.\nSoon it would seem that the secretaries hardly troubled to show\nthem to him; and ultimately they were so effectually pigeon-holed\nthat they have only recently been discovered. The Pharaoh\npermitted himself to answer some of them, and seems to have asked\nquestions as to the state of affairs; but never does he offer any\nencouragement. Lapaya, one of the princes of the south, who had\nevidently received a communication from Akhnaton in which his\nfidelity was questioned, wrote saying that if the Pharaoh ordered\nhim to drive a sword of bronze into his heart he would do so. It is\na commentary upon the veracity of the Oriental that in subsequent\nletters this prince is stated to have attacked Megiddo, and\nultimately to have been slain while fighting against the Egyptian\nloyalists.\n\nAddudaian, a king of some unknown city of south Judea, acknowledges\nthe receipt of a letter from Akhnaton in which he was asked to\nremain loyal; and he complains, in reply, of the loss of various\npossessions. Dagantakala, the king of another city, writes\nimploring the Pharaoh to rescue him from the Khabiri. Ninur, a\nqueen of a part of Judea, who calls herself Akhnaton\u2019s handmaid,\nentreats the Pharaoh to save her, and records the capture of one of\nher cities by the Khabiri.\n\nAnd so the letters run on, each telling of some disaster to the\nEgyptian cause, and each voicing the bitter complaint of those who\nwere being sacrificed to the principles of a king who had grasped\nthe meaning of civilisation too soon.\n\n\n 5. AZIRU AND RIBADDI FIGHT TO A FINISH.\n\nMeanwhile Ribaddi was holding Byblos valiantly against Aziru\u2019s\narmies, and many were the despatches which he sent to Akhnaton\nasking for assistance against Aziru. Nothing could have been easier\nthan the despatch of a few hundred men across the Mediterranean\nto the beleaguered port, and the number which Ribaddi asks for is\nabsurdly small. Akhnaton, however, would not send a single man, but\ninstead wrote a letter of gentle rebuke to Aziru, telling him to\ncome to the City of the Horizon to explain his conduct. Aziru wrote\nat once to one of Akhnaton\u2019s courtiers who was his friend, telling\nhim to speak to the Pharaoh and to set matters right.\n\nHe explained that he could not leave Syria at that time, for he\nmust remain to defend Tunip against the Hittites. The reader,\nwho has seen the letter written by the governor of Tunip asking\nfor help against Aziru, will realise the perfidy of this Amorite,\nwho was now, no doubt, preparing to capture Tunip for the sake of\nits riches, and, having done so, would tell Akhnaton that he had\nentered it to hold it against the Hittites.\n\nAkhnaton then wrote to Aziru insisting that he should rebuild the\ncity of Simyra, which he had destroyed; but Aziru again replied\nthat he was too busy in defending Egyptian interests against the\ninroads of the Hittites to give his attention to this matter for\nat least a year. To this Akhnaton sent a mild reply; but Aziru,\nfearing that the letter might contain some matter which it would be\nbetter for him not to hear, contrived to evade the messenger, and\nthe despatch was brought back to Egypt. He wrote to the Pharaoh,\nhowever, saying that he would see to it that the cities captured by\nhim should continue to pay tribute as usual to Egypt.\n\nThe tribute seems to have reached the City of the Horizon in\ncorrect manner until the last years of the reign,[77] though\nprobably it was much less in quantity than had been customary.\nThere was general confusion in Syria, as we have seen; but, as in\nthe case of the struggle between Aziru and Ribaddi, where both\nprofessed their loyalty to Egypt, so, in all the chaos, there was\na make-believe fidelity to the Pharaoh. The tribute was thus paid\neach year by a large number of cities, and it was probably not\ntill the seventeenth and last year of Akhnaton\u2019s reign that this\npretence of loyalty was altogether discarded.\n\nIn desperate straits at Byblos, Ribaddi made a perilous journey\nto the neighbouring city of Beyr\u00fbt in order to attempt to\ncollect reinforcements. No sooner had he left, however, than an\ninsurrection occurred at Byblos, and Ribaddi paid for his loyalty\nto Egypt by losing the support of his own subjects. Presently\nBeyr\u00fbt surrendered to Aziru, and Ribaddi was forced to fly. After\nmany an adventure the stout old king managed to regain control of\nByblos, and to set about the further defence of the city.\n\nMeanwhile Aziru had paid a rapid visit to Egypt, partly to justify\nhis conduct and partly, no doubt, to ascertain the condition of\naffairs on the Nile. With Oriental cunning he managed to satisfy\nAkhnaton that his intentions were not hostile to Egypt, and so\nreturned to the Lebanon. Ribaddi, hearing of this, at once sent\nhis son to the City of the Horizon to expose Aziru\u2019s perfidy and\nto plead for assistance against him. At the same time he wrote to\nAkhnaton a pathetic account of his misfortunes. Four members of\nhis family had been taken prisoners; his brother was constantly\nconspiring against him; old age and disease pressed heavily upon\nhim. All his possessions had been taken from him, all his lands\ndevastated; he had been reduced by famine and the privations of a\nlong siege to a state of utter destitution, and he could not much\nlonger hold out. \u201cThe gods of Byblos,\u201d he writes, \u201care angry with\nme and sore displeased; for I have sinned against the gods, and\ntherefore I do not come before my lord the King.\u201d Was his sin, one\nwonders, the adoption for a while of Akhnaton\u2019s faith? To this\ncommunication Akhnaton seems to have made no reply.\n\n\n 6. AKHNATON CONTINUES TO REFUSE TO SEND HELP.\n\nThe messengers who arrived at the City of the Horizon of Aton,\ndusty and travel-stained, to deliver the many letters asking for\nhelp, must have despaired indeed when they observed the manner\nin which the news was received. Hateful to these hardy soldiers\nof the empire were the fine quays at which their galleys moored;\nhateful the fair villas and shaded avenues of the city; and thrice\nhateful the rolling hymns to the Aton which came to them from\nthe temple halls as they hurried to the Pharaoh\u2019s palace. The\ntownspeople smiled at their haste in this city of dreams; the court\nofficials delayed the delivery of their letters, scoffing at the\nidea of urgency in the affairs of Asia; and finally these wretched\ndocuments, written--if ever letters were so written--with blood\nand with tears, were pigeon-holed in the city archives and utterly\nforgotten save by Akhnaton himself. Instead of the brave music of\nthe drums and bugles of the relieving army which these messengers\nhad hoped to muster, there rang in their maddened ears only the\nceaseless chants of the priestly ceremonies and the pattering\nlove-songs of private festivals. Newly come from the sweat and the\nlabour of the road, their brains still racked with the horror of\nwar and yet burning with the vast hopes of empire, they looked with\nscorn at the luxury of Egypt\u2019s new capital, and heard with disgust\nthe dainty tales of the flowers. The lean, sad-eyed Pharaoh, with\nhis crooked head and his stooping shoulders, would speak only of\nhis God; and, clad in simple clothes unrelieved by a single jewel,\nthere was nothing martial in his appearance to give them hope. From\nthe beleaguered cities which they had so lately left there came to\nthem the bitter cry for succour; and it was not possible to drown\nthat cry in words of peace, nor in the jangle of the systrum or\nthe warbling of the pipes. Who, thought the waiting messengers,\ncould resist that piteous call: \u201cThy city weeps, and her tears are\nflowing\u201d? Who could sit idle in the City of the Horizon when the\nproud empire, won with the blood of the noblest soldiers of the\ngreat Thothmes, was breaking up before their eyes? What mattered\nall the philosophies in the world, and all the gods in heaven, when\nEgypt\u2019s great dominions were being wrested from her? The splendid\nLebanon, the white kingdoms of the sea, Askalon and Ashdod, Tyre\nand Sidon, Simyra and Byblos, the hills of Jerusalem, Kadesh and\nthe great Orontes, the fair Jordan, Tunip, Aleppo, the distant\nEuphrates.... What counted a creed against these? God? The truth?\nThe only god was He of the Battles, who had led Egypt into Syria;\nthe only truth the doctrine of the sword, which had held her there\nfor so many years.\n\nLooking back across these thirty-two centuries, can one yet say\nwhether the Pharaoh was in the right, or whether his soldiers were\nthe better minded? On the one hand there is culture, refinement,\nlove, thought, prayer, goodwill, and peace; on the other hand,\npower, might, health, hardihood, bravery, and struggle. One knows\nthat Akhnaton\u2019s theories were the more civilised, the more ideal;\nbut is there not a pulse which stirs in sympathy with those who\nwere holding the citadels of Asia? We can give our approval to the\nideals of the young king, but we cannot see his empire fall without\nbitterly blaming him for the disaster. Yet in passing judgment,\nin calling the boy to account for the loss of Syria, there is the\nconsciousness that above our tribunal sits a judge to whom war\nmust assuredly be abhorrent, and in whose eyes the struggle of\nthe nations must utterly lack its drama. Thus, even now, Akhnaton\neludes our criticism, and but raises once more that eternal\nquestion which as yet has no answer.