Great Temple of the Aten
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The Great Temple of the Aten is located in the abandoned city of Akhetaten (modern Amarna, in Egypt). It is one of the 2 major temples in the city, the other being the Small Aten Temple.
Known more literally as the House of Aten in Akhetaten, it was constructed around year 9 of Akhenaten's reign. Unlike temples to other Egyptian gods it consisted of a huge area of courts and offering tables. The 'public' spaces started with the House of Rejoicing (Per-Hay), and the Meeting Aten (Gem-Aten) area, where the offering tables and courts were. The main sanctuary to the east was where Akhenaten and Nefertiti would act as intermediaries for the people to the god.
The temple was quickly constructed, mostly out of mud-brick and Talatat, so when it went out of use, this material was easy to reuse in other structures. The area of this temple is now partial under a modern cemetery.
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[edit] Excavation
Flinders Petrie was the first person to work in the temple, and his assistant, Howard Carter excavated in the sanctuary area. However, it was John Pendlebury who actually fully mapped this area during his excavations in 1935. The EES Amarna Survey project returned to re–dig the site and corrected some mistakes in the mapping.
[edit] Image gallery
[edit] Sculptural fragments from the temple
 A fragmentary face. |
 A fragmentary statue of the pharaoh wearing the white crown. |
 A fragmentary statue of the pharaoh Akhenaten. |
 A fragmentary torso of Nefertiti. |
 Torso fragment of a prostrate statue, thought to come from the Great Temple of the Aten. |
[edit] References
- George Hart, A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Routledge, 1986
- Barry Kemp, Amarna Reports IV, Egypt Exploration Society, 1987
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