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diff --git a/old/62434-0.txt b/old/62434-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c3e3ec7..0000000 --- a/old/62434-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6959 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life and Times of Akhnaton, by -Arthur Edward Pearse Weigall - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: The Life and Times of Akhnaton - Pharaoh of Egypt - -Author: Arthur Edward Pearse Weigall - -Release Date: June 20, 2020 [EBook #62434] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AKHNATON *** - - - - -Produced by John Campbell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have - been placed at the end of the book. - - Footnotes [79] and [82] have a translation of some heiroglyphic - words, using several accented characters. These will display, - using Unicode combining diacriticals, on this device as - ȧ (a with dot above) - ḥ and Ḥ (h and H with dot below) - a͑ and A͑ (a and A with half left circle above) - - Pages 155 and 156 of the original book have a two-column side by - side comparison of “Akhnaton’s Hymn” and “Psalm CIV”. The Psalm - has been placed under the Hymn in this etext. - - Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book. - - - - - _BY THE SAME AUTHOR._ - - - Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. net. With numerous Illustrations. - - TRAVELS IN THE UPPER EGYPTIAN DESERTS. - - “Since the times of Eliot Warburton and Kinglake many writers - have celebrated the delights of travel in the desert. None, I - think, has realised the fascination of the desert more fully than - Mr Weigall.”--_Westminster Gazette._ - - JOHN WARD, F.S.A. (author of ‘Pyramids and Progress,’ &c.), - writes: “... The very best book of travel ... I have seen for - years; so interesting that it can be read with pleasure by people - who know not Egypt, and so unpretendingly scientific ... that - to one who is an expert Egyptologist it is a treasure-trove. - The language is so clear, the descriptive portions so graphic, - and yet the style so simple, that the work is, in its way, - a masterpiece. Then the clear type, the handy size, and the - exquisite photographs make the book a rare possession.” - - - Demy 8vo. With Illustrations. 7s. 6d. net. - - “Interesting and readable in no common degree.”--_Scotsman._ - - THE TREASURY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. - - Chapters on Ancient Egyptian History and Archæology. - - Mr Weigall has performed a remarkable literary feat. He has - truly made dry bones live, and has presented his researches in - Egyptology in a manner so fascinating as to arouse the enthusiasm - of the patrons of the circulating libraries. Of this volume it is - enough to say that it is worthy of the author of ‘The Life and - Times of Akhnaton.’ - - - WM. BLACKWOOD & SONS, EDINBURGH AND LONDON. - - - - -[Illustration: PAVEMENT DECORATION FROM THE PALACE OF AMONHOTEP III.] - - - - - The Life and Times of - - Akhnaton - - - - - The Life and Times of - - Akhnaton - - Pharaoh of Egypt - - - BY - - ARTHUR E. P. WEIGALL - - CHIEF INSPECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTIQUITIES, UPPER EGYPT - - AUTHOR OF ‘A REPORT ON THE ANTIQUITIES OF LOWER NUBIA,’ - ‘A CATALOGUE OF THE WEIGHTS AND BALANCES IN THE CAIRO - MUSEUM,’ ‘A GUIDE TO THE ANTIQUITIES OF UPPER EGYPT,’ - ‘DIE MASTABA DES GEMNIKAI’ (WITH PROFESSOR VON - BISSING), ‘TRAVELS IN THE UPPER EGYPTIAN - DESERTS,’ ETC. - - - “Ye ask who are those that draw us to the Kingdom if the Kingdom - is in Heaven? The fowls of the air, and all the beasts that are - under the earth or upon the earth, and the fishes of the sea, these - are they which draw you, and the Kingdom of Heaven is within you.” - --GRENFELL AND HUNT: _Oxyrhynchus Papyri_, iv. 6. - - - SECOND IMPRESSION - - - William Blackwood and Sons - Edinburgh and London - 1911 - - _ALL RIGHTS RESERVED_ - - - - - _TO_ - - _THEODORE M. DAVIS,_ - - _THE DISCOVERER OF_ - _THE BONES OF AKHNATON_, - - This Book is Dedicated. - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - INTRODUCTION 1 - - - I. - - THE PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS OF AKHNATON. - - 1. THE ANCESTORS OF AKHNATON 7 - 2. THE GODS OF EGYPT 11 - 3. THE DEMIGODS AND SPIRITS--THE PRIESTHOODS 18 - 4. THOTHMES IV. AND MUTEMUA 21 - 5. YUAA AND TUAU 25 - 6. AMONHOTEP III. AND HIS COURT 33 - - - II. - - THE BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS OF AKHNATON. - - 1. THE BIRTH OF AKHNATON 42 - 2. THE RISE OF ATON 45 - 3. THE POWER OF QUEEN TIY 49 - 4. AKHNATON’S MARRIAGE 53 - 5. THE ACCESSION OF AKHNATON 58 - 6. THE FIRST YEARS OF AKHNATON’S REIGN 62 - 7. THE NEW ART 68 - 8. THE NEW RELIGION DEVELOPS 76 - 9. THE NATURE OF THE NEW RELIGION 84 - - - III. - - AKHNATON FOUNDS A NEW CITY. - - 1. THE BREAK WITH THE PRIESTHOOD OF AMON-RA 88 - 2. AKHNATON SELECTS THE SITE OF HIS CITY 92 - 3. THE FIRST FOUNDATION INSCRIPTION 94 - 4. THE SECOND FOUNDATION INSCRIPTION 101 - 5. THE DEPARTURE FROM THEBES 105 - 6. THE AGE OF AKHNATON 110 - - - IV. - - AKHNATON FORMULATES THE RELIGION OF ATON. - - 1. ATON THE TRUE GOD 115 - 2. ATON THE TENDER FATHER OF ALL CREATION 118 - 3. ATON WORSHIPPED AT SUNRISE AND SUNSET 124 - 4. THE GOODNESS OF ATON 127 - 5. AKHNATON THE “SON OF GOD” BY TRADITIONAL RIGHT 130 - 6. THE CONNECTIONS OF THE ATON WORSHIP WITH OLDER - RELIGIONS 135 - 7. THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH 138 - 8. THE MATERIAL NEEDS OF THE SOUL 143 - - - V. - - THE TENTH TO THE TWELFTH YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON. - - 1. THE HYMNS OF THE ATON WORSHIPPERS 149 - 2. THE SIMILARITY OF AKHNATON’S HYMN TO PSALM CIV. 155 - 3. MERYRA IS MADE HIGH PRIEST OF ATON 157 - 4. THE ROYAL FAMILY VISIT THE TEMPLE 162 - 5. AKHNATON IN HIS PALACE 167 - 6. HISTORICAL EVENTS OF THIS PERIOD OF AKHNATON’S REIGN 169 - 7. QUEEN TIY VISITS THE CITY OF THE HORIZON 176 - 8. TIY VISITS HER TEMPLE 182 - 9. THE DEATH OF QUEEN TIY 184 - - - VI. - - THE THIRTEENTH TO THE FIFTEENTH YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON. - - 1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELIGION OF ATON 189 - 2. AKHNATON OBLITERATES THE NAME OF AMON 193 - 3. THE GREAT TEMPLE OF ATON 198 - 4. THE BEAUTY OF THE CITY 202 - 5. AKHNATON’S AFFECTION FOR HIS FAMILY 208 - 6. AKHNATON’S FRIENDS 213 - 7. AKHNATON’S TROUBLES 217 - - - VII. - - THE LAST TWO YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON. - - 1. THE HITTITE INVASION OF SYRIA 223 - 2. AKHNATON’S CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTIONS TO WARFARE 226 - 3. THE FAITHLESSNESS OF AZIRU 230 - 4. THE FIGHTING IN SYRIA BECOMES GENERAL 235 - 5. AZIRU AND RIBADDI FIGHT TO A FINISH 239 - 6. AKHNATON CONTINUES TO REFUSE TO SEND HELP 243 - 7. AKHNATON’S HEALTH GIVES WAY 246 - 8. AKHNATON’S LAST DAYS AND DEATH 252 - - - VIII. - - THE FALL OF THE RELIGION OF AKHNATON. - - 1. THE BURIAL OF AKHNATON 258 - 2. THE COURT RETURNS TO THEBES 264 - 3. THE REIGN OF HOREMHEB 268 - 4. THE PERSECUTION OF AKHNATON’S MEMORY 272 - 5. THE FINDING OF THE BODY OF AKHNATON 276 - - - INDEX 285 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - PAGE - - PAVEMENT DECORATION FROM THE PALACE OF AMONHOTEP III. - (_coloured_) _Frontispiece_ - - CEILING DECORATION FROM THE PALACE OF AMONHOTEP III. - (_coloured_) 36 - - THOTHMES IV. SLAYING ASIATICS 22 - - TUAU, GRANDMOTHER OF AKHNATON 26 - - CHEST BELONGING TO YUAA 28 - - QUEEN TIY 30 - - YUAA, GRANDFATHER OF AKHNATON 32 - - AMONHOTEP-SON-OF-HAPU, THE “WISE MAN” OF THE COURT - OF AMONHOTEP III. 34 - - SITE OF THE PALACE OF QUEEN TIY 38 - - COFFIN OF YUAA 40 - - AMONHOTEP III. 54 - - AKHNATON 58 - - THE ART OF AKHNATON COMPARED WITH ARCHAIC ART 72 - - THE ARTIST AUTA 76 - - AKHNATON AND NEFERTITI WITH THEIR THREE DAUGHTERS 108 - - THE HEAD OF THE MUMMY OF THOTHMES IV., THE GRANDFATHER - OF AKHNATON 110 - - AKHNATON DRIVING WITH HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER 130 - - AKHNATON AND HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN 134 - - AN EXAMPLE OF THE FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN SYRIA - AND EGYPT 190 - - CARVED WOODEN CHAIR, THE DESIGNS PARTLY COVERED - WITH GOLD-LEAF 202 - - AKHNATON. (_From a Statuette in the Louvre_) 206 - - HEAD OF AKHNATON’S DAUGHTER 208 - - LETTER FROM RIBADDI TO THE KING OF EGYPT, REPORTING - THE PROGRESS OF THE REBELLION UNDER AZIRU. (_British - Museum, No. 29,801_) 234 - - DEATH MASK OF AKHNATON 258 - - THE TEMPLE AT LUXOR 270 - - - MAP OF AKHETATON, THE CITY OF THE HORIZON OF ATON - (TEL EL AMARNA) _At end._ - - - - - “How much Akhnaton understood we cannot say, but he had certainly - bounded forward in his views and symbolism to a position which - we cannot logically improve upon at the present day.”--PETRIE: - ‘History of Egypt.’ - - - - - THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AKHNATON. - - - - - INTRODUCTION. - - -The reign of Akhnaton, for seventeen years Pharaoh of Egypt (from -B.C. 1375 to 1358), stands out as the most interesting epoch in the -long sequence of Egyptian history. We have watched the endless line -of dim Pharaohs go by, each lit momentarily by the pale lamp of our -present knowledge, and most of them have left little impression -upon the mind. They are so misty and far off, they have been -dead and gone for such thousands of years, that they have almost -entirely lost their individuality. We call out some royal name, -and in response a vague figure passes into view, stiffly moves -its arms, and passes again into the darkness. With one there comes -the muffled noise of battle; with another there is singing and -the sound of music; with yet another the wailing of the oppressed -drifts by. But at the name Akhnaton there emerges from the darkness -a figure more clear than that of any other Pharaoh, and with it -there comes the singing of birds, the laughter of children, and the -scent of many flowers. For once we may look right into the mind -of a king of Egypt and may see something of its workings; and all -that is there observed is worthy of admiration. Akhnaton has been -called “the first individual in human history”;[1] but if he is -thus the first historical figure whose personality is known to us, -he is also the first of all human founders of religious doctrines. -Akhnaton may be ranked in degree of time, and perhaps also in -degree of genius, as the world’s first idealist; and, since in all -ancient Oriental research there never has been, and probably never -will be, brought before us a subject of such intellectual interest -as this Pharaoh’s religious revolution, which marks the first point -in the study of advanced human thought, a careful consideration of -this short reign deserves to be made. - -The following pages do not pretend to do more than acquaint the -reader with the subject, at a time when, owing to the recent -discovery of the Pharaoh’s bones, some interest may have been -aroused in his career. A series of volumes have lately been issued -by the Egypt Exploration Fund,[2] in which accurate copies are to -be found of the reliefs, paintings, and inscriptions upon the walls -of the tombs of some of Akhnaton’s disciples and followers. In the -year 1893 Professor Flinders Petrie excavated the site of the city -which the Pharaoh founded, and published the results of his work -in a volume entitled ‘Tell el Amarna.’[3] Recently Professor J. H. -Breasted has devoted some space to a masterly study of this period -in his ‘History of Egypt’ and ‘Ancient Records of Egypt.’[4] From -these publications the reader will be able to refer himself to the -remaining literature dealing with the subject; but he should bear -in mind that the discovery[5] of the bones of Akhnaton himself, -which have shown us how old he was when he died--namely, about -twenty-eight years of age,--have modified many of the deductions -there made. Those who have travelled in Egypt will probably have -visited the site of Akhnaton’s city, near the modern village of El -Amarna; and in the museums of Cairo, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, -Leiden, and elsewhere, they will perhaps have seen some of the -relics of his age. - -During the last few years an extraordinary series of discoveries -has been made in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes. -In 1903 the tomb of Thothmes IV., the paternal grandfather of -Akhnaton, was discovered; in 1905 the tomb of Yuaa and Tuau, the -maternal grandparents of Akhnaton, was found; in 1907 Akhnaton’s -body was discovered in the tomb of his mother, Queen Tiy; and -in 1908 the tomb of the Pharaoh Horemheb, one of the immediate -successors of Akhnaton, was brought to light. At all but the -first of these discoveries the present writer had the pleasure -of assisting; and a particular interest in the period was thus -engendered, of which the following sketch, prepared during an Upper -Egyptian summer, is an outcome. It must be understood, however, -that a volume written at such times as the exigencies of official -work allowed--partly in the shade of the rocks beside the Nile, -partly at railway-stations or in the train, partly amidst the ruins -of ancient temples, and partly in the darkened rooms of official -quarters--cannot claim the value of a treatise prepared in an -English study where books of reference are always at hand. It is -hoped, however, that no errors have been made in the statement of -the facts; and the deductions drawn therefrom are frankly open to -the reader’s criticism. There will certainly be no two opinions -as to the acknowledgment of the originality, the power, and the -idealism of the Pharaoh whose life is now to be outlined.[6] - - - - - I. - - THE PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS OF AKHNATON. - - - 1. THE ANCESTORS OF AKHNATON. - -The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egyptian kings took possession of the -throne of the Pharaohs in the year 1580 B.C., over thirteen hundred -years after the buildings of the great pyramids, and some two -thousand years after the beginning of dynastic history in the -Nile Valley. The founder of the dynasty was the Pharaoh Aahmes I. -He drove out the Asiatics who had overrun the country during the -previous century, and pursued them into the heart of Syria. His -successor, Amonhotep I., penetrated as far as the territory between -the Orontes and the Euphrates; and the next king, Thothmes I., was -able to set his boundary-stone at the northern limits of Syria, and -thus could call himself the ruler of the entire east end of the -Mediterranean, the emperor of all the countries from Asia Minor to -the Sudan. Thothmes II., the succeeding Pharaoh, was occupied with -wars in his southern dominions; but his successor, the famous Queen -Hatshepsut, was able to devote the years of her reign to the arts -of peace. - -She was followed by the great warrior Thothmes III., who conducted -campaign after campaign in Syria, and raised the prestige of Egypt -to a point never attained before or after that time. Every year he -returned to Thebes, his capital, laden with the spoils of Asia. -From the capture of the city of Megiddo alone he carried away 924 -splendid chariots, 2238 horses, 2400 head of various kinds of -cattle, 200 shining suits of armour, including those of two kings, -quantities of gold and silver, the royal sceptre, the gorgeous tent -of one of the kings, and many minor articles. Booty of like value -was brought in from other shattered kingdoms, and the Egyptian -treasuries were full to overflowing. The temples of the gods also -received their share of the riches, and their altars groaned -under the weight of the offerings. Cyprus, Crete, and perhaps the -islands of the Ægean, sent their yearly tribute to Thebes, whose -streets, for the first time in their history, were thronged with -foreigners. Here were to be seen the long-robed Asiatics bearing -vases fresh from the hands of Tyrian craftsmen; here were chariots -mounted with gold and electrum drawn by prancing Syrian horses; -here were Phœnician merchants with their precious wares stripped -from the kingdoms of the sea; here were negroes bearing their -barbaric treasures to the palace. The Egyptian soldiers held their -heads high as they walked through these streets, for they were -feared by all the world. The talk was everywhere of conquest, and -the tales of adventure now related remained current in Egypt for -many a century. War-songs were composed, and hymns of battle were -inscribed upon the temple walls. The spirit of the age will be seen -in the following lines, in which the god Amon addresses Thothmes -III.:-- - - “I have come, giving thee to smite the princes of Zahi, - I have hurled them beneath thy feet among their highlands.... - Thou hast trampled those who are in the districts of Punt, - I have made them see thy majesty as a circling star.... - Crete and Cyprus are in terror.... - Those who are in the midst of the great sea hear thy roarings; - I have made them see thy majesty as an avenger, - Rising upon the back of his slain victim.... - I have made them see thy majesty as a fierce-eyed lion, - While thou makest them corpses in their valleys....” - -It was a fierce and a splendid age--the zenith of Egypt’s great -history. The next king, Amonhotep II., carried on the conquests -with a degree of ferocity not previously apparent. He himself was -a man of great physical strength, who could draw a bow which none -of his soldiers could use. He led his armies into his restless -Asiatic dominions, and having captured seven rebellious Syrian -kings, he hung them head downwards from the prow of his galley as -he approached Thebes, and later sacrificed six of them to Amon -with his own hand. The seventh he carried up to a distant city of -the Sudan, and there hung him upon the gateway as a warning to all -rebels. Dying in the year 1420 B.C., he left the throne to his son, -Thothmes IV., the grandfather of Akhnaton, who at his accession -was about eighteen years of age.[7] - - - 2. THE GODS OF EGYPT. - -With the reign of Thothmes IV. we reach a period of history in -which the beginnings are to be observed of certain religious -movements, which become more apparent in the time of his son -Amonhotep III. and his grandson Akhnaton. We must look, therefore, -more closely at the events of this reign, and must especially -observe their religious aspect. For this reason, and also in order -that the reader may the more readily appreciate, by contrast, the -pure teachings of the Pharaoh whose life forms the subject of the -following pages, it will be necessary to glance at the nature of -the religions which now held sway. Egypt had at this time existed -as a civilised nation for over two thousand years, during the -whole of which period these religious beliefs had been developing; -and now they were so engrained in the hearts of the people that -changes, however slight, assumed revolutionary proportions, -requiring a master-mind for their initiation, and a hand of iron -for their carrying into execution. At the time of which we now -write, this mind and this hand had not yet come into existence, and -the old gods of Egypt were at the zenith of their power. - -Of these gods Amon, the presiding deity of Thebes, was the most -powerful. He had been originally the tribal god of the Thebans, but -when that city had become the capital of Egypt, he had risen to -be the state god of the country. The sun-god Ra, or Ra-Horakhti, -originally the deity of Heliopolis, a city not far from the modern -Cairo, had been the state god in earlier times, and the priests of -Amon contrived to identify the two deities under the name “Amon-Ra, -King of the Gods.” Amon had several forms. He was usually regarded -as a man of shining countenance, upon whose head two tall feathers -arose from a golden cap. Sometimes, however, he assumed the form -of a heavy-horned ram. Sometimes, again, he adopted the appearance -of a brother god, named Min, who was later identified with the -Greek Pan; and it may be mentioned in passing that the goat-form -of the Greek deity may have been derived from this Min-Amon of the -Thebans. On occasions Amon would take upon himself the likeness of -the reigning Pharaoh, choosing a moment when the monarch was away -or was asleep, and in this manner he would obtain admittance to the -queen’s bed-chamber. Amonhotep III. himself was said to be the son -of a union of this nature, though at the same time he did not deny -that his earthly father was Thothmes IV. Amon delighted in battle, -and gave willing assistance to the Pharaohs as they clubbed the -heads of their enemies or cut their throats. It is possible that, -like other of the Egyptian gods, he was but a deified chieftain -of the prehistoric period whose love of battle had never been -forgotten. - -The goddess Mut, “the Mother,” was the consort of Amon, who would -sometimes come to earth to nurse the king’s son at her breast. By -Amon she had a son, Khonsu, who formed the third member of the -Theban trinity. He was the god of the Moon, and was very fair to -look upon. - -Such were the Theban deities, whose influence upon the court was -necessarily great. The Heliopolitan worship of the sun had also a -very considerable degree of power at the palace. The god Ra was -believed to have reigned as Pharaoh upon earth in the dim ages of -the past, and it was thought that the successive sovereigns of -Egypt were his direct descendants, though this tradition actually -did not date from a period earlier than the Fifth Dynasty. “Son of -the Sun” was one of the proudest titles of the Pharaohs, and the -personal name of each successive monarch was held by him in the -official titulary as the representative of Ra. While on earth Ra -had had the misfortune to be bitten by a snake, and had been cured -by the goddess Isis, who had demanded in return the revealing of -the god’s magical name. This was at last told her; but for fear -that the secret would come to the ears of his subjects, Ra decided -to bring about a general massacre of mankind. The slaughter was -carried out by the goddess Hathor in her form of Sekhmet, a fierce -lion-headed woman, who delighted to wade in streams of blood; but -when only the half of mankind had been slain, Ra repented, and -brought the massacre to an end by causing the goddess to become -drunk, by means of a gruesome potion of blood and wine. Weary, -however, with the cares of state, he decided to retire into the -heavens, and there, as the sun, he daily sailed in his boat from -horizon to horizon. At dawn he was called Khepera, and had the -form of a beetle; at noon he was Ra; and at sunset he took the -name of Atum, a word derived from the Syrian Adon, “Lord,” better -known to us in its Greek translation “Adonis.” As the rising and -the setting sun--that is to say, the sun near the horizon--he was -called Ra-Horakhti, a name which the reader must bear in mind. - -The goddess Isis, mentioned in the above tradition, was the consort -of Osiris, originally a Lower Egyptian deity. Like Ra, this god had -also reigned upon earth, but had been murdered by his brother Set, -his death being ultimately revenged by his son Horus, the hawk. -Thus Osiris, Isis, and Horus formed a trinity, which at this time -was mainly worshipped at Abydos, a city of Upper Egypt, where it -was thought that Osiris had been buried. Having thus ceased to -live upon earth, Osiris became the great King of the Underworld, -and all persons prayed to him for their future welfare after death. - -Meanwhile Horus, the hawk, was the tribal god of more than one -city. At Edfu he was worshipped as the conqueror of Set; and in -this manifestation he was the husband of Hathor, the lady of -Dendereh, a city some considerable distance from Edfu. At Ombos, -however, Set was worshipped, and in the local religion there was -no trace of aught but the most friendly relations between Set and -Horus. The goddess Hathor, at the same time, had become patron of -the Western Hills, and in one of her earthly forms--namely, that of -a cow--she is often seen emerging from her cavern in the cliffs. - -At Memphis the tribal god was the little dwarf Ptah, the European -Vulcan, the blacksmith, the artificer, and the potter of the gods. -In this city also, as in many other districts of Egypt, there was -a sacred bull, here called Apis, who was worshipped with divine -honours and was regarded as an aspect of Ptah. At Elephantine a -ram-headed deity named Khnum was adored, and there was a sacred -ram kept in his temple for ceremonial purposes. As Khnum had some -connection with the First Cataract of the Nile, which is situated -near Elephantine, he was regarded as of some importance throughout -Egypt. Moreover, he was supposed by some to have used the mud at -the bottom of the Nile to form the first human being, and thus he -found a place in the mythology of several districts. - -A vulture, named Nekheb, was the tribal deity of the trading city -of Eileithiaspolis; a ferocious crocodile, Sebek, was the god of -a second city of the name of Ombos; an ibis, Thoth, was that of -Hermopolis; a cat, Bast, that of Bubastis; and so on--almost every -city having its tribal god. Besides these there were other more -abstract deities: Nut, the heavens, who, in the form of a woman, -spread herself across the sky; Seb, the earth; Shu, the vastness -of space; and so forth. The old gods of Egypt were indeed a -multitude. Here were those who had marched into the country at the -head of conquering tribes; here were ancient heroes and Chieftains -individually deified, or often identified with the god whom their -tribe had served; here were the elements personified; here the orbs -of heaven which man could see above him. As intercourse between -city and city became more general, one set of beliefs had been -brought into line with another, and myths had developed to explain -the discrepancies. Thus in the time of Thothmes IV. the heavens -were crowded with gods; but standing above them all, the reader -will do well to familiarise himself with the figure of Amon-Ra, the -god of Thebes, and with Ra-Horakhti, the god of Heliopolis. In the -following pages the lesser denizens of the Egyptian Olympus play -no great part, save as a routed army hurled back into the ignorant -darkness from which they came. - - - 3. THE DEMIGODS AND SPIRITS--THE PRIESTHOODS. - -The sacred bulls and rams mentioned above were relics of an ancient -animal-worship, the origin of which is lost in the obscurity of -prehistory. The Egyptians paid homage to a variety of animals, and -almost every city or district possessed its particular species to -which special protection was extended. At Hermopolis and in other -parts of Egypt the baboon was sacred, as well as the ibis, which -typified the god Thoth. Cats were sacred both at Bubastis, where -the cat-goddess, Bast, resided, and in various other districts. -Crocodiles were very generally held in reverence, and several river -fish were thus treated. The snake was much feared and reverenced; -and, as a pertinent example of this superstition, it may be -mentioned that Amonhotep III., the father of Akhnaton, placed a -figure of the agathodemon serpent in a temple at Benha. The cobra -was reverenced as the symbol of Uazet, the goddess of the Delta, -and, first used as a royal emblem by the archaic kings of that -country, it became the main emblem of sovereignty in Pharaonic -times. It is unnecessary here to look more closely at this aspect -of Egyptian religion; and but a word need be said of the thousand -demons and spirits which, together with the gods and the sacred -animals, crowded the regions of the unknown. Many were the names -which the magician might call upon in the hour of his need, and -many were the awful forms which the soul of a man who had died -was liable to meet. Osiris, the great god of the dead, was served -by four such genii, and under his authority there sat no less -than forty-two terrible demons whose business it was to judge the -quavering soul. The numerous gates of the underworld were guarded -by monsters whose names alone would strike terror into the heart, -and the unfortunate soul had to repeat endless and peculiarly -tedious formulæ before admittance was granted. - -To minister to these hosts of heaven there had of necessity to be -vast numbers of priests. At Thebes the priesthood of Amon formed -an organisation of such power and wealth that the actions of the -Pharaoh had largely come to be controlled by it. The High Priest -of Amon-Ra was one of the most important personages in the land, -and his immediate subordinates, the Second, Third, and Fourth -Priests, as they were called, were usually nobles of the highest -rank. The High Priest of Amon was at this period often Grand Vizir -also, and thus combined the highest civil appointment with the -highest sacerdotal office. The priesthood of Ra at Heliopolis, -although of far less power than that of Amon, was also a body of -great importance. The High Priest was known as “the Great One of -Visions,” and he was probably less of a politician and more of -a priest than his Theban colleague. The High Priest of Ptah at -Memphis was called “the Great Master Artificer,” Ptah being the -Vulcan of Egypt. He, however, and the many other high priests of -the various gods, did not rank with the two great leaders of the -Amon and the Ra priesthoods. - - - 4. THOTHMES IV. AND MUTEMUA. - -When Thothmes IV. ascended the throne he was confronted by a very -serious political problem. The Heliopolitan priesthood at this -time was chafing against the power of Amon, and was striving to -restore the somewhat fallen prestige of its own god Ra, who in -the far past had been the supreme deity of Egypt, but had now to -play an annoying second to the Theban god. Thothmes IV., as we -shall presently be told by Akhnaton himself,[8] did not altogether -approve of the political character of the Amon priesthood, and it -may have been due to this dissatisfaction that he undertook the -repairing of the great Sphinx at Gizeh, which was in the care of -the priests of Heliopolis. The sphinx was thought to represent a -combination of the Heliopolitan gods Horakhti, Khepera, Ra, and -Atum, who have been mentioned above; and, according to a later -tradition, Thothmes IV. had obtained the throne over the heads of -his elder brothers through the mediation of the Sphinx--that is -to say, through that of the Heliopolitan priests. By them he was -called “Son of Atum and Protector of Horakhte, ... who purifies -Heliopolis and satisfies Ra,”[9] and it seems that they looked to -him to restore to them their lost power. The Pharaoh, however, was -a physical weakling, whose small amount of energy was entirely -expended upon his army, which he greatly loved, and which he led -into Syria and into the Sudan. His brief reign of somewhat over -eight years, from 1420 to 1411 B.C., marks but the indecisive -beginnings of the struggle between Amon and Ra, which culminated in -the early years of the reign of his grandson Akhnaton. - -[Illustration: _Thothmes IV. slaying Asiatics._] - -Some time before he came to the throne he had married a daughter -of the King of Mitanni, a North-Syrian state which acted as a -buffer between the Egyptian possessions in Syria and the hostile -lands of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, and which it was desirable, -therefore, to placate by such a union. There is little doubt that -this princess is to be identified with the Queen Mutemua, of whom -several monuments exist, and who was the mother of Amonhotep III., -the son and successor of Thothmes IV. A foreign element was thus -introduced into the court which much altered its character, and led -to numerous changes of a very radical nature. It may be that this -Asiatic influence induced the Pharaoh to give further encouragement -to the priest of Heliopolis. The god Atum, the aspect of Ra as the -setting sun, was, as has been said, of common origin with Aton or -Adonis, who was largely worshipped in North Syria; and the foreign -queen with her retinue may have therefore felt more sympathy with -Heliopolis than with Thebes. Moreover, it was the Asiatic tendency -to speculate in religious questions, and the doctrines of the -priests of the northern god were more flexible and more adaptable -to the thinker than was the stiff, formal creed of Amon. Thus, -the foreign thought which had now been introduced into Egypt, and -especially into the palace, may have contributed somewhat to the -dissatisfaction with the state religion which becomes apparent -during this reign. - -Very little is known of the character of Thothmes IV., and -nothing which bears upon that of his grandson Akhnaton is to be -ascertained. Although of feeble health and unmanly physique, he was -a fond upholder of the martial dignity of Egypt. He delighted to -honour the memory of those Pharaohs of the past who had achieved -the greatest fame as warriors. Thus he restored the monuments of -Thothmes III., of Aahmes I., and of Senusert III.,[10] the three -greatest military leaders of Egyptian history. As a decoration for -his chariot there were scenes representing him trampling upon his -foes; and when he died many weapons of war were buried with him. -Of Queen Mutemua’s character nothing is known; and the attention -of the reader may at once be carried on to Akhnaton’s maternal -grandparents, the father and mother of Queen Tiy. - - - 5. YUAA AND TUAU. - -Somewhere about the year 1470 B.C., while the great Thothmes III. -was campaigning in Syria, the child was born who was destined to -become the grandfather of the most remarkable of all the Pharaohs -of Egypt. Neither the names of the parents nor the place of birth -are known; and the reader will presently find that it is not easy -to say whether the child was an Egyptian or a foreigner. His name -is written Aau, Aay, Aai, Ayu, A-aa, Yaa, Yau, and most commonly -Yuaa; and this variety of spelling seems rather to indicate that -its pronunciation, being foreign, did not permit of a correct -rendering in Egyptian letters. He must have been some twenty years -of age when Thothmes III. died; and thus it is quite possible that -he was one of those Syrian princes whom the Pharaoh brought back -to Egypt from the courts of Asia to be educated in the Egyptian -manner. Some of these hostages who were not direct heirs to Syrian -thrones may have taken up their permanent residence on the banks -of the Nile, where it is certain that a fair number of their -countrymen were settled for business and other purposes. During the -reign of Amonhotep II., Yuaa must have passed the prime years of -his life, and at that king’s death he had probably reached about -the forty-fifth year of his age. He had married a woman called -by the common Egyptian name of Tuau, regarding whose nationality -there is, therefore, not much question. Two children were born -of the marriage, the first a boy who was named Aanen, and the -second a girl named Tiy, who later became the great queen. Tiy was -probably a little girl some two years old when Thothmes IV. came -to the throne, and as her parents both held appointments at court, -she must have presently received those first impressions of royal -luxury which influenced her childhood and her whole life. - -[Illustration: _Tuau, grandmother of Akhnaton._] - -At this time Yuaa held the sacerdotal office of Priest of Min, one -of the most ancient of the Egyptian gods. Min, who had many of -the characteristics of, and was later identified with, the Greek -Pan, was worshipped at three or four cities of Upper Egypt, and -throughout the Eastern Desert to the Red Sea coast. He was the god -of fecundity, fertility, generation, reproduction, and the like, -in the human, animal, and vegetable worlds. In his form of Min-Ra -he was a god of the sun, whose fertilising rays made pregnant the -whole earth. He was more noble than the Greek Pan, and represented -the pristine desires of lawful reproduction in the family, rather -than the erotic instincts for which the Greek god was famous. -Were one to compare him with any of the gods of the countries -neighbouring to Egypt, he would be found to have as much likeness -to the above-mentioned Adonis, who in North Syria was a god of -vegetation, as to any other deity. This fact offers food for some -thought, for if Yuaa was a foreigner, hailing, as may be supposed, -from Syria, there would have been no Egyptian god, except Atum, -to whose service he would have attached himself so readily as to -that of Min. Although a tribal god, Min was not essentially the -protector and upholder of Egyptian rights and Egyptian prejudices. -He was, in one form or another, universal; and he must have -appealed to the sense and the senses of Syrian and Egyptian alike. - -At this time, as we have seen, the priests of Amon, whose wealth -had brought corruption in its train, were under the cloud of royal -displeasure, and the court was beginning to display a desire to -rid itself of an influence which was daily becoming less exalted. -It may be that Yuaa, upholding the doctrines of Min and of Adonis, -had some connection with this movement, for he was now a personage -of considerable importance at the palace. He may have already held -the title of Prince or Duke, by which he is called in his funeral -inscriptions; and one may suppose that he was a favourite of the -young king, Thothmes IV., and of his wife, Queen Mutemua, whose -blood was soon to unite with his own in the person of Akhnaton. -When Thothmes IV. died at the age of twenty-six, and his son -Amonhotep III., a boy of twelve years of age, came to the throne, -Yuaa was a man of over fifty, and his little daughter Tiy was a -girl of marriageable age according to Egyptian ideas, being about -ten years old.