\n\n\n 7. AKHNATON\u2019S HEALTH GIVES WAY.\n\nIt is possible that the Pharaoh now realised his position, and one\nmay suppose that he tried as best he could to pacify the turbulent\nprinces by all the arts of diplomacy. It does not seem, however,\nthat he yet fully appreciated the catastrophe which was now almost\ninevitable--the complete loss of Syria. He could not bring himself\nto believe that the princes of that country would play him false;\nand he could have had no idea that he was being so entirely fooled\nby such men as Aziru. But when at last the tribute ceased to come\nin regularly, then, too late, he knew that disaster was upon him.\n\nThe thoughts which now must have held sway in his mind could not\nhave failed to carry him down the dark steps of depression to the\nvery pit of despair, and one may picture him daily cast prone upon\nthe floor before the high altar of the Aton, and nightly tossing\nsleepless upon his royal bed. It seems that he had placed great\nreliance upon a certain official, named Bikhuru, who was acting as\nEgyptian commissioner in Palestine; but now it is probable that he\nreceived news of that unfortunate personage\u2019s flight, and later of\nhis murder.[78] Then came the report that Byblos had fallen, and\none is led to suppose that that truly noble soldier Ribaddi did\nnot survive the fall of the city which he had so tenaciously held.\nThe news of the surrender of other important Egyptian strongholds\nfollowed rapidly, and still there came the pathetic appeal for help\nfrom the minor posts which yet held out.\n\nAkhnaton was now about twenty-eight years of age, and already the\ncares of the whole world seemed to rest upon his shoulders. Lean\nand lank was his body; his face was thin and lined with worry; and\nin his eye one might, perhaps, have seen that hunted look which\ncomes to those who are dogged by disaster. It is probable that he\nnow suffered acutely from the distressing malady to which he was a\nvictim, and there must have been times when he felt himself upon\nthe verge of madness. His misshapen skull came nigh to bursting\nwith the full thoughts of his aching brain, and the sad knowledge\nthat he had failed must have pressed upon his mind like some\nunrelenting finger. The invocations to the Aton which rang in his\nhead made confusion with the cry of Syria. Now he listened to\nthe voices of his choirs lauding the sweetness of life; and now,\nbreaking in upon the chant, did he not hear the solemn voices of\nhis fathers calling to him from the Hills of the West to give\naccount of his stewardship? Could he then find solace in trees and\nin flowers? Could he cry \u201cPeace\u201d when there was red tumult in his\nbrain?\n\nHis moods at this time must have given cause for the greatest\nalarm, and his behaviour was, no doubt, sufficiently erratic\nto render even those nobles who had so blindly followed him\nmistrustful of their leader. In a frenzy of zeal in the adoration\nof the Aton, Akhnaton now gave orders that the name of all other\ngods should suffer the same fate as that of Amon, and should be\nerased from every inscription throughout the land. This order was\nnever fully carried out; but one may still see in the temples\nof Karnak, Medinet Habu, and elsewhere, and upon many lesser\nmonuments, the chisel marks which have partially blurred out the\nnames of Ptah, Hathor, and other deities, and have obliterated the\noffending word \u201cgods.\u201d\n\nThe consternation which this action must have caused was almost\nsufficient to bring about a revolution in the provinces, where\nthe old gods were still dearly loved by the people. The erasing\nof the name of Amon had been, after all, a direct war upon a\ncertain priesthood, and did not very materially affect any other\nlocalities than that of Thebes. But the suppression of the numerous\npriesthoods of the many deities who held sway throughout Egypt\nthrew into disorder the whole country, and struck at the heart\nnot of one but of a hundred cities. Was the kindly old artificer\nPtah, with his hammer and his chisel, to be tumbled into empty\nspace? Was the beautiful, the gracious Hathor--the Venus of the\nNile--to be thrown down from her celestial seat? Was it possible to\nbanish Khnum, the goat-headed potter who lived in the caves of the\nCataract, from the life of the city of Elephantine; the mysterious\njackal Wepwat from the hearts of the men of Abydos; or the ancient\ncrocodile Sebek from the ships and the fields of Ombos? Every town\nhad its local god, and every god its priesthood; and surely the\nPharaoh was mad who attempted to make war upon these legions of\nheaven. This Aton, whom the king called upon them to worship, was\nso remote, so infinitely above their heads. Aton did not sit with\nthem at their hearth-side to watch the kettle boil; Aton did not\nplay a sweet-toned flute amongst the reeds of the river; Aton did\nnot bring a fairy gift to the new-born babe. Where was the sacred\ntree in whose branches one might hope to see him seated?--where\nwas the eddy of the Nile in which he loved to bathe?--and where\nwas the rock at whose foot one might place, as a fond offering, a\nbowl of milk? The people loved their old gods, whose simple ways,\nkind hearts, and quick tempers made them understandable to mortal\nminds. But a god who reigned alone in solitary isolation, who, more\nremote even than the Jehovah of the Hebrews, rode not upon the\nclouds nor moved upon the wings of the wind, was hardly a deity to\nwhom they could open their hearts. True, the sunrise and the sunset\nwere the visible signs of the godhead; but let the reader ask any\nmodern Egyptian peasant whether there is aught to stir the pulses\nin these two great phenomena, and he will realise that the glory\nof the skies could not have appealed particularly to the lesser\nsubjects of Akhnaton, who, moreover, were not permitted to bow the\nknee to the flaming orb itself. When the Christian religion took\nhold of these peasants, and presented for their acceptance the same\nidea of a remote though loving and considerate God, it was only by\nthe elevation of saints and devils, angels and powers of darkness,\nalmost to the rank of demigods, that the faith prospered. But\nAkhnaton allowed no such tampering with the primary doctrine, and\nSt George and all the saints would have suffered the erasure of\ntheir very names.\n\n\n 8. AKHNATON\u2019S LAST DAYS AND DEATH.\n\nThe troubles which Akhnaton by such actions gathered around\nhimself, while disturbing to his adherents, must have given some\ndegree of pleasure to those nobles who saw in the king\u2019s downfall\nthe only hope of Egypt. Horemheb, the commander-in-chief of the\ninactive armies, could now begin to prepare himself against the\ntime when he should lead a force into Syria to restore Egyptian\nprestige. Tutankhaton, betrothed to Akhnaton\u2019s third daughter,\ncould dream of the days when he would make himself Pharaoh, and\ncarry the court back to glorious Thebes. Even Meryra, the High\nPriest of Aton, seems to have allowed his thoughts to drift away\nfrom the City of the Horizon wherein the sun of Egypt\u2019s glory\nhad set, for it does not seem that he ever made use of the tomb\nthere prepared for him. These last stages of Akhnaton\u2019s life must\nthus have been embittered by a doubt of the sincerity of his\nclosest friends, and by the knowledge that, in spite of all their\nprotestations, he had failed to plant \u201cthe truth\u201d in their hearts.\n\nThe queen had borne him no son to succeed to the throne, and there\nappeared to be nobody to whom he could impart what he felt to\nbe his last instructions. There can be no question that he was\nstill greatly loved by those who surrounded his person, but there\nwere few who hoped that his religion, so disastrous to Egypt,\nwould survive him. In this extremity Akhnaton turned to a certain\nnoble, probably not of royal blood, whose name seems to have been\nSmenkhkara, though some have read it Saakara.[79] Nothing is known\nregarding his previous career, but one may suppose that he appeared\nto Akhnaton to be the least unreliable of his followers. To him\nthe king imparted his instructions, revealing all that words could\ndraw from his teeming brain. The little Princess Merytaton, now\nbut twelve years of age, was called from her games, and with pomp\nand ceremony was married to this Smenkhkara, thus making him the\nlegitimate heir to the throne, Merytaton being the eldest daughter\nand sole heiress of the Pharaoh.\n\nFeeling that his days were numbered, Akhnaton then associated\nSmenkhkara upon the throne with him as co-ruler, and was thus able\nto familiarise the people with their future lord. In later years,\nafter Akhnaton\u2019s death, Smenkhkara was wont to write after his name\nthe words \u201cbeloved of Akhnaton,\u201d as though to indicate that his\nclaim to the throne was due to Akhnaton\u2019s affection for him, as\nwell as to the rights derived from his wife.\n\nBut what mattered the securing of the succession to the throne when\nthat throne had been shaken to its very foundations, and now seemed\nto be upon the verge of utter wreck? Akhnaton could no longer stave\noff the impending crash, and from all sides there gathered the\nforces which were to overwhelm him. His government was chaotic. The\nplotting and scheming of the priests of Amon showed signs of coming\nto a successful issue. The anger of the priesthoods of the other\ngods of Egypt hung over the palace like some menacing storm-cloud.