Chapter III: Akhnaton Founds a New City

“A brave soul, undauntedly facing the momentum of immemorial
tradition ... that he might disseminate ideas far beyond and
above the capacity of his age to understand.”--BREASTED: ‘History
of Egypt.’

1. THE BREAK WITH THE PRIESTHOOD OF AMON-RA.

The expected break with the priesthood of Amon was not long in coming. One knows nothing of the details of the quarrel, but it may be supposed that Akhnaton himself flung down the gauntlet, making the rash attempt to rid himself of the weight of an organisation which had proved such a drag upon his actions. There is no evidence to show that he disbanded the priesthood, or prohibited the worship of Amon at this period of his reign; but as the ultimate persecution of that god, some years later, commenced very soon after the death of his mother, one may suppose that it was her restraining influence which prevented him from precipitating a struggle to the death with the god of Thebes. The king was now entering upon the sixth year of his reign and the seventeenth of his age, and he was already developing in his mind theories and principles which were soon to produce radical changes in the new religion of the Court. He found, no doubt, that it was hopeless to attempt to convert the people of Thebes to the new doctrines; and daily he realised the more clearly that the development either of the faith of Ra-Horakhti Aton, or of the ideals which he was beginning to find therein, was cramped and checked by the hostility of the influences which pressed around his immediate circle. From the walls of every temple, from pylons and gateways, pillars and obelisks, the figure of Amon stared down at him in defiance; and everywhere he was confronted with the tokens of that god’s power. His little temple at Karnak was overshadowed by the larger buildings of Amon; and the few priests who served at the new altar were lost amidst the crowds of the ministers of the Theban god. How could the flower thrive and bloom in such uncongenial soil? How could the sun shine through such density of conventional tradition?

The king, no doubt, endeavoured to cripple the priesthood of Amon by cutting down its budget as much as possible, and by attempting to win over to his side some of the priests of high standing. Had he succeeded in reducing it to the rank of the smaller cults, it is probable that he would have been satisfied so to leave it; for at this time he wished only to place Ra-Horakhti in a position of undoubted supremacy above all other gods. But the vast resources of Amon seemed unconquerable, and there appeared to be little chance of reducing the priesthood to a position of inferior rank.

In this dilemma the king took a step which had been for some time considered in his mind and in the minds of his advisers. He decided to abandon Thebes. He would build a city far away from all contaminating influences, and there he would hold his court and worship his god. On clean, new soil, he would establish the earthly home of Ra-Horakhti Aton, and there, with his faithful followers, he would develop those schemes which now so filled his brain. Thus also, by reducing Thebes to the position of a provincial town, he might lessen the power of the priesthood of Amon; for no longer would Amon be the royal god, the god of the capital. He would shake the dust of Thebes from off his sandals, and never again would he allow himself to be baffled and irritated by the sight of the glories of Amon.

The first step which he took was that of changing his name from Amonhotep, “The-Peace-of-Amon,” to Akhnaton, “The-Glory-of-Aton”; and from that time forth the word Amon hardly passed his lips. He retained two of his other names,--_i.e._, “Beautiful-is-the-Being-of-Ra,” and “The-Only-One-of-Ra,” the latter being often used by him; but such titles and names as that which made mention of Karnak be entirely dispensed with. He now laid more stress upon the nature of his god as “Aton” or “the Aton”[35] than as Ra-Horakhti; and from this time onwards the name Ra-Horakhti becomes less and less prominent, though retained throughout the king’s reign.

2. AKHNATON SELECTS THE SITE OF HIS CITY.

Down the river it would seem that the young Pharaoh now sailed in his royal _dahabiyeh_, looking to right and left as he went, now inspecting this site and now examining that. At last he came upon a place which suited his fancy to perfection. It was situated about 160 miles above the modern Cairo. At this point the limestone cliffs upon the east bank leave the river and recede for about three miles, returning to the water some five or six miles farther along. Thus a bay is formed which is protected on its west side by the river in which there here lies a small island, and in all other directions by the crescent of the cliffs. Upon the island he would erect pavilions and pleasure-houses. Along the edge of the river there was a narrow strip of cultivated land whereon he would plant his palace gardens, and those of the nobles’ villas. Behind this verdant band the smooth desert stretched, and here he would build the palace itself and the great temples. Behind this again, the sand and gravel surface of the wilderness gently sloped up to the foot of the cliffs, and here there would be roads and causeways whereon the chariots might be whirled in the early mornings. In the face of the cliffs he would cut his tomb and those of his followers; and at intervals around the crescent of these hills he would cause great boundary-stones to be made, so that all men might know and respect the limits of his city. What splendid quays would edge the river, what palaces reflect their whiteness in its waters! There would be broad shaded avenues, and shimmering lakes surrounded by the fairest trees of Asia. Temples would raise their lofty pylons to the blue skies, and broad courts should lie stretched in the sunlight.