[11] - -[Illustration: _Chest belonging to Yuaa._] - -The court at this time was more or less under the influence of -the now Queen-Regent Mutemua and her advisers, for Amonhotep III. -was still too young to be allowed to go entirely his own way, -and amongst those advisers it seems evident that Yuaa was to be -numbered. Now the boy-king had not been on the throne more than a -year, if as much, when, with feasting and ceremony, he was married -to Tiy; and Yuaa and Tuau became the proud parents-in-law of the -Pharaoh. - -It is necessary to consider the significance of the marriage. -The royal pair were the merest children; and it is impossible -to suppose that the marriage was not arranged for them by their -guardians. If Amonhotep at this early age had simply fallen in love -with this girl, with whom probably he had been brought up, he, no -doubt, would have insisted on marrying her, and she would have been -placed in his _harîm_. But she became his Great Queen, was placed -on the throne beside him, and received honours which no other queen -of the most royal blood had ever received before. It is clear that -the king’s advisers would never have permitted this had Tiy been -but the pretty daughter of a noble of the court. There must have -been something in her parentage which entitled her to these honours -and caused her to be chosen deliberately as queen. - -There are several possibilities. Tuau may have had royal blood in -her veins, and may have been, for instance, the granddaughter of -Thothmes III., to whom she bears some likeness in face. Queen Tiy -is often called “Royal Daughter” as well as “Royal Wife”; and it is -possible that this is to be taken literally. In a letter sent by -Dushratta, King of Mitanni, to Akhnaton, Tiy is called “my sister -and thy mother”; and though it is possible that the word “sister” -is here used to indicate the general cousinship of royalty, it -is more probable that some real connection is meant, for other -relationships, such as “daughter,” “wife,” and “father-in-law,” -are precisely stated in the letter. Yuaa may have been indirectly -of royal Egyptian blood, or he may have been, as we have seen, -the offspring of some Syrian royal house, such as that of Mitanni, -related by marriage with the Pharaoh; and thus Tiy may have had -some distant claim to the throne, and Dushratta would have had -reason for calling her his sister. Queen Tiy, however, has so often -been called a foreigner for reasons which have now been shown to be -quite erroneous that we must be cautious in adopting any of these -possibilities. It has been stated that her face is North-Syrian -in type,[12] and, as the portrait upon which this statement is -based is, in all features except the nose, reminiscent of Yuaa, -that noble would also resemble the people of that country; and in -this connection it must be remembered that the marriage of Tiy -and Amonhotep took place under the regency of Mutemua, herself -probably a North-Syrian princess. Be this as it may, however, the -two children, not yet in their ’teens, ruled Egypt together, and -Yuaa and Tuau stood behind the throne to advise them. - -[Illustration: _Queen Tiy._] - -Tuau now included amongst her titles those of “Royal Handmaid,” or -lady-in-waiting, “the favoured-one of Hathor,” “the favourite of -the King,” and “the Royal mother of the great wife of the King,” a -title which may indicate that she was of royal blood. Amongst the -titles of Yuaa one may mention those of “Master of the Horse and -Chariot-Captain of the King,” “the favourite, excellent above all -favourites,” and “the mouth and ears of the King,”--that is to say, -his agent and adviser. He was a personage of commanding presence, -whose powerful character showed itself in his face. One must -picture him now as a tall man, with a fine shock of white hair; a -great hooked nose, like that of a Syrian; full, strong lips; and -a prominent, determined jaw. He has the face of an ecclesiastic, -and there is something about his mouth which reminds one of the -late Pope, Leo XIII. One feels, in looking at his well-preserved -features, that here perhaps may be found the originator of the -great religious movement which his daughter and grandson carried -into execution. - -[Illustration: _Yuaa, grandfather of Akhnaton._] - - - 6. AMONHOTEP III. AND HIS COURT. - -Besides Yuaa and Tuau and the Queen-Dowager Mutemua, there was -a certain noble, named Amonhotep-son-of-Hapu, who may have -exercised considerable influence upon the young Pharaoh. So good -and wise a man was he, that in later times he was regarded almost -as a divinity, and his sayings were treasured from generation -to generation. It may be that he furthered the cause of the -Heliopolitan priesthood against that of Amon; and it is to be -observed in this connection that, in the inscription engraved upon -his statue, he refers to the Pharaoh as the “heir of Atum” and -the “first-born son of Horakhti,” those being the Heliopolitan -gods. When, presently, a daughter was born to Tiy, who was named -Setamon, this philosopher was given the honorary post of “Steward” -to the princess; while at the same time he filled the office of -Minister of Public Works, and held various court appointments. At -this period, when religious speculation was beginning to be freely -indulged in, the influence of a “wise man” of this character -would necessarily be great; and should any of his sayings come to -light, they will perhaps be found to bear upon the subject of the -religious changes which were now taking place. A late tradition -tells us that this Amonhotep had warned the Pharaoh that if he -would see the true God he must drive from his kingdom all impure -persons; and herein one may perhaps observe some reference to the -corrupt priests of Amon, whose ejection from their offices was -daily becoming more necessary. - -[Illustration: _Amonhotep-son-of-Hapu, the “wise man” of the Court -of Amonhotep III._] - -At the time of which we write Egypt still remained at that height -of power to which the military skill of Thothmes III. had raised -her. The Kings of Palestine and Syria were tributaries to the -young Pharaoh; the princes of the sea-coast cities sent their -yearly impost to Thebes; Cyprus, Crete, and even the Greek islands, -were Egyptianised; Sinai and the Red Sea coast as far south as -Somaliland were included in the Pharaoh’s dominions; and the -negro tribes of the Sudan were his slaves. Egypt was indeed the -greatest state in the world, and Thebes was a metropolis at which -the ambassadors, the merchants, and the artisans from these -various countries met together. Here they could look upon buildings -undreamed of in their own lands, and could participate in luxuries -unknown even in Babylon. The wealth of Egypt was so enormous that -a foreign sovereign who wrote to the Pharaoh asking for gold -mentioned that it could not be considered as anything more valuable -than so much dust by an Egyptian. Golden vases in vast quantities -adorned the tables of the king and his nobles, and hundreds of -golden vessels of different kinds were used in the temples. - -The splendour and gaiety of the court at Thebes remind one of the -tales from the Arabian Nights. One reads of banquets, of splendid -festivals on the water, of jubilee celebrations, and of hunting -parties. When the scenes depicted on the monuments are gathered -together in the mind, and the ruins which are left are there -reconstructed, a life of the most intense brilliancy is shown. This -was rather a development of the period than a condition of things -which had been derived from an earlier _régime_. The Egyptians -had always been a happy, light-hearted people; but it was the -conquests of Thothmes III. that had given them the security and -the wealth to live as luxuriously as they pleased. The tendency of -the nation was now to break away from the old, hardy traditions of -the earlier periods of Egyptian history; and virtually no other -body, except the priesthood of Amon, held them down to ancient -conventionalities. But while the king and his court made merry -and amused themselves in sumptuous fashion, that god Amon and his -representatives towered over them like some sombre bogie, holding -them to a religion which they considered to be obsolete, and -claiming its share of royal wealth. - -[Illustration: CEILING DECORATION FROM THE PALACE OF AMONHOTEP III.] - -About the time of his marriage Amonhotep built a palace on the -western bank of the Nile, on the edge of the desert under the -Theban hills, and here Queen Tiy held her brilliant court. The -palace was a light but roomy structure of brick and costly woods, -exquisitely decorated with paintings on stucco, and embellished -with delicate columns. Along one side ran a balcony on which were -rugs and many-coloured cushions, and here the king and queen could -sometimes be seen by their subjects. Gardens surrounded the -palace, almost at the gates of which rose the splendid hills. On -the eastern side of the building the king later constructed a huge -pleasure-lake especially for the amusement of Tiy. The mounds of -earth which were thrown up during its excavation were purposely -formed into irregular hills, and these were covered with trees and -flowers. Here the queen floated in her barge, which, in honour of -the Heliopolitan god, she called “Aton-gleams”; and as she watched -the reflections of the hills and the trees in the still water, she -may well have imagined herself in those fair lands of Syria from -which Aton or Adonis had come. - -The name Aton was Syrian. The setting sun, as we have seen, was -called in Egypt Atum, which was derived from the Asiatic Adon or -Aton; and it is now that we first find the word introduced into -Egypt as a synonym of Ra-Horakhti-Khepera-Atum of Heliopolis. -Presently we find that one of the Pharaoh’s regiments of soldiers -is named after this god Aton, and here and there the word now -occurs upon the monuments. Thus, gradually, the court was bringing -a new-named deity into prominence, closely related to the gods -of Heliopolis; and it may be supposed that the priesthood of Amon -watched the development with considerable perturbation. The Pharaoh -himself does not seem to have worried very considerably with regard -to these religious matters. He was, it seems, a man addicted to -pleasure, whose interests lay as much in the hunting-field as in -the palace. He loved to boast that during the first ten years of -his reign he had slain 102 lions; but as he was a mere boy when he -first indulged in this form of sport, it is to be presumed that his -nobles assisted him handsomely in the slaughter on each occasion. -In one day he is reported to have killed fifty-six wild cattle, and -a score more fell to him a few days later; but here again one may -suppose that the glory and not the deed was his. - -[Illustration: _Site of the Palace of Queen Tiy._] - -In the fifth year of his reign he led an expedition into the -Sudan to chastise some tribe which had rebelled, and he records -with pride the slaughter which he had made. It is stated that -these negroes “had been haughty, and great things were in their -hearts; but the fierce-eyed lion, this prince, he slew them by the -command of Amon-Atum.” It is interesting to notice that Atum is -thus brought into equal prominence with Amon, and one may see from -this the trend of public opinion. - -At this time the Vizir, a certain Ptahmes, held also the office of -High Priest of Amon; but when he died he was not succeeded in his -duties as Vizir by the new head of the Amon priesthood, as was to -be expected. The Pharaoh appointed a noble named Rames as his prime -minister, and thus separated the civil and the religious power: -a step which again shows us something of the movement which was -steadily diminishing the power of Amon. - -Queen Tiy seems to have borne several daughters to the king, and -it is possible that she had also presented him with a son. But, -if this is so, he had died in early childhood, and no heir to -the throne was now living. It may have been partly due to this -fact that Amonhotep, in the tenth year of his reign, married -the Princess Kirgipa or Gilukhipa, daughter of the King of -Mitanni, and probably niece of the Dowager-Queen Mutemua.[13] The -princess came to Egypt in considerable state, bringing with her -317 ladies-in-waiting; but she seems to have been thrust into -the background by Tiy, who, even in the official record of the -marriage, is called the king’s chief wife. The marriage may have -been purely political, as was that of Thothmes IV.; and there is -certainly no record of any children born to Gilukhipa. She and -her ladies but added a further foreign element to the life of the -palace, and swelled the numbers of those who had no sympathy with -the old gods of Thebes. - -[Illustration: _Coffin of Yuaa._] - -It must have been somewhere about the year 1390 B.C. that Tiy’s -aged father, Yuaa, died; and Tuau soon followed him to the grave. -They were buried in a fine sepulchre in the Valley of the Tombs -of the Kings at Thebes; and if they are not to be considered as -royal, this will have been the first time that persons not of royal -blood had been buried in a tomb of large size in this valley. -A quantity of funeral furniture was placed around the splendid -coffins in which their mummies lay, and amongst this there were -a few objects which evidently had been presented by the bereaved -king and queen and by the young princesses, Setamon and another -whose name is now lost. Yuaa and his wife had evidently been much -beloved at the court, and as the parents of the great queen they -had commanded the respect of all men. To us they are remarkable as -the grandparents of that great teacher, Akhnaton, whose birth has -now to be recorded. - - - - - II. - - THE BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS OF AKHNATON. - - - 1. THE BIRTH OF AKHNATON. - -It has been seen that Queen Tiy presented several children to the -king; but it was not until they had reigned some twenty-five or -twenty-six years that the future monarch was born. As the years -had passed the queen must have grown more and more anxious for a -son, and many must have been the prayers she offered up that a -male child might be vouchsafed to her. In Egypt at the present -day the desire to bear a son holds dominion in the heart of every -young woman; and those to whom this privilege has not been granted -forsake the laws of the prophet and still lay their passionate -appeal before the old gods. The present writer was asked recently -by a young peasant to allow his wife to walk round the outer wall -of an ancient temple, in order that she might perchance bear a male -child thereafter; and on another occasion three young women were -seen sliding down the plinth of an overturned statue of Rameses -the Great for the same purpose. With similar emotion, though with -greater intelligence, Queen Tiy must have turned in her grief from -one god to another, promising them all manner of gifts if they -would grant her desire. To Ra-Horakhti Aton she appears to have -turned with the most confidence; and perhaps, as will presently -be seen, she vowed that if a son were granted to her she would -dedicate him to the service of that god. - -It is probable that the little prince first saw the light in the -royal palace at Thebes, which was situated on the edge of the -desert at the foot of the western hills. It was, as has been said, -an extensive building, lightly constructed and gaily decorated. -The ceilings and pavements of its halls were fantastically painted -with scenes of animal life: wild cattle ran through reedy swamps -beneath the royal feet, and there many-coloured fish swam in the -water; while overhead flights of pigeons, white against a blue sky, -passed across the hall, and wild duck hastened towards the open -casements. Through curtained doorways one might obtain glimpses of -the garden planted with flowers foreign to Egypt; and on the east -of the palace shone the great pleasure-lake, surrounded by the -trees of Asia. - -In all the world there are few places more beautiful than the site -of this palace. Here one may sit for many an hour watching the -changing colours on the wonderful cliffs, the pink and the yellow -of the rocks standing out from the blue and the purple of the deep -shadows. In the fields which now surround the ruined palace, where -the royal gardens were laid out, one obtains an impression of -colour, of beauty, and of gaiety--if it can be so expressed--which -is not easily equalled. The continuous sunshine and the bracing -wind render one intensely awake to natural joys; and here, indeed, -was a fitting birthplace, one feels, for a king who taught his -people to study the beauties of nature. - - - 2. THE RISE OF ATON. - -The little prince was named Amonhotep,[14] “the Peace-of-Amon,” -after his father; but though the supremacy of Amon was thus -acknowledged, the Heliopolitan deity appears to have been -considered as the protector of the young boy. While the luxurious -court rejoiced at the birth of their future king, one feels that -the ancient priesthood of Amon-Ra must have looked askance at the -baby who was destined one day to be their master. This priesthood -still demanded implicit obedience to its stiff and ancient -conventions, and it refused to recognise the growing tendency -towards religious speculation. - -Probably stronger measures would have been taken by it to resist -the growing power of Ra-Horakhti, had it not been for the fact that -Ra was also a form of Amon, and had been identified with him under -the name of Amon-Ra. The god Amon was originally but the local -deity of Thebes; and, when the Theban Pharaohs of the Eighteenth -Dynasty had elevated him to the position of the state god of all -Egypt, they made him acceptable to the various provinces, as we -have seen, by pointing to his identification with Ra, the sun-god, -who, under one form or another, found a place in every temple and -held high rank in every variety of mythology. As Amon-Ra he was -able to be appreciated by the sun-worshippers of Syria and by those -of Nubia, for there were few races who would not do homage to the -great giver of warmth and light. - -It is possible that those more thoughtful members of the court -who were quietly attempting to undermine the influence of the -priesthood of Amon, and who were beginning to carry into execution -the schemes of emancipation which we have already noticed, now -endeavoured to strip Amon of his association with the sun; for -that identity was really his simple claim to acceptance by any -but Thebans. The priesthood, on their part, it may be supposed, -drew as much attention as possible to the connection of their -deity with Ra; for they knew that none but the Heliopolitan god -could be advanced with success as a rival of Amon by those who -desired to overthrow the Theban god. Thus one finds that the High -Priest of Ra at Heliopolis was given, and was obliged to accept, -the honorary office of Second Priest of Amon at Thebes,[15] which -at once placed him under the thumb of the Theban High Priest. The -propounders of the new thought, however, met this move by bringing -into greater prominence the claims, not of Ra-Horakhti, but of -Aton, which was merely a more elusive form of the sun-god. The -priesthood of Amon had always checked the individual growth of -Ra-Horakhti by regarding him simply as an aspect of Ra, and hence -of Amon-Ra. One of the essential features of the new movement was -the regarding of Ra as an aspect of Ra-Horakhti, and the calling -of Ra-Horakhti by the uncontaminated name of Aton. Aton, in fact, -was originally introduced into the matter largely for the purpose -of preventing any identification between Amon-Ra and Ra-Horakhti. -Soon the name of Aton, entirely supplanting that of Atum, was heard -with some frequency at Thebes and elsewhere, but always, it must -be remembered, as another word for Ra-Horakhti. - -The desire of the court for a change of religion is understandable. -The cult of the god Amon, as has been said, was so hedged about -with conventionalities that free thought was impossible. We have -seen, however, that the upper classes were passing through a phase -of religious speculation, and they were ready to revolt against the -domination of a priesthood which forbade criticism. The worship of -the intangible power of the sun, under the name of Aton, offered -endless possibilities for the exercise of those tendencies towards -the abstract which were now beginning to be felt all over the -civilised world. This was man’s first age of philosophical thought, -and for the first time in history the gods were being endued with -ideal qualities. - -Apart from all questions of religion, the priesthood of Amon had -obtained such power and wealth that it was a very serious menace -to the dignity of the throne. The great organisation which had its -headquarters at Karnak had become an incubus which weighed heavily -upon the state. For political reasons alone, therefore, it was -desirable to push the priests of Heliopolis into a more prominent -position. - -There was, moreover, a third consideration. The god Aton, with -whom Ra and Ra-Horakhti were now being identified, was, we have -seen, originally the same as the Syrian and Greek Adonis, the word -“Adon” or “Aton” meaning simply “lord.” Thus the propounders of the -new doctrines must have dreamt of an Egypto-Syrian empire bound -together by the ties of a common religion. With one god understood -and worshipped from the cataracts of the Nile to the distant -Euphrates, what power could destroy the empire? - - - 3. THE POWER OF QUEEN TIY. - -In Amonhotep III. one may see the lazy, speculative Oriental, too -opinionated and too vain to bear with the stiff routine of his -fathers, and yet too lacking in energy to formulate a new religion. -On the other hand, there is every reason to suppose that Queen -Tiy possessed the ability to impress the claims of the new thought -upon her husband’s mind, and gradually to turn his eyes, and those -of the court, away from the sombre worship of Amon, “the unknown -god,” into the direction of the brilliant cult of the sun. Those -who have travelled in Egypt will realise how completely the land -is dominated by the sun. The blue skies, the shining rocks, the -golden desert, the verdant fields, all seem to cry out for joy of -the sunshine. The extraordinary energy which one may feel in Egypt -at sunrise, and the deep melancholy which sometimes accompanies the -red nightfall, must have been felt by Tiy also in her palace at -Thebes. - -As the years passed the power and influence of Queen Tiy increased; -and now that she had borne a son to the king there was added to -her great position as royal wife the equally great _rôle_ of -royal mother. Never before had a queen been so freely represented -on all the king’s monuments, nor had so fine a series of titles -been given before to the wife of a Pharaoh. At Sedênga, far up in -the Sudan, her husband erected a temple for her; and in distant -Sinai a beautiful portrait head of her was recently found. All -visitors to Thebes have seen her figures by the side of the legs of -the two great colossi at the edge of the Western Desert; and the -huge statues of herself and her husband, now in the Cairo Museum, -will have been seen by those who have visited that collection. Of -Grilukhipa,[16] however, and the king’s other wives, one hears -nothing at all: Queen Tiy relegated them to the background almost -before their marriage ceremonies were over. - -By the time that Amonhotep III. had reigned for thirty years or -so, he had ceased to give much attention to state affairs, and -the power had almost entirely passed into the capable hands of -Tiy. Already an influence, which we may presume to have been to a -large extent hers, was being felt in many directions: Ra-Horakhti -and Aton were being brought into the foreground, a tone of -thought which can hardly be regarded as purely Egyptian was being -developed, the art was undergoing modifications and had risen to a -pitch of excellence never attained before or after. The exquisite -low-reliefs of the end of the reign of Amonhotep III.--for example, -those to be seen at Thebes in the tombs of Khaemhat and Rames,[17] -both of which are definitely dated to the close of the reign--stir -one almost as do the works of the early Florentine masters. There -is an elusive grace in the dainty figures there sculptured, which, -through another medium and under other laws of convention, cause -them to appeal with the same force of indefinable sweetness as do -the figures in the works of Filipino Lippi and Botticelli. In the -mass of Egyptian painting and sculpture of secondary importance -such gems as these have been overlooked and have not been -appreciated by the public; but the present writer ventures to think -that some day they will set the heart of all art-lovers dancing as -danced those of Queen Tiy’s great masters. - -The court in which the little prince passed his earliest years was -more brilliant than ever it had been before, and Queen Tiy presided -over scenes of indescribable splendour. Amonhotep III. has been -truly called “the Magnificent”; and at no period, save that of -Thothmes III., were the royal treasuries so full or the nobles so -wealthy. Out of a pageant of festivities, from amidst the noise -of song and laughter, the little sad-eyed prince first emerges on -to the stage of history, led by the hand of Queen Tiy; but as he -appears before us, above the clink of the golden wine-bowls, above -the sound of the timbrels, one seems to hear the lilt of a more -simple song, and the peaceful singing of a lark. - - - 4. AKHNATON’S MARRIAGE. - -During the last years of his reign the Pharaoh, although well under -fifty years of age,[18] seems to have suffered from permanent -ill-health. On two occasions the King of Mitanni sent to Egypt a -miracle-working statuette of the goddess Ishtar, apparently in the -hope that Amonhotep might be cured of his illness by it. It is -probable that the king had never been a very strong man. Having -been born when his father--himself extremely delicate--was but -a child, he had had little chance of enjoying a robust middle -age, and he passed on to his children this inherent weakness. One -hears no more of his daughters,[19] whom we have seen mourning for -their grandparents Yuaa and Tuau, and there is some likelihood -that they died young. The little Prince Amonhotep was already -developing constitutional weaknesses which rendered his life very -precarious. His skull was misshapen, and he must have been subject -to occasional epileptic fits. And now Queen Tiy gave birth to a -daughter, who was named Baketaton in honour of the new god, and who -seems to have lived less than a score of years, since nothing more -is heard of her after her twelfth or thirteenth year. - -[Illustration: _Amonhotep III._] - -As Amonhotep, at the age of forty-eight or forty-nine, felt his -end approaching, he seems to have shown considerable anxiety in -regard to the succession. Here was his only son--now a boy of ten -or eleven years of age--in so sad a state of health that he could -not be expected to live to manhood, and in the event of his -death the throne would be without an occupant in the direct line. -Obviously it was necessary that he should be married as soon as -possible, in order that he might become a father as early as that -was naturally possible. Amonhotep III. himself had been married to -Tiy when he was about twelve years of age, and his father Thothmes -IV. had likewise been married at that early age.[20] The little -Prince Amonhotep should, therefore, also be given a wife at once; -and the Pharaoh now began to look around for a suitable consort -for him. He had heard that Dushratta, King of Mitanni, had a small -daughter who was said to be a comely maiden; but it appears that -she was only eight or nine years of age,[21] and therefore could -not be expected to provide an heir for at least another four years. -Nevertheless there were many political reasons for proposing the -union. Mitanni was, as we have seen, the buffer state between -the Pharaoh’s Syrian possessions and the lands of the Hittites -and of the Mesopotamians. Thothmes IV. had asked a bride from -Mitanni, and Amonhotep III. himself had obtained Gilukhipa from -thence, if not Queen Tiy also: both these being probably political -matches, designed for the welfare of the Syrian empire. The Pharaoh -therefore decided upon this marriage for his sickly son, and sent -an embassy to Dushratta to negotiate the union between these two -children. - -The reply of Dushratta has, fortunately, been preserved to us. The -Mitannian king acknowledges the arrival of the envoy, and is much -rejoiced at this further binding together of the two countries. In -a subsequent letter it is evident that the princess has already -been sent to Egypt, and we are led to suppose that Prince Amonhotep -has at once been married to her. The little princess was named -Tadukhipa, but on her arrival in Egypt she was renamed Nefertiti. -Her age, as mentioned above, is apparent from the fact that, -although in after life she gave birth to children at very regular -intervals, her first child was not born until nearly five years -after her marriage.[22] So young was she that she did not at once -cohabit with the prince, but was put under the care of a certain -lady of the court named Ty, the wife of a noble of the name of Ay, -who afterwards usurped the throne. This lady Ty called herself in -later years “great nurse and nourisher of the Queen,” and Ay always -called himself the king’s father-in-law (_neter at_). It would thus -seem that they had become the actual foster-parents of the little -Syrian girl. It was not at all unusual in Egypt for a child to be -adopted thus; and it is a curious fact that if a woman gave the -breast to a child of any age but for a moment, or if a man placed -his finger in the child’s mouth, a formal adoption was considered -to have been made.[23] - -The court had hardly settled down after the celebration of the -marriage of Amonhotep and Tadukhipa-Nefertiti, when it was thrown -into mourning by the death of Amonhotep “the Magnificent,” which -occurred in the thirty-sixth year of his reign. Queen Tiy at -once assumed control of state affairs, on behalf of her barely -eleven-year-old son, who as Amonhotep IV. now ascended the throne -of the Pharaohs. - - - 5. THE ACCESSION OF AKHNATON. - -On coming to the throne the young king fixed his titulary in the -following manner:-- - - Mighty Bull, Lofty of Plumes; Favourite of the Two Goddesses, - Great in Kingship in Karnak; Golden Hawk, Wearer of Diadems - in the Southern Heliopolis; King of Upper and Lower Egypt, - Beautiful-is-the-Being-of-Ra, the Only-One-of-Ra; Son of the - Sun, Peace-of-Amon (Amonhotep), Divine Ruler of Thebes; Great in - Duration, Living for Ever and Ever, Beloved of Amon-Ra, Lord of - Heaven. - -These titles were drawn up on more or less prescribed lines, and -conformed to the old custom of the Pharaohs. Like his ancestors, -he was called “Beloved of Amon-Ra,” although, as we have seen, the -power of that god was already much undermined. To counterbalance -this reference to the god of Thebes, however, one finds the -surprising title-- - - High Priest of Ra-Horakhti, rejoicing in the horizon in his name, - “Heat-which-is-in-Aton.” - -Let the boy be said to be beloved of Amon-Ra till the walls of -Thebes reverberate with the cry; let Amon-Ra be called Lord of -Heaven till the priestly heralds can shout no more: the doom of the -god of Thebes cannot now be averted, for the reigning Pharaoh is -dedicated to another god. - -[Illustration: _Akhnaton._] - -It is obvious that a boy of eleven years of age could not himself -have claimed the office of the High Priest of Ra-Horakhti. -Queen Tiy and her advisers must have deliberately endowed the -youthful king with this office, largely in order to set the seal -upon the fate of Amon. There were, perhaps, other reasons why -this remarkable step was decided upon. It may be, as has been -said, that the queen, before the birth of her son, had vowed him -to Ra-Horakhti. Again, the boy was epileptic, was subject to -hallucinations; and it may be that while in this condition he had -seen visions or uttered words which led his mother to believe -him to be the chosen one of the Heliopolitan god, whose name the -prince must have been constantly hearing. In a palace where the -mystical “Heat-which-is-in-Aton,” which was the new elaboration of -the god’s name, was being daily invoked, and where the youthful -master of Egypt was constantly falling into what appeared to be -holy frenzy, it is not unlikely that the rising deity would be -connected with the eccentricities of the young Pharaoh. The High -Priest of Ra-Horakhti was always called “The Great of Visions,” and -was thus essentially a visionary prophet either by nature or by -circumstance; and the unfortunate boy’s physical condition may have -been turned, thus, to account in the struggle against Amon-Ra. - -One may now imagine the Pharaoh as a pale, sickly youth. His head -seemed too large for his body; his eyelids were heavy; his eyes as -one imagines them were wells of dream. His features were delicately -moulded, and his mouth, in spite of a somewhat protruding lower -jaw, is reminiscent of the best of the art of Rossetti. He seems -to have been a quiet, studious boy, whose thoughts wandered in -fair places, searching for that happiness which his physical -condition had denied to him. His nature was gentle; his young heart -overflowed with love. He delighted, it would seem, to walk in the -gardens of the palace, to hear the birds singing, to watch the fish -in the lake, to smell the flowers, to follow the butterflies, to -warm his small bones in the sunshine. There was a grave dignity -in his gait, or the artists have lied; and his words were already -fraught with wisdom. The great crown of the Pharaohs sat easily -upon his head, for his every movement was royal. He accepted as -his due the homage of the court; yet he does not seem to have -acted with arrogance, and was ever a tender-hearted, impulsive -child. Already he was sometimes called “Lord of the Breath of -Sweetness”;[24] and already he was so much beloved by his subjects -that their adherence to him through the rough places of his future -life was assured. For the first years of his reign he was, of -course, entirely under the regency of his mother. Dushratta, the -King of Mitanni, writing to congratulate the boy on his accession, -addressed himself to Queen Tiy, as though he thought the king -would hardly yet be able to understand a letter; and in a later -communication he asks the Pharaoh to inquire of his mother as to -certain matters of international policy. But although so young, the -king was wise beyond his years, as the reader will presently see. - - - 6. THE FIRST YEARS OF AKHNATON’S REIGN. - -In a subsequent chapter it will be the writer’s purpose to show -to what heights of ideal thought, and to what profundities of -religious and moral philosophy, this boy, in the years of his -early manhood, attained; and it will but enhance our respect for -his abilities when he reached maturity, if we find in his early -training all manner of shortcomings. The beautiful doctrines of -the religion with which this Pharaoh’s name is identified were -productions of his later days; and until he was at least seventeen -years of age neither his exalted monotheism nor any of his future -principles were really apparent. Some time after the eighth year of -his reign one finds that he had evolved a religion so pure that one -must compare it with Christianity in order to discover its faults; -and the reader will presently see that this superb theology was not -derived from his education. - -One of the first acts of the king’s reign, undertaken at the -desire of Queen Tiy or of the royal advisers, was the erection of -a temple to Ra-Horakhti Aton at Karnak.[25] This was in no way an -insult to Amon, for Thothmes III. and other Pharaohs had dedicated -temples at Karnak to gods other than Amon. The priesthood of -Amon-Ra recognised the existence of the many deities of Egypt, and -gave them their place in the constitution of heaven, reserving for -their own god the title of “King of the Gods.” There was a temple -of Ptah here; there were shrines set apart for the worship of Min; -and other gods, unconnected with Amon, were here accommodated. The -priests of Amon-Ra thus could not offer any serious objection to -the project. The building[26] was to be constructed of sandstone, -and therefore various officials were dispatched to the great -quarries of Gebel Silsileh, which lie on the river between Edfu -and Kom Ombo, and to those near Esneh. Large tablets were there -carved upon the cliffs towards the close of the work, and on them -the figure of the Pharaoh was represented worshipping Amon, who -was thus still the state god. Above the king’s figure, however, -the disk of the sun is seen, and from it a number of lines, -representing rays, project downwards towards the royal figure. -These rays terminate in hands, which thus seem to be distributing -the “Heat-which-is-in-Aton” around the Pharaoh. This is the first -representation of the afterwards famous symbol of the religion of -Aton, and it is significant that it should make its _début_ in a -scene representing the worship of Amon. - -The king is called the High Priest of Ra-Horakhti; but the title -“Living in truth,” which he took to himself in later years, and -which had reference to the religion of Aton which he was soon to -evolve, does not yet appear. - -A large number of fragments from this shrine have been -discovered, and on these one sees references to the gods Horus, -Set, Wepwat, and others. The king is still called by the name -Amonhotep, which was later banned, and the names of Aton, -afterwards always written within the royal ovals or cartouches, -are still lacking in that distinction. The temple was called -“Aton-is-found-in-the-House-of-Aton,” a curious name of which -the meaning is not clear.