\nThe soldiers, eager to march upon Syria as in the days of the great\nThothmes III., chafed at their enforced idleness, and watched with\nincreasing restlessness the wreck of the empire.\n\nNow through the streets of the city there passed the weary\nmessengers of Asia hurrying to the palace, no longer bearing the\nappeals of kings and generals for support, but announcing the fall\nof the last cities of Syria and the slaughter of the last left of\ntheir rulers. The scattered remnants of the garrisons staggered\nback to the Nile at the heels of these messengers, pursued to\nthe very frontiers of Egypt by the triumphant Asiatics. From the\nnorth the Hittites poured into Syria; from the south the Khabiri\nswarmed over the land. As the curtain is rung down on the turbulent\nscene, one catches a glimpse of the wily Aziru, his hands still\nstained with the blood of Ribaddi and of many another loyal prince,\nsnatching at this city and trampling on that. At last he has cast\naside his mask, and with the tribute which had been promised to\nEgypt he now, no doubt, placates the ascending Hittites, whose\nsuzerainty alone he admits.\n\nThe tribute having ceased, the Egyptian treasury soon stood empty,\nfor the government of the country was too confused to permit of the\nproper gathering of the taxes, and the working of the gold-mines\ncould not be organised. Much had been expended on the building of\nthe City of the Horizon, and now the king knew not where to turn\nfor money. In the space of a few years Egypt had been reduced from\na world power to the position of a petty state, from the richest\ncountry known to man to the humiliating condition of a bankrupt\nkingdom.\n\nSurely one may picture Akhnaton now in his last hours, his jaw\nfallen, his sunken eyes widely staring, as the full realisation of\nthe utter failure of all his hopes came to him. He had sacrificed\nSyria to his principles; but the sacrifice was of no avail, since\nhis doctrines had not taken root even in Egypt. He knew now that\nthe religion of the Aton would not outlive him, that the knowledge\nof the love of God was not yet to be made known to the world. Even\nat this moment the psalms of the Aton were beating upon his ears,\nthe hymns to the God who had forsaken him were drifting into his\npalace with the scent of the flowers; and the birds which he loved\nwere singing as merrily in the luxuriant gardens as ever they sang\nwhen they had inspired a line in the king\u2019s great poem. But upon\nhim now there had fallen the blackness of despair, and already the\ndarkness of coming death was closing around him. The misery of\nfailure must have ground him down as beneath the very mountains of\nthe west themselves, and the weight of the knowledge of all that he\nhad lost could not be borne by his enfeebled frame.\n\nHistory tells us only that, simultaneously with the fall of his\nempire, Akhnaton died; and the doctors who have examined his body\nreport that death may well have been due to some form of stroke or\nfit. But in the imagination there seems to ring across the years a\ncry of complete despair, and one can picture the emaciated figure\nof this \u201cbeautiful child of the Aton\u201d fall forward upon the painted\npalace-floor and lie still amidst the red poppies and the dainty\nbutterflies there depicted.\n\n\n\n\n VIII.\n\n THE FALL OF THE RELIGION OF AKHNATON.\n\n \u201cThus disappeared the most remarkable figure in early Oriental\n history.... There died with him such a spirit as the world had\n never seen before.\u201d--BREASTED: \u2018History of Egypt.\u2019\n\n\n 1. THE BURIAL OF AKHNATON.\n\nThe body of Akhnaton was embalmed in the city which he had founded;\nand while these mortal parts of the great idealist were undergoing\nthe lengthy process of mummification, the new Pharaoh Smenkhkara\nmade a feeble attempt to retain the spirit of his predecessor in\nthe new _r\u00e9gime_. Practically nothing is known of his brief reign,\nbut it is apparent from subsequent events that he entirely failed\nto carry on the work of Akhnaton, and the period of his sovereignty\nis marked by a general tendency to abandon the religion of the\nAton. Smenkhkara had dated the first year of his reign from the\nday of his accession as co-ruler with Akhnaton, and thus it is\nthat there are no inscriptions found which record his first year,\nalthough there are many references to his second year. The main\nevent must have occurred some three months after the commencement\nof his sole reign, when the body of Akhnaton was carried in solemn\nstate through the streets of the city and across the desert to the\ntomb which had been made for him in the distant cliffs.\n\n[Illustration: _Death Mask of Akhnaton._]\n\nThe mummy had been wrapped, as was usual, in endless strips of\nlinen; and amongst these there was placed upon the royal breast a\nnecklace of gold, and over the face an ornament cut in flat gold\nfoil representing a vulture with wings outstretched--a Pharaonic\nsymbol of divine protection. In many burials of this dynasty a\nvulture such as this was placed upon the mummy; and representations\nof an exactly similar ornament are shown in the tombs of Sennefer\nand others at Thebes. It is somewhat surprising that the body\nof Akhnaton, who was so averse to all old customs, should thus\nhave this royal talisman upon it; and it would seem that some of\nthe strict rules of the Aton worshipper had already been relaxed\nby his successor. Akhnaton had retained but three of the ancient\ndivine symbols, so far as one can tell from the reliefs and\npaintings--namely, the ur\u00e6us or cobra, the sphinx, and the hawk,\nwhich were often used as ornaments. But one may ask whether the\nvulture had really been dispensed with by him. It is true that\nhe banned the vulture-hieroglyph in the inscriptions, as we have\nalready seen on the outer coffin of Queen Tiy;[80] but his reason\nfor so doing was that by such a hieroglyph the name of the goddess\nMut was called to mind, and that goddess, being the consort of\nAmon, was not to be tolerated. The vulture which was laid upon\nthe mummy, however, had nothing to do with Mut, nor had it any\nlikeness to the hieroglyph. It was originally a representation of\nthe presiding genius of Upper Egypt, and corresponded to the ur\u00e6us,\nwhich primarily represented the power of Lower Egypt. It is true,\nagain, that it was the custom for the Pharaohs to be shown in the\nsculptures and paintings with this vulture hovering in protection\nover their heads, and that Akhnaton seems to have dispensed with\nsuch a symbol. But this was perhaps due to the fact that the disk\nand rays, symbolic of Aton, had taken its place above the royal\nfigure. There is no reason, after all, to suppose that this form\nof vulture was absolutely banned, since the ur\u00e6us and the hawk\nwere retained;[81] and though, as will presently be seen, it will\nbe natural to think that it was placed on Akhnaton\u2019s mummy at his\nsuccessor\u2019s suggestion, there is nothing to show that Akhnaton\nhimself did not desire it to be laid there.\n\nOver the linen bandages on the body there were placed ribbons of\ngold foil encircling the mummy--probably around the shoulders, the\nmiddle, and the knees,--joined to other ribbons running the length\nof the body at the back and front. These ribbons were inscribed\nwith Akhnaton\u2019s name and titles, and thus recorded for all time the\nidentity of the mummy to which they adhered. Money being somehow\nfound, the body was wrapped in sheets of pure gold, sufficiently\nthin to be flexible, and was placed in a splendid coffin, designed\nin the usual form of a recumbent figure, and inlaid in a dazzling\nmanner with rare stones and coloured glass. Down the front of this\ncoffin ran a simple inscription, the hieroglyphs of which were\nalso inlaid. It read: \u201cThe beautiful prince, The Chosen One of\nRa, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, living in Truth, Lord of\nthe Two Lands, Akhnaton, the beautiful child of the living Aton,\nwhose name shall live for ever and ever.\u201d[82] There is one curious\nfeature about this inscription. When Akhnaton made the outer coffin\nfor his mother, in or about the twelfth year of his reign, he was\nparticularly careful not to use the hieroglyph representing the\ngoddess Maat when writing the word _maat_, \u201ctruth.\u201d But this sign\nis employed now upon his own coffin; and one can only presume,\ntherefore, that the coffin was made after Akhnaton\u2019s death, and\nthat the new Pharaoh Smenkhkara had not the same objection to the\nrepresentation of the goddess as had his predecessor. We may now\nbetter understand the presence of the vulture symbol also; for\nit is obvious that before Akhnaton\u2019s funeral had taken place his\nstrict _r\u00e9gime_ had been relaxed.\n\nThe royal mummy was now carried to its tomb and there deposited,\ntogether with such funeral furniture and offerings as were\nconsidered necessary. The four alabaster canopic jars, always\nconspicuous in an Egyptian burial, were here not wanting. The\nstopper of each jar was exquisitely carved to represent the head\nof Akhnaton, wearing the usual male wig of the period, and having\nthe royal cobra upon the forehead. From these heads one sees that\nthe art of Akhnaton was modified immediately after his death, and\nits more pronounced characteristics were already being toned down.