In Akhnaton’s youthful mind there already stood the temples and the mansions; already he heard the sound of sweet music. The laughter of maidens was added to the singing of the birds which he heard in the trees; the pomp of imperial Egypt displaced the farm-houses and the fields of corn which now occupied the site; and the song of the shepherd in the wilderness was changed to the rolling psalms of the Aton. Fair was this dream and enthralling to the dreamer. To Queen Tiy it probably did not appeal so strongly; for Thebes was full of associations to her, and her palace beside the lake was very dear. There is, indeed, every reason to suppose that the dowager-queen lived on at Thebes after her son had abandoned it.

3. THE FIRST FOUNDATION INSCRIPTION.

Preparations were soon made for the laying out of the city, and in a very short time Akhnaton was called upon to visit the site in order to perform the foundation ceremonies. Fortunately the inscriptions upon some of the boundary tablets in the desert tell us something of the manner in which the king marked the limits of the city.[36] The first inscription reads as follows:--

Year 6, fourth month of the second season, day 13.[37] ... On
this day the King was in the City of the Horizon of Aton.[38] His
Majesty ascended a great chariot of electrum, [appearing] like
Aton when he rises from his [eastern] horizon and fills the land
with his love; and he started a goodly course [from his camping
place] to the City of the Horizon.... Heaven was joyful, earth
was glad, and every heart was happy when they saw him. And his
Majesty offered a great sacrifice to Aton, of bread, beer, horned
bulls, polled bulls, beasts, fowl, wine, incense, frankincense,
and all goodly herbs on this day of demarcating the City of the
Horizon....

After these things, the good pleasure of Aton being done, ...
[the King returned from] the City of the Horizon, and he rested
upon his great throne with which he is well pleased, which
uplifts his beauties. And his Majesty continued in the presence
of his father Aton, and Aton shone upon him in life and length of
days, invigorating his body each day.

And his Majesty said, “Bring me the companions of the King, the
great ones and the mighty ones, the captains of soldiers, and
the nobles of the land in its entirety.” And they were conducted
to him straightway, and they lay on their bellies before his
Majesty, kissing the ground before his mighty will.

And his Majesty said unto them, “Ye behold the City of the
Horizon of Aton, which the Aton has desired me to make for him as
a monument in the great name of my Majesty for ever. For it was
the Aton, my father, that brought me to this City of the Horizon.
There was not a noble who directed me to it; there was not any
man in the whole land who led me to it, saying, ‘It is fitting
for his Majesty that he make a City of the Horizon of Aton in
this place.’ Nay, but it was the Aton, my father, that directed
me to it to make it for him.... Behold the Pharaoh found that
[this site] belonged not to a god, nor to a goddess, it belonged
not to a prince, nor to a princess. There was no right for any
man to act as owner of it.” ...

[... And they answered and said] “Lo! it is Aton that putteth
[the thought] in thy heart regarding any place that he desires.
He doth not uplift the name of any King except thy Majesty; he
doth not [exalt] any other except [thee.] ... Thou drawest unto
Aton every land, thou adornest for him the towns which he had
made for his own self, all lands, all countries, the Hanebu[39]
with their products and their tribute upon their backs for him
that made their life, and by whose rays one lives and breathes
the air. May he grant eternity in seeing his rays.... Verily, the
City of the Horizon will thrive like Aton in heaven for ever and
ever.”

