Akhenaten: New Theories and Old Facts

Author(s): Donald B. Redford

Source: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research , No. 369 (May 2013), pp. 9-
34
Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.369.0009

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 Akhenaten:
New Theories and Old Facts*

Donald B. Redford

Arguably the first five years, the “Karnak” period, of Akhenaten’s reign constitute the most im-
portant time span in the formulation of the heretic king’s program. In contrast to the 18 years
spent at Amarna, for which textual evidence dwindles drastically, the first half-decade of reign
yields an abundance of inscriptional and epigraphic remains with which to chart both the polit-
ical and cultic evolution of the king’s thought. The focus here is on the sequence of events in the
­Theban years, the roots of the king’s thought and iconoclasm, his rejection of symbolism, and his
introduction of what has been called “monotheism.”

B
etween the expulsion of the Hyksos and the acces-
sion of Akhenaten, Egypt experienced two major
jolts in her socioeconomic system, never felt be-
fore nor predicted at the time. Neither has to do with
ideological or theological friction fomenting crises—
temples required administrators rather than theologians
(Janssen 1979: 508)—but both derive from the new role
thrust upon the country by the vagaries of the histori-
cal process. These are, first, the growth of an economy
of scale, and second, a demographic shift, both result-
ing from empire. In Egypt, it is almost axiomatic that
absence of construction or endowment in a king’s reign
signals either lack of manpower, inability to organize,
or sheer penury. But with the extension of the frontiers
(Galán 1995: 104–28), penury became unknown and the
workforce multiplied. For the first time in Egyptian his-
tory, booty (Liverani 1990: 255–57) and taxes (Warbur-
ton 1997) and later substantial gift exchange (Bleiberg
1996; Cochavi-Rainey 1999) began to flow into Egyptian
coffers.1 The conceptualizing of the relationship of the
* This article is the revised version of a lecture delivered at the Al-
bright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem in March 2011,
when the author was the Eighth Trude Dothan Lecturer in Ancient
Near Eastern Studies. This series, which also includes lectures at Al-
Quds and Hebrew Universities, was sponsored by the Albright Institute
and endowed by the Dorot Foundation.
Donald B. Redford: Department of Classics and Ancient
Mediterranean Studies, 325 Weaver Building, The Pennsylvania
State University, University Park, PA 16802, dbr3@psu.edu
newly conquered to the victors as that of mrt, “lower class
labor” (Urk. IV: 102:15; 742:13–743:8; Warburton 1997:
272–74), or nḏt, “tenants, dependents” (Urk. IV: 138:9;
140:16–17), meant that the same tax structure imposed
on Egyptian peasantry could be applied also to Canaan-
ites and Nubians (Urk. IV: 55:8–9; 70).
Side by side with the increase in revenues, the 18th
Dynasty witnessed the revival of an old, though sporadic
practice—viz., the forcible uprooting of foreign popu-
lations engulfed by the expanding borders and their re-
settlement in Egypt (Helck 1971: 342–70; D. B. Redford
1990: 37–39; 1977: 13–27; Hohlbein 2009).2 Most of these
foreigners were assigned to the temple communities as
farmhands, garment workers, producers of food and
drink, construction workers, or professionals. The result
was the emergence of temple communities of enormous
size, the like of which had never been seen, the temples
“being surrounded by the towns of Kharu, settled with
the children of the chiefs” (Urk. IV: 1649:12–13).
The decision to bestow a significant portion of the
­revenue from booty and taxes on Amun entailed (1)
an expanded “physical plant,” larger than the small,
1 Probably as early as Kamose: cf. the plunder from the harbor of
Avaris (Helck 1975: 93); the plundering of Avaris, Sharuhen, and Tell
el-Ajjul under Ahmose (cf. vague allusions: [Urk. IV: 18:8–9]; note ex-
tensive presence of silver [Urk. IV: 22–23] possibly indicating northern
contacts); plunder as the basis of increased temple endowments (Urk.
IV: 1554:16–17; Hallmann 2006).
2 Related to the sizable body of Canaanite exiles (Urk. IV: 1309)
must be the notable reduction in the archaeological record of the num-
ber of Late Bronze sites in Palestine (Thompson 1979: 59–62).