[27] A certain official named Hataay was -“Scribe and Overseer of the Granary of the House of the Aton,” -by which this temple is probably meant; and in the tomb of Rames -a reference is made to the building by its full name, and a -picture of it is given, but otherwise one knows little about it. -The rapidity with which it was desired to be set up is shown by -the fact that the great, well-trimmed blocks of stone usually -employed in the construction of sacred buildings were largely -dispensed with, and only small easily-handled blocks were used. The -imperfections in the building were then hidden by a judicious use -of plaster and cement, and thus the walls were smoothed for the -reception of the reliefs. The quarter in which the temple stood was -now called “Brightness of Aton the Great,” and Thebes received the -new name of “City of the Brightness of Aton.” - -There are two other monuments which date from these early years of -the king’s reign: both are tombs of great nobles. At this period -one of the greatest personages in the land was the above-mentioned -Rames, the Vizir of Upper Egypt. This official was now engaged in -constructing and decorating a magnificent sepulchre for himself in -the Theban necropolis. In the great hall of this tomb the artists -were busy preparing the beautiful sculptures and paintings which -were to cover the walls, and ere half their work was finished they -set themselves to the making of a fine figure of Amonhotep IV. -seated upon his throne, with the goddess Maat standing behind him. -The scene was probably executed a few months before the making of -the tablets at the quarries. The sun’s rays do not appear, and -the work was carried out strictly according to the canons of art -obtaining during the last years of Amonhotep III. and the first of -his son. But hardly had the figures been finished before the order -came that the Aton rays had to be included, and certain changes in -the art had to be recognised; and therefore the artists set to work -upon another figure of the king standing under these many-handed -beams of “heat,” and now accompanied by his, as yet, childless -wife. The two scenes may be seen by visitors to Thebes standing -side by side, and nowhere may the contrast between the old order -of things and the new be so clearly observed. - -While Rames was providing a tomb for himself at Thebes, another -great noble named Horemheb, who ultimately usurped the throne, was -constructing his sepulchre at Sakkârah, the Memphite necropolis -near Cairo. Horemheb was commander-in-chief of the army, and in his -tomb some superb reliefs are carved showing him receiving rewards -in that capacity from the king. Some of the scenes represent the -arrival of Asiatic refugees in Egypt, who ask to be allowed to take -up their abode on the banks of the Nile, and the figures of these -foreigners rank amongst the finest specimens of Egyptian art. In -the inscriptions, Horemheb, who is supposed to be addressing the -king, states that the Pharaoh owes his throne to Amon,[28] but yet -we see that the figure of the king is drawn in that style of art -which is typical of the new religion.[29] - - - 7. THE NEW ART. - -This sudden change in the style of the reliefs which we have -observed in these two tombs and on the quarry tablets seems to be -attributable to about the fourth year of the king’s reign. The -reliefs which were now carved upon the walls of the new temple of -Ra-Horakhti at Karnak show us a style of art quite different from -that of the king’s early years. The figure of the Pharaoh, which -the artists in the tomb of Rames represented as standing below the -newly-invented sun’s rays, is as different from the earlier figure -there executed as chalk is from cheese. The Pharaoh whom we see -in the tomb of Horemheb and on the quarry tablets is represented, -according to canons of art, entirely different from those existing -at the king’s accession. - -In the drawing of the human figure, and especially that of the -Pharaoh, there are three very distinct characteristics in this new -style of art. Firstly, as to the head: the skull is elongated; -the chin, as seen in profile, is drawn as though it were sharply -pointed; the flesh under the jaw is skimped, thus giving an upward -turn to the line; and the neck is represented as being long and -thin. Secondly, the stomach is made to obtrude itself upon the -attention by being drawn as though from a fat and ungainly model. -And thirdly, the hips and thighs are abnormally large, though -from the knee downwards the legs are of more natural size. This -distortion of human anatomy is marked in a lesser degree in all the -lines of the body; and the whole figure becomes a startling type -of an art which seems at first to have sprung fully developed from -the brain of the boy-Pharaoh or from one of the eccentrics of the -court. - -The king was now fifteen years old, and seems to have been -extraordinarily mature for his age. It may be that he had objected -to be represented in the conventional manner, and had told his -artists to draw him as he was. The elongated skull, the pointed -chin, and even, perhaps, the protruding paunch, may thus have -originated. But the ungainly thighs could only be accounted for -by some radical deformity in the royal model, and that he was a -well-made man in this respect his recently discovered bones most -clearly show. - -Purely tentatively a suggestion may here be offered to account for -this peculiar treatment of the human body. It is probable that the -king had now, in a boyish way, become deeply interested in the -religious contest which was beginning to be waged between Amon-Ra -and Ra-Horakhti Aton. Having listened to the arguments on both -sides, it may have occurred to him to study for himself the ancient -documents and inscriptions bearing on the matter. In so doing, he -would have found that Amon had become the state god only some few -hundred years before his own time, and that previous to his ascent -to this important position, previous even to the earliest mention -of his name, Ra-Horakhti had been supreme. Carrying his inquiries -back, past the days of the pyramid kings to the archaic Pharaohs -who reigned at the dim beginning of things, he would still have -found the Heliopolitan god worshipped. One of the Pharaohs’ most -cherished titles was “Son of the Sun,” which, as we have seen, had -been borne by each successive sovereign since the days of the Fifth -Dynasty, whose kings claimed descent from Ra himself. Such studies -would inevitably bring two matters into prominence: firstly, -that Amon was, after all, but a usurper; and, secondly, that as -Pharaoh he was the descendant of Ra-Horakhti, and was that god’s -representative on earth. - -On these grounds, more than on any others, all things connected -with Amon would become distasteful to him. He was too young to -understand fully which of the two religions was the better morally -or theologically; but he was old enough to be moved by the romance -of history, and to feel that those great, shadowy Pharaohs who -lived when the world was young, and who at the dawn of events -worshipped the sun, were the truest and best examples for him to -follow. They were his ancestors, and as they were the sons of Ra, -so he, too, was the proud descendant of that great god. In his -veins there ran the blood of the sun, that “Heat-which-is-in-Aton” -pulsed through and through him; and the more he read in those old -documents the more he was stirred by the glory of that distant -past when men worshipped the god whose rights Amon had usurped. -Now the canons of art were regarded as a distinctly religious -institution, and the methods of treating the human figure then in -vogue had in the first place the sanction of the priesthood of -Amon; and few things would be more upsetting to their _régime_ -than the abandoning of these canons. This was probably recognised -by those who were furthering the cause of Ra-Horakhti, and the -young king may have been assisted and encouraged in his views. -Presently it may have been brought home to him that, since he was -thus the representative of those archaic kings and the High Priest -of their god, it was fitting that the canons acknowledged by those -far-off ancestors should be recognised by him. Here, then, he would -both please his own romantic fancy and deal a blow at the Amon -priesthood by banning the art which they upheld, and by infusing -into the sculptures and paintings of his time something of the -spirit of the most ancient art of Egypt. - -[Illustration: _The Art of Akhnaton compared with Archaic Art._ - - 1. The head of Akhnaton. From a contemporary drawing. - 2. The head of a king. From an archaic statuette found by - Professor Petrie at Abydos. - 3. The head of Akhnaton. From a contemporary drawing. - 4. The head of a prince. From an archaic tablet found by - Professor Petrie at Abydos. - 5. An archaic statuette found by Professor Petrie at Diospolis, - showing the large thighs found in the art of Akhnaton.] - -In the old temples of Heliopolis and elsewhere a few relics of -that period, no doubt, were still preserved; and the king was thus -able to study the wood and slate carvings and the ivory figures of -archaic times. We of the present day can also study such figures, -a few specimens having been brought to light by modern excavators; -and the similarity between the treatment of the human body in this -archaic art and the new art of Akhnaton at once becomes apparent. -In the accompanying illustrations some archaic figures are shown, -and one may perhaps see in them the origin of the idiosyncrasies -of the new school. Here and in all representations of archaic men -one sees the elongated skull so characteristic of the king’s style; -in the ivory figure of an archaic Pharaoh one sees the well-known -droop of Akhnaton’s head and his pointed chin; in the clay and -ivory figures is the prominent stomach; and here also, most -apparent of all, are the unaccountably large thighs and ponderous -hips. - -Akhnaton’s art might thus be said to be a kind of renaissance--a -return to the classical period of archaic days; the underlying -motive of this return being the desire to lay emphasis upon the -king’s character as the representative of that most ancient of all -gods, Ra-Horakhti. - -Another feature of the new religion now becomes apparent. In the -worship of Ra-Horakhti Aton there was an endeavour to do honour to -the Pharaoh as the son of the sun, and to the god as the founder of -the royal line. Tradition stated that Ra or Ra-Horakhti had once -reigned upon earth, and that his spirit had passed from Pharaoh to -Pharaoh. This god was thus the only true King of Heaven, and Amon -was but a usurper of much more recent date. It was for this reason -that the names of the new god were placed within royal cartouches; -and for this reason the king was so careful to call Ra-Horakhti -his “father,” and to name him “god and king.” For this reason also -Akhnaton often wore the crown of Lower Egypt which was used at -Heliopolis, but never the crown of Upper Egypt, which history told -him did not exist when Ra ruled on earth.[30] - -Apart from the representation of the human form, the new art is -chiefly characterised by its freedom of poses. An attempt is made -to break away from tradition, and a desire is shown to have done -with the conventions of the age. Never before had the artists -caught the swing of a walk, the relaxation of a seated figure, so -well or so truthfully. Sculpture in the round now reached a height -of perfection which places it above all but the art of the Greeks -in the old world; and there is a grace and naturalness in the -low-reliefs which command one’s admiration. - -There are only two artists of the period who are known by name. -The one was a certain Auta, who is represented in a relief dating -from some eight years after the change in the art had taken place. -It is a significant fact that this personage held the post of -master-artist to Queen Tiy; and it is possible that in him and his -patron we have the originators of the movement. The king, however, -was now old enough to take an active interest in such matters; and -the other artist who is known by name, a certain Bek, definitely -states that the king himself taught him. Thus there is reason to -suppose that the young Pharaoh’s own hand is to be traced in the -new canons, although they were instituted when he was but fifteen -years old. - - - 8. THE NEW RELIGION DEVELOPS. - -There is an interesting record, apparently dating from about -this period, which is to be seen upon the rocks near the breccia -quarries of Wady Hammamât. Here there are three cartouches standing -upon two _neb_ signs, symbolic of sovereignty, and above them is -the disk and rays of the new religion. One of these cartouches, -surmounted by the tall feathers worn by the queens of this period, -contains a very short name, which can only be that of Queen -Tiy.[31] The other two cartouches contain the names Amonhotep (IV.) -and the Pharaoh’s second designation. Thus we see that after the -new religious symbol had been introduced, and just before the king -took the name of “Akhnaton,” Queen Tiy still held equal royal rank -with him, and was evidently Regent. - -[Illustration: _The Artist Auta._] - -During the fifteenth to the seventeenth years of his age the king -devoted a considerable amount of time and thought to the changes -which were taking place. With the enthusiasm of youth he threw -himself into the new movement, and one may suppose that it required -all Queen Tiy’s tact and diplomacy to keep him from offending his -country by some rash action against the priesthood of Amon. Those -priests were by no means reconciled to the king’s devotion to -Ra-Horakhti; and although he still nominally served the Theban god, -they felt that every day he was becoming more estranged from that -deity. No doubt there were many passages of arms between the High -Priest of Amon-Ra and this royal High Priest of the sun, young as -he was. The new art, upsetting all the old religious conventions, -was distasteful to the priests; the new religious thought did not -conform to their stereotyped doctrines; and much that the king said -was absolutely heretical to their ears. The tide of new thought, -directed in so eager and boyishly unreserved a manner, was sweeping -them from their feet, and they knew not whither they were being -carried. - -The court officials blindly followed their young king, and to -every word which he spoke they listened attentively. Sometimes -the thoughts which he voiced came direct from the mazes of his -own mind; sometimes perhaps he repeated the utterances of his -deep-thinking mother; and sometimes there passed from his lips the -pearls of wisdom which he had gleaned from the wise men of his -court. It had been the boy’s desire to listen to the dreams of -the East, to receive into his brain those speculations which ever -meander so charmedly through the lands more near the sunrise. At -his behest the dreamers of Asia related to him their visions; the -philosophers made pregnant his mind with the mystery of knowledge; -the poets sung to him harp-songs in which echoed the cry of the -elder days; the priests of strange gods submitted to him the -creeds of strange people. To him was made known the sweetness of -the legends of Greece. The laughter of the woods rang in his ears, -though never in narrow Egypt had he felt the enchantment of great -forests. He had not seen the mountains, and the wooded slopes which -rise from the Mediterranean were scenes but dreamed of; and yet it -was the flute of Pan and the song of the nymphs in the mountain -streams which set the thoughts dancing within his misshapen skull. -He had not walked in the shadow of the cedars of Lebanon, nor had -he ascended the Syrian hills; but nevertheless the hymns of Adonis -and the chants of Baal were as familiar to him as were the solemn -chants of Amon-Ra. The rose-gardens of Persia, the incense-groves -of Araby, added their philosophies to his dreams, and the -haunting lips of Babylon whispered to him tales of far-off days. -From Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, and Cyprus there came to him the -doctrines of those who had business in great waters; and Libya and -Ethiopia disclosed their mysteries to his eager ears. The fertile -brain of the Pharaoh was thus sown at an early age with the seed of -all that was wonderful in the world of thought. - -It must always be remembered that the king had much foreign blood -in his veins. On the other hand, those men to whom he spoke, though -highly educated, were but superstitious Egyptians who could not -relieve themselves of the belief that a divine power rested upon -the Pharaoh. Thus his speculative young brain poured its fantasies -into attentive minds unbiassed by rival speculations, though -narrowed by conventions. Egyptians, ever lacking in originality, -have always possessed the power to imitate and adapt; and those -nobles whose fortunes were dependent upon the royal favour soon -learnt to attune their minds to the note of their king. Daily they -must have gone about their business, ostentatiously attempting to -hold to the difficult path of truth; laboriously telling themselves -what wonders the new thought revealed to them; loudly praising the -wisdom of the boy-Pharaoh; and nervously asking themselves whether -and when the wrath of Amon would smite them. - -Thus encouraged, the king and his mother developed their -speculations, and drew into their circle of followers some of -the greatest nobles of the land. A striking example of this -proselytising is to be found in the tomb of the Vizir Rames. It has -already been stated that that official had constructed for himself -a sepulchre in the Theban necropolis, upon the walls of which he -had first caused a portrait of the young king to be sculptured in -the old conventional style, and later had added another portrait -of the Pharaoh standing beneath the radiating beams of the sun, -executed in the new style. Rames now added various other scenes and -inscriptions, and he records a certain speech made by the king to -him, and his own reply. - - “The words of Ra,” the king had said, “are before thee.... My - august father[32] taught me their essence and [revealed] them - to me.... They were known in my heart, opened to my face. I - understood....” - - “Thou art the Only One of Aton; in possession of his designs,” - replied Rames. “Thou hast directed the mountains. The fear of - thee is in the midst of their secret chambers, as it is in the - hearts of the people. The mountains hearken to thee as the people - hearken.” - -Thus one sees how the king was already formulating some kind of -doctrine in his head, and that the nobles were receiving it; but it -is significant that there are here representations of Rames loaded -with gifts by the Pharaoh, as though in reward for his allegiance. -The Pharaoh seems, indeed, to have showered honours upon those -who appeared to grasp intelligently the thoughts which were -still immature in his own head; and there must have been many an -antagonist who rallied to his standard from the sheer love of gold. -The king was in need of all the support which he could muster, -for an open break with the priesthood of Amon-Ra grew more and -more probable as his doctrines shaped themselves in his mind; and -although the people of Egypt as a whole would, without question, -follow their Pharaoh for the one reason that he _was_ Pharaoh, -there was every probability that the Amon priesthood and the Theban -populace would make something of a stand against any infringement -of the rights of their local god. - -The young Pharaoh seems to have been very popular, and one may -presume that he inherited, from his illustrious fathers, the -charm of manner which there is not a little evidence to show they -possessed. Throughout his life, and for some years after his death, -he retained the affection of his people; and when one considers -how faithfully his nobles followed him so long as he had strength -and health to lead them, and how completely lost they were at his -death, one realises how great an influence he must have exerted -over them. Even at this early age they seem to have possessed a -deep regard for the grave, thoughtful boy; and behind all the -pretence, the hypocrisy, and the merely conventional loyalty, one -surely catches a glimpse of a strong, personal affection for the -king. - -We must here record the birth of the king’s first daughter, which -occurred in about the fifth year of his reign, when he was some -sixteen years of age, and when Nefertiti was about thirteen years -old. The child was named Merytaton, “Beloved of Aton”; and though -the advent of a daughter instead of a son must have been a -grave disappointment to the royal couple, a remarkable degree of -affection was lavished upon the little girl, as will be apparent in -the sequel. - - - 9. THE NATURE OF THE NEW RELIGION. - -There was nothing strikingly exalted in the religion which was -now so filling the king’s mind. Ra-Horakhti Aton was in no -wise considered as the only god: there were as yet no ideas of -monotheism in the doctrine. In the new temple at Karnak, as we have -seen, Horus, Set, Wepwat, and other gods were named; and elsewhere -Amon was reluctantly recognised. The goddess Maat, in the tomb -of Rames, was not obliterated from the walls, but still stood -protecting the king; and in the same tomb Horus of Edfu is invoked. -In the tomb of Horemheb, Horus, Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, and Hathor -are mentioned, and the gods of the Necropolis still receive honour; -Horemheb himself still holds the honorary post of High Priest of -Horus, Lord of Alabastronpolis; Thoth and Maat are referred to; -and there is a magical prayer to Ra, which is by no means of -lofty character. Scarabs of this period speak of the Pharaoh as -beloved of Thoth. And in a letter to the king dated in the fifth -year of his reign, Ptah and “the gods and goddesses” of Memphis are -referred to. - -This letter is of such interest that a fuller account of it must -here be given. It was addressed to the king, who is still called -Amonhotep, by a royal steward named Apiy, who lived at Memphis. -Two copies of the letter were found at Gurob,[33] both dated in -the fifth year of the king’s reign, the third month of winter, -and the nineteenth day. The letter begins with the full titles of -the Pharaoh, including the phrase “living in truth,” which from -this time onwards was always added to his name. Then follows the -invocation: “May Ptah of the beautiful countenance work for thee, -who created thy beauties, thy true father who raised (?) thee from -his house to rule the orbit of the Aton.” Next comes the real -business of the letter: “A communication is this to the Master, -[to whom be] life, prosperity, and health, to give information -that the temple of thy father Ptah ... is sound and prosperous; the -house of Pharaoh ... is flourishing; the establishments of Pharaoh -... are flourishing; the residence of Pharaoh ... is flourishing -and healthy; the offerings of all the gods and goddesses who are -upon the soil (?) of Memphis are ... complete; complete [are they] -there is nothing delayed from them.” Again the titles of the king -are given, and the letter ends with the date. - -Thus in the fifth year of the king’s reign, when he was about -sixteen years of age, the various gods of Egypt were still -acknowledged; and, though the art had been changed and the worship -of Ra-Horakhti under the name of Aton had made great strides -towards supremacy, there is as yet no sign of the lofty monotheism -which the Pharaoh was soon to propound. - -In the portions of the tomb of Horemheb which date from -this period, Ra-Horakhti is invoked in the following words: -“Ra-Horakhti, great god, Lord of heaven, Lord of earth, who cometh -forth from his horizon and illuminateth the Two Lands [of Egypt], -the sun of darkness as the great one, as Ra;” and again: “Ra, -Lord of Truth, great god, sovereign of Heliopolis, ... Horakhti, -only god, king of the gods, who rises in the west and sendeth -forth his beauty.” From other sources, which we have seen, the -god is called “Ra-Horakhti rejoicing in the horizon in his name -Heat-which-is-in-Aton.” - -Here we have simply the old religion of Heliopolis, to which has -been grafted something of the doctrines of the Syrian Adonis or -Aton. At Heliopolis there was a sacred bull, known as Mnevis, which -was regarded as the living personification of Ra-Horakhti, and -which was treated with divine honours, like the more famous Apis -bull of Memphis. Even this superstition was accepted by the king at -this time, and continued to be acknowledged by him for yet another -year or two.[34] The “Heat-which-is-in-Aton” offered food for much -speculation, and, by directing the attention to an intangible -quality of the sun, opened up the widest fields for religious -thought. But, with this exception, there was nothing as yet in the -new religion to command one’s admiration. - - - - - 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. - -[Illustration: _Akhnaton and Nefertiti with their three Daughters._] - -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. - -[Illustration: _The Head of the Mummy of Thothmes IV., the -grandfather of Akhnaton._] - -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. - - - - - IV. - - AKHNATON FORMULATES THE RELIGION OF ATON. - - “No such grand theology had ever appeared in the world before, so - far as we know; and it is the forerunner of the later monotheist - religions.”--PETRIE: ‘The Religion of Ancient Egypt.’ - - - 1. ATON THE TRUE GOD. - -Amidst the fair palaces and verdant gardens of the new city, -Akhnaton, now a man of some twenty years, turned his thoughts fully -to the development of his religion. It is necessary, therefore, for -us to glance at the essential features of this the most enlightened -doctrine of the ancient world, and in some degree to make ourselves -acquainted with the creed which the king himself was evolving out -of that worship of Ra-Horakhti Aton in which he had been educated. - -Originally the Aton was the actual sun’s disk; but, as has been -said, the god was now called “Heat-which-is-in-Aton,” and Akhnaton, -concentrating his attention on this aspect of the godhead, drew -the eyes of his followers towards a force far more intangible -and distant than the dazzling orb to which they bowed down. -Akhnaton’s conception of God, as we now begin to observe it, was -as the power which created the sun, the energy which penetrated -to this earth in the sun’s heat and caused all things to grow. -At the present day the scientist will tell you that God is the -ultimate source of life, that where natural explanation fails there -God is to be found: He is, in a word, the author of energy, the -primal motive-power of all known things. Akhnaton, centuries upon -centuries before the birth of the scientist, defined God in just -this manner. In an age when men believed, as some do still, that a -deity was but an exaggerated creature of this earth, having a form -built on material lines, this youthful Pharaoh proclaimed God to -be the formless essence, the intelligent germ, the loving force, -which permeated time and space. Let it be clearly understood that -the Aton as conceived by the young Pharaoh was in no sense one of -those old deities which our God ultimately replaced in Egypt. The -Aton is God as we conceive Him. There is no quality attributed by -the king to the Aton which we do not attribute to our God. Like a -flash of blinding light in the night-time the Aton stands out for -a moment amidst the black Egyptian darkness, and disappears once -more,--the first signal to this world of the future religion of the -West. No man whose mind is free from prejudice will fail to see a -far closer resemblance to the teachings of Christ in the religion -of Akhnaton than in that of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The faith of -the patriarchs is the lineal ancestor of the Christian faith; but -the creed of Akhnaton is its isolated prototype. One might believe -that Almighty God had for a moment revealed himself to Egypt, and -had been more clearly, though more momentarily, interpreted there -than ever He was in Syria or Palestine before the time of Christ. - - - 2. ATON THE TENDER FATHER OF ALL CREATION. - -Amon-Ra and the old gods of Egypt were, for the most part, but -deified mortals, endued with monstrous, though limited, powers, and -still having around them traditions of aggrandised human deeds. -Others, we have seen, had their origin in natural phenomena: the -wind, the Nile, the starry heavens, and the like. All were terrific -or revengeful, if so they had a mind to be, and all were able -to be moved by human emotions. But to Akhnaton, although he had -absolutely no precedent upon which to launch his thoughts, God -was the intangible and yet ever-present Father of mankind, made -manifest in sunshine. The youthful high priest called upon his -subjects to search for their God not in the confusion of battle -or behind the smoke of human sacrifices, but amidst the flowers -and the trees, amidst the wild duck and the fishes. He preached an -enlightened nature-study: in some respects he was, perhaps, the -first apostle of the Simple Life. - -He strove to break down conventional thought, and ceaselessly he -urged his people to worship “in truth,” simply, without an excess -of ceremonial. While the elder gods had been apparent in natural -convulsions and in the more awful incidents of life, Akhnaton’s -kindly father could be seen in the little details of existence, in -the growing poppies, in the soft wind which filled the sails of the -ships, in the fish which leapt from the river. Like a greater than -he, Akhnaton taught his disciples to address their maker as their -“Father which art in Heaven.” The Aton was the joy which caused -the young sheep “to dance upon their legs,” and the birds “to -flutter in their marshes.” He was the god of the simple pleasures -of life; and although Akhnaton himself was indeed a man of sorrows, -plenteously acquainted with grief, happiness was the watchword -which he gave to his followers. - -Akhnaton did not permit any graven image to be made of the Aton. -The True God, said the king, had no form; and he held to this -opinion throughout his life. The symbol of the religion was -the sun’s disk, from which there extended numerous rays, each -ray ending in a hand; but this symbol was not worshipped. To -Christians, in the same way, the cross is the symbol of their -creed; but the cross itself is not worshipped. Never before had -man conceived a formless deity, a god who was not endowed with the -five human senses. The Hebrew patriarchs believed God to be capable -of walking in a garden in the cool of the evening, to have made -man in his own image, to be possessed of face, form, and hinder -parts. But Akhnaton, stemming with his hand the flood of tradition, -boldly proclaimed God to be a life-giving, intangible essence: the -_heat_ which is in the sun. He was “the living Aton,”--that is to -say, the power which produced and sustained the energy and movement -of the sun. Although he was so often called “the Aton,” he was -more closely defined as “the Master of the Aton.”[46] The flaming -glory of the sun was the most practical symbol of the godhead, and -the warm rays of sunshine constituted the most obvious connection -between heaven and earth; but always Akhnaton attempted to raise -the eyes of the thinkers beyond this visible or understandable -expression of divinity, to strain them upwards in the effort to -discern that which was “behind the veil.” In lighting on a motive -power more remote than the sun, and acting through the sun, the -young Pharaoh may be said to have penetrated as far behind the -eternal barrier as one may ever hope to penetrate this side the -churchyard. But though so remote, the Aton was the tender, loving -Father of all men, ever-present and ever-mindful of his creatures. -There dropped not a sigh from the lips of a babe that the -intangible Aton did not hear; no lamb bleated for its mother but -the remote Aton hastened to soothe it. He was the loving “Father -and Mother of all that He had made,” who “brought up millions by -His bounty.” - -The destructive qualities of the sun were never referred to, and -that pitiless orb under which Egypt sweats and groans for the -summer months each year had nothing in common with the gentle -Father conceived by Akhnaton. The Aton was “the Lord of Love.” -He was the tender nurse who “creates the man-child in woman, and -soothes him that he may not weep”; whose love, to use an Egyptian -phrase of exquisite tenderness, “makes the hands to faint.” His -beams were “beauteous with love” as they fell upon His people and -upon His city, “very rich in love.” “Thy love is great and large,” -says one of Akhnaton’s psalms. “Thou fillest the two lands of Egypt -with Thy love;” and another passage runs: “Thy rays encompass the -lands.... Thou bindest them with Thy love.” - -Surely never in the history of the world had man conceived a god -who “so loved the world.” One may search the inscriptions in vain -for any reference to a malignant power, to vengeance, to jealousy, -or to hatred. The Hebrew psalmist said of God, “Like as a father -pitieth his children, even so is the Lord merciful”; and Akhnaton, -many a century before those words were written, attributed just -such a nature to the Aton. The Aton was compassionate, was -merciful, was gentle, was tender; He knew not anger, and there -was no wrath in Him. His overflowing love reached down the paths -of life from mankind to the beasts of the field and to the little -flowers themselves. “All flowers blow,” says one of Akhnaton’s -hymns, “and that which grows on the soil thrives at Thy dawning, O -Aton. They drink their fill [of warmth] before Thy face. All cattle -leap upon their feet; the birds that were in the nest fly forth -with joy; their wings which were closed move quickly with praise to -the living Aton.” - -One stands amazed as one reads in pompous Egypt of a god who -listens “when the chicken crieth in the egg-shell,” and gives him -life, delighting that he should “chirp with all his might” when -he is hatched forth; who finds pleasure in causing “the birds to -flutter in their marshes, and the sheep to dance upon their feet.” -For the first time in the history of man the real meaning of God, -as we now understand it, had been comprehended; and the idea of a -beneficent Creator who, though remote, spiritual, and impersonal, -could love each one of His creatures, great or small, had been -grasped by this young Pharaoh. God’s unspeakable goodness and -loving-kindness were as clearly interpreted by Akhnaton as ever -they have been by mortal man; and the wonder of it lies in this, -that Akhnaton had absolutely nothing to base his theories upon. He -was, so far as we know, the first man to whom God revealed Himself -as the passionless, all-loving essence of unqualified goodness. - - - 3. ATON WORSHIPPED AT SUNRISE AND SUNSET. - -In order to prevent the more ignorant of his disciples from -worshipping the sun itself, Akhnaton seems to have selected the -sunrise and the sunset as the two hours for ceremonial adoration; -for then the light, the beauty, the tenderness, of the celestial -phenomenon could be appreciated, and the awful majesty of the sun -was not in great prominence. Akhnaton attempted to cultivate in -his followers an appreciation of the gentle hues of daybreak and -of evening; and he taught them to believe that the oft-mentioned -“beauties” of the Aton were only to be fully understood at these -times. In the gladness of sunrise and in the hush of the sunset, -the emotions are most apt to be touched and moved; for in Egypt -there is always praise in the heart in the cool opalescence of the -dawn, and in the red dusk there is many and many a dream. - -Phrases such as the following may be gleaned from Akhnaton’s hymns: -“Thy rising is beautiful in the horizon of heaven, O living Aton, -who dispensest life; shining from the eastern horizon of heaven, -Thou fillest Egypt with Thy beauty.” “Thy setting is beautiful, O -living Aton, ... who guidest ... all countries that they may make -laudations at Thy dawning and at Thy setting.” “When the Aton rises -all the land is in joy; His rays produce eyes for all that He has -created; and men say, ‘It is life to see Him, there is death in not -seeing Him.’” “When Thou settest alive,[47] O Aton, West and East -give praise to thee.” “Thou settest behind the western horizon; -Thou settest in life and gladness, and every eye rejoices though -they are in darkness after Thou settest.” “When Thou hast risen -they live; when Thou settest they die.” - -The ceremonial side of the religion does not seem to have been -complex. The priests, of whom there were very few, offered -sacrifices, consisting mostly of vegetables, fruit, and flowers, to -the Aton, and at these ceremonies the king and his family often -officiated. They then sang psalms and offered prayers, and, with -much sweet music, gave praise to the great Father of joy and love. -The Aton, however, was not thought to delight in these ceremonies -as He did in more natural thanksgivings. Why should God be praised -in set phrases and studied poses when all the fair world was -shouting for the joy of Him? The young calf frisking through the -poppy-covered meadows, the birds singing upon the trees, the clouds -racing across the sky, were the true worshippers of God. - -One of the recently discovered sayings of Christ closely parallels -Akhnaton’s utterances. “Ye ask,” it runs, “who are those that draw -us to the kingdom if the kingdom is in heaven? The fowls of the -air, and all the beasts that are under the earth or upon the earth, -and the fishes in the sea, these are they which draw you, and the -kingdom is within you.” The contemplation of nature was more to -Akhnaton than many ceremonies, and his thoughts were more easily -drawn upwards by the rustle of the leaves than by the shaking of -the systrum. - - - 4. THE GOODNESS OF ATON. - -In the gardens of the City of the Horizon Akhnaton was surrounded -on all sides by the joyous beauties of nature. Here the birds -sang merrily in the laden trees, here the cool north wind rustled -through the leaves, setting them dancing upon their stems, here -the many-coloured blossoms nodded to their reflections in the -still lakes; and, as he watched the sunlight playing with the blue -shadows, his heart seemed to fill to repletion with gratitude to -God. “O Lord, how manifold are Thy works!” was his constant cry. -“The whole land is in joy and holiday because of Thee. They shout -to the height of heaven, they receive joy and gladness when they -see Thee.” How “fair of form” was the formless Aton, how “radiant -of colour”! “All that Thou hast made,” said the king, “leaps before -Thee.” “Thou makest the beauty of form through Thyself alone.” -“Eyes have life at sight of Thy beauty; hearts have health when the -Aton shines.” - -As the psalmist sang, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not -want,” so Akhnaton, in the fulness of his heart, cried, “There is -no poverty for him who hath set Thee in his heart; such an one -cannot say, ‘O, that I had.’” “When Thou bringest life to men’s -hearts by Thy beauty, there is indeed life.” The Aton “gave health -to the eyes by His rays,” and, “bright, great, gleaming, high -above all the earth,” he was “the cause of plenty,”--the very -“food and fatness of Egypt.” To David, several centuries later, -God seemed to be “a strong tower of defence”; and, thinking along -the same lines, Akhnaton called the Aton his “wall of brass of a -million cubits.” The Aton was “the witness of that which pertains -to eternity,” and to those whose thoughts had strayed he was “the -remembrancer of eternity.” He was the “Lord of Fate,” the “Lord -of Fortune,” the “Master of that which is ordained,” the “Origin -of Fate,” the “Chance which gives Life”; and in so describing him -Akhnaton reached a philosophical position which even to-day is -quite unassailable. - -Unlike Jehovah, who was described as “great above all other gods,” -the Aton was conceived as being without rivals; and Akhnaton now -never mentions the word “gods.” “The living Aton beside whom there -is no other,” is one of the common phrases; and of Him again it is -written, “Thou art alone, but infinite vitalities are in Thee by -means of which to give life to Thy creatures.” - -Unlike Jehovah again, who was not infrequently thought to be a -wrathful god, surrounded by clouds and darkness, and speaking -through the roar of the thunders, the Aton was the “Lord of Peace,” -who could not tolerate battle and strife. Akhnaton was so opposed -to war that he persistently refused to offer an armed resistance -to the subsequent revolts which occurred in his Asiatic dominions. -The Aton was a deity to whose tender heart human bloodshed made no -appeal. In an age of martial glory, when the sword and buckler, -the plumed helmet and the shirt of mail, glittered in every street -and upon every highway, Akhnaton set himself in opposition to all -heroics, and saw God without melodrama. - -Above all things the Aton loved truth. Frankness, sincerity, -straightforwardness, honesty, and veracity were qualities not -always to be found in the heart of an Egyptian; and Akhnaton, in -antagonism to the sins of hypocrisy and deception which he saw -around him, always spoke of himself as “living in truth.” “I have -set truth in my inward parts,” says one of his followers, “and -falsehood is my loathing; for I know that the King rejoiceth in -truth.” - - - 5. AKHNATON THE “SON OF GOD” BY TRADITIONAL RIGHT. - -It may be understood how the boy longed for truth in all things -when one remembers the thousand exaggerated conventions of Egyptian -life at this time. Court etiquette had developed to a degree -which rendered life to the Pharaoh an endless round of unnatural -poses of mind and body. In the preaching of his doctrine of truth -and simplicity Akhnaton did not fail to call upon his subjects -to regard their Pharaoh not as a celestial god, as had been the -custom, but as a man, though, of course, one of divine origin. -It was usual for the Pharaoh to keep aloof from his people: -Akhnaton was to be found in their midst. The court demanded that -their lord should drive in solitary state through the city: -Akhnaton stood in his chariot with his wife and children, and -allowed the artist to represent him joking therein with his little -daughter. In portraying the Pharaoh the artist was expected to draw -him in some conventional attitude of dignity: Akhnaton insisted -upon being shown in all manner of natural attitudes--now leaning -languidly upon a staff, now nursing his children, and now eating -his dinner. Thus again one sees his objection to heroics, and his -love of naturalness. - -[Illustration: _Akhnaton driving with his Wife and Daughter._] - -But while he strove for truth and sincerity in this manner he -did not attempt to remove from his mind the belief in which he -had been brought up, that as Pharaoh of Egypt he was himself -partly divine. Not only was he by reason of his religion the -representative, and hence, in a manner of speech, the “son” of -God, but by right of royal descent he was the “son of the Sun.” -The names of the Pharaohs were always surrounded by an oval band, -known as a cartouche, which was the distinguishing mark of a royal -name. Akhnaton wrote the name of the Aton within such an oval, -thus indicating that the Pharaoh’s royal rights were also held -by, and therefore derived from, God Himself. There was thus, as -Christ later taught His disciples to believe, a kingdom of heaven -over which God presided; and although impersonal, intangible, and -incomprehensible, the Aton was the very “King of kings, the only -ruler of princes.” Amon-Ra and other of the old deities had been -called at various times “King of the gods.” Akhnaton, however, -applied to Aton the words “King and God.” - -Akhnaton is spoken of as “the unique one of Ra, whose beauties -Aton created,” and as “the beloved son of Aton,” whom “Aton bare.” -Addressing the Aton, his courtiers were wont to say, “Thy rays -are on Thy bright image, the Ruler of Truth (_i.e._, the King), -who proceeded from eternity. Thou givest to him Thy duration and -Thy years; Thou hearkenest to all that is in his heart, because -Thou lovest him. Thou makest him like the Aton, him Thy child, the -King.” “Thou lookest on him, for he proceeded[48] from Thee.” -“Thou hast placed him beside Thee for ever and ever, for he loves -to gaze upon Thee.... Thou hast set him there till the swan shall -turn black and the crow turn white, till the hills rise up to -travel and the deeps rush into the rivers.” “While heaven is, -he shall be.” Some of the Pharaohs had called themselves “the -beautiful child of Amon”; and Akhnaton, borrowing this phrase, was -sometimes spoken of as “the beautiful child of the Aton.”