\nThis slackening in the rules which Akhnaton had made shows us how\nentirely dependent the movement had been upon its leader; and we\nrealise the more clearly how strong a character was his. Ere even\nthe king\u2019s burial had taken place the death of his religion was\nassured.\n\n\n 2. THE COURT RETURNS TO THEBES.\n\nSmenkhkara died, or was deposed, about a year after Akhnaton\u2019s\ndeath. He was succeeded by another noble, Tutankhaton,[83] who, in\norder to legitimise his accession, obtained in marriage Akhnaton\u2019s\nsecond daughter Ankhsenpaaton, a girl barely twelve years old. Thus\nSmenkhkara\u2019s wife, Merytaton, became a dowager-queen at the age\nof thirteen or so, and her little sister took her place upon the\nthrone.\n\nBy this time the priests of Amon had begun to hold up their heads\nonce more, and to scheme for the downfall of Aton with renewed\nenergy. Pressure was soon brought to bear on Tutankhaton, and he\nhad not been upon the throne more than a year or so when he was\npersuaded to consider the abandonment of the City of the Horizon\nand his return to Thebes. He did not yet turn entirely from the\nreligion of the Aton, but attempted to take a middle course between\nthe two factions, giving full licence both to the worshippers of\nthe Aton and to those of Amon. Horemheb, the commander-in-chief\nof the idle army, seems to have been one of the leaders of the\nreactionary movement. He did not concern himself so much with the\nreligious aspect of the question: there was as much to be said on\nthe one side as on the other. But it was he who knocked at the\ndoors of the heart of Egypt and urged the nation to awake to the\ndanger in Asia. For him there were no scruples as to warfare, and\nthe doctrine of the sword found favour in his sight. An expedition\nwas fitted out, and the reigning Pharaoh was persuaded to lead it.\nThus we read that Horemheb was \u201cthe companion of his Lord upon\nthe battlefield on that day of the slaying of the Asiatics.\u201d[84]\nAkhnaton had dreamed of the universal peace which still is a\nfar-off wraith to mankind; but Horemheb was a practical man in\nwhom that dream would have been but weakness which was such mighty\nstrength in the dead king.\n\nThe new Pharaoh now changed his name from Tutankhaton to\nTutankhamon, and, to the sound of martial music, returned to\nThebes. The City of the Horizon was left to its fate, and it was\nnot long before the palaces and the villas became the home of the\njackals and the owls, while the temples were partly pulled down to\nprovide stone for other works. However much the reigning Pharaoh\ndiffered in views from Akhnaton, it would not have been possible\nto leave the royal body lying in sight of this wreck of all the\nhopes that had been his. Akhnaton, moreover, was Tutankhamon\u2019s\nfather-in-law, and it was only through the rights of Akhnaton\u2019s\ndaughter that the Pharaoh held the throne. His memory was still\nregarded with reverence by many of his late followers, and there\ncould be no question of leaving his body in the deserted city. It\nwas therefore carried to Thebes in its coffin, together with the\nfour canopic jars, and was placed, for want of a proper sepulchre,\nin the tomb of Queen Tiy, which had been reopened for the purpose.\n\nTutankhamon showed the trend of his policy by both restoring the\ntemple of the Aton at Karnak and at the same time repairing the\ndamage done by Akhnaton to the works of Amon. The style of art\nwhich he favoured was a modified form of Akhnaton\u2019s method, and the\ninfluence of his movement is still apparent in the new king\u2019s work.\nHe did not reign long enough, however, to display much originality,\nand after a few years he disappears, almost unnoticed, from the\nstage. On his death the question of inviting Horemheb to fill the\nvacant throne must have been seriously considered, but there was\nanother candidate in the field. This was Akhnaton\u2019s father-in-law,\nAy, who had been one of the most important nobles in the group of\ncourtiers at the City of the Horizon. It was he who had sheltered\nQueen Nefertiti before she had passed into Akhnaton\u2019s palace, and\nit was in his tomb that the great hymn to the Aton was inscribed.\nHe had been loudest in the praises of the preacher king and of his\ndoctrines, and he still retained the title \u201cFather-in-law\u201d as his\nmost cherished designation.\n\nReligious feeling at this time was running high, for the partisans\nof Amon and those of Aton seem still to have been struggling\nfor the supremacy, and Ay appeared to have been regarded as the\nmost likely man to bridge the gulf between the two factions. A\nfavourite of Akhnaton, and still tolerant of all that was connected\nwith the late movement, he was not averse to the cult of Amon,\nand by conciliating both parties he managed to obtain the throne\nfor himself. His power, however, did not last for long, and as\nthe priests of Amon regained the confidence of the nation at the\nexpense of the worshippers of the Aton, so the prestige of Ay\ndeclined. His past relationship to Akhnaton, which even as king\nbe carefully recorded within his cartouche, now told against him\nrather than for him, and about eight years after the death of\nAkhnaton he disappeared like his predecessors.\n\n\n 3. THE REIGN OF HOREMHEB.\n\nThere was now no question who should succeed. All eyes were turned\nto Horemheb, who had already almost as much power as the Pharaoh.\nThe commander-in-chief at once ascended the throne, and was\nreceived by the populace with the utmost rejoicings. At this time\nthere was living at Thebes the Princess Nezemmut, the sister of\nAkhnaton\u2019s Queen Nefertiti, and hence the daughter of Dushratta,\nKing of Mitanni. Owing to previous inter-marriages between the\nroyal house of Egypt and that of Mitanni, both Nefertiti and\nNezemmut were descendants of Pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty.\nNezemmut had come to Egypt early in the reign of Akhnaton, and\nlater had perhaps married some Egyptian nobleman; but she was now\na widow, and had recently been appointed to the post of \u201cDivine\nConsort,\u201d--that is to say, High Priestess--of Amon. As she was\nprobably the younger sister of Nefertiti, she may have been about\nsix years of age when Nefertiti was married to Akhnaton at the\nage of eight. Hence she would have been about twenty-three at his\ndeath, and would now be just over thirty.\n\nTo this princess, as representing both the rights of the old line\nof Pharaohs and those of the god Amon, without the now condemning\nclose relationship to Akhnaton which characterised the other\nexisting royal princesses, Horemheb was at once married. The\nreligion of the Aton was now fast disappearing. In a tomb dating\nfrom the third year of Horemheb\u2019s reign, the words \u201cRa whose\nbody is Aton\u201d occur; but this is the last mention of the Aton,\nand henceforth Amon-Ra is unquestionably supreme. A certain\nPa-atonemheb, who had been one of Akhnaton\u2019s favourites, was at\nabout this time appointed High Priest of Ra-Horakhti at Heliopolis,\nand thus the last traces of the religion of the Aton were merged\ninto the Heliopolitan theology, from which that religion at the\nbeginning had emanated.\n\n[Illustration: _The Temple at Luxor._]\n\nThe neglected shrines of the old gods once more echoed with\nthe chants of the priests throughout the whole land of Egypt.\nInscriptions tell us that Horemheb \u201crestored the temples from\nthe pools of the Delta marshes to Nubia. He fashioned a hundred\nimages ... with all splendid and costly stones. He established for\nthem daily offerings every day. All the vessels of their temples\nwere wrought of silver and gold. He equipped them with priests\nand with ritual priests, and with the choicest of the army. He\ntransferred to them lands and cattle, supplied with all necessary\nequipment.\u201d By these gifts to the neglected gods Horemheb was\nstriving to bring Egypt back to its natural condition; and with a\nstrong hand he was guiding the country from chaos to order, from\nfantastic Utopia to the solid old Egypt of the past. He was, in\nfact, the preacher of sanity, the very apostle of the Normal.\n\nHe led his armies into the Sudan, and returned with a procession\nof captive chieftains roped before him. He had none of Akhnaton\u2019s\nqualms regarding human suffering, and these unfortunate prisoners\nare seen to have their arms bound in the most cruel manner. Finding\nthe country to be lawless he drafted a number of stern laws, and\nwith sound justice administered his kingdom. Knowing that Syria\ncould not long remain quiet, he organised the Egyptian troops,\nand so prepared them that, but a few years after his death, the\nsoldiers of the reigning Pharaoh were swarming once more over the\nlands which Akhnaton had lost.\n\n\n 4. THE PERSECUTION OF AKHNATON\u2019S MEMORY.