© 2013 American Schools for Oriental Research. BASOR 369 (2013): 9–34.

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10 DONALD B. REDFORD BASOR 369

Fig. 1. Plan of Karnak with putative locations. A. Ṯni-mnw; B. turning basin connecting with Nile; C. Rwd-mnw; D. Ḥwt-bnbn; E. processional
corridor.

g­ emütlich shrine of Senwosret I (Gabolde 1998; Cotelle-
Michelle 2003: 339–53), to accommodate the new trea-
sures, and (2) the creation of a service industry to serve
the god and guard this divine “Fort Knox.” The first, from
Amenophis I on, brought about a spate of demolition al-
ternating with construction which turned Karnak into a
perennial construction site (Larché 2007: 482–85). Out of
this period came a larger establishment, with magazines
and storage facilities heretofore unknown in their sheer
physical extent (Fig. 1). The second produced a growing
community, of both sacred and secular function, expand-
ing in size to unprecedented proportions (Eichler 2000).
Accumulation of wealth under the aegis of the god,
and the appearance of a growing support staff to guard
the treasure and service the deity—these were the ingre-
dients for stasis, if not downright schism. The figure who
stood to lose was Pharaoh himself, by whose agency in
part the situation had been created. The internal history
of the Egyptian state over the first 170 years of the 18th
Dynasty can be understood, at a practical level, as the
attempt to set up bulwarks against the usurpation of Pha-
raoh’s role by men, while continuing to honor the god. To
some extent, the king used a “carrot-and-stick” approach.
No occupant of the throne during the period aforesaid
failed to restore dilapidated temples, or to build new
ones, or to increase endowments and priestly personnel.
On the other hand, the enhancement of an administra-
tive office of “Overseer of all priests of Upper and Lower
Egypt” speaks to a circumspect apprehension (Kees 1953:
12, 14, 65–66; LdÄ 4: 1090; Graefe 1985: 80); the right to
choose the high-priest of Amun was reserved by the king
(Bierbrier 1972: 1242), while the choice of his deputy, the
second prophet, was the queen’s prerogative (Helck 1975:
100; Menu 1982: 205; Trapani 2002: 152–65).
But within the metalanguage of the ever-fertile my-
thologem, the 18th Dynasty king disposed of better de-
fenses. From the end of the 12th Dynasty, the insertion
of a universalist strain in the political register gave rise
to a craving to see the solar supernatural in the terres-
trial vehicle of a living, breathing life-form. The desire
extended to other manifestations of the divine as well,
as when the god permitted the king to be “glimpsed as
. . . .” In extending legitimacy and approbation, Re and
his congeners were the masters.3 The king was Re’s like-
3 For example: Amun nurtures the king (Blumenthal 1970: 66);
Atum and Re approve of the king (Blumenthal 1970: 81, 92); Re autho-
rizes kingship (Blumenthal 1970: 62–63); “I (the king) am in the great