[49] - -[Illustration: _Akhnaton and his Wife and Children._] - -In his capacity as Pharaoh and “son of God,” Akhnaton demanded -and received a very considerable amount of ceremonial homage; but -he never blinded himself to the fact that he was primarily but a -simple man. He most sincerely wished that his private life should -be a worthy example to his subjects, and he earnestly desired that -it should be observed in all its naturalness and simplicity. He -did his utmost to elevate the position of women and the sanctity -of the family by displaying to the world the ideal conditions of -his own married life. He made a point of caressing his wife in -public, putting his arm around her neck in the sight of all men. As -we have seen, one of his forms of oath was, “As my heart is happy -in the Queen and her children....” He spoke of his wife always as -“Mistress of his happiness, ... at hearing whose voice the King -rejoices.” “Lady of grace” was she, “great of love” and “fair -of face.” Every wish that she expressed, declared Akhnaton, was -executed by him. Even on the most ceremonious occasions the queen -sat beside her husband and held his hand, while their children -frolicked around them; for such things pleased that gentle father -more than the savour of burnt-offerings. It is seldom that the -Pharaoh is represented in the reliefs without his family; and, in -opposition to all tradition, the queen is shown upon the same scale -of size and importance as that of her husband. Akhnaton’s devotion -to his children is very marked, and he taught his disciples to -believe that God was the father, the mother, the nurse, and the -friend of the young. Thus, though “son of God,” Akhnaton -preached the beauty of the human family, and laid stress on the -sanctity of marriage and parenthood. - - - 6. THE CONNECTIONS OF THE ATON WORSHIP WITH OLDER RELIGIONS. - -In developing his religion Akhnaton must have come into almost -daily conflict with the priesthoods of the old gods of Egypt; -and even the Heliopolitan Ra-Horakhti, from which his own faith -had been evolved, now fell far short of his ideals. He does not -seem, however, to have yet imposed the worship of the Aton upon -the provinces, nor to have persecuted the various priesthoods. -He hoped, no doubt, that he would be able to persuade the whole -country to his views as soon as those views were thoroughly -matured; and, secure in his new city, he was free to purge his -religion of its faults before declaring all other creeds illegal. - -It is probable that the sacred bull, Mnevis, was banished from his -ceremonies at an early date, for no tombs seem to have been made -for these holy creatures, and they are not referred to after the -sixth year of the king’s reign. The priests of Heliopolis would -now have hardly recognised their doctrines in the exalted faith of -the Aton, though here and there some point of close contact might -have been observed. One may also detect slight resemblances to the -Adonis religions of Syria, from whence the Aton had originally -come. Mention has already been made of the worship of Adonis. So -widespread was that deity’s power that it very naturally affected -many other religions. In the Biblical Psalms one finds several -echoes of this old pagan worship, as for example in the lines from -Psalm xix., which read:-- - - The heavens declare the glory of God.... - In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, - Which is a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, - And he rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. - There is nothing hid from the heat thereof. - -Here one surely must recognise the youthful Adonis, the bridegroom -of Venus. And similarly in the Heliopolitan worship, at the -commencement of Akhnaton’s reign, the sun, Ra, is referred to in -the following terms: “Thou art beautiful and youthful as Aton -before thy mother Hathor [Venus].” - -In Akhnaton’s religion one may still catch a fleeting glimpse of -Adonis. One of the king’s courtiers, named May, held the office of -“Overseer of the House for sending Aton to rest.”[50] Akhnaton’s -queen is mentioned in the tomb of Ay under the peculiar title of -“She who sends the Aton to rest with a sweet voice, and with her -two beautiful hands bearing two systrums.” This “house” was, no -doubt, the temple at which the vesper prayers to the Aton were -said at sunset, and from the above title of the queen it would -seem that she had particular charge of these evening ceremonies. -One cannot contemplate the fact that it was a woman who officiated -at a ceremony which consisted of a lament[51] for the death of -the sun without seeing in it some connection, however faint, -with the story of Venus and Adonis. The lament of Venus for the -death of Adonis--_i.e._, the setting of the sun--was one of the -fundamental ceremonies of the Mediterranean religions. Here again -was a connection with an older religion for Akhnaton to consider -and perhaps to purge away; and one may suppose that all such -derivatives from earlier faiths were gradually eliminated as the -young king developed his creed. Soon not a scrap of superstition -remained in the religion; and one may credit this Pharaoh of three -thousand years ago with as great a freedom from the trammels of -traditional superstition as that of the advanced thinker of to-day. - - - 7. THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. - -“Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes -to behold the sun,” says Holy Writ in words which might have fallen -from the lips of Akhnaton; “but though a man live many years and -rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for -they shall be many.” As Akhnaton had completely revolutionised the -beliefs of the Egyptians as to the nature of God, so he altered -and purged their theories regarding the existence of the soul after -death. According to the old beliefs, as we have seen, the soul of -a man had to pass through awful places up to the judgment throne -of Osiris, where he was weighed in the balances. If he was found -wanting he was devoured by a ferocious monster, but if the scales -turned in his favour he was accepted into the Elysian fields. So -many were the spirits, bogies, and demigods which he was likely to -meet before the goal was reached that he had to know by heart a -tedious string of formulæ, the correct repetition of which, and the -correct making of the related magic, alone ensured his safe passage. - -Akhnaton flung all these formulæ into the fire. Djins, bogies, -spirits, monsters, demigods, demons, and Osiris himself with all -his court, were swept into the blaze and reduced to ashes. Akhnaton -believed that when a man died his soul continued to exist as a kind -of astral, immaterial ghost, sometimes resting in the dreamy halls -of heaven, and sometimes visiting, in shadowy form, the haunts -of the earthly life. By some of the inscriptions one is led to -suppose that, as in the fourth article of the Christian faith, so -in the teachings of Akhnaton, the body was thought to take again -after death its “flesh, bones, and all things appertaining to -the perfection of man’s nature.” But just as there is some doubt -and some vagueness in the mind of Christian thinkers as to the -meaning of this article, so in Akhnaton’s doctrine there was some -uncertainty as to whether the body was entirely spiritual or in a -manner material in its hazy existence in the Hills of the West. -The disembodied soul still craved the pleasures of earthly life -and shunned its sorrows; still felt hunger and thirst and enjoyed -a draught of water or a meal of solid food; still warmed itself in -the sunshine or sought coolness in the shadows. - -We hear nothing of hell; for Akhnaton, in the tenderness of his -heart, could not bring himself to believe that God would allow -suffering in any of His creatures, however sinful. The inscriptions -seem rather to indicate that there was no future life for the -wicked,--that they were annihilated; though in almost every man one -may suppose that there was enough good to recommend him to the -mercy of a God so loving as the Aton. - -The first great wish of the deceased was that he might each day -leave the dim underworld in order to see the light of the sun -upon earth. This had been the prayer of the Egyptians from time -immemorial, and to suit the religion of the Aton its wording alone -was changed. The disciple of Akhnaton asked to be allowed “to go -out from the underworld in the morning to see Aton as he rises.” -He prayed insistently, passionately, in varied language, that his -spirit might “go forth to see the sun’s rays,” that his “two eyes -might be opened to see the sun,” that there might be “no failure -to see it,” that the “vision of the sun’s fair face might never be -lost to him,” that he “might obtain a sight of the beauty of each -recurring sunrise,” and that “the sun’s rays might spread over -his body.” Sometimes it is the Aton whom the soul thus craves to -see; sometimes it is Ra, the sun; but always it seems to be the -actual light and warmth of the sunshine which is so passionately -desired. The abstract conditions of the future life could but be -interpreted in terms of human experience; and in contemplating -that cold, desolate mystery of death, Akhnaton could find no better -means of banishing the gloom than by praying for a continuance of -the blessed light of the day. And the man who prayed that his soul -might see the sunshine but asked that he might still know the joy -of the presence of God, for God was the light of the world. - -His second wish was that he might retain the favour of the king and -queen after death, and that his soul might serve their souls in the -palaces of the dead. He asks for “readiness in the presence of the -King” to do his bidding; he prays that he may be admitted into the -palace, “entering it in favour and leaving it in love”; that he may -“attend the King every day”; and that he may “receive honour in the -presence of the King.” - -For his mental contentment in the underworld he earnestly desired -that “his name might be remembered and established on earth,” that -there might be “a happy memory of him in the King’s palace,” and -“a continuance of his name in the mouths of the courtiers,” where -he hoped that it “might be welcome.” “May my name thrive in the -tomb-chapel,” he says. “May my name not be to seek in my mansion. -May it be celebrated for ever.” So, too, at the present day the -words _In Memoriam_ are goodly words; and that a man’s memory may -be kept green is a thing very generally desired. - - - 8. THE MATERIAL NEEDS OF THE SOUL. - -In order that the soul might have its link with earth, the -worshipper of the Aton prayed that his mummy might remain “firm” -and uncorrupted, that the “flesh might live upon the bones,” and -that his limbs might remain “knit together.” The Egyptians of -other days believed that the body itself would live again at the -resurrection, this being the reason why they attempted so carefully -to preserve it; and Akhnaton does not appear to have altered this -conception of the nature of the material body. So, too, in the -Christian faith it is thought that at the last day the graves will -give up their dead. - -The spiritual body retained the form and the individuality of the -material body, and therefore, in a somewhat vague manner, it was -thought that the needs of the soul would not be very dissimilar -from those of the body upon earth. Christ, after His resurrection, -asked for food; and the feasts of Paradise are more than allegory -to many a Christian. Likewise the follower of Akhnaton believed -that material food, or its spiritual equivalent, would be necessary -to the soul’s welfare in the next world. “May I be called by my -name,” says he, “and come at the summons, in order to feed upon the -good things provided upon the temple altar.” It would seem that -through fidelity to the Aton creed he might have the privilege of -partaking of the offerings made at the great ceremonies in the -temple; for, after these sacrifices had been offered, the food, -probably, was distributed to the priests and to those attached to -the tombs, who represented the interests of the dead. Thus the -deceased prays that he may enjoy “a reception of that which has -been offered in the temple”; “a reception of offerings of the -King’s giving in every shrine”; “a drink-offering in the temple of -Aton”; “food deposited on the altar every day”; and “everything -that is offered in the sanctuary of Aton in the City of the -Horizon of Aton.” He further asks that “wine may be poured out” for -him, and that “the children of his house may spill a libation for -him at the entrance of his tomb.” - -While life lasted God was very apparent to those who sought Him. -Wherever the sun shone, wherever the great pulse of the earth beat -beneath one, wherever the river flowed or the garden bloomed, there -was God to be found; for God was happiness, was beauty, was love. -But when the cold mists of death had enveloped a man, when there -was no longer any spring-time nor any opening of the blossoms, how -should there be contentment any more? From the depths of his heart -Akhnaton urged his followers to pray God that He might provide this -happiness, though it could only be voiced in very human words. It -was not “sweet perfume” nor “the smell of incense” that the soul -required; but how else could the pleasure of light-heartedness -be worded? They prayed that their “limbs might be provided with -pleasure every day.” In the stagnant air of the tomb they craved -for the touch of the “sweet breeze,” for “the breath of the -pleasant airs of the north wind.” They hoped in shadowy form to be -able to visit the beloved scenes of their lifetime. “May I raise -myself up and forget languor,” prays one. “May I leave and enter -my mansion,” says another. “May my soul not be shut off from that -which it desires. May I walk as I will in the grove that I have -made upon earth. May I drink the water at the edge of my lake every -day without ceasing.” “May water be poured out from my cistern,” -cries a third; “may I receive fruit from my trees.” Incessantly -each man implores God to grant that he may cool his parched lips -with water. “A draught of water at the banks of the river,” is -his desire; “a draught of water at the swirl of the stream.” -While he smells “the scent of the wind” blowing amidst the petals -of “a bouquet of Aton,” and while there runs “a brook of water” -by his side, he need not know the horror of death. And thus, by -receiving “everything good and sweet,” he may hope for “health and -prosperity” in the hills and the valleys of the West; for a “happy -life, provided with pleasure and joy,” for “amusement, merriment, -and delight,” and for a “daily rejoicing” throughout eternity. - -It may be argued that this material conception of the life after -death is not equal in purity of tone to the faith of the Aton. -But is it, then, less lofty to believe in a heaven in which there -is joy and laughter, a scent of flowers, and a breath of north -wind, than in one where the streets are paved with gold, and -where there are many mansions? By no religion in the world is -Christianity so closely approached as by the faith of Akhnaton; and -if the Pharaoh’s doctrines as to immortality are not altogether -convincing, neither are the Christian doctrines, as they are -now interpreted, altogether without fault. In the above pages -it has been necessary always to compare Akhnaton’s creed with -Christianity, since there is so much common to the two religions; -but it should be remembered that this comparison must of necessity -be unfavourable to the Pharaoh’s doctrine, revealing as it does -its shortcomings. Let the reader remember that Akhnaton lived some -thirteen hundred years before the birth of Christ, at an age when -the world was steeped in superstition and sunk in the fogs of -idolatry. Bearing this in mind, he will not fail to see in that -tenderly loving Father whom the boy-Pharaoh worshipped an early -revelation of the God to whom we of the present day bow down; and -once more he will find how true are the words-- - - “God fulfils Himself in many ways.” - -Since writing the above, another point in Akhnaton’s teaching -has become apparent, from the scenes, recently discovered by the -present writer, in the tomb of Rames. There is a scene often -represented upon the walls of tombs of Dynasty XVIII. which seems -to represent human sacrifice. The figure of a man is seen dragged -to the tomb upon a sledge, and Sir Gaston Maspero has pointed out -that this can hardly be anything else than such a sacrifice. This -scene was shown on one of the walls of the tomb of Rames, and -evidently dated from a period previous to Akhnaton’s revolution. -When, however, the young king had formulated his religion of love -he could not tolerate a barbaric and cruel ceremony of this kind. -We thus find that the entire scene is here obliterated, almost -certainly by the king’s agents. The objection to human sacrifice is -closely in accord with his objection to human suffering as recorded -on page 175. - - - - - V. - - THE TENTH TO THE TWELFTH YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON. - - “One must be moved with involuntary admiration for the young king - who in such an age found such thoughts in his heart.”--BREASTED: - ‘History of Egypt.’ - - - 1. THE HYMNS OF THE ATON WORSHIPPERS. - -In the tombs of rich persons who had lived and died previous to the -time of Akhnaton, a large portion of the walls had been covered -with religious inscriptions; and when at first the nobles of the -City of the Horizon of Aton were planning their sepulchres they -must have been at a loss to know what to substitute for these -forbidden formulæ. Soon, however, it became the custom to write -there short extracts from the hymns which were sung in the temples -of the Aton. In a few cases these inscriptions supply us with a -definite psalm which, although short, seems to be complete. In one -tomb--that of Ay--however, there is a copy of a much more elaborate -hymn; and it would thus seem that there were two main psalms in -use in the temples, a longer and a shorter version of the same -composition. - -It was not unusual for the Egyptians to compose hymns in honour of -their gods, and a few such have been preserved to us upon the walls -of the old temples. Like the Hebrew psalms of later date, they are -not always of a very high moral tone. They are often but chants -of victory, dealing in battles, in thunders, and in tempests, and -glorying in the wrath of heaven. The longer hymn to the Aton, which -is here given in full, is quite unlike any of these compositions, -and both in purity of tone and in beauty of style it must rank high -amongst the poems of antiquity. - - [52]“Thy dawning is beautiful in the horizon of heaven, - O living Aton, Beginning of life! - When Thou risest in the eastern horizon of heaven, - Thou fillest every land with Thy beauty; - For Thou are beautiful, great, glittering, high over the earth; - Thy rays, they encompass the lands, even all Thou hast made. - Thou art Ra, and Thou hast carried them all away captive; - Thou bindest them by Thy love. - Though Thou art afar, Thy rays are on earth; - Though Thou art on high, Thy footprints are the day. - - When Thou settest in the western horizon of heaven, - The world is in darkness like the dead. - Men sleep in their chambers, - Their heads are wrapped up, - Their nostrils stopped, and none seeth the other. - Stolen are all their things that are under their heads, - While they know it not. - Every lion cometh forth from his den, - All serpents, they sting. - Darkness reigns, - The world is in silence: - He that made them has gone to rest in His horizon. - - Bright is the earth, when Thou risest in the horizon, - When Thou shinest as Aton by day. - The darkness is banished - When Thou sendest forth Thy rays; - The two lands [of Egypt] are in daily festivity, - Awake and standing upon their feet, - For Thou hast raised them up. - Their limbs bathed, they take their clothing, - Their arms uplifted in adoration to Thy dawning. - Then in all the world they do their work. - - All cattle rest upon the herbage, - All trees and plants flourish; - The birds flutter in their marshes, - Their wings uplifted in adoration to Thee. - All the sheep dance upon their feet, - All winged things fly, - They live when Thou hast shone upon them. - - The barques sail up-stream and down-stream alike. - Every highway is open because Thou hast dawned. - The fish in the river leap up before Thee, - And Thy rays are in the midst of the great sea. - - Thou art He who createst the man-child in woman, - Who makest seed in man, - Who giveth life to the son in the body of his mother, - Who soothest him that he may not weep, - A nurse [even] in the womb. - Who giveth breath to animate every one that He maketh. - When he cometh forth from the body ... - On the day of his birth, - Thou openest his mouth in speech, - Thou suppliest his necessities. - - When the chicken crieth in the egg-shell, - Thou givest him breath therein, to preserve him alive; - When Thou hast perfected him - That he may pierce the egg, - He cometh forth from the egg, - To chirp with all his might; - He runneth about upon his two feet, - When he hath come forth therefrom. - - How manifold are all Thy works! - They are hidden from before us, - O Thou sole God, whose powers no other possesseth. - Thou didst create the earth according to Thy desire, - While Thou wast alone: - Men, all cattle large and small, - All that are upon the earth, - That go about upon their feet; - All that are on high, - That fly with their wings. - The countries of Syria and Nubia - The land of Egypt; - Thou settest every man in his place - Thou suppliest their necessities. - Every one has his possessions, - And his days are reckoned. - Their tongues are divers in speech, - Their forms likewise and their skins, - For Thou, divider, hast divided the peoples. - - Thou makest the Nile in the nether world, - Thou bringest it at Thy desire, to preserve the people alive. - O Lord of them all, when feebleness is in them, - O Lord of every house, who risest for them, - O sun of day, the fear of every distant land, - Thou makest [also] their life. - Thou hast set a Nile in heaven, - That it may fall for them, - Making floods upon the mountains, like the great sea, - And watering their fields among their towns. - - How excellent are Thy designs, O Lord of eternity! - The Nile in heaven is for the strangers, - And for the cattle of every land that go upon their feet; - But the Nile, it cometh from the nether world for Egypt. - Thus Thy rays nourish every garden; - When Thou risest they live, and grow by Thee. - - Thou makest the seasons, in order to create all Thy works; - Winter bringeth them coolness, - And the heat [the summer bringeth]. - Thou hast made the distant heaven in order to rise therein, - In order to behold all that Thou didst make, - While Thou wast alone, - Rising in Thy form as Living Aton, - Dawning, shining afar off, and returning. - - Thou makest the beauty of form through Thyself alone, - Cities, towns, and settlements, - On highway or on river, - All eyes see Thee before them, - For Thou art Aton of the day over the earth. - - Thou art in my heart; - There is no other that knoweth Thee, - Save Thy son Akhnaton. - Thou hast made him wise in Thy designs - And in Thy might. - The world is in Thy hand, - Even as Thou hast made them. - When Thou hast risen they live; - When Thou settest they die. - For Thou art duration, beyond mere limbs; - By Thee man liveth, - And their eyes look upon Thy beauty - Until Thou settest. - All labour is laid aside - When Thou settest in the west. - When Thou risest they are made to grow.... - Since Thou didst establish the earth, - Thou hast raised them up for Thy son, - Who came forth from Thy limbs, - The King, living in truth, ... - Akhnaton, whose life is long; - [And for] the great royal wife, his beloved, - Mistress of the Two Lands, ... Nefertiti, - Living and flourishing for ever and ever.” - - - 2. THE SIMILARITY OF AKHNATON’S HYMN TO PSALM CIV. - -In reading this truly beautiful hymn one cannot fail to be struck -by its similarity to Psalm civ. A parallel will show this most -clearly:-- - - AKHNATON’S HYMN. - - The world is in darkness - like the dead. Every lion - cometh forth from his den; - all serpents sting. Darkness - reigns. - - When Thou risest in the - horizon ... the darkness is - banished.... Then in all - the world they do their work. - - All trees and plants flourish, - ... the birds flutter in their - marshes.... All sheep dance - upon their feet. - - The ships sail up-stream and - down-stream alike.... The - fish in the river leap up before - Thee; and Thy rays are in the - midst of the great sea. - - How manifold are all Thy - works!... Thou didst create - the earth according to Thy desire,--men, - all cattle, ... all - that are upon the earth.... - - Thou hast set a Nile in - heaven that it may fall for - them, making floods upon the - mountains ... and watering - their fields. The Nile in - heaven is for the service of - the strangers, and for the - cattle of every land. - - Thou makest the seasons.... - Thou hast made the - distant heaven in order to - rise therein, ... dawning, - shining afar off, and returning. - - The world is in Thy hand, - even as Thou hast made them. - When thou hast risen they live; - when Thou settest they die.... - By Thee man liveth. - - - PSALM CIV. - - Thou makest the darkness - and it is night, wherein all - the beasts of the forest do - creep forth. The young lions - roar after their prey; they seek - their meat from God. - - The sun riseth, they get them - away, and lay them down in - their dens. Man goeth forth - unto his work, and to his - labour until the evening. - - The trees of the Lord are - full of sap, ... wherein the - birds make their nests.... - The high hills are a refuge for - the wild goats. - - Yonder is the sea, great and - wide, wherein are ... both - small and great beasts. There - go the ships.... - - O Lord, how manifold are - Thy works! In wisdom hast - Thou made them all. The - earth is full of Thy creatures. - - He watereth the hills from - above: the earth is filled with - the fruit of Thy works. He - bringeth forth grass for the - cattle, and green herb for the - service of men. - - He appointed the moon for - certain seasons, and the sun - knoweth his going down. - - These wait all upon Thee.... - When Thou givest them [food] - they gather it; and when Thou - openest Thy hand they are filled - with good. When Thou hidest - Thy face they are troubled: - when Thou takest away their - breath they die. - -In face of this remarkable similarity one can hardly doubt that -there is a direct connection between the two compositions; and it -becomes necessary to ask whether both Akhnaton’s hymn and this -Hebrew psalm were derived from a common Syrian source, or whether -Psalm civ. is derived from this Pharaoh’s original poem. Both -views are admissible; but in consideration of Akhnaton’s peculiar -ability and originality there seems considerable likelihood that he -is the author in the first instance of this gem of the Psalter. - -When the young Pharaoh composed this hymn he was probably neither -much more nor less than twenty or twenty-one years of age,--a -period of life at which many of the world’s greatest poets have -written some of their fairest poems. One sees that he believed -himself to be the only man to whom God had revealed Himself; and -the fact that he never admits that he was in any way taught to -regard God as he did, but always speaks of himself, and is spoken -of, as the originator and teacher of the faith, indicates that the -ideas expressed in the hymn were entirely his own. - - - 3. MERYRA IS MADE HIGH PRIEST OF ATON. - -The religion of the Aton had now assumed shape and symmetry, and -had been firmly established in the new capital as the creed of the -court. Akhnaton was thus able to intrust its administration and -organisation there to one of his nobles who had hearkened to his -teaching, and to turn his attention to other affairs, and more -especially to the conversion of the rest of Egypt. As head of the -state a thousand matters daily claimed his consideration, and his -high principles led him to stray further along the by-paths of -administration than had been the wont of the Pharaohs before him. -His ill-health did not permit him to tax his brain with impunity, -and yet there was never a king of Egypt before or after him whose -mind was so fruitful of thoughts and of schemes. The young king -himself expounded to his followers the doctrines which he wished -them to embrace, and one may suppose that he sat for many an hour -in the halls of his palace, or under the trees in the gardens -beside the Nile, earnestly telling of the beauties of the Aton to -officials and nobles. - -No one had accepted the king’s teaching with greater readiness -than a certain Meryra, who seems to have early associated himself -with the movement; and it was to him that Akhnaton now handed -over the office of “High Priest of the Aton in the City of the -Horizon of Aton,” in order to free himself for the great task of -administering his kingdom and converting it to his way of thinking. -Unfortunately we know very little of the career of Meryra, but on -the walls of his tomb in the hills behind the capital there are a -few reliefs which may here be described as illustrating events in -his life and in the life of Akhnaton. - -One of these scenes shows us the investiture of Meryra as High -Priest. The king is seen with his wife and one of his daughters -standing at a window of the gaily decorated _loggia_ of the palace. -The sill of the window is massed with bright-coloured cushions, -and over these the royal personages lean forward to address -Meryra and the company assembled in the pillared gallery outside. -The outer surface of the _loggia_ wall is brightly ornamented -either with real or painted garlands of lotus-flowers, and with -the many-coloured patterns usual upon such buildings in ancient -Egypt. Ribbons, fluttering in the breeze, hang from the delicate -lotus-pillars which support the roof, and vie in brilliancy with -the red and blue ostrich-plume fans and standards carried by the -officials. - -Leaning from the window, with arm outstretched, Akhnaton bids -Meryra rise from his knees, on to which he had cast himself on -reaching the royal presence. Then solemnly the king addresses his -favoured disciple in the following words:--“Behold, I make thee -High Priest of the Aton for me in the Temple of the Aton in the -City of the Horizon of Aton. I do this for love of thee, and I say -unto thee: O my servant who hearkenest to the teaching, my heart is -satisfied with everything which thou hast done. I give thee this -office, and I say unto thee: thou shalt eat the food of Pharaoh, -thy lord, in the Temple of Aton.” - -Immediately the assembled company crowd round Meryra and lift him -shoulder-high, while the new High Priest cries, “Abundant are the -rewards which the Aton knows to give when his heart is pleased.” -The king then presents Meryra with the insignia of his office, -and with various costly gifts, which are taken charge of by the -servants and attendants who stand outside the gallery. Behind these -attendants, at the outskirts of the scene, one observes the chariot -which is to convey the High Priest back to his villa; fan-bearers -who shall run before and behind him; women of the household who -shall beat upon tambourines at the head of the procession, and who -already dance with excitement as they see Meryra hoisted on to his -friend’s shoulder; and still other women who shall make the roadway -rich with flowers. - -This is no solemn and occult initiation of an ascetic into the -mystery of the new religion, but rather the elevation of a good -fellow to a popular post of honour. There was no mystery in the -faith of the Aton. Frankness, openness, and sincerity were the -dominant themes of Akhnaton’s teaching,--a worship of God in the -blessed light of the day, the singing of merry psalms in the -open courts of the temple; and the chosen High Priest was more -likely to have been a deep-thinking, clean-lived, honest-hearted, -God-fearing, family man, than an ascetic who had abandoned the -pomps and the vanities of this world. The point at which Akhnaton’s -religion differs most widely from Christianity is here to be -observed: the Pharaoh, while encouraging the Simple Life, did -not preach the mortification of the flesh, but only the control -of the body. The comforts of life, the brilliancy of decoration, -the charms of music, the beauties of painting and sculpture, -the pleasure of good company, the tonic of a bowl of wine, were -all as acceptable to him, in moderation, as to the Preacher in -Ecclesiastes. - - - 4. THE ROYAL FAMILY VISIT THE TEMPLE. - -When Meryra had been installed, the king and royal family made -a formal visit to the temple at the time of sunset, and this is -likewise represented in the High Priest’s tomb. For the first time -in the history of Egypt one is permitted to see the Pharaoh as he -drove through the streets of the capital in his chariot. No king -before Akhnaton had allowed an artist to represent him in aught but -celestial poses; but out of his love for truth and reality Akhnaton -had dispensed with this convention, and encouraged the regarding of -himself as a mortal man. On this occasion we see him