\n\nThe priests of Amon-Ra had now begun openly to denounce Akhnaton as\na villain and a heretic, and as they restored the name of their god\nwhere it had been erased, so they hammered out the name and figure\nof Akhnaton wherever they saw it. Presently they pulled down the\nAton temple at Karnak, and used the blocks of stone in the building\nof a pylon for Amon-Ra. Soon it was felt that Akhnaton\u2019s body\ncould no longer lie in state, together with that of Queen Tiy, in\nthe Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. The sepulchre was therefore\nopened once more and the name \u201cAkhnaton\u201d was everywhere erased from\nthe inscriptions, as was his figure from the scenes upon the shrine\nof Queen Tiy. The mummy was lifted from its coffin and the royal\nname was cut out of the gold ribbons which passed round it, both\nat the back and the front. It was then replaced in the coffin, and\nfrom this the name was also erased.\n\nThe question may be asked why it was that the body was not torn to\npieces and scattered to the four winds, since the king was now\nso fiercely hated. The Egyptians, however, entertained a peculiar\nreverence for the bodies of their dead, and it would have been a\nsacrilege to destroy the mummy even of this heretic. No thought\ncould be entertained of breaking up the body upon which the divine\ntouch of kingship had fallen: that would have been against all the\nsentiments which we know the Egyptians to have held. The cutting\nout of the name of the mummy was sufficient punishment: for thereby\nthe soul of the king was debarred from all the benefits of the\nearthly prayers of his descendants, and became a nameless outcast,\nwandering unrecognised and unpitied through the vast underworld.\nIt was the name \u201cAkhnaton\u201d which was hated so fiercely; and one\nmay perhaps suppose that the priests would have been willing to\nsubstitute the king\u2019s earlier name, Amonhotep, upon the mummy had\nthey been pressed to do so. His name and figure as Amonhotep IV. is\nnot damaged upon the monuments; but only the representations of him\nafter the adoption of the name Akhnaton have been attacked.\n\nThe tomb, polluted by the presence of the heretic, was no longer\nfit for Tiy to rest in; and the body of the queen was therefore\ncarried elsewhere, perhaps to the sepulchre of her husband\nAmonhotep III. The shrine, or outer coffin, in which her mummy had\nlain was pulled to pieces, and an attempt was made to carry it out\nof the tomb to its owner\u2019s new resting-place, but this arduous\ntask was presently abandoned, and one portion of the shrine was\nleft in the passage, while the rest remained in sections in the\nburial-chamber. Some of the queen\u2019s toilet utensils which had been\nburied with her were also left, probably by mistake. The body of\nAkhnaton, his name taken from him, was now the sole occupant of\nthe tomb. The coffin in which it lay rested upon a four-legged\nbier some two feet or so from the ground, and in a niche in the\nwall above it stood the four canopic jars. And thus, with a curse,\nthe priests left their great enemy. The entrance of the tomb was\nblocked with stones, and sealed with the seal of the necropolis;\nand all traces of its mouth were hidden by rocks and _d\u00e9bris_.\n\nThe priests would not now permit the name of Akhnaton to pass\na man\u2019s lips, and by the end of the reign of Horemheb, the\nunfortunate boy was spoken of in official documents as \u201cthat\ncriminal.\u201d Not forty years had passed since Akhnaton\u2019s death, yet\nthe priesthood of Amon was as powerful as it had ever been at any\nperiod of its existence. There were still living men who had been\nold enough at the time of the Aton power to grasp its doctrines;\nand those same eyes which had looked upon the fair City of the\nHorizon might now disturb the creatures of the desert in the ruined\ncourts where the grave boy-Pharaoh had presided so lately. These\nmen joined their voices to that crowd of priests who, not daring\nto allow the word Akhnaton to form itself upon their lips, poured\ncurses upon the excommunicated and nameless \u201ccriminal.\u201d Through\nstarry space their execrations passed, searching out the wretched\nghost of the boy, and banning him, as they supposed, even in the\ndim uncertainties of the Lands of Death. Over the hills of the\nwest, up the stairs of the moon, and down into the caverns under\nthe world, the poor twittering shadow was hunted and chased by the\nrelentless magic of the men whom he had tried to reform. There\nwas no place for his memory upon earth, and in the under-world\nthe priests denied him a stone upon which to lay his head. It\nis not easy now to realise the full meaning to the Egyptians\nof the excommunication of a soul: cut off from the comforts of\nhuman prayers; hungry, forlorn, and wholly desolate; forced at\nlast to whine upon the outskirts of villages, to snivel upon the\ndung-heaps, to rake with shadowy fingers amidst the refuse of mean\nstreets for fragments of decayed food with which to allay the pangs\nof hunger caused by the absence of funeral-offerings. To such a\npitiful fate the priests of Amon consigned \u201cthe first individual in\nhistory\u201d; and as an outcast amongst outcasts, a whimpering shadow\nin a place of shadows, the men of Thebes bade us leave the great\nidealist, doomed to the horrors of a life which will not end, to\nthe misery of a death that brings no oblivion.\n\n\n 5. THE FINDING OF THE BODY OF AKHNATON.\n\nThus, sheathed in gold, the nameless body lay, while the fortunes\nof Egypt rose and fell and the centuries slid by. A greater\nteacher than Akhnaton arose and preached that peace which the\nPharaoh had foreshadowed, and soon all Egypt rang with the new\ngospel. Then came the religion of Muhammed, and the days of the\nsword returned. So the years passed, and many a wise man lived his\nlife and disappeared; but the first of the wise men of history lay\nundiscovered in the heart of the Theban hills.\n\nNow it happened that there was a fissure in the rocks in which the\nsepulchre was cut, and during the rains of each season a certain\namount of moisture managed to penetrate into the chamber. This\ngradually rotted the legs of the bier upon which Akhnaton\u2019s body\nlay, and at last there came a time when the two legs at the head\nof the coffin gave way and precipitated the royal body on to the\nground. The bandages around the mummy had already fallen almost to\npowder, and this jerk sent the golden vulture which was resting\nupon the king\u2019s face on to his forehead, where it lay with the tail\nand claws resting over the left eye-socket of the skull. Presently\nthe two remaining legs of the bier collapsed, and the whole\ncoffin fell to the ground, the lid being partly jerked off, thus\nrevealing the king\u2019s head at one end and his feet at the other,\nfrom all of which the flesh had rotted away.\n\nIn January 1907 the excavations in the Valley of the Tombs of the\nKings which were being conducted by Mr Theodore Davis, of Newport,\nRhode Island, U.S.A., on behalf of the Egyptian Government, brought\nto light the doorway of the tomb, and it was not long before an\nentrance was effected. A rough stairway led down into the hillside,\nbringing the excavators[85] to the mouth of the passage, which was\nentirely blocked by the wall which the priests had built after they\nhad entered the tomb to erase Akhnaton\u2019s name. Beyond this wall\nthe passage was found to be nearly choked with the _d\u00e9bris_ of the\nthree earlier walls, the first of which had been built after Queen\nTiy had been buried here, the second after Akhnaton\u2019s agents had\nentered the tomb to erase the name of Amon, and the third after\nAkhnaton\u2019s body had been laid beside that of his mother. On top\nof this heap of stones lay the side of the funeral shrine of the\nqueen which the priests had abandoned after attempting to carry it\nout with her mummy. In the burial-chamber beyond, the remaining\nportions of this shrine were found. Upon these one saw the figures\nof Akhnaton and his mother worshipping beneath the rays of the\nAton. The inscriptions showed the erasure of the name of Amonhotep\nIII., and the substitution in red ink of that king\u2019s second name,\nNebmaara; and one observed that at a later date the name and\nfigures of Akhnaton had been hammered out.\n\nAt one side lay the coffin of Akhnaton, as it had fallen from the\nbier. The name of Akhnaton upon the coffin had been erased, but\nwas still readable; and the gold ribbons from which his name had\nbeen cut out still encircled the body, back and front. The golden\nvulture lay as has been described above, and the necklace still\nrested on the breast, while the whole decaying body was found to be\nwrapped in sheets of gold. In a recess above this coffin stood the\ncanopic jars, and in another part of the tomb Queen Tiy\u2019s toilet\nutensils were found, from one of which the name of Amonhotep III.\nhad been erased.\n\nThe bones, when examined by Dr Elliot Smith, F.R.S., were found\nto be those of a young man of not more than about twenty-eight\nyears of age,--that is to say, the age at which Akhnaton has been\nshown in the above pages to have died. The skull was pronounced\nto be that of a man who suffered from epileptic fits, and who\nwas probably subject to hallucinations. Curiously enough, the\nidiosyncrasies of this misshapen skull are precisely those which\nLombroso has stated to be so usual in a religious reformer. The\nface had crumbled away, but the lower jaw was intact; and when this\nwas placed in position one could see at once the great resemblance\nto the well-known portraits of Akhnaton which had survived the\nwreck of his city.