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2013 AKHENATEN: NEW THEORIES AND OLD FACTS
ness (Helck 1975: 98), his progeny (Urk. IV: 14:16–17),
his simulacrum (Blumenthal 1970: 99; Helck 1975: 60;
Posener 1976: 64–67), his living image upon earth—twt
ʿnḫ n Rʿ (Helck 1975: 45, 58). In striking anticipation
of Akhenaten’s terrestrial–heavenly axis, “there was one
in heaven, the other on earth” (Urk. IV: 15:13).4 In fact,
he was the sun-god (Blumenthal 1970: 99–100; Ockinga
1984: 3–30). His appearance could bear comparison with
the shining of the sun-disc (Helck 1975: 44, 65; Urk. IV:
19:6–7).5 The New Kingdom thrust the iconic image of
the ἰtn n hrw, “the daytime disc,” to the fore as the su-
preme symbol of the imperial Pharaoh. In the full light
of empire, Pharaoh became the Sun(-disc) of the entire
earth, the “Disc of all lands” (Gardiner, Peet, and Černý
1952: pl. 64:196; Urk. IV: 1466:20–21; 1016:8); the “Disc
of the Nine Bows” (Higginbotham 2000: 66; Grimal
1986: 426–27; Urk. IV: 1652:8; D. B. Redford 1976: 50);6
the “Disc of the daytime” (Urk. IV: 1762:16). The king is
“glimpsed like Re when he rises, as when the Disc shines
forth” (Urk. IV: 19:6–8). Hatshepsut is “female Re shining
like the Disc” (Urk. IV: 332:10–12; cf. Lacau and Chevrier
1977: 120). Universalism is endemic in this ideology.
It was this metaphor that Amenophis III appropriated
unto himself, with the qualification ṯḥn, “dazzling,” and
turned into the hypostasis of kingship, with far-reaching
implications (Urk. IV: 1684:16; cf. Urk. IV: 1670:7–8).7
He was “he who rises over every foreign land, Nebmare,
the dazzling disc” (Hayes 1951: 174 fig. 31:S 30; Urk. IV:
1569). It was a concrete symbol,8 devoid of underlying
mystica, and curiously mirrored in the relationship be-
tween emperors of the third century and Sol Invictus
(Bowden 2010: 197), which approached at times the sta-
tus of monotheism.
One canard that has bedeviled Amarna studies, and
continues to do so in some quarters, is the notion that
Amenophis III, as the “Dazzling Disc,” attempted to
promote a species of “Aten-worship” after the manner
office which Re bestows” (Helck 1975: 22); “Re has [appoin]ted him to
be king” (Helck 1975: 104); Re is the great archetype of kingship (Helck
1975: 23); Re creates a ruler (Urk. IV: 17:16–17); Re legitimizes kingship
(Urk. IV: 390:9–11); Re chooses the king (Schade-Busch 1992: 228–30).
4 Cf. “. . . and while you (Amun-re) are in heaven, giving light to
the earth, he (the king) is on earth, performing your kingship” (Urk.
IV: 1676:19–1677:1).
5 “Thou (Akhenaten) art the light! I live through sight of thee, I
thrive at hearing thy voice!” (Berlin 20375).
6 Still under Akhenaten: “the sun-disc of everybody” (Amarna IV:
pl. 35); “the great Sun of every land!” (Sandman 1938: 135:15).
7 Cairo 13716 (Sety I): “The dazzling disc over his army—their
hearts are confident in the greatness of his power.”
8 The uses of the word indicate clearly that ἰtn was conceived
as a “disc,” not a “globe” (D. B. Redford 1976: 57 nn. 4–6). The root