standing in -his gorgeously decorated chariot, reins and whip in hand, himself -driving the two spirited horses, the coloured ostrich plumes on -whose heads nod and toss as the superb animals prance along. The -queen, also driving her own chariot, follows close behind; and -after her again come the princesses, heading a noble group of -chariots belonging to the court officials and ladies-in-waiting, -these being driven by charioteers. The shining harness, the dancing -red and blue plumes of the horses, the many-coloured robes, the -feathered standards of the nobles, the fluttering ribbons, all go -to make the cavalcade a sight to bring the townspeople running from -their houses. A guard of soldiers, armed with spears, shields, -battle-axes, bows, and clubs, races along on foot in front of the -royal party to clear the road. Here, besides Egyptians, are bearded -Asiatics from the king’s Syrian dominions, befeathered negroes from -the Mazoi tribes of Nubia, and Libyans from the west, wearing the -plaited side-lock of hair hanging from their heads. - -The party is seen to be nearing the temple, and Meryra stands -before the gateway ready to greet his lord. Four men kneel near -him holding aloft the coloured ostrich-plume fans, which will be -wafted to and fro above the king’s head when he has alighted from -his chariot; and others kneel, lifting their hands in reverent -salutation. Great bulls, fattened like the prize cattle of modern -times, are led forth, garlands of flowers thrown around their huge -necks, and bouquets of flowers fastened between their horns. These -are attended by grooms, also bearing bunches of flowers. Two groups -of female musicians, clad in flowing robes, wave their arms and -beat upon tambourines. - -The temple, which will be described later, is this day garlanded -with flowers, and every altar is heaped high with offerings. Now -the king has entered the building, and a further scene shows the -royal family worshipping at the high altar, which is piled up with -offerings of joints of meat, geese, vegetables, fruit, and flowers, -surmounted by bronze bowls filled with burning oil. Akhnaton and -Nefertiti stand before the altar, each with the right arm raised in -the act of sprinkling the fragrant gums of Araby upon the flames. -The upper part of the king’s body is bare, but from his waist -depends a graceful skirt of fine linen, ornamented with sash-like -ribbons of a red material, which flutter about his bare legs. The -queen’s robe covers the whole of her body, but is so transparent -that one can see her fair form with almost the distinctness of -nudity. A red sash is bound round her waist, and the two ends fall -almost to the ground. Neither of the two wears any jewels; and -the simplicity of the soft, flowing robes, with their bright-red -sashes, is extremely marked. Two little princesses stand behind the -king and queen, each shaking from a systrum a note of praise to -God. Meryra, accompanied by an assistant, stands bowing before the -king, and near by another priest burns some sweet-smelling incense. -Not far away there sits a group of eight blind musicians,--fat -elderly men, who clap their hands and sing to the accompaniment -of a seven-stringed harp, giving praise to the sunlight which -they cannot see, but yet can feel as “the heat which is in Aton” -penetrates into their bones. - -In still another series of reliefs we are shown a scene -representing the reward of Meryra by Akhnaton on some occasion -when he had been particularly successful in collecting the yearly -dues of the temple from the estates on the opposite bank of the -river. The ceremony took place in the granary buildings at the edge -of the water. One sees a group of boats moored at the quay, and on -the shore are several cattle-pens filled with lowing cattle. The -granaries are stored with all manner of good things, and Meryra -stands triumphant in front of them as the king addresses him. - -“Let the Superintendent of the Treasury of the Jewels take Meryra,” -says Akhnaton, “and hang gold on his neck at the front, and gold -on his feet, because of his obedience to the teaching of Pharaoh;” -and immediately the attendants literally heap the gold collars and -necklaces one above the other upon the High Priest’s neck. Scribes -write down a rapid summary of the events; the attendants and -fan-bearers bow low; and Meryra is conducted back to his village -with music and with dancing, while Akhnaton returns to his palace, -and, no doubt, sinks exhausted on to his cushions. - - - 5. AKHNATON IN HIS PALACE. - -The reliefs and paintings upon the tombs often show the Pharaoh -reclining thus, in a languid manner, as though the duties of his -high calling had sapped all the strength from him. Never before had -a Pharaoh been represented to his subjects in such human attitudes. -The privacy of the palace is penetrated in these scenes, and we -see the king, who loved to teach his followers the beauty of -family life, in the midst of his own family. One or two of these -representations must here be described. In one instance the royal -family is shown inside a beautiful pavilion, the roof of which is -supported by wooden pillars painted with many colours and having -capitals carved in high relief to represent wild geese suspended by -their legs, and above them bunches of flowers: just such a grouping -as one might see in some sporting house of the present day. The -pillars are hung with garlands of flowers, and from the ceiling -there droop festoons of flowers and trailing branches of vines. The -roof of the pavilion on the outside is edged by an endless line of -gleaming cobras, probably wrought in bronze. - -Inside this fair arbor stand a group of naked girls playing upon -the harp, the lute, and the lyre, and, no doubt, singing to that -accompaniment the artless love-songs of the period. Servants are -shown attending to the jars of wine which stand at the side of the -enclosure. The king is seen leaning back upon the cushions of an -arm-chair, as though tired out and sick at heart. In the fingers -of his left hand he idly dandles a few flowers, while with his -right hand he languidly holds out a delicate bowl in order that the -wine in it may be replenished. This is done by the queen, who is -standing before him, all solicitous for his comfort. She pours the -wine from a vessel, causing it to pass through a strainer before -flowing into the bowl. Three little princesses stand near by: one -of them laden with bouquets of flowers, another holding out some -sweetmeat upon a dish, and a third talking to her father. - -In another scene the king and queen are both shown seated upon -comfortable chairs, while a servant waits upon them. The king is -eating a roasted pigeon, holding it in his fingers; and Nefertiti -is represented drinking from a prettily shaped cup. The light, -transparent robes which they wear indicate that this is the midday -meal; but unfortunately the painting is so much damaged that -nothing but the royal figures remains. - - - 6. HISTORICAL EVENTS OF THIS PERIOD OF AKHNATON’S REIGN. - -There is very little historical information to be procured for -these years of the king’s reign. When he had been about ten or -eleven years upon the throne, and was some twenty-one years of -age, his fourth daughter, Nefernefernaton, was born. The queen had -presented no son to Akhnaton to succeed him, but he does not seem -in this emergency to have cared to turn to any secondary wives; -and, as far as we can tell, he remained all his life a monogamist, -although this was in direct opposition to all traditional custom. -Steadily during these years the king’s health seems to have grown -more precarious, for almost daily he must have overtaxed his -strength. His brain was so active that he could not submit to be -idle; and even when he reclined amidst the flowers in his garden, -his whole soul was straining upwards in the attempt to pierce the -barrier which lay between him and the God who had caused those -flowers to bloom. The maturity of his creed at this period leads -one to suppose that he had given to it his very life’s force; and -when it is remembered that at the same time his attention was -occupied by the administration of a kingdom which he had twisted -out of all semblance to its former shape, the wonder is that his -brain was at all able to stand the incessant strain. Rare indeed -must have been those idle moments which the artists of the City of -the Horizon attempted to represent. - -In the twelfth year of his reign, the tribute of the vassal -kingdoms reached such a high value that a particular record was -made of it, and scenes showing its reception were sculptured in the -tombs of Huya and Meryra II.[53] An inscription beside the scene -in the tomb of Huya reads thus:-- - - Year twelve, the second month of winter, the eighth day.... The - King ... and the Queen ... living for ever and ever, made a - public appearance on the great palanquin of gold, to receive the - tribute of Syria and Ethiopia, and of the west and the east. All - the countries were collected at one time, and also the islands - in the midst of the sea; bringing offerings to the King when he - was on the great throne of the City of the Horizon of Aton, in - order to receive the imposts of every land and granting them [in - return] the breath of life. - -The king and queen are shown seated in the state palanquin side -by side; and although Akhnaton holds the insignia of royalty, -and is evidently very much upon his dignity, the queen’s arm has -found its way around his waist, and there lovingly rests for all -the world to see. The palanquin, probably made of wood entirely -covered with gold foil, is a very imposing structure: a large -double throne, borne aloft by stout poles upon the shoulders of the -court officials. The arm-rests are carved in the form of sphinxes, -which rise above a glistening hedge of cobras, and the throne is -flanked on either side by the figure of a lion carved in the round. -A priest walks in front of the palanquin sending up a cloud of -incense from a censer, and professional mummers dance and skip in -the roadway in advance of the procession. Behind the royal couple -walk the princesses, attended by their nurses and ladies; and on -all sides are arrayed courtiers, officers, soldiers, and servants. - -Soon the ground marked out for the ceremony is reached, and the -king and queen betake themselves to a gorgeous little pavilion -which has been erected for them, and here they sit together upon a -double throne, their feet supported upon hassocks. The queen sits -upon Akhnaton’s left, and in the picture her figure is hidden by -that of her husband; but as her right arm is seen to encircle his -waist, and her left hand to hold his left hand, one may suppose -that she is reclining against him, with her royal head upon his -shoulder. Nefertiti was the mother of a family of children, but was -not more than about twenty[54] years of age; and as she is said to -have been extremely beautiful, one may presume that this scene of -conjugal affection was not without its charm. The little princesses -cluster round the throne, one of them holding a young gazelle in -her arms, while another strokes its head. - -In front of this pavilion the deputations from the vassal kingdoms -pass by; and in order that the king may not be wearied by their -ceremonious homage, a group of professional wrestlers, boxers, -and fencers is provided for his diversion; while near them some -buffoons and mummers dance and tumble to the accompaniment of -castanets and hand-clapping. The tribute of Syria is brought -by long-robed Asiatics, who cast themselves upon their knees -before the throne with hands uplifted in salutation. Splendid -Syrian horses are led past, and behind them chariots are wheeled -or carried along. Then come groups of slaves, handcuffed, but -not cruelly bound nor maltreated, as was the custom under other -Pharaohs. Bows, spears, shields, daggers, elephant-tusks, and other -objects, are carried past and deposited upon the ground near the -pavilion; while beautiful vases of precious metal or costly stone -are held aloft for the king to admire. Wild animals are led across -the ground by their keepers, and amongst these a tame mountain lion -must have caused something of a sensation. Several nude girls, -selected probably for their beauty, walk past; and one may suppose -that they will find subsequent employment amongst the handmaidens -in the palace. - -From the “islands in the midst of the sea” come beautiful vases, -some ornamented with figures in the round. From Libya ostrich -eggs and ostrich feathers are brought. The tribute of Nubia and -the Sudan is carried past by befeathered negroes, and consists -mainly of bars and rings of gold and bags of gold-dust, procured -from the mines in the Eastern Desert. Shields, weapons, tusks, and -skins are also to be seen, and cattle and antelopes are led before -the throne. As the Asiatics had startled the assembly by bringing -with them a lion, so the negroes cause a stir by leading forward a -panther of large size. Finally, male and female slaves, the latter -carrying their babies in baskets upon their backs, are marched past -the pavilion; but here again these slaves are not maltreated. It is -particularly noticeable that the groups of miserable captives which -one sees in all such scenes of other periods, with their arms bound -in agonising positions and their knees giving way under them, are -entirely absent from the representations of Akhnaton’s ceremonies. -Human suffering was a thing hateful to the young Pharaoh who knew -so well the meaning of physical distress; and the tortures of the -prisoners, or the beheading of some rebel, such as would have been -a feature of an occasion of this kind under Amonhotep II., or even, -perhaps, under Amonhotep III., would have been as revolting to -Akhnaton as it would be to us. - - - 7. QUEEN TIY VISITS THE CITY OF THE HORIZON. - -Akhnaton had left Thebes, as we have seen, in about the eighth -year of his reign; but his mother, Queen Tiy, seems to have been -unwilling to accompany him, and to have decided to remain in her -palace at the foot of the Theban hills. It is probable that she had -not encouraged her son to create the new capital, and the removal -of the court from Thebes must have been something of a grief to -her, though no doubt she recognised the necessity of the step. -In spite of advancing years she must have sorely missed the pomp -and circumstance of the splendid court over which she had once -presided. Up to the fourth year of her son’s reign she had been -dominant, and the whole known world had bowed the knee to her. The -luxuries of the many kingdoms over which she held sway had been -hers to enjoy; but now, with the king and the nobles gone to the -City of the Horizon, and every penny which could be collected gone -with them, the old queen must have been obliged to live a quiet, -retired life in a palace which was probably falling into rapid -ruin. Her little daughter, Baketaton, appears to have lived with -her; and it may be that some of her other daughters were still with -her, though of them we hear nothing, and it is more probable that -they had already died. It seems likely that she paid occasional -state visits to her son, and permanent accommodation was provided -for her in the City of the Horizon should she at any time desire to -stay there. Her major-domo, an elderly man named Huya, appears to -have lived for part of the year at the new capital, where a tomb -was made for him; and it is from the reliefs on the walls of this -tomb that we obtain the knowledge of one of these state visits made -by the old queen to Akhnaton. There is no evidence to show in what -year the visit which forms the subject of the representations was -made; but as the twelfth year of Akhnaton’s reign is mentioned in -this tomb, it is probable that the visit took place somewhere about -that time. - -The queen must now have been between fifty and sixty years of -age,[55] and her daughter Baketaton, born just before the death -of her husband, was probably not much more than twelve years old. -Akhnaton received his mother and sister with apparent joy and -festivity, and the major-domo, Huya, was called upon to organise -many a _fête_ in their honour. Some of them are shown in the -reliefs, where even the conventionalities of the artist have -not been able to hide from us the luxury of the scene. One sees -Akhnaton, his wife Nefertiti, his mother Tiy, his sister Baketaton, -and his two daughters Merytaton and Ankhsenpaaton, seated together -on comfortable cushioned chairs, their feet resting on elaborate -footstools. Akhnaton is clad in a skirt of clinging linen, but the -upper part of his body seems to have been bare. On his forehead -there gleams a small golden serpent, and on his feet there are -elaborate sandals; but with customary simplicity he wears no -jewellery. Queen Nefertiti wears a flowing robe of fine linen, and -on her forehead also there is the royal serpent. Queen Tiy wears -the elaborate wig which was in vogue during the days of the old -_régime_, and upon it there rests an ornamental crown consisting -of a disk, two horns, two tall plumes, and two small serpents, -probably all wrought in gold. A graceful robe of some almost -transparent material falls lightly over her figure. The little -girls appear to be naked. - -Around this happy family group there stand graceful tables upon -which food of all kinds is heaped. Here are joints of meat, dishes -of confectionery, vegetables, fruit,[56] bread, cakes of various -kinds, and so on. The tables are massed with lotus-flowers, -according to the charming custom of the ancient Egyptians of all -periods. Beside the tables stand jars of wine and other drinkables, -festooned with ribbons. At the moment selected by the artist for -reproduction, Akhnaton is seen placing his teeth in the neatly -trimmed meat adhering to a large bone which he holds in his hand. -To this day it is the custom in Egypt thus to eat with the hands. -Nefertiti has a small roast duck in her hands at which she daintily -nibbles. Tiy’s morsel cannot now be seen, but as she places it to -her mouth with one hand she presents a portion to her daughter, -Baketaton, with the other. The two little princesses feed by -Nefertiti’s side, and appear to be sharing the meal. Meanwhile Huya -hurries to and fro superintending the banquet, carefully tasting -each dish before it is presented to the royal party. Two string -bands play alternately, the one Egyptian and the other apparently -Syrian. The former consists of four female performers, the first -playing on a harp, the second and third on lutes, and the fourth on -a lyre. The main instrument in the foreign band is a large standing -lyre, about six feet in height, having eight strings, and being -played with both hands. Courtiers clad in elaborate dresses, and -holding ostrich-plume standards, are grouped around the hall in -which the banquet takes place. - -Another set of reliefs in the tomb of Huya shows us an evening -entertainment in honour of Queen Tiy. Again the same members of -the royal family are represented, but against the cool night air -more clothes are worn by each person, and the upper part of the -king’s body is now seen to be covered by a mantle of soft linen. -The king, queen, and queen-dowager are all shown drinking from -delicate bowls, probably made of gold. This being an evening -festival, little solid food appears to have been eaten, but there -are three flower-decked tables piled high with fruit. From these -the little princesses, now wearing light garments, help themselves -liberally; and the small Ankhsenpaaton stands upon the footstool of -her mother’s chair, holding on to her skirts with one hand, while -with the other she crams an apricot or some similar fruit into her -mouth. Two string bands make music as before, and again the groups -of courtiers stand about the hall; while Huya hastens to and fro -directing the waiters, who, with napkins thrown over their arms, -replenish the drinking-bowls from the wine-jars. The hall is lit -by several flaming lamps set upon tall stands, near each of which -these jars have been placed. - - - 8. TIY VISITS HER TEMPLE. - -One more scene from this state visit is shown. Here we observe -Akhnaton leading his mother affectionately by the hand to a temple -which had been built in her honour, as her private place of -worship, and which was called the “Shade of the Sun.” This temple -appears to have been a building of great beauty and considerable -size. One passed through two great swinging doors fixed between the -usual two pylons, and so entered the main court, which stood open -to the sunlight. A pillared gallery passed along either side of -this court, and between each of the columns there stood statues of -Akhnaton, Amonhotep III., and Queen Tiy. In the middle of the court -rose the altar, to which one mounted by a flight of low steps. At -the far end of the court another set of pylons and swinging doors -led into the inner chambers. Passing through these doors one -entered a small gallery, on either side of which there were again -statues of the Pharaoh and his mother. Beyond stood the sanctuary, -closed by swinging doors; and inside this was the second altar, -flanked by statues of the king and queen-dowager. To right and left -of the sanctuary there were small chapels; and a passage led round -behind the sanctuary to the usual shrines, where more royal statues -were to be seen. - -The building seems to have been brilliant with colours; and on -this particular occasion the altars were heaped up with offerings. -Great jars of wine, decked with garlands of flowers and ribbons, -stood in the shadow of the colonnades; and meat, bread, fruit, and -vegetables were piled on delicate stands, ornamented with flowers. - -Akhnaton and Tiy were accompanied by the little Princess Baketaton, -Akhnaton’s sister, and her two ladies-in-waiting. Before them -walked the queen’s major-domo, Huya, accompanied by a foreign -official wearing what appears to be Cretan costume.[57] Behind -them walked a noble group of courtiers bearing ostrich-plume fans -and standards; and outside the temple precincts waited a crowd of -policemen, servants, charioteers and grooms in charge of the royal -chariots, fan-bearers, porters, and temple attendants. These people -shout and cheer loyally as the royal party arrives. “The ruler of -the Aton!” they cry. “He shall exist for ever and ever!” “She who -rises in beauty!” “To him on whom the Aton rises!” “She who is -patron of this temple of Aton!” The old queen must have felt as -though she were back once more in the days of her glory; and yet -how different the simplicity of the religious ceremonies to those -of the old priests of Amon-Ra. There was now but a prayer or two -at the altar, a little burning of incense, a little bowing of the -head, and then the procession back to the palace, and the silent -closing of the holy gates. - - - 9. THE DEATH OF QUEEN TIY. - -It is possible that Queen Tiy took up her residence at the City -of the Horizon in recognition of the lavish arrangements which -her son had made for her. But whether this is so or not, it -does not seem that she lived very long to enjoy such renewals -of the pomps which she had known in her younger days. Her death -appears to have taken place shortly after these celebrations, -and, probably by her express commands, she was embalmed at Thebes -and carried from her palace up the winding valley to the royal -burying-ground amongst the rugged Theban hills. Akhnaton showed -his affection for her by presenting the furniture for the tomb, -and in the inscriptions on the outer coffin one reads that “he -made it for his mother.” The queen-dowager had evidently expressed -a wish to be buried near her father and mother, Yuaa and Tuau; -for the tomb, which is situated on the east side of the valley, -is within a stone’s-throw of the sepulchre where they lay. It -was entered by a steep flight of steps leading down to a sloping -passage, at the end of which was the large burial chamber, the -walls of which were carefully whitewashed. On passing into this -chamber a great box-like shrine, or outer coffin, was to be found, -occupying the greater part of the room. The door to the shrine -was made of costly cedar of Lebanon covered with gold, and was -fitted with an ornamental bolt. Many of the nails which held the -woodwork together were made of pure gold,--a fact which plainly -shows us the wealth of the royal treasuries at this time. Scenes -were embossed on the panels showing the queen standing under the -rays of the Aton. The shrine itself was also made of cedar, covered -with gold, and on all sides were scenes of the Aton worship. Here -Akhnaton was shown with Tiy, and the life-giving rays of the sun -streamed around their naturally drawn figures. Inside this outer -box the coffin containing the great queen’s mummy was laid. The -usual funeral furniture was placed at the sides of the room: gaily -coloured boxes, alabaster vases, faience toilet-pots, statuettes, -&c. Some of the toilet utensils were made in the form of little -figures of the grotesque god Bes, which indicates that Akhnaton -still tolerated the recognition by other persons of some of the -old gods. In the inscriptions upon the outer coffin he had been -careful to call his father, Amonhotep III., by his second name, -Nebmaara, as often as possible, in order to avoid the writing -of the word Amon, his dislike of everything to do with that god -being profound. He allowed it to be written, however, here and -there, as it seemed right to him that it should appear. Akhnaton’s -prejudice against the old state god is also shown in another -manner. Amon’s consort was the goddess Mut “the Mother,” whose -name is written in hieroglyphs by a sign representing a vulture. -Now when the inscription mentioned the king’s _mother_, Tiy, the -word _mut_, “mother,” had to be written; but in order to avoid a -similarity--even in spelling--to the name of the goddess, Akhnaton -had the word written out phonetically, letter by letter, and -thus dispensed with the use of the vulture sign.[58] Again, in -the name Nebmaara, the meaning of which is “Ra, Lord of Truth,” -the sign _maa_, “truth,” represented the goddess of that name. -Akhnaton’s religion was much concerned with the quality of truth, -which he regarded as one of the greatest necessities to happiness -and well-being; and the fallacy of supposing that there was an -actual deity of truth was particularly apparent to him. He was, -therefore, careful to write the sign _maa_ in letters instead of -with the hieroglyph of the goddess. - -When the funeral ceremonies came to an end, when the last prayer -was said and the last cloud of incense had floated to the roof, -the golden door of the shrine was shut and bolted, the outer -doorways were walled up, and an avalanche of stones, let down -from the chippings heaped near by, obliterated all traces of the -entrance. Thus Akhnaton paid his last tribute to his mother and -to the originator, it may be, of the schemes which he had carried -into effect; and his last link with the past was severed. With the -death of this good woman a restraining influence, as kindly as it -was powerful, slipped from his arm, and a new and fiercer chapter -of his short life began. - - - - - VI. - - THE THIRTEENTH TO THE FIFTEENTH YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON. - - “The episode of the retirement of the king with his whole - court to the new palace and city, ... and the strange life of - religious and artistic propaganda which he led there, ... is - one of the most curious and interesting in the history of the - world.”--BUDGE: ‘History of Egypt.’ - - - 1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELIGION OF ATON. - -In the Pharaoh’s hymn to the Aton we read these words-- - - “Thou didst create the earth according to Thy desire, ... - The countries of Syria and Nubia, - The land of Egypt....” - -It is certainly worthy of note that Syria and Nubia are thus named -before Egypt, and seem to take precedence in Akhnaton’s mind. In -the same hymn the following lines occur:-- - - “The Nile in heaven is for the strangers, ... - But the Nile [itself,] it cometh from the nether world for Egypt.” - -Here Akhnaton refers to the rain which falls in Syria to water -the lands of the stranger, and compares it with the river which -irrigates his own country. Thus again his thoughts are first for -Syria and then for Egypt. This is the true imperial spirit: in -the broadness of the Pharaoh’s mind his foreign possessions claim -as much attention as do his own dominions, and demand as much -love. The sentiments are entirely opposed to those of the earlier -kings of this dynasty, who ground down the land of the “miserable” -foreigner and extracted therefrom all its riches, without regard to -aught else. - -Akhnaton believed that his God was the Father of all mankind, and -that the Syrian and the Nubian were as much under His protection -as the Egyptian. This is a greater advance in ethics than may be -at once apparent; for the Aton thus becomes the first deity who -was not tribal or not national ever conceived by mortal mind. -This is the Christian’s understanding of God, though not the -Hebrew conception of Jehovah. This is the spirit which sends the -missionary to the uttermost parts of the earth; and it was such -an attitude of mind which now led Akhnaton to build a temple -for the Aton in the heart of Syria, and another far up in the -Sudan.[59] The site of the Syrian temple is now lost, but the -Nubian buildings were recently discovered and seem to have been of -considerable extent. - -[Illustration: _An Example of the Friendly Relations between Syria -and Egypt._ - -A Syrian Soldier named Terura, and his wife, Aariburæ, attended by -an Egyptian servant, who assists him to hold the tube through which -he is drinking wine from a jar. From a tablet found at El Amarna. -(Zeit. Aeg. Spr. xxxvi. 126.)] - -At the same time temples were being erected in various parts of -Egypt. At Hermonthis a temple named “Horizon of Aton in Hermonthis” -was built; at Heliopolis there was a temple named “Exaltation of -Ra in Heliopolis,” and also a palace for the king; at Hermopolis -and at Memphis temples were erected; and in the Fayum and the Delta -“Houses” of Aton sprang up. Few real converts, however, seem to -have been made; for the religion was far above the understanding -of the people. In deference to the king’s wishes the Aton was -accepted, but no love was shown for the new form of worship; -and, indeed, not even in the City of the Horizon itself was it -understood. - -A certain change was now made by Akhnaton in the name of the -Aton. The words “Heat which is in Aton” did not seem to him to -be very happily chosen. They had been used in the earliest years -of the movement, and had evidently not been coined by Akhnaton -himself. The word “heat” was in spelling very reminiscent of the -name of one of the old gods, and, to the uninitiate, might suggest -some connection. The name of the Aton was therefore changed to -“Effulgence which comes from Aton,” the new words introducing into -the spelling the hieroglyph of Ra, the sun. The exact significance -of the alteration is not known; but one may suppose that the -new words better conveyed the meaning which Akhnaton wished to -imply. Even now it is not easy to find a phrase to express that -vital energy, that first cause of life, which the king so clearly -understood. - -The date of this change is somewhat uncertain, though it is -definitely to be placed between the tenth and thirteenth year of -the reign, the probability being that it took place at the end -of the twelfth year, when Akhnaton was about twenty-three years -old. The inscriptions upon the outer coffin, or shrine, of Queen -Tiy show the older form of wording, and the change, therefore, -took place after her death. Now the queen did not die till the -middle or end of the twelfth year, for in the tomb of Huya events -of that year are recorded,[60] and he still holds the office of -steward to the queen, while a letter from Dushratta, mentioning -Tiy, was docketed in the twelfth year. On the other hand, the -new name of the Aton occurs in tombs which, by the number of -Akhnaton’s daughters represented in them, might be thought to have -been constructed earlier than this.[61] Thus there is a slight -discrepancy; but the point of significance is that the change -occurred after the queen’s death, and was thus concurrent with -another change which must here be recorded. - - - 2. AKHNATON OBLITERATES THE NAME OF AMON. - -Up till this time it will have been observed that Akhnaton had -behaved with great leniency towards the worshippers of the older -gods, and had not even persecuted the priesthood of Amon-Ra. It -now becomes apparent that this restraint was due to his mother’s -influence, for no sooner was she dead than Akhnaton turned with the -fierceness of a fanatic upon the latter institution. He issued an -order that the name of Amon was to be erased wherever it occurred, -and this order was carried out with such amazing thoroughness that -hardly a single occurrence of the name was overlooked. Although -thousands of inscriptions, accessible to Akhnaton’s agents, are -now known in which the name of Amon occurs, there are but a few -examples in which the god’s name has not been mutilated. His agents -hammered the name out on the walls of the temples throughout Egypt; -they penetrated into the tombs of the dead to erase it from the -texts; they searched through the minute inscriptions upon small -statuettes and figures, obliterating the name therefrom; they -made journeys into the distant deserts to cut out the name from -the rock-scribbles of travellers; they clambered over the cliffs -beside the Nile to erase it from the graffiti; they entered -private houses to rub it from small utensils where it chanced to be -inscribed. - -Akhnaton was always thorough in his undertakings, and half-measures -were unknown to him. When it came to the question of his own -father’s name, he seems not to have hesitated to order the -obliteration of the word Amon in it, though one may suppose that -in most cases he painted over it the king’s second name, Nebmaara. -His agents burst their way into the tomb of Queen Tiy and removed -the name Amonhotep from the inscriptions upon the shrine, writing -Nebmaara in red ink over each erasure. Having scratched out the -name even upon one of the queen’s toilet-pots of minute size they -retired from the tomb, building up the wall at the entrance, and -continued their labours elsewhere. The king was now asked whether -his own name, Amonhotep,--which had been used before he adopted the -better known Akhnaton,--was to suffer the same fate, and the answer -seems to have been in the affirmative. Upon the quarry tablet at -Gebel Silsileh[62] the king’s discarded name is thus erased, though -it was not damaged in the tomb of Rames. The names of the various -nobles and officials, male and female, which were compounded with -Amon--Amonhotep, Setamon, Amonemhat, Amonemapt, and so on--were -ruthlessly destroyed; while living persons bearing such names were -often obliged to change them. - -In thus mutilating his father’s name Akhnaton did not in any way -intend to disparage his forbears. He was but desirous of utterly -obliterating Amon from the memory of man, in order that the true -God might the better receive acceptance. He was proud of his -descent, and, unlike most of his ancestors, he showed a desire to -honour the memory of his father. We have seen[63] how one of his -artists, Bek, represented the figure of Amonhotep III. upon his -monument at Aswan. Huya, Queen Tiy’s steward, was authorised by -Akhnaton to show that king upon the walls of his tomb;[64] and in -the private temple of Queen Tiy, it will be remembered that there -were statues of Amonhotep III.[65] Likewise, the earlier kings of -the dynasty received unusual recognition. An official named Any -held the office of Steward of the House of Amonhotep II.;[66] and -there is a representation of Akhnaton offering to Aton in “the -House of Thothmes IV. in the City of the Horizon.”[67] Upon his -boundary tablet Akhnaton refers to Amonhotep III. and Thothmes IV. -as being troubled by the priesthood of Amon. - -It would seem from the above that there were shrines dedicated to -Akhnaton’s ancestors in the City of the Horizon, each of which had -its steward and its officials; and it is probable that Akhnaton -arranged that a memorial shrine of the same kind should be erected -for himself against his death, for we read of a personage who was -“Second Priest” of the king.