Then his Majesty lifted his hand to heaven unto Him that formed
him, saying, “As my father Ra-Horakhti Aton liveth, the great
and living Aton, ordaining life, vigorous in life, my father,
my rampart of a million cubits, my remembrancer of eternity,
my witness of that which pertains to eternity, who formeth
himself with his own hands, whom no artificer hath known, who is
established in rising and in setting each day without ceasing.
Whether he is in heaven or in earth,[40] every eye seeth him
without [failing,] while he fills the land with his beams and
makes every face to live. With seeing whom may my eyes be
satisfied daily, when he rises in this temple of Aton in the City
of the Horizon, and fills it with his own self by his beams,
beauteous in love, and lays them upon me in life and length of
days for ever and ever.

“I will make the City of the Horizon of Aton for the Aton, my
father, in this place. I will not make the City south of it,
north of it, west of it, or east of it. I will not pass beyond
the southern boundary-stone southward, neither will I pass beyond
the northern boundary-stone northward to make for him a City of
the Horizon there; neither will I make for him a city on the
western side. Nay, but I will make the City of the Horizon for
the Aton, my father, upon the east side, the place which he did
enclose for his own self with cliffs, and made a plain (?) in
the midst of it that I might sacrifice to him thereon: this is
it. Neither shall the Queen say unto me, ‘Behold, there is a
goodly place for the City of the Horizon in another place,’ and
I hearken unto her. Neither shall any noble nor [any one] of all
men who are in the whole land [say unto me], ‘Behold, there is a
goodly place for the City of the Horizon in another place,’ and
I hearken unto them. Whether it be down-stream or southwards,
or westwards, or eastwards, I will not say ‘I will abandon this
City of the Horizon and will hasten away and make the City of
the Horizon in this other goodly place’ for ever. Nay, but I did
find this City of the Horizon for the Aton, which he had himself
desired, and with which he is pleased for ever and ever.

“I will make a temple of Aton for the Aton, my father, in this
place. I will make a ... of Aton for the Aton, my father, in this
place. I will make a Shadow-of-the-Sun[41] of the Great Wife of
the King, Nefertiti, for the Aton, my father, in this place. I
will make a House of Rejoicing for the Aton, my father, on the
island of ‘Aton illustrious in Festivals’ in this place.... I
will make all works which are necessary for the Aton, my father,
in this place. I will make ... for the Aton, my father, in this
place. I will make for myself the Palace of Pharaoh; and I will
make the Palace of the Queen in this place. There shall be made
for me a sepulchre in the eastern hills; my burial shall be
made therein ... and the burial of the Chief Wife of the King,
Nefertiti, shall be made therein, and the burial of the King’s
daughter Merytaton shall be made therein. If I die in any town
of the north, south, west, or east, I will be brought here and
my burial shall be made in the City of the Horizon. If the Great
Queen, Nefertiti, who lives, die in any town of the north, south,
west, or east, she shall be brought here and buried in the City
of the Horizon. If the King’s daughter Merytaton die in any town
of the north, south, west, or east, she shall be brought here
and buried in the City of the Horizon. And the sepulchre of
Mnevis shall be made in the eastern hills and he shall be buried
therein. The tombs of the High Priests and the Divine Fathers
and the priests of the Aton shall be made in the eastern hills,
and they shall be buried therein. The tombs of the officers, and
others, shall be made in the eastern hills, and they shall be
buried therein.

“For as my father Ra-Horakhti Aton liveth ... [the words?] of
the priests, more evil are they than those things which I heard
until the year four, more evil are they than those things which I
have heard in ... more evil are they than those things which King
[Nebmaara[42]] heard, more evil are they than those things which
Menkheperura[43] heard....”

The rest of the inscription is so much broken that only a few words here and there can be read. They seem to refer to the king’s further projects,--how he will make ships to sail to and from the city, how he will build granaries, celebrate festivals, plant trees, and so on.

The reference to the year four is very interesting, and it would seem that it was at about that date that the king’s eyes were opened to the necessity of making war upon the priesthood of Amon. As we have seen, it was in about the fourth year of his reign that the great changes in the art took place, and the symbol of the sun’s rays was introduced into the sculptures. The mention of the two previous Pharaohs shows that troubles were already brewing then; but it had remained for the energetic young Akhnaton to bring matters to a head.