\n\nThere could thus be no doubt that the mummy of this wonderful\nPharaoh had at last been found; but since Akhnaton had always been\nthought, though without particular reason, to have been a much\nolder man, the identity was questioned. It was suggested that the\nbody was perhaps that of Smenkhkara, the successor of Akhnaton,\nwhich by some error had managed to be placed in Akhnaton\u2019s coffin.\nBut how, then, did the gold ribbons inscribed with Akhnaton\u2019s\nname manage to be placed around the body? And apart from the\nextreme improbability that the mummy which was thus labelled with\nAkhnaton\u2019s name, and which lay in his coffin, should be that of any\nother king but Akhnaton, one may ask in this case how it is that\nthe body has the well-known physical characteristics of the great\nheretic if it be that of Smenkhkara, who was not related to the\nking?\n\nIt has been stated that the presence of the vulture upon the body\nis against the identification with Akhnaton. This has already been\nshown to be capable of explanation; but it may here be noted that\nif Smenkhkara would not have placed the vulture upon Akhnaton\u2019s\nbody, then by the same token the mummy is not likely to be that of\nSmenkhkara, and there is certainly no other prince of this period\nwith whom to identify the body. In conclusion, it may be added\nthat of all the royal mummies now known there is not one which\ncan be so clearly shown to belong to the Pharaoh with whom it has\nbeen identified as this mummy can be shown to belong to Akhnaton.\nThe body was lying in a coffin inscribed with Akhnaton\u2019s name; it\nwas bound round with ribbons inscribed with his name; it had the\nphysical characteristics of the portraits of Akhnaton; it had the\nidiosyncrasies of a religious reformer such as he was; it was that\nof a man of Akhnaton\u2019s age as deduced from the monuments; it lay\nin the tomb of Akhnaton\u2019s mother; those who had erased the names\nmust have thought it to be Akhnaton\u2019s body, unless one supposes an\nutter chaos of cross-purposes in their actions; and finally, there\nis nobody else who, with any degree of probability, it could be.\n\nThus one may say that, without the vaguest shadow of a doubt, the\nbody of this the most remarkable figure of early Oriental history\nhas been brought to light; and with this assurance we may close\nthis sketch of his life, which has been written partly for the\npurpose of thus explaining the significance of Mr Davis\u2019s great\ndiscovery, and partly to introduce the general reader to one of\nthe most interesting characters ever known. In this brief outline\nit has only been possible to touch upon the main characteristics\nwhich the few remaining inscriptions and monuments seem to reveal;\nbut to the most casual reader it will be apparent that there\nstands before him a personality of surprising vigour and amazing\noriginality, and one deserving of careful study. In an age of\nsuperstition, and in a land where the grossest polytheism reigned\nabsolutely supreme, Akhnaton evolved a monotheistic religion\nsecond only to Christianity itself in purity of tone. He was the\nfirst human being to understand rightly the meaning of divinity.\nWhen the world reverberated with the noise of war, he preached\nthe first known doctrine of peace; when the glory of martial pomp\nswelled the hearts of his subjects, he deliberately turned his back\nupon heroics. He was the first man to preach simplicity, honesty,\nfrankness, and sincerity; and he preached it from a throne. He was\nthe first Pharaoh to be a humanitarian; the first man in whose\nheart there was no trace of barbarism. He has given us an example\nthree thousand years ago which might be followed at the present\nday: an example of what a husband and a father should be, of what\nan honest man should do, of what a poet should feel, of what a\npreacher should teach, of what an artist should strive for, of what\na scientist should believe, of what a philosopher should think.\nLike other great teachers he sacrificed all to his principles, and\nthus his life plainly shows--alas!--the impracticability of his\ndoctrines; yet there can be no question that his ideals will hold\ngood \u201ctill the swan turns black and the crow turns white, till the\nhills rise up to travel, and the deeps rush into the rivers.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: MAP OF AKHETATON, THE CITY OF THE HORIZON OF ATON.\n(TEL EL AMARNA)\n\n SURVEY DEP. CAIRO 1909 (151) _FROM THE CAIRO SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL._\n\nNOTE: Of the Boundary Stelae only those lettered A, B, F, J, K, M,\nN, P, Q, R, S, U, V and X, still remain. The position of these is\nshown upon the Map.]\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n Aahmes I., 7\n\n Abdkhiba, governor of Jerusalem, appeal of, to Akhnaton for help,\n 236\n\n Adonis, connection of, with Aton, 15, 37, 49, 136 _et seq._\n\n Akhnaton, personality of, 2\n --ancestors of, 7 _et seq._\n --birth of, 42 _et seq._\n --change of name from Amonhotep to, 45 note, 91 _et seq._\n --marriage of, 53\n --accession of, 58 _et seq._\n --first years of the reign of, 62 _et seq._\n --new city founded by, 88 _et seq._\n --site of the city selected by, 92 _et seq._\n --foundation ceremonies performed by, 94 _et seq._\n --departure of, from Thebes, 105 _et seq._\n --age of, 110 _et seq._\n --religion of Aton formulated by, 115 _et seq._\n --tenth to twelfth years of the reign of, 149 _et seq._\n --similarity of the hymn of, to Psalm civ., 155 _et seq._\n --representations of, in his palace, 167 _et seq._\n --historical events of tenth to twelfth years of the reign of,\n 169 _et seq._\n --thirteenth to fifteenth years of the reign of, 189 _et seq._\n --name of Amon obliterated by, 193 _et seq._\n --affection of, for his family, 208 _et seq._\n --friends of, 213 _et seq._\n --troubles of, 217 _et seq._\n --last two years of the reign of, 223 _et seq._\n --conscientious objections of, to warfare, 226 _et seq._\n --health of, gives way, 246 _et seq._\n --last days and death of, 252\n --fall of the religion of, 258 _et seq._\n --burial of, 258\n --body of, brought to Thebes, 266\n --persecution of the memory of, 272 _et seq._\n --finding of the body of, 276 _et seq._\n --ideals of, 283\n\n Amon or Amon-Ra, worship of, 12\n --priesthood of, 20, 45 _et seq._, 77\n --break with the priesthood of, 88 _et seq._\n --Akhnaton obliterates the name of, 193 _et seq._\n --restoration of the worship of, 272 _et seq._\n\n Amonhotep I., 7\n\n Amonhotep II., 10\n\n Amonhotep III., \u201cthe Magnificent,\u201d 11, 13, 28, 33 _et seq._, 49, 54\n --death of, 57, 111\n --second name of, 186, 187, 195\n\n Amonhotep IV.: see Akhnaton\n\n Amonhotep-son-of-Hapu, the \u201cwise man,\u201d 33\n\n Animal worship, 18 _et seq._\n\n Ankhsenpaaton, third daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 109\n --marriage of, 112, 264\n\n Apis, the sacred bull, worship of, 16, 87\n\n Apiy, letter to Akhnaton from, 85\n\n Art, the new style of, 68 _et seq._, 101\n\n Aswan, commemoration tablet at, 107\n --statue of Amonhotep III. at, _ib._\n\n Aton, the name, 37, 92 and note\n --rise of, 45 _et seq._\n --development of the religion of, 76 _et seq._\n --nature of the religion of, 84 _et seq._\n --founding of new city for the worship of, 88 _et seq._\n --religion of, formulated, 115 _et seq._\n --connections of the worship of, with older religions,\n 135 _et seq._\n --hymns of the worshippers of, 149 _et seq._\n --Meryra made high priest of, 158 _et seq._\n --development of the religion of, 189 _et seq._\n --great temple of, 198 _et seq._\n --City of the Horizon of, 202 _et seq._\n --downfall of the religion of, 264 _et seq._\n\n Auta, Queen Tiy\u2019s chief sculptor, 75, 207\n\n Ay, foster-parent of Queen Nefertiti, 57, 109\n --palace of, 204\n --accession of, to the throne, 268\n --death of, _ib._\n\n Aziru, the Amorite prince, unscrupulous dealings of, 226,\n 230 _et seq._\n\n\n Baketaton, sister of Akhnaton, 178, 212\n\n Bek, art taught to, by Akhnaton, 76\n --sculptures of, at Aswan, 107, 196\n\n\n Canopic jars, the, in Akhnaton\u2019s tomb, 263, 279\n\n Child-marriages, frequency of, in Egypt, 112\n\n Christianity, comparison of Akhnaton\u2019s faith with, 143 _et seq._\n\n \u201cCity of the Brightness of Aton,\u201d new name of, given to Thebes, 65\n\n City of the Horizon of Aton, founding of, 90 _et seq._\n --Akhnaton\u2019s residence at, 107\n --gardens of, 127\n --inscriptions on the sepulchres at, 149 _et seq._\n --Queen Tiy\u2019s visit to, 176 _et seq._\n --Queen Tiy\u2019s residence and death at, 184 _et seq._\n --shrines and temples in, 196 _et seq._\n --beauty of, 202 _et seq._\n --Akhnaton\u2019s tomb near, 207 _et seq._\n --abandonment of, by the court, 264\n --removal of Akhnaton\u2019s body from, 266\n --desolate condition of, 275\n\n\n Delta, \u201cHouse\u201d of Aton in the, 191\n\n Demigods and Spirits, worship of, 18 _et seq._\n\n Domestic life of Akhnaton, reliefs and paintings on tombs showing\n the, 167 _et seq._\n\n Dushratta, King of Mitanni, marriage of Nefertiti, daughter of, to\n Prince Amonhotep (Akhnaton), 56\n --marriage of Nezemmut, daughter of, to Horemheb, 269\n\n\n \u201cEffulgence which comes from Aton,\u201d name of Aton changed to, 192\n\n\n Fayum, \u201cHouse\u201d of Aton in the, 191\n\n\n Gebel Silsileh, tablets at the quarries of, 63\n --the name Amonhotep erased at, 195\n\n Gods of Egypt, the, 