til/tal (> ἰtn) in Afro-Asiatic denotes “sun,” “brightness,” “sparkle,”
etc. (Takács 2005: 409). A vocalization in Egyptian, therefore, of *yati,
would seem to be impossible. Cf. similarly ṯḥn ḫprw, “of dazzling
forms” (Urk. IV: 1698:18; 1700:5–7).
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11
of his son. The early misinterpretation of the presence
of talatat around the ninth pylon at Karnak, and a false
reading of Amenophis III’s name, led in the 19th century
to an unfortunate error which was perpetuated too long
and continues to foster distortion (Maspero 1897: 316;
1903: V, 80; Wiedemann 1884: 382–83; Breasted 1905:
360; Meyer 1928: II, 1, 382 n. 1; Kees 1956: 370; Aldred
1975: 54). Even the hymns of Suty and Hor (HTBM 8:
pl. 22, line 8; Gulyás 2009)9 and Kha-em-hat address the
“Disc” in a manner consonant with the old implications
of the term. Akhenaten’s approach, albeit drawing on an
inherited mind-set, was peculiarly his own.
Another vaguely articulated notion has it that the
18th Dynasty hymn to the Sun is somehow a harbinger
of Akhenaten’s fixation. Solar hymnody is, admittedly,
popular in the 18th Dynasty. The liturgical sun-hymn
(Assmann 1983: introduction §3) appears in the New
Kingdom (although it might have earlier roots) as an
Angelus-type act of devotion at dawn and sunset. It is
rooted in an oral formulaic register, as Assmann (1995:
8) has seen, much as are the extemporized supplications
of Anglo-Saxon Protestantism. The genre differs in depth
from the “New Solar Theology” (Assmann) of Ameno-
phis III’s floruit, which reflects a profound discourse on
imponderables (Assmann 1971). But neither is in any
way a precursor of Akhenaten’s thought.
It is inappropriate to introduce the terminology of
“dogma” or “orthodoxy” prior to the iconoclasm of the
heretic. The “Dogmatic theology” of the Christian reli-
gion under which we labor often warps our approach to
ancient belief systems into treating them as doctrinaire
tenets of a limited and authoritative nature based upon
a priori concepts divorced from empirical experience. In
no way do they resemble Christian Dogmatics. The belief
system of ancient Egypt was always expanding, contract-
ing, and “morphing” in a manner that would bewilder
and outrage a dogmatist. It did so because the numinous
persona of the supernatural world arose out of a sort of
underlying mystical “magma,” constantly changing or
refining the way in which the deities interacted with the
human community, and the latter were constantly having
to adjust. (Admittedly, sometimes humanity could force
the issue by the use of ḥḳ3).
King and Gods on the Eve of
the Amarna Period
Pharaoh was thus well equipped ideologically to “hold
his own” against any power, human or otherworldly, that
9 The text qualifies the Disc “of the day,” i.e., the everyday sun
(Griffith and Petrie 1889: pl. 3) as “creator of all, the one who made
their life,” then moves on to other avatars: the falcon, Kheprer, Horus
the Elder, etc. This in no way presages a new concept.
12 DONALD B. REDFORD BASOR 369