4. THE SECOND FOUNDATION INSCRIPTION.

The inscription recording these events was probably not written until some months after they had occurred. Just when the engravers had made an end of their work a second daughter was born to the king and queen, whom they named Meketaton; and orders were given that her figure should be added upon the boundary tablet beside that of her sister, which already appeared there with Akhnaton and Nefertiti. The king was somewhat distressed that a son had not been granted to him; for the thought was bitter that, in the event of his death, all his projects would fall to the ground. He therefore altered the wording of the inscriptions about to be written on the other boundary tablets; and, by including his oath in the text, he added an even greater integrity to the decree. The name of the second daughter was now inserted in this inscription, which reads:--

Year six, fourth month of the second season, thirteenth day.

On this day the King was in the City of the Horizon of Aton, in
the parti-coloured tent made for his Majesty in the City of the
Horizon, the name of which is “The Aton is well pleased.” And his
Majesty ascended a great chariot of electrum, drawn by a span
of horses, and [he appeared] like Aton when he rises from the
horizon and fills the two lands with his love. And he started
a goodly course to the City of the Horizon, on this the first
occasion, ... to dedicate it as a monument to the Aton, even as
his father Ra-Horakhti Aton had given command.... And he caused
a great sacrifice to be offered.

And his Majesty went southward, and halted on his chariot before
his father Ra-Horakhti Aton, at the [foot of the] south-east
hills, and Aton shone upon him in life and length of days,
invigorating his body every day.

Now this is the oath pronounced by the King:--

“As my father Ra-Horakhti Aton liveth, as my heart is happy in
the Queen and her children--as to whom may it be granted that
the Chief Wife of the King, Nefertiti, living for ever and ever,
grow aged after a multitude of years, in the care of the Pharaoh,
and may it be granted that the King’s daughter Merytaton and the
King’s daughter Meketaton, her children, grow old in the care of
the Chief Wife of the King, their mother....

“This is my oath of truth which it is my desire to pronounce, and
of which I will not say ‘It is false’ eternally for ever.

“The southern boundary-stone which is on the eastern hills. It is
the boundary-stone of the City of the Horizon, namely this one by
which I have made halt. I will not pass beyond it southwards for
ever and ever. Make the south-west boundary-stone opposite it on
the western hills of the City of the Horizon exactly.

“The middle boundary-stone which is on the eastern hills. It is
the boundary-stone of the City of the Horizon by which I have
made halt on the eastern hills of the City of the Horizon. I will
not pass beyond it eastwards for ever and ever. Make the middle
boundary-stone which is to be on the western hills opposite it
exactly.

“The north-eastern boundary-stone by which I have made halt. It
is the northern boundary-stone of the City of the Horizon. I will
not pass beyond it down-stream for ever and ever. Make the north
boundary-stone which is to be on the western hills opposite it
exactly.

“And the City of the Horizon of Aton extends from the south
boundary-stone as far as the north boundary-stone, measured
between boundary-stone and boundary-stone on the eastern, hills
[which measurement] amounts to 6 _ater_,[44] ¾ _khe_, and 4
cubits. Likewise from the south-west boundary-stone to the
north-west boundary-stone on the western hills [the measurement]
amounts to 6 _ater_, ¾ _khe_, and 4 cubits likewise exactly.

“And the area within these four boundary-stones from the eastern
hills to the western hills is the City of the Horizon of Aton
in its proper self. It belongs to my father Ra-Horakhti Aton:
mountains, deserts, meadows, islands, high-ground, low-ground,
land, water, villages, embankments, men, beasts, groves, and all
things which the Aton my father shall bring into existence for
ever and ever.

“I will not neglect this oath which I have made to the Aton my
father for ever and ever; nay, but it shall be set on a tablet
of stone as the south-east boundary, likewise as the north-east
boundary of the City of the Horizon; and it shall be set likewise
on a tablet of stone as the south-west boundary, likewise as the
north-west boundary of the City of the Horizon. It shall not be
erased, it shall not be washed out, it shall not be kicked,
it shall not be struck with stones, its spoiling shall not be
brought about. If it be missing, if it be spoilt, if the tablet
on which it is shall fall, I will renew it again afresh in the
place in which it was.”