11 _et seq._\n --Akhnaton orders the erasure of the names of, in inscriptions, 249\n\n Goodness of Aton, the, 127 _et seq._\n\n\n Hathor, worship of, 16\n\n Hatshepsut, Queen, 8\n\n Heliopolis, temple of Aton at, 191\n\n Hermonthis, temple of Aton at, 191\n\n Hermopolis, temple of Aton at, 191\n\n Hittite invasion of Syria, the, 223 _et seq._\n\n Horakhti Aton, erection of temple at Karnak to, 63, 68, 89\n --restoration of the temple to, 267\n --destruction of the temple to, 272\n\n Horemheb, tomb of, 67 and note, 84, 86, 265 note\n --presence of, with the troops in Asia, 265\n --accession of, to the throne, 268\n --marriage of, 269\n --reign of, 270 _et seq._\n\n Horus, the hawk god, worship of, 15, 16\n\n Huya, scenes sculptured on the tomb of, 170 _et seq._, 177, 207\n\n\n Isis, worship of, 15\n\n\n Karnak, temple to Horakhti Aton at, 63 _et seq._, 68, 89\n --temples and shrines at, 63, 84\n --restoration of the Aton temple at, 267\n --destruction of the Aton temple at, 272\n\n Khnum, the ram-headed deity, worship of, 16\n\n Khonsu, the god of the moon, worship of, 13\n\n Kirgipa or Gilukhipa, wife of Amonhotep III., 39, 51, 55\n\n\n \u201cLord of the Breath of Sweetness,\u201d Akhnaton\u2019s name of, 61\n\n\n Mahu, scenes on the tomb of, 215 _et seq._\n\n Meketaton, second daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 101\n --death of, 219\n\n Memphis, temple of Aton at, 191\n\n Meryra, appointment of, as high priest of Aton, 158 _et seq._\n --scenes sculptured on the tomb of, 159 _et seq._, 203\n\n Merytaton, first daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 83\n --marriage of, 112, 211, 254\n\n Min or Min-Ra, worship of, 12, 27\n\n Mnevis, the sacred bull, worship of, 135\n\n Mut, the consort of Amon, worship of, 13, 187, 260\n\n Mutemua, wife of Thothmes IV., 23 _et seq._, 28\n\n\n Nebmaara, second name of Amonhotep III., 186, 187, 195, 279\n\n Nefernefernaton fourth daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 112, 169\n --marriage of, 112, 211\n\n Neferneferura, fifth daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 208\n\n Nefertiti (Tadukhipa), marriage of Prince Amonhotep (Akhnaton) to,\n 55, 210\n --birth of the first daughter of, 83\n --second daughter of, 101, 106\n --third daughter of, 109\n --fourth daughter of, 112, 169\n --fifth daughter of, 208\n --sixth and seventh daughters of, 209\n\n Nezemmut, sister of Queen Nefertiti, 109, 212\n --marriage of, to Horemheb, King of Egypt, 269\n\n Nubia, imperial regard of Akhnaton for, 189 _et seq._\n --temple of Aton in, 191\n\n\n Osiris, god of the dead, worship of, 20\n\n\n Palace of Akhnaton, description of the, 205 _et seq._\n\n Psalm civ., similarity of Akhnaton\u2019s hymn to, 155 _et seq._\n\n Ptah, the Vulcan of Egypt, worship of, 16, 21, 85\n\n\n Ra or Ra-Horakhti, the sun-god, worship of, 12, 14, 21, 45 _et seq._,\n 51, 58, 59, 64, 70, 86, 92\n\n Rames, Vizir of Upper Egypt, tomb of, 66, 68, 81, 84, 148\n\n Ribaddi, King of Byblos, appeals of, to Akhnaton for help, 235, 239,\n 242\n --death of, 247\n\n\n Set, the worship of, 16\n\n Setepenra, sixth daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 209\n\n \u201cShade of the Sun,\u201d the, Queen Tiy\u2019s private temple called,\n 182 _et seq._\n --statues in, 182, 196\n\n Smenkhkara, Akhnaton\u2019s successor to the throne, 211, 253\n --marriage of, 254\n --association of, with Akhnaton, as co-ruler, _ib._\n --accession of, as sole ruler, 258\n --death of, 264\n\n \u201cSon of God,\u201d Akhnaton the, by traditional right, 130 _et seq._\n\n \u201cSon of the Sun,\u201d the title of, held by the Pharaohs, 14, 71, 74,\n 131, 197\n\n Soul, spiritual needs of the, after death, 138 _et seq._\n --material needs of the, 143 _et seq._\n --the excommunication of a, 276\n\n Sunrise and sunset, worship of Aton at, 124 _et seq._\n\n Syria, imperial regard of Akhnaton for, 189 _et seq._\n --temple of Aton in, 191\n --Hittite invasion of, 223 _et seq._\n --Akhnaton\u2019s policy in, 226 _et seq._\n --the fighting in, becomes general, 235 _et seq._\n\n\n Tadukhipa: see Nefertiti\n\n Temple of Aton, description of the great, 198 _et seq._\n\n Tender Father of all Creation, Aton as the, 118 _et seq._\n\n Thebes, discoveries in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings near, 4,\n 278 _et seq._\n --booty brought by Thothmes III. to, 8\n --the deities of, 12 _et seq._\n --the court at, 35\n --the royal palace at, 36, 43 _et seq._\n --new name of \u201cCity of the Brightness of Aton\u201d given to, 65\n --departure of the court from, 105 _et seq._\n --Queen Tiy\u2019s continued residence at, 176\n --Queen Tiy\u2019s tomb at, 185\n --return of the court to, 264 _et seq._\n --body of Akhnaton brought to, 266\n --finding of Akhnaton\u2019s body at, 277 _et seq._\n\n Thothmes I., 8\n\n Thothmes II., 8\n\n Thothmes III., 8 _et seq._\n\n Thothmes IV., 10 _et seq._, 13, 21 _et seq._, 110\n\n Tiy, Queen, birth and childhood of, 26\n --marriage of, 29 _et seq._, 112\n --children of, 39, 43, 54\n --death of the parents of, 40\n --birth of Amonhotep or Akhnaton, son of, 43 _et seq._\n --the power of, 49 _et seq._\n --death of the consort of, 57\n --visit of, to the City of the Horizon, 176 _et seq._\n --visit of, to her temple, 182 _et seq._\n --death of, 184\n --tomb of, 185 _et seq._\n --Akhnaton\u2019s body placed in the tomb of, 266, 282\n --body of, removed, 274\n\n Tribal gods, names of, 12 _et seq._\n\n True God, Aton as the, 115 _et seq._\n\n Tuau, wife of Yuaa, Priest of the god Min, 26 _et seq._, 30, 32\n --death and burial of, 40\n\n Tunip, letter to Akhnaton from the governor of, 232\n\n Tutankhaton, the throne usurped by, 211, 252, 264\n --marriage of, 264\n --name of, changed to Tutankhamon, 266\n --return of, to Thebes, _ib._\n --death of, 267\n\n Ty, foster-parent of Queen Nefertiti, 57, 109\n\n\n Valley of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes, the, discoveries in, 4,\n 278 _et seq._\n --burial of Yuaa and Tuau in, 40\n\n Vulture, representation of a, used in burials, 187, 259 _et seq._,\n 279, 281\n\n\n Wady Hammam\u00e2t, inscriptions near the quarries of, 76, 113\n\n Warfare, Akhnaton\u2019s conscientious scruples to, 226 _et seq._\n\n Worship of Aton at sunrise and sunset, 124 _et seq._\n\n\n Yuaa, Priest of the god Min, birth of, 25\n --marriage of Tiy, the daughter of, to Amonhotep III., 29\n --personality of, 32\n --death and burial of, 40\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\nPRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Breasted: A History of Egypt.\n\n[2] N. de G. Davies: The Rock Tombs of El Amarna. 5 vols.\n\n[3] Now out of print.\n\n[4] Published by the Chicago University, 1906.\n\n[5] As will be recorded at the end of this volume, the body of\nAkhnaton was discovered by Mr Theodore M. Davis at Thebes early in\n1907; but at the time of writing (1908) the results have not been\npublished in book form, though various articles have appeared.\n\n[6] The writer has to thank the editors of \u2018The Quarterly Review,\u2019\n\u2018Blackwood\u2019s Magazine,\u2019 and \u2018The Century Magazine,\u2019 for permitting\nhim to embody in this volume certain portions of articles\ncontributed by him to the pages of those journals.\n\n[7] Page 110.\n\n[8] Page 100.\n\n[9] The sphinx tablet.\n\n[10] Of Thothmes III. at Karnak, of Aahmes I. at Abydos, and of\nSenusert III. at Amada.\n\n[11] These ages are discussed on pages 111 and 178 (note).\n\n[12] Petrie, History, ii. p. 183. The portrait upon which he bases\nthis statement, however, may be that of Akhnaton (fig. 115, p.\n182). The mouth and chin are extremely like those of Yuaa, as seen\nin his mummy; but again they both have a close resemblance to the\nhead of Amonhotep III. (_idem_, fig. 120, p. 188). Of course, such\nevidence is extremely frail, and must not be too much relied upon.\n\n[13] Breasted, Records, ii. 865, note h.\n\n[14] He took the name Akhnaton in about the sixth year of his reign.\n\n[15] His statue is at Turin. See also Erman, \u2018Life in Ancient\nEgypt,\u2019 p. 297.\n\n[16] Page 39.\n\n[17] Recently discovered by the present writer whilst repairing\nthis tomb.\n\n[18] His mummy is that of a man of not more than fifty.\n\n[19] The wise man Amonhotep-son-of-Hapu was steward of Princess\nSetamon\u2019s estate, but this may have been previous to her mention in\nher grandparents\u2019 tomb.\n\n[20] Page 111.\n\n[21] Page 56.\n\n[22] It is usual for Egyptian girls to become mothers at about the\nage of thirteen, though sometimes earlier. They often continue to\nbear children at intervals of about two years, over a period of\nthirty years or so. Fifteen children is thus the usual number of a\nfamily, but half these generally die in babyhood.\n\n[23] Maspero.\n\n[24] Scarabs of the early period are sometimes inscribed\n_Neb-nef-nezem_, which has this meaning.\n\n[25] The date of this work is not exactly known, but as it was\ncertainly finished before the king founded his new city, it must\nhave been commenced immediately upon his accession.\n\n[26] The word _benben_, \u201cshrine,\u201d has the hieroglyph of an obelisk\nat the end of it, which has led to some mistranslations. Perhaps\nthe temple was built somewhat on the plan of that at Abus\u00ear, where\nan obelisk stood in an open court.\n\n[27] It is possible that \u201cfound\u201d is a mistranslation.\n\n[28] Thus corresponding to the Silsileh quarry tablet, where Amon\nis worshipped.