[68] It was his desire in this manner -to show the continuity of his descent from the Pharaohs of the -elder days, and to demonstrate his real claim to that title “Son -of the Sun” which had been held by the sovereigns of Egypt ever -since the Fifth Dynasty, and which was of such vital importance -in the new religion. It was in this manner that he claimed descent -from Ra, who was to him the same with Aton; and just as the great -religious teachers of the Hebrews made careful note of their -genealogies in order to prove themselves descended from Adam, and -hence in a manner from God, so Akhnaton thus demonstrated the -continuity of his line in order to show his real right to the -titles “Child of Aton” and “Son of the Sun.” - - - 3. THE GREAT TEMPLE OF ATON. - -The City of the Horizon of Aton must now have been a very city -of temples. There were these shrines dedicated to the king’s -ancestors; there was the temple of Queen Tiy; there was a shrine -for the use of Baketaton, the king’s sister; there was the “House -of putting the Aton to Rest,” where Queen Nefertiti officiated; and -there was the great temple of Aton, in which probably were included -other of the buildings named in the inscriptions. The great temple -may here be briefly described, as the reader has so far made the -acquaintance only of the building belonging to Queen Tiy. - -The temple was entirely surrounded by a high wall, and in this -respect was not unlike the existing temple of Edfu, which the -visitor to Egypt will assuredly have seen. Inside the area thus -enclosed there were two buildings, the one behind the other, -standing clear of the walls, thus leaving a wide ambulatory around -them. Upon passing through the gates of the enclosing wall there -was seen before one the façade of the first of the two temples, -while to right and left there stood a small lodge or vestry. The -façade of the temple was most imposing. Two great pylons towered -up before one, rising from behind a pillared portico, and between -them stood the gateway with its swinging doors. Up the face of -each pylon shot five tall masts, piercing the blue sky above, and -from the heads of each there fluttered a crimson pennant. Passing -through the gateway one entered an open court, in the midst of -which stood the high altar, up to which a flight of steps ascended. -On either side of this sun-bathed enclosure stood a series of small -chapels or chambers; while in front of one, in the axial line, -there was another gateway leading on into the second court, from -which one passed again into a third court. Passing through yet -another gateway, a fourth division of the temple was reached, this -being a pillared gallery or colonnade where one might rest for a -while in the cool shadow. Then onwards through another gateway into -the fifth court, crossing which one entered the sixth court, where -stood another altar in the full sunshine. A series of some twenty -little chambers passed around the sides of this court, and looking -into the darkness beyond each of their doorways one might discern -the simple tables and stands with which the rooms were furnished. -A final gateway now led one into the seventh and last court, where -again there was an altar, and again a series of chambers surrounded -the open space. - -Behind this main temple, and quite separate from it though standing -within the one enclosure, stood the lesser temple, which was -probably the more sacred of the two. It was fronted by a pillared -portico, and before each column stood a statue of Akhnaton, beside -which was a smaller figure of his wife or one of his daughters. -Passing through the gateway, which was so designed that nothing -beyond could be seen, one entered an open court in which stood the -altar, and around the sides of which were small chambers. Here the -temple ended, save for a few chambers of uncertain use, approached -from the ambulatory. - -Both buildings were gay with colours, and at festivals there were -numerous stands heaped high with flowers and other offerings, -while red ribbons added their notes of brilliant colour on all -sides. There was nothing gloomy or sombre in this temple of Aton; -and it contrasts strikingly with the buildings in which Amon was -worshipped. There vast halls were lit by minute windows, and -a dim uncertainty hovered around the worshipper. Such temples -lent themselves to mystery, and amidst their gloomy shadows -many a supplicant’s heart beat in terror. Dark stairways led to -subterranean passages, and these passages to black chambers built -in the thickness of the wall, from whence the hollow voice of the -priest throbbed as from mid-air upon the ears of the crouching -congregation. But in Akhnaton’s temple each court was open to the -full blaze of the sunlight.[69] There was, there could be, no -mystery; nor could there be any terror of darkness to loosen the -knees of the worshipper. Akhnaton, true scientist that he was, -had no sympathy for the occult and no interest in spiritualism. -Boldly he looked to God as a child to its father; and having solved -what he deemed to be the riddle of life, there was no place in -his mind for aught but an open, fearless adoration of the Creator -of that vital energy which he saw in all things. Akhnaton was the -sworn enemy of the table-turners of his day, and the tricks of -priestcraft, the stage effects of religiosity, were anathema to his -pure mind. - - - 4. THE BEAUTY OF THE CITY. - -The City of the Horizon of Aton was now a place of surpassing -beauty. Eight or nine years of lavish expenditure in money and -skill had transformed the fields and the wilderness into as fair -a city as the world had ever seen. One of the nobles who lived -there, by name May, describes it in these words: “The mighty City -of the Horizon of Aton, great in loveliness, mistress of pleasant -ceremonies, rich in possessions, the offering of the sun being in -her midst. At the sight of her beauty there is rejoicing. She is -lovely and beautiful: when one sees her it is like a glimpse of -heaven.” - -[Illustration: _Carved Wooden Chair, the designs partly covered -with gold-leaf._] - -There was almost constant music in her streets, and the scent of -flowers was wafted upon every breeze. Besides the temples and -public buildings the city was adorned with numerous palaces, each -standing in fair gardens. One of these mansions,[70] represented in -the tomb of Meryra, seems to have constituted a happy combination -of comfort and simplicity, as may be seen from its pictures. One -entered a walled court, and so passed to the main entrance of -the house. A portico, the roof of which was supported by four -decorative columns festooned with ribbons, sheltered the elaborate -doorway from the sunshine. Passing through this doorway, from the -top of which a row of cobras gleamed down upon one, a pillared -hall was reached; and beyond this the visitor entered the great -dining-hall. Twelve columns supported the ceiling, which was -probably painted with flights of birds; and under a kind of kiosk -in the middle of the hall stood the dining-table and several -comfortable arm-chairs, cushioned in bright colours. Beyond this -hall there was a court, at the back of which were several chambers, -one being a bedroom, as a great cushioned bedstead clearly shows. -The owner’s womenfolk probably occupied another portion of the -building not shown in the representations. - -The palace of Ay, Akhnaton’s father-in-law, was a more pretentious -building. It was entered by a fine doorway which led into a court. -A second door gave entrance to the large, pillared dining-hall, -and through this one passed into a court from which bedrooms and -boudoirs led off. In one of these rooms two women, clad in airy -garments, are seen to be dancing with one another, while a man -plays a harp. In another room a girl likewise dances to the strains -of a harp, while a servant dresses the hair of one of the gentlemen -of the household. Other rooms contain lutes, harps, and lyres, as -well as objects of the toilet. A little court is now reached, where -fragrant flowers grow, and tanks of water, sunk in the decorated -pavement, give a sense of coolness to the air. Beyond this are more -apartments, and finally the kitchens are reached. Throughout the -house stand delicate tables upon which jars of wine or dishes of -fruit are to be seen; and cushioned arm-chairs, with footstools -before them, are ready for the weary. Servants are seen passing to -and fro bearing refreshments, or stopping to dust the floor, or -again idly talking in the passages. - -Akhnaton’s palace is not very clearly shown in the tomb reliefs or -paintings, but portions of it were found in the modern excavations -on the site[71]. Like all the residential buildings of the -period, it was an airy and light structure made of brick. The -walls, ceilings, and floors were covered with the most beautiful -paintings; and delicate pillars, inlaid with coloured glass and -stone, or covered with realistically painted vines and creepers, -supported the light roofs of its halls. Portions of the pavement -are still preserved, and the visitor to the site of the city may -still see the paintings there depicted. A young calf, frisking -in the sunlight, gallops through a field of red poppies; wild -geese rise from the marshes and beat their way through the reeds, -disturbing the butterflies as they do so; amidst the lotus-flowers -resting upon the rippling water the sinuous fish are seen to -wander. These are but fragments of the paintings which once -delighted the eyes of the Pharaoh, or brought a sigh to the lips of -his queen. - -The art of the painter of this period excels in the depiction of -animal and plant life. The winding, tangled stems and leaves of -vines were carefully studied; the rapid motions of animals were -correctly caught; and it has been said that in these things the -artists of Akhnaton were greater than those in any other Oriental -art[72]. Sculpture in the round, too, reached a pitch of excellence -never before known. The statue of Akhnaton illustrated opposite is -the work of one who may rank with Donatello, if not with Cellini. - -[Illustration: _Akhnaton._ - -(From a statuette in the Louvre.)] - -It is possible that Auta, the chief sculptor of Queen Tiy,[73] is -the creator of this statue, and perhaps also of the head, probably, -of Akhnaton’s daughter shown opposite next page. In the tomb of -Huya there is a scene representing this artist seated in his studio -giving the final touches to a statue of Princess Baketaton. He sits -upon a low stool, palette in hand, and, as was the custom, colours -the surface of the statue. Unlike the stiff conventional poses of -earlier work, the attitude of the young girl is easy and graceful. -One hand hangs by her side: in the other she holds a pomegranate, -which she is about to raise to her lips. Auta’s assistant stands -beside the figure, and near by two apprentices work upon objects of -less importance, their chisels on a table by their side. - -Works such as these which Auta and his companions were turning out -are permanent memorials of the reign of Akhnaton, which will carry -his name through the years until, as he would say, “the swan turns -black and the crow turns white.” There must surely come a time, -and soon, when the art of Egypt will receive more attention; and -one may then hear Akhnaton’s name coupled with that of the Medici -as the patron, if not the teacher, of great masters. It was he -who released them from convention, and bade their hands repeat -what their eyes saw; and it was he who directed those eyes to the -beauties of nature around them. He, and no other, taught them to -look at the world in the spirit of life, to infuse into the cold -stone something of the “effulgence which comes from Aton”; and, -if these few treasures which have survived the utter wreck of the -City of the Horizon have put one’s heart to a happy step, it was -Akhnaton who first set the measure. - - - 5. AKHNATON’S AFFECTION FOR HIS FAMILY. - -In about the thirteenth year of the reign a fifth daughter was -born, who was named Neferneferura. This seems to have been the -first daughter born after the changes in the religion recorded -at the beginning of this chapter[74] had taken place; and it is -significant that the name of Aton, of which all the previous -daughters’ names had been compounded, now gives place to Ra. -A sixth daughter seems to have made her appearance somewhat over -a year later, some time during the fourteenth year of the reign. -Again Ra is used in the name instead of Aton, she being called -Setepenra. It is impossible to say what was the meaning of this -slight change in the theological aspect of the religion at this -period, but it seems evident that certain developments in which Ra -figured were now introduced. - -[Illustration: _Head of Akhnaton’s Daughter._] - -No son was yet forthcoming, and both the king and the queen -must now have suffered six successive disappointments. It may -be mentioned here that the next child born to the unfortunate -couple in the following year proved to be a seventh girl and a -seventh disappointment; and in the remaining two years of the -reign no other child was born, or at any rate was weaned, so that -Akhnaton died sonless. It is strange to picture this lofty-minded -preacher in his home, with his six little girls around him, as -he is shown upon the monuments. No other Pharaoh thus portrayed -himself surrounded by his family; but Akhnaton seems to have -never been happy unless all his children were with him and his -wife by his side. The charm of family life, and the sanctity of -the relationship of husband and wife, parents and children, seems -to have been an important point of doctrine to him. He urged his -nobles, also, to give their attention to their families; and in the -tomb of Panehesy, for example, one may see representations of that -personage sitting with his wife and his three daughters around him. - -Akhnaton’s affection for his daughters is now shown to us in -another manner. When Amonhotep III. had asked the King of Mitanni -for one of his daughters to be given in marriage to Akhnaton, the -little Nefertiti was at once dispatched, although she was not yet -old enough to cohabit with her husband. He had no scruples about -sending the child of eight years old to a foreign country, and -seems to have packed her off without a thought. Now, however, we -obtain a glimpse of Akhnaton’s actions under similar circumstances, -and the difference is marked. The King of Babylon, Burraburiash, -wrote to Akhnaton in about the fourteenth or fifteenth year of -the reign, asking for one of the Pharaoh’s daughters as a wife -for his son. Wishing to be on friendly terms with Babylonia, -Akhnaton consented to the union, and selected probably his fourth -daughter, Nefernefernaton, as the future Queen of Babylon. His -eldest daughter subsequently married a noble named Smenkhkara, who -succeeded to the throne after the death of Akhnaton; and his third -daughter was later married to another noble named Tutankhaton, who -usurped the throne, as we shall see in the sequel. The fact that -neither of these daughters was now chosen to marry the Babylonian -prince indicates that they were already betrothed to their future -husbands, and hence this event could not have taken place much -earlier than at the date mentioned above. The second daughter, -Meketaton, was not selected for the reason that she seems to have -been in a precarious state of health. The little princess who was -chosen was born in the tenth year of the reign, and was now not -more than five years of age. Akhnaton, unlike the King of Mitanni, -did not at once send the child to her future home, but arranged -the marriage by proxy, and thus kept his daughter with him for yet -a few years. This is made evident from the fact that in a letter -from Burraburiash to Akhnaton, the Babylonian king states that he -is sending a necklace of over a thousand stones to the “Pharaoh’s -daughter, the wife of his son,” who is thus evidently still -resident in Egypt. - -Besides Akhnaton’s six, and presently seven, daughters there were -two other princesses probably in residence at the palace. One of -these, his young sister Baketaton, whom we have seen visiting the -City of the Horizon with her mother, is not again heard of, and -perhaps did not long survive the dowager-queen’s death. The other -was Nezemmut, the sister of Queen Nefertiti, who seems to have -lived in Egypt continuously since the time of the founding of the -new city, when we last saw her.[75] Her portraits are shown in -the tombs of May, Panehesy, and Ay; and she is generally seen to -be accompanied by two female dwarfs, named Para and Reneheh, who -appear to have waddled after her wherever she went. She was still, -no doubt, very young, and these two grotesque attendants were -entrusted with her safety as well as her amusement. - - - 6. AKHNATON’S FRIENDS. - -The simple and homely manner in which Akhnaton is represented by -his artists, surrounded by his children, is an indication that -although he demanded much homage from his subjects in his capacity -as their Pharaoh, he but asked for their sympathy and affection in -all other connections. As Pharaoh his person was inapproachable and -his attitude aloof, but as a man he never failed to set an example -of what he considered a man should do; and even upon his throne, -to which one might but advance with bowed head and bended knee, -he displayed his mortal nature to all beholders by joking with -his children or paying fond attention to his wife. So, also, many -of his disciples and courtiers, who so ceremoniously approached -the steps of his throne, were in reality his good friends and -intimates. Akhnaton did not care a snap of the fingers for -aristocratic traditions, and although he demanded the conventional -respect of his subjects, and upheld the less tiresome rules of -court etiquette, many of his closest friends were of peasant -origin, and the hands which now held the jewelled ostrich-plume -standards could as easily grasp the pick or the plough. - -May, a high official of the city, speaks of himself in the -following words: “I was a man of low origin both on my father’s -and on my mother’s side, but the King established me.... He caused -me to grow ... by his bounty when I was a man of no property; ... -he gave me food and provisions every day, I who had been one that -begged bread.” Huya, Queen Tiy’s steward, speaks of the king as -selecting his officials from the ranks of the yeomen. Panehesy -tells us that Akhnaton is one “who maketh princes and formeth the -humble,” and he adds: “When I knew not the companionship of princes -I was made an intimate of the King.” But if the Pharaoh raised men -from the ranks, he was also capable of degrading those who offended -against the standards which he had set up. Thus May seems to have -been disgraced and turned out of the city. - -The tomb of the police official, Mahu, who was a favourite of the -king, though probably not of exalted origin, has provided us with -some scenes relating to his official work which are of considerable -interest. In one series of these we are shown the capture of some -foreigners, or perhaps Beduin, who may have belonged to some gang -of thieves or anarchists. Mahu has been awakened in the early -hours of a winter morning by the news of the disturbance, and as -he listens to the report a servant blows a small fire into flame, -since the morning air is chilly. He then sends for his chariot and -drives to the scene of the crime, whatever it may be; and soon he -has effected the arrest of some of the culprits. These men are then -conveyed to the Vizir, who, with his staff, receives Mahu with -exclamations of approval. “Examine these men, O Princes,” says the -police officer, “whom the foreigners have instigated.” From these -words it might seem that the prisoners were foreign spies, or even -assassins plotting against the life of the Pharaoh. - -Whether from fear of a revolt in Egypt or from mere custom, the -City of the Horizon was closely defended at this time, and there -is a scene in this same tomb in which Akhnaton is shown inspecting -the fortifications. He drives in his chariot with his wife and -his eldest daughter Merytaton; and although the spirited horses -would appear to be difficult to manage, the more so because the -mischievous Merytaton is poking them with a stick, Akhnaton is a -sufficiently good driver to be able to carry on a conversation with -the queen, and to address a few words to Mahu, who runs by the -side of the chariot. In striking contrast to the custom of other -Pharaohs, Akhnaton is accompanied by an unarmed bodyguard of police -as he drives round the defences; and in this we may perhaps see an -indication of his popularity. The fortifications, it may be noted, -consist of blockhouses built at regular intervals, and defended by -wire or rope entanglements. - -In several of the tombs there are representations of their -owners receiving rewards from the king for their diligence in -their official works, or for their intelligent acceptance of his -teaching. A high official named Pentu has left us a scene in -which Akhnaton is shown seated in the hall of his palace, while -Pentu stands before him to receive numerous golden collars at the -royal hands in recognition of his services. A part of the palace -is shown, but the scene is much damaged: a small pond or tank -surrounded by flowers is shown in one corner of the enclosure, but -the plan of the various rooms is confused, and is quite subsidiary -to the representation of the hall where the Pharaoh receives the -happy Pentu. Akhnaton seems to have been a good friend, as he was -a stern enemy; and those who assisted him in the difficult tasks -which he had set himself were lavishly rewarded for their pains. - - - 7. AKHNATON’S TROUBLES. - -Akhnaton’s health was so very uncertain that he hastened to -construct for himself a tomb in the cliffs behind the City of the -Horizon. He selected as the site of his last resting-place a gaunt -and rugged valley which here cuts into the hills, leading back, -around tumbled rocks and up dry watercourses, to the Arabian desert -beyond. It is - - “A savage place!--as holy and enchanted - As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted - By woman wailing for her demon-lover.” - -Here Akhnaton elected to be buried, where hyænas prowled and -jackals wandered, and where the desolate cry of the night-owls -echoed over the rocks. In winter, the cold wind sweeps up this -valley and howls around the rocks; in summer the sun makes of it -a veritable furnace unendurable to man. There is nothing here to -remind one of the God who watches over him, and the tender Aton of -the Pharaoh’s conception would seem to have abandoned this place -to the spirits of evil. There are no flowers where Akhnaton cut -his sepulchre, and no birds sing; for the king believed that his -soul, caught up into the noon of Paradise, would need no more the -delights of earth. - -The tomb consisted of a passage descending into the hill, and -leading to a rock-cut hall, the roof of which was supported by -four columns. Here stood the sarcophagus of pink granite in which -the Pharaoh’s mummy would lie. The walls of this hall were covered -with scenes carved in plaster,[76] representing various phases of -the Aton worship. From the passage there led another small chamber -beyond which a further passage was cut, perhaps to lead to a second -hall in which the queen should be buried; but the work was never -finished. - -The construction of the tomb was interrupted by the death of -Akhnaton’s second daughter, Meketaton, who had barely lived to see -her ninth birthday. It has already been seen that she seems to have -been ailing for some time, and her death was perhaps no surprise -to her parents. Their grief, however, was none the less acute for -this; and when the body of the little girl had been laid to rest in -one of the chambers of her father’s tomb, the walls were covered -at Akhnaton’s order with scenes representing the grief of the -bereaved family. Here Queen Nefertiti is seen holding in her arms -her lately born seventh daughter, whose name, ending in ... t, is -now lost; while the five other little girls weep with their parents -beside the bier of their dead sister. It is a pathetic picture, and -one which stirs our sympathy for a Pharaoh who, unlike all other -kings of Egypt, could weep for the loss of a daughter. - -This was not Akhnaton’s only grief. His doctrines were not being -accepted in Egypt as readily as he had hoped, and he was probably -able to detect a considerable amount of insincerity in the attitude -of those around him. There was hardly a man whom he could trust to -continue in the faith should he himself die; and even as he put the -last touches to his temples and his palaces he was aware that he -had built his house upon the sand. The empire which he had dreamed -of, bound together by the ties of a common worship of Aton, was -fast fading out of sight, and the news which reached him from Syria -was disquieting in the extreme. - -At this time the King of Babylon, whose son had married Akhnaton’s -daughter, seems to have been on bad terms with his neighbour, -the King of Mitanni, the father of the Pharaoh’s much-loved Queen -Nefertiti; and Akhnaton came nigh to being drawn into the quarrel. -The Babylonian king had been ill for some time, and in the course -of the international correspondence Nefertiti had never once sent -her condolences to him, apparently because he was a poor friend to -her father. This was much resented, and the King of Babylon at last -sent an insulting letter to Akhnaton, in which he states that he is -sending him the usual present of decorative objects which etiquette -required of him, but that he wishes it to be understood that only a -fraction of the gift is intended for the “mistress of his house,” -_i.e._, Nefertiti, since she had not troubled to ask after his -health. - -Shortly after this he wrote another letter to Akhnaton making -various complaints, and stating that his messengers had been robbed -in territory belonging to the Pharaoh, who must therefore make good -their losses. A third letter makes similar complaints, and hints -at future trouble. Meanwhile the King of Mitanni was on none too -friendly terms with Akhnaton, and appears to have detained the -Pharaoh’s envoy, named Mani, thereby causing Akhnaton considerable -anxiety. There was, in fact, a general tendency to disparage -the Egyptian king, which must have been exceedingly galling to -Akhnaton, who had the power to let loose upon Asia an army which -would silence all insult, but did not find such a step consistent -with his principles. In a letter which he wrote to one of the -Syrian princes whose fidelity was doubtful, Akhnaton ends his -despatch with the words: “I am very well, I the sun in the heavens, -and my chariots and soldiers are exceedingly numerous; and from -Upper Egypt even unto Lower Egypt, and from the place where the -sun riseth even unto the place where he setteth, the whole country -is in good cause and content.” Thus we see that Akhnaton knew his -power, and wished that others should know it; and it is therefore -the more surprising that, as we shall presently find, he never -chose to use it. - - - - - VII. - - THE LAST TWO YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON. - - “I know, he said, what you like is to look at the mountains, - or to go up among them and kill things. But I like the running - water in a quiet garden, with a rose reflected in it, and the - nightingale singing to it. Listen!”--MIRZA MAHOMED in ‘The Story - of Valeh and Hadijeh.’ - - - 1. THE HITTITE INVASION OF SYRIA. - -The eastern end of the Mediterranean is bounded on the south by -Egypt and the desert, on the east by Palestine and Syria, and on -the north by Asia Minor, these roughly forming the three sides of -a square. The conquests of the great warrior-Pharaoh Thothmes III. -had carried the Egyptian power as far as the north-east corner of -this formation--that is to say, to the point where Syria meets Asia -Minor. The island of Cyprus is in shape not unlike a hand with -index finger extended; and this finger may be said to be pointing -to the limit of Egyptian conquest, somewhere in the neighbourhood -of the Amanus Mountains. The kingdom of Mitanni, the home of Queen -Nefertiti, was situated on the banks of the Euphrates some distance -inland from these mountains; and as it acted as a buffer state -between the Egyptian possessions in Syria and the unconquered -lands beyond, the Pharaohs had taken care to unite themselves by -marriage, as we have seen, with its rulers. Behind Mitanni to the -north-east, the friendly kingdoms later known as Assyria marked -the limits of the known world; while to the north the hostile -lands of Asia Minor lay in the possession of the Hittites, a -warlike confederacy of peoples, perhaps the ancestors of the modern -Armenians. From these hardy warriors the greatest danger to the -Egyptian Empire in Syria was to be expected; and the statesmen of -Egypt must have cast many an anxious look towards those forbidding -mountains which loomed beyond Mitanni. A southern movement of the -Hittites, indications of which were already very apparent, would -bring them swarming over and around the Amanus Mountains, either -along the eastern and inland route through Mitanni, or along the -western route beside the sea and over the Lebanon, or again, midway -between these two routes, past the great cities of Tunip, Kadesh, -and others, which stood to block the way. - -When Akhnaton ascended the throne, Seplel was king of the Hittites, -and was by way of being friendly to Egypt. Some of his people, -however, crossed the frontiers of Mitanni and were repulsed by -Dushratta, the king of that country, who was father-in-law to -Akhnaton. This caused some coldness between Seplel and the Pharaoh; -and although the former sent an embassy to the City of the Horizon, -the correspondence between the two monarchs presently ceased. The -young idealist of Egypt seems to have held warfare in horror; and -the Hittites were so essentially a fighting race that Akhnaton -could have had no friendly feelings towards them. Soon we find -that these Hittites, unable to overflow into the land of Mitanni, -have moved along the eastern route and have seized the land of -Amki, which lay on the sea-coast between the Amanus Mountains and -the Lebanon. This movement might have been stopped by Aziru, an -Amorite prince who ruled the territory between Amki and Mitanni, -and whose duty, as an Egyptian vassal, was to check the southern -incursions of the Hittites. But Aziru, like his father Abdashirta -before him, was a man as ambitious as he was faithless, and his -dealings both with the Hittites and with the Egyptians during the -following years were unscrupulous in the extreme. It was his policy -to play the one nation against the other, and to extend the scope -of his own power at the expense of both. - - - 2. AKHNATON’S CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTIONS TO WARFARE. - -Akhnaton’s policy in Syria, when considered from the point of -view of an ordinary man, was of the weakest. Ideals cannot govern -an empire, and those who would apply the doctrine of “peace and -goodwill” to subject races endanger the very principles which they -would teach. While the young Pharaoh was singing his imperial -psalms to the Atom in his growing capital, the princes of Syria -were whistling the revolutionary ditties which presently were to -ring in the ears of the isolated Egyptian garrisons. Little did -they care for that tender Father of Mankind to whom Akhnaton’s thin -finger so earnestly pointed. They knew nothing of monotheism; they -found no satisfaction in One who was the gentle ruler of all men -without distinction of race. A true god to them was a vanquisher -of other gods, a valiant leader in battle, a relentless avenger of -insult. The furious Baal, the bloodthirsty Tishub, the terrible -Ishtar--these were the deities that a man could love. How they -scorned that God of Peace who was called the Only One! How they -laughed at the young Pharaoh who had set aside the sword for the -psalter, who hoped to rule his restless dominions by love alone! - -Love! One stands amazed at the reckless idealism, the beautiful -folly, of this Pharaoh who, in an age of turbulence, preached a -religion of peace to seething Syria. Three thousand years later -mankind is still blindly striving after these same ideals in -vain. Nowadays one is familiar with the doctrine: a greater than -Akhnaton has preached it, and has died for it. To-day God is known -to us, and the peace of God is a thing hoped for; but at that -far-off period, thirteen hundred years before the birth of Christ, -two or three centuries before the age of David and Solomon, and -many a year before the preaching of Moses, one is utterly surprised -to behold the true light shining forth for a short moment like -the sun through a rift in the clouds, and one knows that it has -come too soon. Mankind, even now not ready, was then most wholly -unprepared, and the price which Egypt paid for the ideals of her -Pharaoh was no less than the complete loss of her dominions. - -Akhnaton believed in God, and to him that belief meant a practical -abhorrence of war. Marshalling the material available for the study -of this period of history, one can interpret the events in Syria in -only one way: Akhnaton definitely refused to do battle, believing -that a resort to arms was an offence to God. Whether fortune or -misfortune, gain or loss, was to be his lot, he would hold to his -principles, and would not return to the old gods of battle. - -It must be remembered that at this time the empire was the personal -property of the Pharaoh, as every kingdom was of its king. Nobody -ever considered a possession as belonging to the nation which had -laid hands upon it, but only to that nation’s king. It mattered -very little to the Syrian peoples whether their owner was an -Egyptian or a Syrian, though perhaps they preferred to be possessed -by one of their own race. Akhnaton was thus doing his will with his -own property. He was refusing to fight for his own possessions; he -was acting literally upon the Christian principle of giving the -cloak to him who had stolen the coat. Patriotism was a sentiment -unknown to the world: devotion to the king’s personal interest was -all that actuated loyalty in the subject, and the monarch himself -had but his own interests to consider. Thus Akhnaton cannot be -accused of ruining his country by his refusal to go to war. He was -entitled to do what he liked with his own personal property, and -if he sacrificed his possessions to his principles, the sacrifice -was made upon God’s high altar, and the loss would be felt by him -alone. Such a loss, it is true, would probably break his heart; for -he loved Syria dearly, and he had had such great hopes of uniting -the empire by the tie of a common religion. But for good or ill, he -was determined to stand aloof from the struggles upon which Syria -was now entering. - - - 3. THE FAITHLESSNESS OF AZIRU. - -While Aziru, the Amorite, schemed on the borders of Asia Minor, a -Syrian prince named Itakama suddenly set up an independent kingdom -at Kadesh and joined hands with the Hittites, thus cutting off -the loyal city of Tunip, the friendly kingdom of Mitanni, and the -territory of the faithless Aziru from direct intercourse with the -Lebanon and Egypt’s remaining possessions in Palestine and Syria. -Three loyal vassal kings, perhaps assisted by Dushratta of Mitanni, -attacked the rebels, but were repulsed by Itakama and his Hittite -allies. - -Aziru at once turned the situation to his own advantage. Hemmed in -between the Hittites on the north and this new kingdom of Kadesh -on the south, he collected his armies and marched down the Orontes -to the Mediterranean coast, capturing the cities near the mouth of -that river and adding them to his possessions. Should the Hittites -ask him to give an account of these proceedings, he could reply -that he was, as it were, the advance-guard of the Hittite invasion -of Syria, and was preparing the road for them. Should Itakama -question him, he could say that he was, with friendly hands, -linking the Hittites with Kadesh. And should Akhnaton call upon him -for an explanation, he could answer that he was securing the land -for the Egyptians against the Hittite advance. - -No doubt Aziru preferred to keep his peace with the Hittites the -most secure, for it was obvious that they were the rising people; -but at the same time he did not yet dare to show any hostility -to Egypt, whose armies might at any moment be launched across -the Mediterranean. Unable to hold a position of independence, -he now thought it most prudent to allow the northmen to swarm -southwards through his dominions, from Amki over and around the -Lebanon to Kadesh, where their ally Itakama dwelt. In return for -this assistance he seems to have been allowed a free hand in the -forwarding of his own interests, and we now find him turning his -attention to the sea-coast cities of Simyra and Byblos, which -nestled at the western foot of the Lebanon. Here, however, he -received a check, and failed to obtain a footing. He therefore -marched eastwards to the city of Niy, which he captured, slaying -its king; and both to the Hittites and to the Egyptians he seems to -have pretended that he had taken this step in their interests. - -On hearing of the fall of this city the governor of Tunip wrote a -pathetic appeal to Akhnaton, asking for help; for he was now quite -isolated, and he knew that Aziru was a free-lance who cared not a -jot for any but his own welfare. - - “To the King of Egypt, my lord,” runs the letter. “The - inhabitants of Tunip, thy servant. May it be well with thee, and - at the feet of our lord we fall. My lord, Tunip, thy servant, - speaks, saying: Who formerly could have plundered Tunip without - being plundered by Thothmes III.? The gods ... of the King of - Egypt, my lord, dwell in Tunip. May our lord ask his old men [if - it be not so.] Now, however, we belong no more to our lord, the - King of Egypt.... If his soldiers and chariots come too late, - Aziru will make us like the city of Niy. If, however, we have - to mourn, then the King of Egypt will mourn over these things - which Aziru has done, for he will turn his hand against our lord. - And when Aziru enters Simyra Aziru will do to us as he pleases, - in the territory of our lord the King, and on account of these - things our lord will have to lament. And now Tunip, thy city, - weeps, and her tears are flowing, and there is no help for us. - For twenty years we have been sending to our lord the King, the - King of Egypt, but there has not come to us a word--no, not one.” - -Several points become apparent from this letter. One sees that in -the more distant cities of Syria the significance of Akhnaton’s -new religion was not understood. The governor of Tunip refers -to the old gods of Egypt worshipped in that town, and he knows -not, or cannot be brought to believe, that Akhnaton has become -a monotheist. One sees that the memory of the terrible Thothmes -III. and his victorious armies was still in men’s minds, and was -probably one of the main causes of the long-continued peace in -Syria. Akhnaton’s father, Amonhotep III., had not concerned himself -greatly with regard to his foreign dominions, and, as the people -of Tunip had been asking for assistance for twenty years, it would -seem that the danger which now beset them was already feared before -that Pharaoh’s death. - -[Illustration: _Letter from Ribaddi to the King of Egypt, reporting -the progress of the rebellion under Aziru._ - -(British Museum, No. 29,801.)] - -How, one asks, could Akhnaton read such a letter as this, and yet -refuse to send a relieving army to Syria? Byblos and Simyra were -still loyally holding out; and troops disembarked at these ports -could speedily be marched inland to Tunip, could crush Hakama at -Kadesh, and could frighten Aziru into giving real assistance to -Dushratta and other loyal kings in holding the Hittites back behind -the Amanus Mountains. But this was Akhnaton’s Gethsemane, if one -may say so with reverence; and like that greater Teacher who, -thirteen hundred years later, was to preach the self-same doctrine -of personal sacrifice, one may suppose that the Pharaoh suffered a -very