might upset a tried-and-true relationship. At the ideo- texts and scenes, from Thutmose III to Amenophis III,
logical level, there is no evidence whatsoever of any “ten- shows the following distribution:
sion” between Amenophis III and the “gods.” Tension
existed rather at the register of the human personnel who War-Records, Triumphs Temple Building
served the gods (see below), but in this contest Ameno- Thutmose III 75% 25%
phis III was the clear winner. Amenophis II 65% 10%
Amenophis III has left us sufficient inscriptions that a Thutmose IV 17% 4%
reliable profile of his attitude toward the denizens of the
Amenophis III 9% 81%
divine world can be made out. An expressed religiosity
is abundantly evident, especially in the realm of divine
In this overriding concern for the housing and wel-
identity. Kha-em-hat “was wont to put incense upon the
fare of the gods, the King’s self-assigned role vis-à-vis
flame to every god, for he knew their names” (Urk. IV:
the Cultus is conveyed by the term nḏ.ty, “champion”
1846–47).10 The pantheon now includes the royal line: “I
(Schade-Busch 1992: 290–91; Hannig II: 1419; Leitz
am one who gives offerings to the gods and oblations to
2002–2003: IV, 593–94).12 He is “the champion of
the ancestral kings . . .” (Urk. IV: 1853; cf. 1777). Relation-
the gods who created their bodies (i.e., cult images)”
ships among the assembled deities are specified: “every
(Urk. IV: 1751).13 “His Majesty created the Ennead, each
god and every goddess make supplications to Thoth . . .”
one in his (proper) form” (Urk. IV: 1754); as Horus, be-
(Urk. IV: 1874). The pious worshiper is one “who pla-
loved of Re, Amenophis III “built the temples of [all] the
cates the gods with his voice” (Urk. IV: 1894), who wears
gods and fashioned their images” (Urk. IV: 1690:1–2).14
correct costume and observes proper decorum (Urk. IV:
He was also, and especially, “Amun’s champion” (Urk. IV:
1952),11 who acts as “festival leader of all the gods” (Urk.
1675; 1688).
IV: 1786). “I am that kind of man, just upon earth, who
The gods themselves, in one singular passage,15 be-
knows his god and extols his beauty” (Urk. IV: 1799). A
tray a prescient consciousness. In thanks to the king for
striving after consonance with the concept of an ultimate
his manufacture of cult images and their inclusion in the
and universal monad might be detectable in an approach
mortuary temple, the Ennead beseech Amun on behalf of
to the άνθροπος-concept of the cosmos, in Atum “and
Amenophis III: “Welcome, Amun, to thy eternal house!
his Eye, his Hand, his Body” (Urk. IV: 1778:15).
It is Nebmare thy son who made it for thee! So praise
Fixation on the gods and their needs demands res-
him [fo]r it, for he has fashioned us, knowing that our
toration of the Cultus in conformity with the authen-
master (i.e., Amun) would exult when he glimpses us ex-
ticity of ancient prescriptions. “It was His Majesty that
isting on earth! He has let us rest in the ‘Great Mansion’
did this (i.e., perform the jubilee) in conformity with
in his [Temple] of millions of years, and he has made us
ancient writings. Generations of mankind since remote
as we emerged out of thee, through the directive where-
times had never performed (such) a jubilee!” (Urk. IV:
with he fashioned us! So let him be at the fro[nt] of the
1867:15–16). “His Majesty commanded the opening of
living, may he [cl]eave unto thy throne of the living; so
new quarry chambers to extract fine limestone . . . to
that, while thou art in heaven giving light to the earth, he
build castles (which shall last) for millions of years, after
is on earth performing thy kingship!” (Urk. IV: 1676:7–
he had found buildings . . . fallen into disrepair since
1677:1). Here attention focuses on the concrete, tangible
days of old. It was His Majesty that started renovations”
presence of gods on earth, whose bodies can be seen; and
(Urk. IV: 1681). As part of these renovations, a vast ar-
the dyarchy of Pharaonic kingship, developing since the
ray of new sacred barques was manufactured (HTBM 8:
Middle Kingdom: divine kingship in heaven mirrored in
1332, pl. 23).
a delegated kingship on earth. Both will prove of central
The theme of temple building dominates everything
significance in the coming reign, the first rejected, the
in Amenophis III’s personal statements: his public ad-
second embraced.
dresses committed to stelae constitute “Bauinschriften,”
At the level of divine hierarchy Amun remained dom-
and little else, significantly different from the weight put
inant: if Amenophis III felt apprehension or resentment,
on building policy in other reigns of the 18th Dynasty.
A cursory glance at and quantification of the thematic
material (Grallert 2001; Klug 2002) contained in display 12 “Championing” in this context refers to concerns and actions