\n\n[29] This tomb of Horemheb seems to have been begun and finished in\nthe early years of Akhnaton\u2019s reign, to have been left alone during\nthe remainder of the reign, and to have received the addition\nof doorposts (see note on p. 265) after the death of Akhnaton.\nFragments of the tomb are now divided between Leiden, Bologna,\nVienna, Alexandria, and Cairo; and it would seem that all except\nthose in the Cairo museum (the doorposts) are from the earlier\nperiod. The titles on the Cairo fragments are far more elaborate\nthan those on the others. See Breasted, Records, iii. 1 ff.\n\n[30] We know from the \u201cPalermo stone\u201d that the kingdom of Lower\nEgypt was much more ancient than that of Upper Egypt.\n\n[31] In later times the name of Tiy and the Pharaoh\u2019s second name\nwere erased, but the name Amonhotep was not damaged. The facsimile\ncopy here given was made on the spot by the present writer in\ncorrection of a previous copy made by Gol\u00e9nischeff. It is published\nin his \u2018Travels in the Upper Egyptian Deserts\u2019 (Blackwood).\n\n[32] Meaning the god.\n\n[33] Griffith: Kahun Papyri. Text, p. 91.\n\n[34] Is there a distant connection between Mnevis and the Minoan\nbull of Crete? See p. 183.\n\n[35] The god is sometimes called \u201cAton\u201d simply, and sometimes _Pa\nAton_, \u201cthe Aton\u201d; just as we speak of \u201cChrist\u201d or \u201cthe Christ,\u201d\nand of \u201cLord\u201d or \u201cthe Lord,\u201d this latter being the actual meaning\nof \u201cAton.\u201d\n\n[36] The translation here given is based upon that published by\nDavies in Amarna V.; but the year cannot be the fourth, as there\nstated as probable, since in the above-mentioned letter dated\nin year 5 the king is still called Amonhotep, whereas in this\ninscription he is called Akhnaton.\n\n[37] The day is not certain; perhaps it is day 4.\n\n[38] For the sake of brevity it is often called \u201cthe City of the\nHorizon,\u201d simply, in this volume.\n\n[39] Mediterranean people.\n\n[40] This has reference to the rays which come from the Aton.\n\n[41] This seems to have been a temple.\n\n[42] The second name of Amonhotep III., Akhnaton\u2019s father.\n\n[43] The second name of Thothmes IV., Akhnaton\u2019s grandfather.\n\n[44] The _ater_ corresponds to the Greek _schoinos_, and the _khe_\nis the _schoenium_ of 100 cubits, 40 _khe_ making one _ater_.\n\n[45] See note on p. 178.\n\n[46] Davies, Amarna, I. 45.\n\n[47] The idea is that the Aton does not die as dies the sunlight.\n\n[48] Probably by royal descent is meant.\n\n[49] In Egyptian this title reads _Pa shera nefer en pa Aton_. In\nthe tomb of a certain Amonhotep, at El Assas\u00eef, temp. Amonhotep\nIII., the deceased Amonhotep I. is called _Pa shera nefer en Amon_.\n\n[50] So Prof. Breasted translates the Egyptian _sehetep_, though it\nwould be possible to give it other interpretations.\n\n[51] Cf. such expressions as \u201cWhen thou settest they die,\u201d and\nothers used in Akhnaton\u2019s hymns.\n\n[52] Professor Breasted\u2019s translation.\n\n[53] In the tomb of Huya the scene is dated in the twelfth year,\nas here recorded, and there are four daughters shown, which is the\nnumber one is led by other evidence to suppose were then alive. The\nscene in the tomb of Meryra II. has precisely the same date, but\nsix daughters are shown, and there is evidence to show that that\nnumber is not to be looked for previous to the fifteenth year of\nthe reign, the first daughter being born in about the fifth year,\nthe second in the seventh, the third in the ninth, the fourth\nin the eleventh, the fifth in the thirteenth, and the sixth in\nthe fifteenth year, in all probability. Thus the scene in Meryra\nII. may perhaps represent no particular reception of the tribute\nof any one year, but the artist may have had in mind the great\ntribute of the twelfth year while representing the occurrence in\nthe fifteenth or sixteenth year, at which date his work was taking\nplace. Or again the date in this latter tomb may be a misreading or\nmiswriting. The scene described above is that represented in the\ntomb of Meryra, as it is more elaborate than the other; but the\ninscription is that found in the tomb of Huya.\n\n[54] Her first child, it will be remembered, was born when she was\nabout thirteen.\n\n[55] It is probable, as has been stated on p. 111, that she was\nmarried to Amonhotep III. in about her tenth year, and was thus\nabout forty-six when he died. She could not have been much more,\nfor her daughter Baketaton must have been born but a year or so\nbefore Amonhotep\u2019s death, and it is improbable that she would bear\nchildren after forty-five, if as late as that.\n\n[56] It is to be noticed that there are pomegranates amongst the\nfruit, which indicates that the visit was made during the summer,\nas do the light costumes also.\n\n[57] Davies: Amarna, iii. 8, note 1.\n\n[58] This is to be observed also in some other inscriptions of the\nperiod.\n\n[59] Breasted: History of Egypt, p. 364.\n\n[60] Page 177.\n\n[61] It is usual to date the tombs roughly by the number of\ndaughters shown, presuming that the artist represented all the\nchildren living at the time. But though this gives us the lowest\npossible year, it does not always give us the highest, for\ndaughters are obviously sometimes omitted when the available space\nwas cramped.\n\n[62] Page 63.\n\n[63] Page 107.\n\n[64] Davies: El Amarna, iii., Pl. xviii.\n\n[65] Page 182.\n\n[66] Davies: El Amarna.\n\n[67] Wilkinson: Modern Egypt, ii. 69.\n\n[68] Davies: El Amarna.\n\n[69] It is probable that there was some likeness between Akhnaton\u2019s\ntemples and those dedicated to the sun in early days, as, for\nexample that at Abus\u00ear.\n\n[70] Perhaps this is a part of the royal palace.\n\n[71] Petrie: El Amarna.\n\n[72] Petrie: History of Egypt, ii. 219.\n\n[73] Page 75.\n\n[74] Page 192.\n\n[75] She probably married some Egyptian noble, and her future\ncareer is recorded on p. 269.\n\n[76] The plaster has now fallen off, and little of the original\ndecoration remains. The tomb is seldom visited by tourists, being\nseven miles back from the river; but it is in charge of the\nGovernment custodian.\n\n[77] The reception of the tribute recorded in the tomb of Meryra\nII. (see page 170), although dated in the twelfth year of the\nreign, may represent a later event, since six daughters are shown\nin the scene; and it is not likely that the sixth daughter was born\nbefore the fifteenth year. Perhaps the date is a misreading or\nmiswriting, influenced by that given in the tomb of Huya.\n\n[78] Breasted: History, p. 388.\n\n[79] It is doubtful whether the second sign is _menkh_ or _\u0227a\u0351_,\nthey being somewhat alike.\n\n[80] Page 187.\n\n[81] The scarab, another symbol from older times, seems to have\nbeen retained, for a gold heart-scarab is said to have been found\nin Akhnaton\u2019s tomb.--Petrie: History of Egypt, ii. 220.\n\n[82] In Egyptian: \u1e24eq nefer, Ra\u0351 setept, Seten bati, A\u0351nkh em\nM\u0227a\u0351t, Neb taui, Akhnaton, Pa sher\u0227 nefer en Pa Aton a\u0351nkh, enti\n\u0227uf a\u0351nkhu ren \u1e25e\u1e25 zet. This was all that was written upon the\ncoffin.\n\n[83] Probably he is to be identified with Tutu, a well-known noble\nof this period--the words _ankhaton_, \u201cLiving in Aton,\u201d being added\nto make the name more majestic.\n\n[84] See note on page 67. This inscription is found on the\ndoorposts of the tomb of Horemheb, which, by the greatly increased\ntitles, were set up some time after the rest of the tomb was\nfinished, and thus probably in the reign of Tutankhaton. A fragment\nof gold-leaf has recently been found showing this king in his\nchariot charging Asiatic enemies. The present writer recently found\npart of a shrine of his in the desert on the road to the gold\nmines. See \u2018Travels in the Upper Egyptian Deserts\u2019 (Blackwood).\n\n[85] The present writer assisted at the opening of this tomb.\nA full account of the find will be published by Mr Davis, and\ntherefore only a brief description, already published with Mr\nDavis\u2019s permission in article form, must be given here.\n\n\n\n\n TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTE\n\n Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been\n corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within\n the text and consultation of external sources.\n\n Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,\n and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained: for example,\n burial-chamber, burial chamber; underworld, under-world; intrust;\n unbiassed; engrained.\n\n Pg xi: \u2018ART OF AKHNATION\u2019 replaced by \u2018ART OF AKHNATON\u2019.\n Pg xii: \u2018MAP OF AKHHETATON\u2019 replaced by \u2018MAP OF AKHETATON\u2019.\n Pg 158: \u2018who seens to have\u2019 replaced by \u2018who seems to have\u2019.\n Pg 178: \u2018elaborate footsools\u2019 replaced by \u2018elaborate footstools\u2019.\n Pg 205: \u2018the light rooves\u2019 replaced by \u2018the light roofs\u2019.\n Pg 236: \u2018the Egptian yoke\u2019 replaced by \u2018the Egyptian yoke\u2019.\n Pg 262 Footnote [82]: \u2018In Egytian\u2019 replaced by \u2018In Egyptian\u2019.\n\n Index.\n Dushratta: \u2018marriage of Nesemmut\u2019 replaced by \u2018marriage of Nezemmut\u2019.","title":"The Life and Times of Akhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":58779}