Agony as he realised that his principles were leading him to -the loss of all his dearest possessions. His restless generals -in Egypt, eager to march into Syria, must have brought every -argument to bear upon him; but the boy would not now turn back. -“Put up thy sword into his place,” he seems to have said; “for all -they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” - - - 4. THE FIGHTING IN SYRIA BECOMES GENERAL. - -At this time the King of Byblos was one named Ribaddi, a fine old -soldier who was loyal to Egypt in his every thought and deed. He -wrote to Akhnaton urging him to send troops to relieve the garrison -of Simyra, upon which Aziru was again pressing close; for if Simyra -fell, he knew that Byblos could not for long hold out. Presently -we find that Zimrida, the king of the neighbouring port of Sidon, -has opened his gates to Aziru, and has marched with him against -Tyre. Abimilki, the King of Tyre, at once wrote to Akhnaton asking -for assistance; but on receiving no reply he, too, appears to have -thrown in his lot with Aziru. Ribaddi was now quite isolated at -Byblos; and from the beleaguered city he wrote to the Pharaoh -telling him that “Simyra is like a bird in a snare.” Akhnaton made -no reply; and in a short time Ribaddi wrote again, saying, “Simyra, -your fortress, is now in the power of the Khabiri.” - -These Khabiri were the Beduin from behind Palestine, who were -being used as mercenaries by Aziru, and who themselves were making -small conquest in the south on their own behalf. Thus the southern -cities of Megiddo, Askalon, Gezer, and others, write to the Pharaoh -asking for aid against them. Exasperated, however, by Akhnaton’s -inaction, Askalon and Gezer, together with the city of Lachish, -threw off the Egyptian yoke and attacked Jerusalem, which was still -loyal to Egypt, being held by an officer named Abdkhiba. This loyal -soldier at once sent a despatch to Akhnaton, part of which read as -follows:-- - - The King’s whole land, which has begun hostilities with me, will - be lost. Behold the territory of Seir, as far as Carmel, its - princes are wholly lost; and hostility prevails against me.... - As long as ships were upon the sea the strong arm of the King - occupied Naharin and Kash, but now the Khabiri are occupying - the King’s cities. There remains not one prince to my lord, the - King; every one is ruined.... Let the King take care of his land, - and ... let him send troops.... For if no troops come in this - year, the whole territory of my lord the King will perish.... If - there are no troops in this year, let the King send his officer - to fetch me and my brothers, that we may die with our lord, the - King. - -To this letter the writer added a postscript addressed to -Akhnaton’s secretary, with whom he was evidently acquainted. “Bring -these words plainly before my lord the King,” runs this pathetic -appeal. “The whole land of my lord, the King, is going to ruin.” - -The letters sent to Akhnaton from the few princes who remained -loyal form a collection which even now moves the reader. To -Akhnaton they must have been so many sword-thrusts, and one may -picture him praying passionately for strength to set them aside. -Soon it would seem that the secretaries hardly troubled to show -them to him; and ultimately they were so effectually pigeon-holed -that they have only recently been discovered. The Pharaoh -permitted himself to answer some of them, and seems to have asked -questions as to the state of affairs; but never does he offer any -encouragement. Lapaya, one of the princes of the south, who had -evidently received a communication from Akhnaton in which his -fidelity was questioned, wrote saying that if the Pharaoh ordered -him to drive a sword of bronze into his heart he would do so. It is -a commentary upon the veracity of the Oriental that in subsequent -letters this prince is stated to have attacked Megiddo, and -ultimately to have been slain while fighting against the Egyptian -loyalists. - -Addudaian, a king of some unknown city of south Judea, acknowledges -the receipt of a letter from Akhnaton in which he was asked to -remain loyal; and he complains, in reply, of the loss of various -possessions. Dagantakala, the king of another city, writes -imploring the Pharaoh to rescue him from the Khabiri. Ninur, a -queen of a part of Judea, who calls herself Akhnaton’s handmaid, -entreats the Pharaoh to save her, and records the capture of one of -her cities by the Khabiri. - -And so the letters run on, each telling of some disaster to the -Egyptian cause, and each voicing the bitter complaint of those who -were being sacrificed to the principles of a king who had grasped -the meaning of civilisation too soon. - - - 5. AZIRU AND RIBADDI FIGHT TO A FINISH. - -Meanwhile Ribaddi was holding Byblos valiantly against Aziru’s -armies, and many were the despatches which he sent to Akhnaton -asking for assistance against Aziru. Nothing could have been easier -than the despatch of a few hundred men across the Mediterranean -to the beleaguered port, and the number which Ribaddi asks for is -absurdly small. Akhnaton, however, would not send a single man, but -instead wrote a letter of gentle rebuke to Aziru, telling him to -come to the City of the Horizon to explain his conduct. Aziru wrote -at once to one of Akhnaton’s courtiers who was his friend, telling -him to speak to the Pharaoh and to set matters right. - -He explained that he could not leave Syria at that time, for he -must remain to defend Tunip against the Hittites. The reader, -who has seen the letter written by the governor of Tunip asking -for help against Aziru, will realise the perfidy of this Amorite, -who was now, no doubt, preparing to capture Tunip for the sake of -its riches, and, having done so, would tell Akhnaton that he had -entered it to hold it against the Hittites. - -Akhnaton then wrote to Aziru insisting that he should rebuild the -city of Simyra, which he had destroyed; but Aziru again replied -that he was too busy in defending Egyptian interests against the -inroads of the Hittites to give his attention to this matter for -at least a year. To this Akhnaton sent a mild reply; but Aziru, -fearing that the letter might contain some matter which it would be -better for him not to hear, contrived to evade the messenger, and -the despatch was brought back to Egypt. He wrote to the Pharaoh, -however, saying that he would see to it that the cities captured by -him should continue to pay tribute as usual to Egypt. - -The tribute seems to have reached the City of the Horizon in -correct manner until the last years of the reign,[77] though -probably it was much less in quantity than had been customary. -There was general confusion in Syria, as we have seen; but, as in -the case of the struggle between Aziru and Ribaddi, where both -professed their loyalty to Egypt, so, in all the chaos, there was -a make-believe fidelity to the Pharaoh. The tribute was thus paid -each year by a large number of cities, and it was probably not -till the seventeenth and last year of Akhnaton’s reign that this -pretence of loyalty was altogether discarded. - -In desperate straits at Byblos, Ribaddi made a perilous journey -to the neighbouring city of Beyrût in order to attempt to -collect reinforcements. No sooner had he left, however, than an -insurrection occurred at Byblos, and Ribaddi paid for his loyalty -to Egypt by losing the support of his own subjects. Presently -Beyrût surrendered to Aziru, and Ribaddi was forced to fly. After -many an adventure the stout old king managed to regain control of -Byblos, and to set about the further defence of the city. - -Meanwhile Aziru had paid a rapid visit to Egypt, partly to justify -his conduct and partly, no doubt, to ascertain the condition of -affairs on the Nile. With Oriental cunning he managed to satisfy -Akhnaton that his intentions were not hostile to Egypt, and so -returned to the Lebanon. Ribaddi, hearing of this, at once sent -his son to the City of the Horizon to expose Aziru’s perfidy and -to plead for assistance against him. At the same time he wrote to -Akhnaton a pathetic account of his misfortunes. Four members of -his family had been taken prisoners; his brother was constantly -conspiring against him; old age and disease pressed heavily upon -him. All his possessions had been taken from him, all his lands -devastated; he had been reduced by famine and the privations of a -long siege to a state of utter destitution, and he could not much -longer hold out. “The gods of Byblos,” he writes, “are angry with -me and sore displeased; for I have sinned against the gods, and -therefore I do not come before my lord the King.” Was his sin, one -wonders, the adoption for a while of Akhnaton’s faith? To this -communication Akhnaton seems to have made no reply. - - - 6. AKHNATON CONTINUES TO REFUSE TO SEND HELP. - -The messengers who arrived at the City of the Horizon of Aton, -dusty and travel-stained, to deliver the many letters asking for -help, must have despaired indeed when they observed the manner -in which the news was received. Hateful to these hardy soldiers -of the empire were the fine quays at which their galleys moored; -hateful the fair villas and shaded avenues of the city; and thrice -hateful the rolling hymns to the Aton which came to them from -the temple halls as they hurried to the Pharaoh’s palace. The -townspeople smiled at their haste in this city of dreams; the court -officials delayed the delivery of their letters, scoffing at the -idea of urgency in the affairs of Asia; and finally these wretched -documents, written--if ever letters were so written--with blood -and with tears, were pigeon-holed in the city archives and utterly -forgotten save by Akhnaton himself. Instead of the brave music of -the drums and bugles of the relieving army which these messengers -had hoped to muster, there rang in their maddened ears only the -ceaseless chants of the priestly ceremonies and the pattering -love-songs of private festivals. Newly come from the sweat and the -labour of the road, their brains still racked with the horror of -war and yet burning with the vast hopes of empire, they looked with -scorn at the luxury of Egypt’s new capital, and heard with disgust -the dainty tales of the flowers. The lean, sad-eyed Pharaoh, with -his crooked head and his stooping shoulders, would speak only of -his God; and, clad in simple clothes unrelieved by a single jewel, -there was nothing martial in his appearance to give them hope. From -the beleaguered cities which they had so lately left there came to -them the bitter cry for succour; and it was not possible to drown -that cry in words of peace, nor in the jangle of the systrum or -the warbling of the pipes. Who, thought the waiting messengers, -could resist that piteous call: “Thy city weeps, and her tears are -flowing”? Who could sit idle in the City of the Horizon when the -proud empire, won with the blood of the noblest soldiers of the -great Thothmes, was breaking up before their eyes? What mattered -all the philosophies in the world, and all the gods in heaven, when -Egypt’s great dominions were being wrested from her? The splendid -Lebanon, the white kingdoms of the sea, Askalon and Ashdod, Tyre -and Sidon, Simyra and Byblos, the hills of Jerusalem, Kadesh and -the great Orontes, the fair Jordan, Tunip, Aleppo, the distant -Euphrates.... What counted a creed against these? God? The truth? -The only god was He of the Battles, who had led Egypt into Syria; -the only truth the doctrine of the sword, which had held her there -for so many years. - -Looking back across these thirty-two centuries, can one yet say -whether the Pharaoh was in the right, or whether his soldiers were -the better minded? On the one hand there is culture, refinement, -love, thought, prayer, goodwill, and peace; on the other hand, -power, might, health, hardihood, bravery, and struggle. One knows -that Akhnaton’s theories were the more civilised, the more ideal; -but is there not a pulse which stirs in sympathy with those who -were holding the citadels of Asia? We can give our approval to the -ideals of the young king, but we cannot see his empire fall without -bitterly blaming him for the disaster. Yet in passing judgment, -in calling the boy to account for the loss of Syria, there is the -consciousness that above our tribunal sits a judge to whom war -must assuredly be abhorrent, and in whose eyes the struggle of -the nations must utterly lack its drama. Thus, even now, Akhnaton -eludes our criticism, and but raises once more that eternal -question which as yet has no answer. - - - 7. AKHNATON’S HEALTH GIVES WAY. - -It is possible that the Pharaoh now realised his position, and one -may suppose that he tried as best he could to pacify the turbulent -princes by all the arts of diplomacy. It does not seem, however, -that he yet fully appreciated the catastrophe which was now almost -inevitable--the complete loss of Syria. He could not bring himself -to believe that the princes of that country would play him false; -and he could have had no idea that he was being so entirely fooled -by such men as Aziru. But when at last the tribute ceased to come -in regularly, then, too late, he knew that disaster was upon him. - -The thoughts which now must have held sway in his mind could not -have failed to carry him down the dark steps of depression to the -very pit of despair, and one may picture him daily cast prone upon -the floor before the high altar of the Aton, and nightly tossing -sleepless upon his royal bed. It seems that he had placed great -reliance upon a certain official, named Bikhuru, who was acting as -Egyptian commissioner in Palestine; but now it is probable that he -received news of that unfortunate personage’s flight, and later of -his murder.[78] Then came the report that Byblos had fallen, and -one is led to suppose that that truly noble soldier Ribaddi did -not survive the fall of the city which he had so tenaciously held. -The news of the surrender of other important Egyptian strongholds -followed rapidly, and still there came the pathetic appeal for help -from the minor posts which yet held out. - -Akhnaton was now about twenty-eight years of age, and already the -cares of the whole world seemed to rest upon his shoulders. Lean -and lank was his body; his face was thin and lined with worry; and -in his eye one might, perhaps, have seen that hunted look which -comes to those who are dogged by disaster. It is probable that he -now suffered acutely from the distressing malady to which he was a -victim, and there must have been times when he felt himself upon -the verge of madness. His misshapen skull came nigh to bursting -with the full thoughts of his aching brain, and the sad knowledge -that he had failed must have pressed upon his mind like some -unrelenting finger. The invocations to the Aton which rang in his -head made confusion with the cry of Syria. Now he listened to -the voices of his choirs lauding the sweetness of life; and now, -breaking in upon the chant, did he not hear the solemn voices of -his fathers calling to him from the Hills of the West to give -account of his stewardship? Could he then find solace in trees and -in flowers? Could he cry “Peace” when there was red tumult in his -brain? - -His moods at this time must have given cause for the greatest -alarm, and his behaviour was, no doubt, sufficiently erratic -to render even those nobles who had so blindly followed him -mistrustful of their leader. In a frenzy of zeal in the adoration -of the Aton, Akhnaton now gave orders that the name of all other -gods should suffer the same fate as that of Amon, and should be -erased from every inscription throughout the land. This order was -never fully carried out; but one may still see in the temples -of Karnak, Medinet Habu, and elsewhere, and upon many lesser -monuments, the chisel marks which have partially blurred out the -names of Ptah, Hathor, and other deities, and have obliterated the -offending word “gods.” - -The consternation which this action must have caused was almost -sufficient to bring about a revolution in the provinces, where -the old gods were still dearly loved by the people. The erasing -of the name of Amon had been, after all, a direct war upon a -certain priesthood, and did not very materially affect any other -localities than that of Thebes. But the suppression of the numerous -priesthoods of the many deities who held sway throughout Egypt -threw into disorder the whole country, and struck at the heart -not of one but of a hundred cities. Was the kindly old artificer -Ptah, with his hammer and his chisel, to be tumbled into empty -space? Was the beautiful, the gracious Hathor--the Venus of the -Nile--to be thrown down from her celestial seat? Was it possible to -banish Khnum, the goat-headed potter who lived in the caves of the -Cataract, from the life of the city of Elephantine; the mysterious -jackal Wepwat from the hearts of the men of Abydos; or the ancient -crocodile Sebek from the ships and the fields of Ombos? Every town -had its local god, and every god its priesthood; and surely the -Pharaoh was mad who attempted to make war upon these legions of -heaven. This Aton, whom the king called upon them to worship, was -so remote, so infinitely above their heads. Aton did not sit with -them at their hearth-side to watch the kettle boil; Aton did not -play a sweet-toned flute amongst the reeds of the river; Aton did -not bring a fairy gift to the new-born babe. Where was the sacred -tree in whose branches one might hope to see him seated?--where -was the eddy of the Nile in which he loved to bathe?--and where -was the rock at whose foot one might place, as a fond offering, a -bowl of milk? The people loved their old gods, whose simple ways, -kind hearts, and quick tempers made them understandable to mortal -minds. But a god who reigned alone in solitary isolation, who, more -remote even than the Jehovah of the Hebrews, rode not upon the -clouds nor moved upon the wings of the wind, was hardly a deity to -whom they could open their hearts. True, the sunrise and the sunset -were the visible signs of the godhead; but let the reader ask any -modern Egyptian peasant whether there is aught to stir the pulses -in these two great phenomena, and he will realise that the glory -of the skies could not have appealed particularly to the lesser -subjects of Akhnaton, who, moreover, were not permitted to bow the -knee to the flaming orb itself. When the Christian religion took -hold of these peasants, and presented for their acceptance the same -idea of a remote though loving and considerate God, it was only by -the elevation of saints and devils, angels and powers of darkness, -almost to the rank of demigods, that the faith prospered. But -Akhnaton allowed no such tampering with the primary doctrine, and -St George and all the saints would have suffered the erasure of -their very names. - - - 8. AKHNATON’S LAST DAYS AND DEATH. - -The troubles which Akhnaton by such actions gathered around -himself, while disturbing to his adherents, must have given some -degree of pleasure to those nobles who saw in the king’s downfall -the only hope of Egypt. Horemheb, the commander-in-chief of the -inactive armies, could now begin to prepare himself against the -time when he should lead a force into Syria to restore Egyptian -prestige. Tutankhaton, betrothed to Akhnaton’s third daughter, -could dream of the days when he would make himself Pharaoh, and -carry the court back to glorious Thebes. Even Meryra, the High -Priest of Aton, seems to have allowed his thoughts to drift away -from the City of the Horizon wherein the sun of Egypt’s glory -had set, for it does not seem that he ever made use of the tomb -there prepared for him. These last stages of Akhnaton’s life must -thus have been embittered by a doubt of the sincerity of his -closest friends, and by the knowledge that, in spite of all their -protestations, he had failed to plant “the truth” in their hearts. - -The queen had borne him no son to succeed to the throne, and there -appeared to be nobody to whom he could impart what he felt to -be his last instructions. There can be no question that he was -still greatly loved by those who surrounded his person, but there -were few who hoped that his religion, so disastrous to Egypt, -would survive him. In this extremity Akhnaton turned to a certain -noble, probably not of royal blood, whose name seems to have been -Smenkhkara, though some have read it Saakara.[79] Nothing is known -regarding his previous career, but one may suppose that he appeared -to Akhnaton to be the least unreliable of his followers. To him -the king imparted his instructions, revealing all that words could -draw from his teeming brain. The little Princess Merytaton, now -but twelve years of age, was called from her games, and with pomp -and ceremony was married to this Smenkhkara, thus making him the -legitimate heir to the throne, Merytaton being the eldest daughter -and sole heiress of the Pharaoh. - -Feeling that his days were numbered, Akhnaton then associated -Smenkhkara upon the throne with him as co-ruler, and was thus able -to familiarise the people with their future lord. In later years, -after Akhnaton’s death, Smenkhkara was wont to write after his name -the words “beloved of Akhnaton,” as though to indicate that his -claim to the throne was due to Akhnaton’s affection for him, as -well as to the rights derived from his wife. - -But what mattered the securing of the succession to the throne when -that throne had been shaken to its very foundations, and now seemed -to be upon the verge of utter wreck? Akhnaton could no longer stave -off the impending crash, and from all sides there gathered the -forces which were to overwhelm him. His government was chaotic. The -plotting and scheming of the priests of Amon showed signs of coming -to a successful issue. The anger of the priesthoods of the other -gods of Egypt hung over the palace like some menacing storm-cloud. -The soldiers, eager to march upon Syria as in the days of the great -Thothmes III., chafed at their enforced idleness, and watched with -increasing restlessness the wreck of the empire. - -Now through the streets of the city there passed the weary -messengers of Asia hurrying to the palace, no longer bearing the -appeals of kings and generals for support, but announcing the fall -of the last cities of Syria and the slaughter of the last left of -their rulers. The scattered remnants of the garrisons staggered -back to the Nile at the heels of these messengers, pursued to -the very frontiers of Egypt by the triumphant Asiatics. From the -north the Hittites poured into Syria; from the south the Khabiri -swarmed over the land. As the curtain is rung down on the turbulent -scene, one catches a glimpse of the wily Aziru, his hands still -stained with the blood of Ribaddi and of many another loyal prince, -snatching at this city and trampling on that. At last he has cast -aside his mask, and with the tribute which had been promised to -Egypt he now, no doubt, placates the ascending Hittites, whose -suzerainty alone he admits. - -The tribute having ceased, the Egyptian treasury soon stood empty, -for the government of the country was too confused to permit of the -proper gathering of the taxes, and the working of the gold-mines -could not be organised. Much had been expended on the building of -the City of the Horizon, and now the king knew not where to turn -for money. In the space of a few years Egypt had been reduced from -a world power to the position of a petty state, from the richest -country known to man to the humiliating condition of a bankrupt -kingdom. - -Surely one may picture Akhnaton now in his last hours, his jaw -fallen, his sunken eyes widely staring, as the full realisation of -the utter failure of all his hopes came to him. He had sacrificed -Syria to his principles; but the sacrifice was of no avail, since -his doctrines had not taken root even in Egypt. He knew now that -the religion of the Aton would not outlive him, that the knowledge -of the love of God was not yet to be made known to the world. Even -at this moment the psalms of the Aton were beating upon his ears, -the hymns to the God who had forsaken him were drifting into his -palace with the scent of the flowers; and the birds which he loved -were singing as merrily in the luxuriant gardens as ever they sang -when they had inspired a line in the king’s great poem. But upon -him now there had fallen the blackness of despair, and already the -darkness of coming death was closing around him. The misery of -failure must have ground him down as beneath the very mountains of -the west themselves, and the weight of the knowledge of all that he -had lost could not be borne by his enfeebled frame. - -History tells us only that, simultaneously with the fall of his -empire, Akhnaton died; and the doctors who have examined his body -report that death may well have been due to some form of stroke or -fit. But in the imagination there seems to ring across the years a -cry of complete despair, and one can picture the emaciated figure -of this “beautiful child of the Aton” fall forward upon the painted -palace-floor and lie still amidst the red poppies and the dainty -butterflies there depicted. - - - - - VIII. - - THE FALL OF THE RELIGION OF AKHNATON. - - “Thus disappeared the most remarkable figure in early Oriental - history.... There died with him such a spirit as the world had - never seen before.”--BREASTED: ‘History of Egypt.’ - - - 1. THE BURIAL OF AKHNATON. - -The body of Akhnaton was embalmed in the city which he had founded; -and while these mortal parts of the great idealist were undergoing -the lengthy process of mummification, the new Pharaoh Smenkhkara -made a feeble attempt to retain the spirit of his predecessor in -the new _régime_. Practically nothing is known of his brief reign, -but it is apparent from subsequent events that he entirely failed -to carry on the work of Akhnaton, and the period of his sovereignty -is marked by a general tendency to abandon the religion of the -Aton. Smenkhkara had dated the first year of his reign from the -day of his accession as co-ruler with Akhnaton, and thus it is -that there are no inscriptions found which record his first year, -although there are many references to his second year. The main -event must have occurred some three months after the commencement -of his sole reign, when the body of Akhnaton was carried in solemn -state through the streets of the city and across the desert to the -tomb which had been made for him in the distant cliffs. - -[Illustration: _Death Mask of Akhnaton._] - -The mummy had been wrapped, as was usual, in endless strips of -linen; and amongst these there was placed upon the royal breast a -necklace of gold, and over the face an ornament cut in flat gold -foil representing a vulture with wings outstretched--a Pharaonic -symbol of divine protection. In many burials of this dynasty a -vulture such as this was placed upon the mummy; and representations -of an exactly similar ornament are shown in the tombs of Sennefer -and others at Thebes. It is somewhat surprising that the body -of Akhnaton, who was so averse to all old customs, should thus -have this royal talisman upon it; and it would seem that some of -the strict rules of the Aton worshipper had already been relaxed -by his successor. Akhnaton had retained but three of the ancient -divine symbols, so far as one can tell from the reliefs and -paintings--namely, the uræus or cobra, the sphinx, and the hawk, -which were often used as ornaments. But one may ask whether the -vulture had really been dispensed with by him. It is true that -he banned the vulture-hieroglyph in the inscriptions, as we have -already seen on the outer coffin of Queen Tiy;[80] but his reason -for so doing was that by such a hieroglyph the name of the goddess -Mut was called to mind, and that goddess, being the consort of -Amon, was not to be tolerated. The vulture which was laid upon -the mummy, however, had nothing to do with Mut, nor had it any -likeness to the hieroglyph. It was originally a representation of -the presiding genius of Upper Egypt, and corresponded to the uræus, -which primarily represented the power of Lower Egypt. It is true, -again, that it was the custom for the Pharaohs to be shown in the -sculptures and paintings with this vulture hovering in protection -over their heads, and that Akhnaton seems to have dispensed with -such a symbol. But this was perhaps due to the fact that the disk -and rays, symbolic of Aton, had taken its place above the royal -figure. There is no reason, after all, to suppose that this form -of vulture was absolutely banned, since the uræus and the hawk -were retained;[81] and though, as will presently be seen, it will -be natural to think that it was placed on Akhnaton’s mummy at his -successor’s suggestion, there is nothing to show that Akhnaton -himself did not desire it to be laid there. - -Over the linen bandages on the body there were placed ribbons of -gold foil encircling the mummy--probably around the shoulders, the -middle, and the knees,--joined to other ribbons running the length -of the body at the back and front. These ribbons were inscribed -with Akhnaton’s name and titles, and thus recorded for all time the -identity of the mummy to which they adhered. Money being somehow -found, the body was wrapped in sheets of pure gold, sufficiently -thin to be flexible, and was placed in a splendid coffin, designed -in the usual form of a recumbent figure, and inlaid in a dazzling -manner with rare stones and coloured glass. Down the front of this -coffin ran a simple inscription, the hieroglyphs of which were -also inlaid. It read: “The beautiful prince, The Chosen One of -Ra, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, living in Truth, Lord of -the Two Lands, Akhnaton, the beautiful child of the living Aton, -whose name shall live for ever and ever.”[82] There is one curious -feature about this inscription. When Akhnaton made the outer coffin -for his mother, in or about the twelfth year of his reign, he was -particularly careful not to use the hieroglyph representing the -goddess Maat when writing the word _maat_, “truth.” But this sign -is employed now upon his own coffin; and one can only presume, -therefore, that the coffin was made after Akhnaton’s death, and -that the new Pharaoh Smenkhkara had not the same objection to the -representation of the goddess as had his predecessor. We may now -better understand the presence of the vulture symbol also; for -it is obvious that before Akhnaton’s funeral had taken place his -strict _régime_ had been relaxed. - -The royal mummy was now carried to its tomb and there deposited, -together with such funeral furniture and offerings as were -considered necessary. The four alabaster canopic jars, always -conspicuous in an Egyptian burial, were here not wanting. The -stopper of each jar was exquisitely carved to represent the head -of Akhnaton, wearing the usual male wig of the period, and having -the royal cobra upon the forehead. From these heads one sees that -the art of Akhnaton was modified immediately after his death, and -its more pronounced characteristics were already being toned down. -This slackening in the rules which Akhnaton had made shows us how -entirely dependent the movement had been upon its leader; and we -realise the more clearly how strong a character was his. Ere even -the king’s burial had taken place the death of his religion was -assured. - - - 2. THE COURT RETURNS TO THEBES. - -Smenkhkara died, or was deposed, about a year after Akhnaton’s -death. He was succeeded by another noble, Tutankhaton,[83] who, in -order to legitimise his accession, obtained in marriage Akhnaton’s -second daughter Ankhsenpaaton, a girl barely twelve years old. Thus -Smenkhkara’s wife, Merytaton, became a dowager-queen at the age -of thirteen or so, and her little sister took her place upon the -throne. - -By this time the priests of Amon had begun to hold up their heads -once more, and to scheme for the downfall of Aton with renewed -energy. Pressure was soon brought to bear on Tutankhaton, and he -had not been upon the throne more than a year or so when he was -persuaded to consider the abandonment of the City of the Horizon -and his return to Thebes. He did not yet turn entirely from the -religion of the Aton, but attempted to take a middle course between -the two factions, giving full licence both to the worshippers of -the Aton and to those of Amon. Horemheb, the commander-in-chief -of the idle army, seems to have been one of the leaders of the -reactionary movement. He did not concern himself so much with the -religious aspect of the question: there was as much to be said on -the one side as on the other. But it was he who knocked at the -doors of the heart of Egypt and urged the nation to awake to the -danger in Asia. For him there were no scruples as to warfare, and -the doctrine of the sword found favour in his sight. An expedition -was fitted out, and the reigning Pharaoh was persuaded to lead it. -Thus we read that Horemheb was “the companion of his Lord upon -the battlefield on that day of the slaying of the Asiatics.”