5. THE DEPARTURE FROM THEBES.

From the above inscription one sees that Akhnaton had now decided to include the west bank of the river, opposite to the original site, in the new domain; and the great boundary tablets are there to be found as on the eastern side. By the time these decrees were engraved the Pharaoh was nearly eighteen years of age; and these developments in his plans are the natural signs of the progress of his brain towards that of a grown man.

Having laid the foundations of the city, the king probably returned to Thebes, where he waited as patiently as possible for his dream to take concrete form. This period of waiting must have been peculiarly trying to him, for his troubles with the Amon priesthood must have embittered his days. He seems, however, to have been extremely devoted to his wife, Nefertiti, who had now grown, it would seem, into a beautiful young woman of fifteen or sixteen years of age; and the arrival of the second baby afforded an interest which meant much to him. One may now picture the king and queen living, in the seclusion of the palace, a homely, simple existence, ever dwelling in a happy day-dream upon the future glories of the new city, and the rising power of the religion of Aton. Akhnaton’s ill-health, of course, must have caused both his friends and himself much anxiety; but even this had its compensations, for those who suffer from epilepsy are by the gods beloved, and Akhnaton, no doubt, believed the hallucinations due to his disease to be god-given visions. There must have been a very considerable amount of business to be worked through in connection with the building of the city, and he could have had little time to brood upon what he now considered to be the wrongs inflicted upon him and his house by the priests of Amon.

So passed the seventh year of his reign without any particular records to mark it. At Aswan there is a monument which perhaps dates from about this period. The king’s chief sculptor, Bek, was there employed in obtaining red granite for the decoration of the new city; and he caused to be made upon a large rock a commemorative tablet. On it one sees him before Akhnaton, whose figure has been erased at a later date; and the altar of the Aton, above which are the usual sun’s rays, stands beside them. Bek calls himself “The Chief of the Works in the Red [Granite] Hills, the assistant whom his Majesty himself taught, Chief of the Sculptors on the great and mighty monuments of the King in the house of Aton in the City of the Horizon of Aton.” Here also one sees Men, the father of Bek, who was also Chief of the Sculptors, presenting an offering to a statue of Amonhotep III., under whom he had served.

The eighth year of Akhnaton’s reign, and the nineteenth year of his age, was memorable, for it would seem that he now took up his permanent residence in the City of the Horizon. On some of the boundary tablets a repetition of the royal oath is recorded; and, as this is the last mention of _a visit_ made by Akhnaton to the new capital, one may suppose that henceforth he was resident there. The inscription reads:--

This oath (of the sixth year) was repeated in year eight, first
month of the second season, eighth day. The King was in the
City of the Horizon of Aton, and Pharaoh stood mounted on a
great chariot of electrum, inspecting the boundary-stones of the
Aton....

Then follows a list of these boundary-stones, and the inscription ends with the words:--

And the breadth of the City of the Horizon of Aton is from cliff
to cliff, from the eastern horizon of heaven to the western
horizon of heaven. It shall be for my father Ra-Horakhti Aton,
its hills, its deserts, all its fowl, all its people, all its
cattle, all things which the Aton produces, on which his rays
shine, all things which are in ... the City of the Horizon, they
shall be for the father, the living Aton, unto the temple of
Aton in the City of the Horizon for ever and ever; they are all
offered to his spirit. And may his rays be beauteous when they
receive them.

Thus was the king’s city planned and laid out. The two years of feverish work had probably produced considerable results, and already we may picture the city taking form. The royal palace was perhaps almost finished by now, and the villas of some of the nobles were habitable. With many a sigh of relief Akhnaton must have bade farewell to Thebes. A third daughter, who was named Ankhsenpaaton, had just been born; and one may thus picture the royal party which sailed down the river as being very distinctly a family. One sees Akhnaton, a sickly young man of nineteen years of age, walking to and fro upon the deck of the royal vessel, with his hand upon the shoulder of his fair young wife, now some seventeen years old, in whose arms the baby princess is carried. Toddling beside them are the two other princesses, one somewhat over two years of age, the other about four years. The queen’s sister, Nezemmut, records of whose existence soon become apparent, was perhaps also of the party, having left the court of Mitanni to be a companion to Nefertiti. Ay and Ty, the foster-parents of Nefertiti, were doubtless with the royal family now as they sailed down the river; and several of the nobles who play a part in the following pages no doubt formed the suite which attended to the royal commands.

6. THE AGE OF AKHNATON.

We have spoken of the king as being nineteen years old. The story has now reached a point at which we must pause to consider this vexed question of Akhnaton’s age. In the above pages it has been said that the Pharaoh was about eleven years old at his marriage and accession to the throne; was fifteen when the canons of art were changed and the symbols of the Aton religion introduced; was seventeen when the foundations of the new city were laid; and was nineteen when he took up his residence there. Let us study these ages in the above order.

Firstly, then, as to the king’s marriage. The mummy of Thothmes IV., the grandfather of Akhnaton, has been shown by Dr Elliot Smith to be that of a man not more than about twenty-six years of age. That king was succeeded by his son Amonhotep III., who is known to have been married to Queen Tiy before the second year of his reign, and to have been old enough at that time to begin to hunt big game. It would be difficult to believe that he would be permitted to join any hunting party, however secure against accident, before the twelfth year of his age; but, on the other hand, if he was more than that age, his father would have to have been less than twelve at _his_ marriage. Thus the only possible conclusion is that both Thothmes IV. and Amonhotep III. were barely thirteen when they were married, and very possibly even younger. This is shown to be a correct conclusion by the fact that the mummy of Amonhotep III. has been pronounced by Dr Elliot Smith to be that of a man of forty-five or fifty; and as he reigned thirty-six years he must have been _at most_ fourteen, and probably some years younger, at his accession and marriage.

There is not sufficient evidence to show at what ages the previous Pharaohs of the dynasty had married, but as Akhnaton’s father and grandfather entered into matrimony at this early age, it would not be safe to suppose that he himself delayed his marriage till a later age. Queen Tiy was in all probability married when she was ten or eleven years old.[45] Akhnaton’s daughter Merytaton, who was born in the fourth or fifth year of his reign, was, as will be seen in due course, married before the seventeenth year of the reign--that is to say, when she was twelve or younger. The Princess Ankhsenpaaton, who was born in the eighth year, was married, at latest, two years after Akhnaton’s death--_i.e._, when she was eleven. Another of Akhnaton’s daughters, Nefernefernaton, who has not yet appeared, was born in her father’s eleventh year and was married before the fifteenth, and therefore could only have been four or five years of age.

Child-marriages such as these are common in Egypt, even at the present day. Those who have lived on the Nile, and have studied the national habits, will assuredly fix the probable age of a royal _mariage de convenance_ at about thirteen years, and will agree that eleven and twelve are also highly likely ages.

Secondly, as to Akhnaton’s age at the changing of the art. In the biography of Bakenkhonsu, the High Priest of Amon under Rameses II., that official tells us that he arrived at the state of manhood at the age of sixteen, and one may therefore suppose that this was the recognised legal age at which a man became a responsible agent in Egypt. Now it has been clearly seen that Akhnaton was under the regency of his mother during the first years of his reign, and mention has been made of the inscription at Wady Hammamât, where, although the new symbol of the religion is shown, Queen Tiy’s name is placed beside that of her son in an equally honourable position. She was thus still Queen Regent when the art was changed, and her son could not yet have come of age--_i.e._, he must then have been under sixteen.

Thirdly, we have to consider the question of his age when he laid the foundations of the new city. This was the first decisive action performed by the king in which his mother has no concern, and of which she perhaps even disapproved, and it surely marks the period at which he took the government into his own hands. If, like Bakenkhonsu, he came of age at sixteen, in the fifth year of his reign, the founding of the new capital in the following year would well fit in with the supposition that the abandoning of Thebes marks the date of the king’s arrival at maturity.

It may be asked how so young a person could conceive that great dream of the new city dedicated to the Aton. But, after all, he was seventeen years of age when the idea came to him, nineteen when he had properly developed the plan, and perhaps as much as twenty when he took up his residence there. Akhnaton’s greatness, as will be seen later, dates from the height of his reign in the City of the Horizon, and not from his early years. Still, when one calls to mind the infant prodigies, the child preachers who stir an audience at the age of twelve, one may credit a boy of sixteen or seventeen with the planning of a new city. Even in the cold Occident such youthful wiseacres are not rare, and surely they blossom forth less infrequently in the maturing warmth of the Orient.