[84] -Akhnaton had dreamed of the universal peace which still is a -far-off wraith to mankind; but Horemheb was a practical man in -whom that dream would have been but weakness which was such mighty -strength in the dead king. - -The new Pharaoh now changed his name from Tutankhaton to -Tutankhamon, and, to the sound of martial music, returned to -Thebes. The City of the Horizon was left to its fate, and it was -not long before the palaces and the villas became the home of the -jackals and the owls, while the temples were partly pulled down to -provide stone for other works. However much the reigning Pharaoh -differed in views from Akhnaton, it would not have been possible -to leave the royal body lying in sight of this wreck of all the -hopes that had been his. Akhnaton, moreover, was Tutankhamon’s -father-in-law, and it was only through the rights of Akhnaton’s -daughter that the Pharaoh held the throne. His memory was still -regarded with reverence by many of his late followers, and there -could be no question of leaving his body in the deserted city. It -was therefore carried to Thebes in its coffin, together with the -four canopic jars, and was placed, for want of a proper sepulchre, -in the tomb of Queen Tiy, which had been reopened for the purpose. - -Tutankhamon showed the trend of his policy by both restoring the -temple of the Aton at Karnak and at the same time repairing the -damage done by Akhnaton to the works of Amon. The style of art -which he favoured was a modified form of Akhnaton’s method, and the -influence of his movement is still apparent in the new king’s work. -He did not reign long enough, however, to display much originality, -and after a few years he disappears, almost unnoticed, from the -stage. On his death the question of inviting Horemheb to fill the -vacant throne must have been seriously considered, but there was -another candidate in the field. This was Akhnaton’s father-in-law, -Ay, who had been one of the most important nobles in the group of -courtiers at the City of the Horizon. It was he who had sheltered -Queen Nefertiti before she had passed into Akhnaton’s palace, and -it was in his tomb that the great hymn to the Aton was inscribed. -He had been loudest in the praises of the preacher king and of his -doctrines, and he still retained the title “Father-in-law” as his -most cherished designation. - -Religious feeling at this time was running high, for the partisans -of Amon and those of Aton seem still to have been struggling -for the supremacy, and Ay appeared to have been regarded as the -most likely man to bridge the gulf between the two factions. A -favourite of Akhnaton, and still tolerant of all that was connected -with the late movement, he was not averse to the cult of Amon, -and by conciliating both parties he managed to obtain the throne -for himself. His power, however, did not last for long, and as -the priests of Amon regained the confidence of the nation at the -expense of the worshippers of the Aton, so the prestige of Ay -declined. His past relationship to Akhnaton, which even as king -be carefully recorded within his cartouche, now told against him -rather than for him, and about eight years after the death of -Akhnaton he disappeared like his predecessors. - - - 3. THE REIGN OF HOREMHEB. - -There was now no question who should succeed. All eyes were turned -to Horemheb, who had already almost as much power as the Pharaoh. -The commander-in-chief at once ascended the throne, and was -received by the populace with the utmost rejoicings. At this time -there was living at Thebes the Princess Nezemmut, the sister of -Akhnaton’s Queen Nefertiti, and hence the daughter of Dushratta, -King of Mitanni. Owing to previous inter-marriages between the -royal house of Egypt and that of Mitanni, both Nefertiti and -Nezemmut were descendants of Pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty. -Nezemmut had come to Egypt early in the reign of Akhnaton, and -later had perhaps married some Egyptian nobleman; but she was now -a widow, and had recently been appointed to the post of “Divine -Consort,”--that is to say, High Priestess--of Amon. As she was -probably the younger sister of Nefertiti, she may have been about -six years of age when Nefertiti was married to Akhnaton at the -age of eight. Hence she would have been about twenty-three at his -death, and would now be just over thirty. - -To this princess, as representing both the rights of the old line -of Pharaohs and those of the god Amon, without the now condemning -close relationship to Akhnaton which characterised the other -existing royal princesses, Horemheb was at once married. The -religion of the Aton was now fast disappearing. In a tomb dating -from the third year of Horemheb’s reign, the words “Ra whose -body is Aton” occur; but this is the last mention of the Aton, -and henceforth Amon-Ra is unquestionably supreme. A certain -Pa-atonemheb, who had been one of Akhnaton’s favourites, was at -about this time appointed High Priest of Ra-Horakhti at Heliopolis, -and thus the last traces of the religion of the Aton were merged -into the Heliopolitan theology, from which that religion at the -beginning had emanated. - -[Illustration: _The Temple at Luxor._] - -The neglected shrines of the old gods once more echoed with -the chants of the priests throughout the whole land of Egypt. -Inscriptions tell us that Horemheb “restored the temples from -the pools of the Delta marshes to Nubia. He fashioned a hundred -images ... with all splendid and costly stones. He established for -them daily offerings every day. All the vessels of their temples -were wrought of silver and gold. He equipped them with priests -and with ritual priests, and with the choicest of the army. He -transferred to them lands and cattle, supplied with all necessary -equipment.” By these gifts to the neglected gods Horemheb was -striving to bring Egypt back to its natural condition; and with a -strong hand he was guiding the country from chaos to order, from -fantastic Utopia to the solid old Egypt of the past. He was, in -fact, the preacher of sanity, the very apostle of the Normal. - -He led his armies into the Sudan, and returned with a procession -of captive chieftains roped before him. He had none of Akhnaton’s -qualms regarding human suffering, and these unfortunate prisoners -are seen to have their arms bound in the most cruel manner. Finding -the country to be lawless he drafted a number of stern laws, and -with sound justice administered his kingdom. Knowing that Syria -could not long remain quiet, he organised the Egyptian troops, -and so prepared them that, but a few years after his death, the -soldiers of the reigning Pharaoh were swarming once more over the -lands which Akhnaton had lost. - - - 4. THE PERSECUTION OF AKHNATON’S MEMORY. - -The priests of Amon-Ra had now begun openly to denounce Akhnaton as -a villain and a heretic, and as they restored the name of their god -where it had been erased, so they hammered out the name and figure -of Akhnaton wherever they saw it. Presently they pulled down the -Aton temple at Karnak, and used the blocks of stone in the building -of a pylon for Amon-Ra. Soon it was felt that Akhnaton’s body -could no longer lie in state, together with that of Queen Tiy, in -the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. The sepulchre was therefore -opened once more and the name “Akhnaton” was everywhere erased from -the inscriptions, as was his figure from the scenes upon the shrine -of Queen Tiy. The mummy was lifted from its coffin and the royal -name was cut out of the gold ribbons which passed round it, both -at the back and the front. It was then replaced in the coffin, and -from this the name was also erased. - -The question may be asked why it was that the body was not torn to -pieces and scattered to the four winds, since the king was now -so fiercely hated. The Egyptians, however, entertained a peculiar -reverence for the bodies of their dead, and it would have been a -sacrilege to destroy the mummy even of this heretic. No thought -could be entertained of breaking up the body upon which the divine -touch of kingship had fallen: that would have been against all the -sentiments which we know the Egyptians to have held. The cutting -out of the name of the mummy was sufficient punishment: for thereby -the soul of the king was debarred from all the benefits of the -earthly prayers of his descendants, and became a nameless outcast, -wandering unrecognised and unpitied through the vast underworld. -It was the name “Akhnaton” which was hated so fiercely; and one -may perhaps suppose that the priests would have been willing to -substitute the king’s earlier name, Amonhotep, upon the mummy had -they been pressed to do so. His name and figure as Amonhotep IV. is -not damaged upon the monuments; but only the representations of him -after the adoption of the name Akhnaton have been attacked. - -The tomb, polluted by the presence of the heretic, was no longer -fit for Tiy to rest in; and the body of the queen was therefore -carried elsewhere, perhaps to the sepulchre of her husband -Amonhotep III. The shrine, or outer coffin, in which her mummy had -lain was pulled to pieces, and an attempt was made to carry it out -of the tomb to its owner’s new resting-place, but this arduous -task was presently abandoned, and one portion of the shrine was -left in the passage, while the rest remained in sections in the -burial-chamber. Some of the queen’s toilet utensils which had been -buried with her were also left, probably by mistake. The body of -Akhnaton, his name taken from him, was now the sole occupant of -the tomb. The coffin in which it lay rested upon a four-legged -bier some two feet or so from the ground, and in a niche in the -wall above it stood the four canopic jars. And thus, with a curse, -the priests left their great enemy. The entrance of the tomb was -blocked with stones, and sealed with the seal of the necropolis; -and all traces of its mouth were hidden by rocks and _débris_. - -The priests would not now permit the name of Akhnaton to pass -a man’s lips, and by the end of the reign of Horemheb, the -unfortunate boy was spoken of in official documents as “that -criminal.” Not forty years had passed since Akhnaton’s death, yet -the priesthood of Amon was as powerful as it had ever been at any -period of its existence. There were still living men who had been -old enough at the time of the Aton power to grasp its doctrines; -and those same eyes which had looked upon the fair City of the -Horizon might now disturb the creatures of the desert in the ruined -courts where the grave boy-Pharaoh had presided so lately. These -men joined their voices to that crowd of priests who, not daring -to allow the word Akhnaton to form itself upon their lips, poured -curses upon the excommunicated and nameless “criminal.” Through -starry space their execrations passed, searching out the wretched -ghost of the boy, and banning him, as they supposed, even in the -dim uncertainties of the Lands of Death. Over the hills of the -west, up the stairs of the moon, and down into the caverns under -the world, the poor twittering shadow was hunted and chased by the -relentless magic of the men whom he had tried to reform. There -was no place for his memory upon earth, and in the under-world -the priests denied him a stone upon which to lay his head. It -is not easy now to realise the full meaning to the Egyptians -of the excommunication of a soul: cut off from the comforts of -human prayers; hungry, forlorn, and wholly desolate; forced at -last to whine upon the outskirts of villages, to snivel upon the -dung-heaps, to rake with shadowy fingers amidst the refuse of mean -streets for fragments of decayed food with which to allay the pangs -of hunger caused by the absence of funeral-offerings. To such a -pitiful fate the priests of Amon consigned “the first individual in -history”; and as an outcast amongst outcasts, a whimpering shadow -in a place of shadows, the men of Thebes bade us leave the great -idealist, doomed to the horrors of a life which will not end, to -the misery of a death that brings no oblivion. - - - 5. THE FINDING OF THE BODY OF AKHNATON. - -Thus, sheathed in gold, the nameless body lay, while the fortunes -of Egypt rose and fell and the centuries slid by. A greater -teacher than Akhnaton arose and preached that peace which the -Pharaoh had foreshadowed, and soon all Egypt rang with the new -gospel. Then came the religion of Muhammed, and the days of the -sword returned. So the years passed, and many a wise man lived his -life and disappeared; but the first of the wise men of history lay -undiscovered in the heart of the Theban hills. - -Now it happened that there was a fissure in the rocks in which the -sepulchre was cut, and during the rains of each season a certain -amount of moisture managed to penetrate into the chamber. This -gradually rotted the legs of the bier upon which Akhnaton’s body -lay, and at last there came a time when the two legs at the head -of the coffin gave way and precipitated the royal body on to the -ground. The bandages around the mummy had already fallen almost to -powder, and this jerk sent the golden vulture which was resting -upon the king’s face on to his forehead, where it lay with the tail -and claws resting over the left eye-socket of the skull. Presently -the two remaining legs of the bier collapsed, and the whole -coffin fell to the ground, the lid being partly jerked off, thus -revealing the king’s head at one end and his feet at the other, -from all of which the flesh had rotted away. - -In January 1907 the excavations in the Valley of the Tombs of the -Kings which were being conducted by Mr Theodore Davis, of Newport, -Rhode Island, U.S.A., on behalf of the Egyptian Government, brought -to light the doorway of the tomb, and it was not long before an -entrance was effected. A rough stairway led down into the hillside, -bringing the excavators[85] to the mouth of the passage, which was -entirely blocked by the wall which the priests had built after they -had entered the tomb to erase Akhnaton’s name. Beyond this wall -the passage was found to be nearly choked with the _débris_ of the -three earlier walls, the first of which had been built after Queen -Tiy had been buried here, the second after Akhnaton’s agents had -entered the tomb to erase the name of Amon, and the third after -Akhnaton’s body had been laid beside that of his mother. On top -of this heap of stones lay the side of the funeral shrine of the -queen which the priests had abandoned after attempting to carry it -out with her mummy. In the burial-chamber beyond, the remaining -portions of this shrine were found. Upon these one saw the figures -of Akhnaton and his mother worshipping beneath the rays of the -Aton. The inscriptions showed the erasure of the name of Amonhotep -III., and the substitution in red ink of that king’s second name, -Nebmaara; and one observed that at a later date the name and -figures of Akhnaton had been hammered out. - -At one side lay the coffin of Akhnaton, as it had fallen from the -bier. The name of Akhnaton upon the coffin had been erased, but -was still readable; and the gold ribbons from which his name had -been cut out still encircled the body, back and front. The golden -vulture lay as has been described above, and the necklace still -rested on the breast, while the whole decaying body was found to be -wrapped in sheets of gold. In a recess above this coffin stood the -canopic jars, and in another part of the tomb Queen Tiy’s toilet -utensils were found, from one of which the name of Amonhotep III. -had been erased. - -The bones, when examined by Dr Elliot Smith, F.R.S., were found -to be those of a young man of not more than about twenty-eight -years of age,--that is to say, the age at which Akhnaton has been -shown in the above pages to have died. The skull was pronounced -to be that of a man who suffered from epileptic fits, and who -was probably subject to hallucinations. Curiously enough, the -idiosyncrasies of this misshapen skull are precisely those which -Lombroso has stated to be so usual in a religious reformer. The -face had crumbled away, but the lower jaw was intact; and when this -was placed in position one could see at once the great resemblance -to the well-known portraits of Akhnaton which had survived the -wreck of his city. - -There could thus be no doubt that the mummy of this wonderful -Pharaoh had at last been found; but since Akhnaton had always been -thought, though without particular reason, to have been a much -older man, the identity was questioned. It was suggested that the -body was perhaps that of Smenkhkara, the successor of Akhnaton, -which by some error had managed to be placed in Akhnaton’s coffin. -But how, then, did the gold ribbons inscribed with Akhnaton’s -name manage to be placed around the body? And apart from the -extreme improbability that the mummy which was thus labelled with -Akhnaton’s name, and which lay in his coffin, should be that of any -other king but Akhnaton, one may ask in this case how it is that -the body has the well-known physical characteristics of the great -heretic if it be that of Smenkhkara, who was not related to the -king? - -It has been stated that the presence of the vulture upon the body -is against the identification with Akhnaton. This has already been -shown to be capable of explanation; but it may here be noted that -if Smenkhkara would not have placed the vulture upon Akhnaton’s -body, then by the same token the mummy is not likely to be that of -Smenkhkara, and there is certainly no other prince of this period -with whom to identify the body. In conclusion, it may be added -that of all the royal mummies now known there is not one which -can be so clearly shown to belong to the Pharaoh with whom it has -been identified as this mummy can be shown to belong to Akhnaton. -The body was lying in a coffin inscribed with Akhnaton’s name; it -was bound round with ribbons inscribed with his name; it had the -physical characteristics of the portraits of Akhnaton; it had the -idiosyncrasies of a religious reformer such as he was; it was that -of a man of Akhnaton’s age as deduced from the monuments; it lay -in the tomb of Akhnaton’s mother; those who had erased the names -must have thought it to be Akhnaton’s body, unless one supposes an -utter chaos of cross-purposes in their actions; and finally, there -is nobody else who, with any degree of probability, it could be. - -Thus one may say that, without the vaguest shadow of a doubt, the -body of this the most remarkable figure of early Oriental history -has been brought to light; and with this assurance we may close -this sketch of his life, which has been written partly for the -purpose of thus explaining the significance of Mr Davis’s great -discovery, and partly to introduce the general reader to one of -the most interesting characters ever known. In this brief outline -it has only been possible to touch upon the main characteristics -which the few remaining inscriptions and monuments seem to reveal; -but to the most casual reader it will be apparent that there -stands before him a personality of surprising vigour and amazing -originality, and one deserving of careful study. In an age of -superstition, and in a land where the grossest polytheism reigned -absolutely supreme, Akhnaton evolved a monotheistic religion -second only to Christianity itself in purity of tone. He was the -first human being to understand rightly the meaning of divinity. -When the world reverberated with the noise of war, he preached -the first known doctrine of peace; when the glory of martial pomp -swelled the hearts of his subjects, he deliberately turned his back -upon heroics. He was the first man to preach simplicity, honesty, -frankness, and sincerity; and he preached it from a throne. He was -the first Pharaoh to be a humanitarian; the first man in whose -heart there was no trace of barbarism. He has given us an example -three thousand years ago which might be followed at the present -day: an example of what a husband and a father should be, of what -an honest man should do, of what a poet should feel, of what a -preacher should teach, of what an artist should strive for, of what -a scientist should believe, of what a philosopher should think. -Like other great teachers he sacrificed all to his principles, and -thus his life plainly shows--alas!--the impracticability of his -doctrines; yet there can be no question that his ideals will hold -good “till the swan turns black and the crow turns white, till the -hills rise up to travel, and the deeps rush into the rivers.” - -[Illustration: MAP OF AKHETATON, THE CITY OF THE HORIZON OF ATON. -(TEL EL AMARNA) - - SURVEY DEP. CAIRO 1909 (151) _FROM THE CAIRO SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL._ - -NOTE: Of the Boundary Stelae only those lettered A, B, F, J, K, M, -N, P, Q, R, S, U, V and X, still remain. The position of these is -shown upon the Map.] - - - - -INDEX. - - - Aahmes I., 7 - - Abdkhiba, governor of Jerusalem, appeal of, to Akhnaton for help, - 236 - - Adonis, connection of, with Aton, 15, 37, 49, 136 _et seq._ - - Akhnaton, personality of, 2 - --ancestors of, 7 _et seq._ - --birth of, 42 _et seq._ - --change of name from Amonhotep to, 45 note, 91 _et seq._ - --marriage of, 53 - --accession of, 58 _et seq._ - --first years of the reign of, 62 _et seq._ - --new city founded by, 88 _et seq._ - --site of the city selected by, 92 _et seq._ - --foundation ceremonies performed by, 94 _et seq._ - --departure of, from Thebes, 105 _et seq._ - --age of, 110 _et seq._ - --religion of Aton formulated by, 115 _et seq._ - --tenth to twelfth years of the reign of, 149 _et seq._ - --similarity of the hymn of, to Psalm civ., 155 _et seq._ - --representations of, in his palace, 167 _et seq._ - --historical events of tenth to twelfth years of the reign of, - 169 _et seq._ - --thirteenth to fifteenth years of the reign of, 189 _et seq._ - --name of Amon obliterated by, 193 _et seq._ - --affection of, for his family, 208 _et seq._ - --friends of, 213 _et seq._ - --troubles of, 217 _et seq._ - --last two years of the reign of, 223 _et seq._ - --conscientious objections of, to warfare, 226 _et seq._ - --health of, gives way, 246 _et seq._ - --last days and death of, 252 - --fall of the religion of, 258 _et seq._ - --burial of, 258 - --body of, brought to Thebes, 266 - --persecution of the memory of, 272 _et seq._ - --finding of the body of, 276 _et seq._ - --ideals of, 283 - - Amon or Amon-Ra, worship of, 12 - --priesthood of, 20, 45 _et seq._, 77 - --break with the priesthood of, 88 _et seq._ - --Akhnaton obliterates the name of, 193 _et seq._ - --restoration of the worship of, 272 _et seq._ - - Amonhotep I., 7 - - Amonhotep II., 10 - - Amonhotep III., “the Magnificent,” 11, 13, 28, 33 _et seq._, 49, 54 - --death of, 57, 111 - --second name of, 186, 187, 195 - - Amonhotep IV.: see Akhnaton - - Amonhotep-son-of-Hapu, the “wise man,” 33 - - Animal worship, 18 _et seq._ - - Ankhsenpaaton, third daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 109 - --marriage of, 112, 264 - - Apis, the sacred bull, worship of, 16, 87 - - Apiy, letter to Akhnaton from, 85 - - Art, the new style of, 68 _et seq._, 101 - - Aswan, commemoration tablet at, 107 - --statue of Amonhotep III. at, _ib._ - - Aton, the name, 37, 92 and note - --rise of, 45 _et seq._ - --development of the religion of, 76 _et seq._ - --nature of the religion of, 84 _et seq._ - --founding of new city for the worship of, 88 _et seq._ - --religion of, formulated, 115 _et seq._ - --connections of the worship of, with older religions, - 135 _et seq._ - --hymns of the worshippers of, 149 _et seq._ - --Meryra made high priest of, 158 _et seq._ - --development of the religion of, 189 _et seq._ - --great temple of, 198 _et seq._ - --City of the Horizon of, 202 _et seq._ - --downfall of the religion of, 264 _et seq._ - - Auta, Queen Tiy’s chief sculptor, 75, 207 - - Ay, foster-parent of Queen Nefertiti, 57, 109 - --palace of, 204 - --accession of, to the throne, 268 - --death of, _ib._ - - Aziru, the Amorite prince, unscrupulous dealings of, 226, - 230 _et seq._ - - - Baketaton, sister of Akhnaton, 178, 212 - - Bek, art taught to, by Akhnaton, 76 - --sculptures of, at Aswan, 107, 196 - - - Canopic jars, the, in Akhnaton’s tomb, 263, 279 - - Child-marriages, frequency of, in Egypt, 112 - - Christianity, comparison of Akhnaton’s faith with, 143 _et seq._ - - “City of the Brightness of Aton,” new name of, given to Thebes, 65 - - City of the Horizon of Aton, founding of, 90 _et seq._ - --Akhnaton’s residence at, 107 - --gardens of, 127 - --inscriptions on the sepulchres at, 149 _et seq._ - --Queen Tiy’s visit to, 176 _et seq._ - --Queen Tiy’s residence and death at, 184 _et seq._ - --shrines and temples in, 196 _et seq._ - --beauty of, 202 _et seq._ - --Akhnaton’s tomb near, 207 _et seq._ - --abandonment of, by the court, 264 - --removal of Akhnaton’s body from, 266 - --desolate condition of, 275 - - - Delta, “House” of Aton in the, 191 - - Demigods and Spirits, worship of, 18 _et seq._ - - Domestic life of Akhnaton, reliefs and paintings on tombs showing - the, 167 _et seq._ - - Dushratta, King of Mitanni, marriage of Nefertiti, daughter of, to - Prince Amonhotep (Akhnaton), 56 - --marriage of Nezemmut, daughter of, to Horemheb, 269 - - - “Effulgence which comes from Aton,” name of Aton changed to, 192 - - - Fayum, “House” of Aton in the, 191 - - - Gebel Silsileh, tablets at the quarries of, 63 - --the name Amonhotep erased at, 195 - - Gods of Egypt, the, 11 _et seq._ - --Akhnaton orders the erasure of the names of, in inscriptions, 249 - - Goodness of Aton, the, 127 _et seq._ - - - Hathor, worship of, 16 - - Hatshepsut, Queen, 8 - - Heliopolis, temple of Aton at, 191 - - Hermonthis, temple of Aton at, 191 - - Hermopolis, temple of Aton at, 191 - - Hittite invasion of Syria, the, 223 _et seq._ - - Horakhti Aton, erection of temple at Karnak to, 63, 68, 89 - --restoration of the temple to, 267 - --destruction of the temple to, 272 - - Horemheb, tomb of, 67 and note, 84, 86, 265 note - --presence of, with the troops in Asia, 265 - --accession of, to the throne, 268 - --marriage of, 269 - --reign of, 270 _et seq._ - - Horus, the hawk god, worship of, 15, 16 - - Huya, scenes sculptured on the tomb of, 170 _et seq._, 177, 207 - - - Isis, worship of, 15 - - - Karnak, temple to Horakhti Aton at, 63 _et seq._, 68, 89 - --temples and shrines at, 63, 84 - --restoration of the Aton temple at, 267 - --destruction of the Aton temple at, 272 - - Khnum, the ram-headed deity, worship of, 16 - - Khonsu, the god of the moon, worship of, 13 - - Kirgipa or Gilukhipa, wife of Amonhotep III., 39, 51, 55 - - - “Lord of the Breath of Sweetness,” Akhnaton’s name of, 61 - - - Mahu, scenes on the tomb of, 215 _et seq._ - - Meketaton, second daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 101 - --death of, 219 - - Memphis, temple of Aton at, 191 - - Meryra, appointment of, as high priest of Aton, 158 _et seq._ - --scenes sculptured on the tomb of, 159 _et seq._, 203 - - Merytaton, first daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 83 - --marriage of, 112, 211, 254 - - Min or Min-Ra, worship of, 12, 27 - - Mnevis, the sacred bull, worship of, 135 - - Mut, the consort of Amon, worship of, 13, 187, 260 - - Mutemua, wife of Thothmes IV., 23 _et seq._, 28 - - - Nebmaara, second name of Amonhotep III., 186, 187, 195, 279 - - Nefernefernaton fourth daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 112, 169 - --marriage of, 112, 211 - - Neferneferura, fifth daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 208 - - Nefertiti (Tadukhipa), marriage of Prince Amonhotep (Akhnaton) to, - 55, 210 - --birth of the first daughter of, 83 - --second daughter of, 101, 106 - --third daughter of, 109 - --fourth daughter of, 112, 169 - --fifth daughter of, 208 - --sixth and seventh daughters of, 209 - - Nezemmut, sister of Queen Nefertiti, 109, 212 - --marriage of, to Horemheb, King of Egypt, 269 - - Nubia, imperial regard of Akhnaton for, 189 _et seq._ - --temple of Aton in, 191 - - - Osiris, god of the dead, worship of, 20 - - - Palace of Akhnaton, description of the, 205 _et seq._ - - Psalm civ., similarity of Akhnaton’s hymn to, 155 _et seq._ - - Ptah, the Vulcan of Egypt, worship of, 16, 21, 85 - - - Ra or Ra-Horakhti, the sun-god, worship of, 12, 14, 21, 45 _et seq._, - 51, 58, 59, 64, 70, 86, 92 - - Rames, Vizir of Upper Egypt, tomb of, 66, 68, 81, 84, 148 - - Ribaddi, King of Byblos, appeals of, to Akhnaton for help, 235, 239, - 242 - --death of, 247 - - - Set, the worship of, 16 - - Setepenra, sixth daughter of Akhnaton, birth of, 209 - - “Shade of the Sun,” the, Queen Tiy’s private temple called, - 182 _et seq._ - --statues in, 182, 196 - - Smenkhkara, Akhnaton’s successor to the throne, 211, 253 - --marriage of, 254 - --association of, with Akhnaton, as co-ruler, _ib._ - --accession of, as sole ruler, 258 - --death of, 264 - - “Son of God,” Akhnaton the, by traditional right, 130 _et seq._ - - “Son of the Sun,” the title of, held by the Pharaohs, 14, 71, 74, - 131, 197 - - Soul, spiritual needs of the, after death, 138 _et seq._ - --material needs of the, 143 _et seq._ - --the excommunication of a, 276 - - Sunrise and sunset, worship of Aton at, 124 _et seq._ - - Syria, imperial regard of Akhnaton for, 189 _et seq._ - --temple of Aton in, 191 - --Hittite invasion of, 223 _et seq._ - --Akhnaton’s policy in, 226 _et seq._ - --the fighting in, becomes general, 235 _et seq._ - - - Tadukhipa: see Nefertiti - - Temple of Aton, description of the great, 198 _et seq._ - - Tender Father of all Creation, Aton as the, 118 _et seq._ - - Thebes, discoveries in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings near, 4, - 278 _et seq._ - --booty brought by Thothmes III. to, 8 - --the deities of, 12 _et seq._ - --the court at, 35 - --the royal palace at, 36, 43 _et seq._ - --new name of “City of the Brightness of Aton” given to, 65 - --departure of the court from, 105 _et seq._ - --Queen Tiy’s continued residence at, 176 - --Queen Tiy’s tomb at, 185 - --return of the court to, 264 _et seq._ - --body of Akhnaton brought to, 266 - --finding of Akhnaton’s body at, 277 _et seq._ - - Thothmes I., 8 - - Thothmes II., 8 - - Thothmes III., 8 _et seq._ - - Thothmes IV., 10 _et seq._, 13, 21 _et seq._, 110 - - Tiy, Queen, birth and childhood of, 26 - --marriage of, 29 _et seq._, 112 - --children of, 39, 43, 54 - --death of the parents of, 40 - --birth of Amonhotep or Akhnaton, son of, 43 _et seq._ - --the power of, 49 _et seq._ - --death of the consort of, 57 - --visit of, to the City of the Horizon, 176 _et seq._ - --visit of, to her temple, 182 _et seq._ - --death of, 184 - --tomb of, 185 _et seq._ - --Akhnaton’s body placed in the tomb of, 266, 282 - --body of, removed, 274 - - Tribal gods, names of, 12 _et seq._ - - True God, Aton as the, 115 _et seq._ - - Tuau, wife of Yuaa, Priest of the god Min, 26 _et seq._, 30, 32 - --death and burial of, 40 - - Tunip, letter to Akhnaton from the governor of, 232 - - Tutankhaton, the throne usurped by, 211, 252, 264 - --marriage of, 264 - --name of, changed to Tutankhamon, 266 - --return of, to Thebes, _ib._ - --death of, 267 - - Ty, foster-parent of Queen Nefertiti, 57, 109 - - - Valley of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes, the, discoveries in, 4, - 278 _et seq._ - --burial of Yuaa and Tuau in, 40 - - Vulture, representation of a, used in burials, 187, 259 _et seq._, - 279, 281 - - - Wady Hammamât, inscriptions near the quarries of, 76, 113 - - Warfare, Akhnaton’s conscientious scruples to, 226 _et seq._ - - Worship of Aton at sunrise and sunset, 124 _et seq._ - - - Yuaa, Priest of the god Min, birth of, 25 - --marriage of Tiy, the daughter of, to Amonhotep III., 29 - --personality of, 32 - --death and burial of, 40 - - -THE END. - - -PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Breasted: A History of Egypt. - -[2] N. de G. Davies: The Rock Tombs of El Amarna. 5 vols. - -[3] Now out of print. - -[4] Published by the Chicago University, 1906. - -[5] As will be recorded at the end of this volume, the body of -Akhnaton was discovered by Mr Theodore M. Davis at Thebes early in -1907; but at the time of writing (1908) the results have not been -published in book form, though various articles have appeared. - -[6] The writer has to thank the editors of ‘The Quarterly Review,’ -‘Blackwood’s Magazine,’ and ‘The Century Magazine,’ for permitting -him to embody in this volume certain portions of articles -contributed by him to the pages of those journals. - -[7] Page 110. - -[8] Page 100. - -[9] The sphinx tablet. - -[10] Of Thothmes III. at Karnak, of Aahmes I. at Abydos, and of -Senusert III. at Amada. - -[11] These ages are discussed on pages 111 and 178 (note). - -[12] Petrie, History, ii. p. 183. The portrait upon which he bases -this statement, however, may be that of Akhnaton (fig. 115, p. -182). The mouth and chin are extremely like those of Yuaa, as seen -in his mummy; but again they both have a close resemblance to the -head of Amonhotep III. (_idem_, fig. 120, p. 188). Of course, such -evidence is extremely frail, and must not be too much relied upon. - -[13] Breasted, Records, ii. 865, note h. - -[14] He took the name Akhnaton in about the sixth year of his reign. - -[15] His statue is at Turin. See also Erman, ‘Life in Ancient -Egypt,’ p. 297. - -[16] Page 39. - -[17] Recently discovered by the present writer whilst repairing -this tomb. - -[18] His mummy is that of a man of not more than fifty. - -[19] The wise man Amonhotep-son-of-Hapu was steward of Princess -Setamon’s estate, but this may have been previous to her mention in -her grandparents’ tomb. - -[20] Page 111. - -[21] Page 56. - -[22] It is usual for Egyptian girls to become mothers at about the -age of thirteen, though sometimes earlier. They often continue to -bear children at intervals of about two years, over a period of -thirty years or so. Fifteen children is thus the usual number of a -family, but half these generally die in babyhood. - -[23] Maspero. - -[24] Scarabs of the early period are sometimes inscribed -_Neb-nef-nezem_, which has this meaning. - -[25] The date of this work is not exactly known, but as it was -certainly finished before the king founded his new city, it must -have been commenced immediately upon his accession. - -[26] The word _benben_, “shrine,” has the hieroglyph of an obelisk -at the end of it, which has led to some mistranslations. Perhaps -the temple was built somewhat on the plan of that at Abusêr, where -an obelisk stood in an open court. - -[27] It is possible that “found” is a mistranslation. - -[28] Thus corresponding to the Silsileh quarry tablet, where Amon -is worshipped. - -[29] This tomb of Horemheb seems to have been begun and finished in -the early years of Akhnaton’s reign, to have been left alone during -the remainder of the reign, and to have received the addition -of doorposts (see note on p. 265) after the death of Akhnaton. -Fragments of the tomb are now divided between Leiden, Bologna, -Vienna, Alexandria, and Cairo; and it would seem that all except -those in the Cairo museum (the doorposts) are from the earlier -period. The titles on the Cairo fragments are far more elaborate -than those on the others. See Breasted, Records, iii. 1 ff. - -[30] We know from the “Palermo stone” that the kingdom of Lower -Egypt was much more ancient than that of Upper Egypt. - -[31] In later times the name of Tiy and the Pharaoh’s second name -were erased, but the name Amonhotep was not damaged. The facsimile -copy here given was made on the spot by the present writer in -correction of a previous copy made by Golénischeff. It is published -in his ‘Travels in the Upper Egyptian Deserts’ (Blackwood). - -[32] Meaning the god. - -[33] Griffith: Kahun Papyri. Text, p. 91. - -[34] Is there a distant connection between Mnevis and the Minoan -bull of Crete? See p. 183. - -[35] The god is sometimes called “Aton” simply, and sometimes _Pa -Aton_, “the Aton”; just as we speak of “Christ” or “the Christ,” -and of “Lord” or “the Lord,” this latter being the actual meaning -of “Aton.” - -[36] The translation here given is based upon that published by -Davies in Amarna V.; but the year cannot be the fourth, as there -stated as probable, since in the above-mentioned letter dated -in year 5 the king is still called Amonhotep, whereas in this -inscription he is called Akhnaton. - -[37] The day is not certain; perhaps it is day 4. - -[38] For the sake of brevity it is often called “the City of the -Horizon,” simply, in this volume. - -[39] Mediterranean people. - -[40] This has reference to the rays which come from the Aton. - -[41] This seems to have been a temple. - -[42] The second name of Amonhotep III., Akhnaton’s father. - -[43] The second name of Thothmes IV., Akhnaton’s grandfather. - -[44] The _ater_ corresponds to the Greek _schoinos_, and the _khe_ -is the _schoenium_ of 100 cubits, 40 _khe_ making one _ater_. - -[45] See note on p. 178. - -[46] Davies, Amarna, I. 45. - -[47] The idea is that the Aton does not die as dies the sunlight. - -[48] Probably by royal descent is meant. - -[49] In Egyptian this title reads _Pa shera nefer en pa Aton_. In -the tomb of a certain Amonhotep, at El Assasîf, temp. Amonhotep -III., the deceased Amonhotep I. is called _Pa shera nefer en Amon_. - -[50] So Prof. Breasted translates the Egyptian _sehetep_, though it -would be possible to give it other interpretations. - -[51] Cf. such expressions as “When thou settest they die,” and -others used in Akhnaton’s hymns. - -[52] Professor Breasted’s translation. - -[53] In the tomb of Huya the scene is dated in the twelfth year, -as here recorded, and there are four daughters shown, which is the -number one is led by other evidence to suppose were then alive. The -scene in the tomb of Meryra II. has precisely the same date, but -six daughters are shown, and there is evidence to show that that -number is not to be looked for previous to the fifteenth year of -the reign, the first daughter being born in about the fifth year, -the second in the seventh, the third in the ninth, the fourth -in the eleventh, the fifth in the thirteenth, and the sixth in -the fifteenth year, in all probability. Thus the scene in Meryra -II. may perhaps represent no particular reception of the tribute -of any one year, but the artist may have had in mind the great -tribute of the twelfth year while representing the occurrence in -the fifteenth or sixteenth year, at which date his work was taking -place. Or again the date in this latter tomb may be a misreading or -miswriting. The scene described above is that represented in the -tomb of Meryra, as it is more elaborate than the other; but the -inscription is that found in the tomb of Huya. - -[54] Her first child, it will be remembered, was born when she was -about thirteen. - -[55] It is probable, as has been stated on p. 111, that she was -married to Amonhotep III. in about her tenth year, and was thus -about forty-six when he died. She could not have been much more, -for her daughter Baketaton must have been born but a year or so -before Amonhotep’s death, and it is improbable that she would bear -children after forty-five, if as late as that. - -[56] It is to be noticed that there are pomegranates amongst the -fruit, which indicates that the visit was made during the summer, -as do the light costumes also. - -[57] Davies: Amarna, iii. 8, note 1. - -[58] This is to be observed also in some other inscriptions of the -period. - -[59] Breasted: History of Egypt, p. 364. - -[60] Page 177. - -[61] It is usual to date the tombs roughly by the number of -daughters shown, presuming that the artist represented all the -children living at the time. But though this gives us the lowest -possible year, it does not always give us the highest, for -daughters are obviously sometimes omitted when the available space -was cramped. - -[62] Page 63. - -[63] Page 107. - -[64] Davies: El Amarna, iii., Pl. xviii. - -[65] Page 182. - -[66] Davies: El Amarna. - -[67] Wilkinson: Modern Egypt, ii. 69. - -[68] Davies: El Amarna. - -[69] It is probable that there was some likeness between Akhnaton’s -temples and those dedicated to the sun in early days, as, for -example that at Abusêr. - -[70] Perhaps this is a part of the royal palace. - -[71] Petrie: El Amarna. - -[72] Petrie: History of Egypt, ii. 219. - -[73] Page 75. - -[74] Page 192. - -[75] She probably married some Egyptian noble, and her future -career is recorded on p. 269. - -[76] The plaster has now fallen off, and little of the original -decoration remains. The tomb is seldom visited by tourists, being -seven miles back from the river; but it is in charge of the -Government custodian. - -[77] The reception of the tribute recorded in the tomb of Meryra -II. (see page 170), although dated in the twelfth year of the -reign, may represent a later event, since six daughters are shown -in the scene; and it is not likely that the sixth daughter was born -before the fifteenth year. Perhaps the date is a misreading or -miswriting, influenced by that given in the tomb of Huya. - -[78] Breasted: History, p. 388. - -[79] It is doubtful whether the second sign is _menkh_ or _ȧa͑_, -they being somewhat alike. - -[80] Page 187. - -[81] The scarab, another symbol from older times, seems to have -been retained, for a gold heart-scarab is said to have been found -in Akhnaton’s tomb.--Petrie: History of Egypt, ii. 220. - -[82] In Egyptian: Ḥeq nefer, Ra͑ setept, Seten bati, A͑nkh em -Mȧa͑t, Neb taui, Akhnaton, Pa sherȧ nefer en Pa Aton a͑nkh, enti -ȧuf a͑nkhu ren ḥeḥ zet. This was all that was written upon the -coffin. - -[83] Probably he is to be identified with Tutu, a well-known noble -of this period--the words _ankhaton_, “Living in Aton,” being added -to make the name more majestic. - -[84] See note on page 67. This inscription is found on the -doorposts of the tomb of Horemheb, which, by the greatly increased -titles, were set up some time after the rest of the tomb was -finished, and thus probably in the reign of Tutankhaton. A fragment -of gold-leaf has recently been found showing this king in his -chariot charging Asiatic enemies. The present writer recently found -part of a shrine of his in the desert on the road to the gold -mines. See ‘Travels in the Upper Egyptian Deserts’ (Blackwood). - -[85] The present writer assisted at the opening of this tomb. -A full account of the find will be published by Mr Davis, and -therefore only a brief description, already published with Mr -Davis’s permission in article form, must be given here. - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - - Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been - corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within - the text and consultation of external sources. - - Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, - and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained: for example, - burial-chamber, burial chamber; underworld, under-world; intrust; - unbiassed; engrained. - - Pg xi: ‘ART OF AKHNATION’ replaced by ‘ART OF AKHNATON’. - Pg xii: ‘MAP OF AKHHETATON’ replaced by ‘MAP OF AKHETATON’. - Pg 158: ‘who seens to have’ replaced by ‘who seems to have’. - Pg 178: ‘elaborate footsools’ replaced by ‘elaborate footstools’. - Pg 205: ‘the light rooves’ replaced by ‘the light roofs’. - Pg 236: ‘the Egptian yoke’ replaced by ‘the Egyptian yoke’. - Pg 262 Footnote [82]: ‘In Egytian’ replaced by ‘In Egyptian’. - - Index. - Dushratta: ‘marriage of Nesemmut’ replaced by ‘marriage of Nezemmut’. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life and Times of Akhnaton, by -Arthur Edward Pearse Weigall - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AKHNATON *** - -***** This file should be named 62434-0.txt or 62434-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/4/3/62434/ - -Produced by John Campbell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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