taken on behalf of someone’s welfare (cf. Urk. IV: 1695–96; 1702–3;

10 “I am one . . . that knows his god and extols his goodness” (Urk.
IV: 1799:7–8).
11 Cf. the Litany (Urk. IV: 1778), sun hymn (Urk. IV: 1819).
1725).
13 The text uses the same term for bodies, ḥm, as Akhenaten was
later to use in the report to his court on his “revelation.”
14 The word for “image” is ʿšmw.
15 Cf. “People . . . avid of the sight of Amun!” (Urk. IV: 1835).

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2013 AKHENATEN: NEW THEORIES AND OLD FACTS
he failed to communicate it. But in fact, his expressed
sentiments, both in his own and his courtiers’ mouths,
speak for themselves. Amun is “the absolutely unique
god” (Cairo 583, line 11), the worshiper thrives “extol-
ling his power, magnifying his beauty, [as he is] greater
than any god” (Urk. IV: 1897; cf. 1827:10). He is Re with
no one comparable (Urk. IV: 1827:12; 1829:14–15): “Hail
to thee Amun-re, rising bright, beautiful, gleaming, radi-
ant, glistening! Lord of Lords! . . . there is no other god
who [ . . . ]” (Urk. IV: 1898);16 “king who is over the gods”
(Urk. IV: 1901); “. . . on the Great Throne, shining as
Amun-re” (Urk. IV: 1778; cf. 1829); “My lord performed
for me an act of distinction: he placed my statue in the
House of Amun, for he knows that he (Amun) would ex-
ist for eternity” (Urk. IV: 1833).
The sources for the reign show abundant evidence
of attempts by the king to control personnel. One can
plausibly construe this as a reaction to novi homines, the
product of the “Nursery,” and the promotion of hered-
ity over competence. “(The king) appointed priests and
prophets of the sons of the grandees” (Urk. IV: 1796:3);
the king speaks—“[I mad]e festive your (Amun’s) temple,
its prophets and priests drawn from the grandees, the
elite of the entire land! I never appointed anyone who
had no patriarchal ancestry of distinction, from genera-
tion to generation” (Urk. IV: 1674; cf. 1796:3).
The Reign of Akhenaten:
From Its Inception to the “Epiphany”
Viewing Akhenaten’s life from the vantage point of
hindsight, his years as crown prince are a virtual blank.
Since he fathered his first daughter very early in his reign,
it is a fair guess that he was born no later than his father’s
25th year. As a prince, he would have been assigned šmsw,
“retainers,” pedagogues charged with the protection and
education of the royal person (Wb. IV: 485:12–13; Spie-
gelberg 1894: 64–66; Camino and Papier-Lecostey 2007:
no. 72).17 One of these was Parennefer, later to be head
of the commisariat; his origins are unknown, but he
claims in his Amarna tomb to have been “His Majesty’s
servant since he (the king) was a young boy” (Amarna
VI: pl. 3:5).18 At the palace at Molqata, the prince had his
own apartments, designated as “the house of the true(?)
King’s-son, Amenophis” (Hayes 1951: 172 fig. 27:KK).
16 Note the use of statives, so widely used in Akhenaten’s idiolect.
17 Something more than “camp followers”: Anastasi iii.6.2.
18 It is tempting to identify him with an individual depicted and
identified in N. de G. Davies’s The Tomb of Two Sculptors at Thebes
(Davies et al. 1925: pls. 17–18). The person in question is shown among
a group of nearly two dozen artisans in a workshop—he is the only one
with an identifying text squeezed into the available space—and is called
“the draftsman scribe of [Amun], of the king’s-son, called Parennefer.”
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13
Despite the total lack of evidence, some have inferred a
“program” of “reform” largely conceived in advance and
modified only in minor detail throughout the reign. In
this case, the king would have sprung this program on
his unsuspecting subjects in stages. However attractive
this somewhat sinister imputation of motives may be,
the evidence casts Akhenaten’s actions and agenda in a
different light.
First, at the very outset of the reign, the king seems to
have shown no overt aversion to “the gods.” As trappings
of the symbols of the Order and the Kingship, they oc-
cupied a privileged position to which none could object.
Akhenaten mentions “the gods”19 (Fig. 2) and ­“every god
and every goddess” (D. B. Redford 1977: 20, 42 n. 30;
S. Redford 2007), admittedly more as a metonym for
temple estates and their economies. He allowed himself
and others to be depicted worshiping Amun (P-M V:
220; Urk. IV: 1962; D. B. Redford 1984: 60), Atum (Ori-
ental Institute 1980: pl. 8), Osiris,20 Anubis (S. Redford
2007: pl. 42; 47–48), Nekhbit, and the Eye of Re (Legrain
1903: 259–62; Saad 1974), and groped after modes of
expression involving the amalgam of four separate en-
tities (Amun-Re-harakhty-aten, Fig. 3).21 Second, the
city given over to Amun, the king-of-the-gods, held no
distaste for him. In fact, it became, in his eyes, “South-
ern Heliopolis, the first great (seat) of Re (or) the Disc”
(Habachi 1965: 75 fig. 4).22 In his titulary, fashioned at
the outset of his reign, both his nb.ty and “Golden Horus”
names pay homage to Karnak and Southern Heliopo-
lis; and his final cartouche featured “the Divine, Ruler
of Wese” (Gauthier 1912: 345–47; Von Beckerath 1999:
143). For the first year of his reign23 and probably longer,
Akhenaten had no qualms about continuing to reside in
19 Cf. nt-ʿ nṯrw, “the ritual of the gods” (block # 047901706); “[he(?)
exalted(?)] (double cartouche of the Disc) more than all the gods”
(1933-6 + 1952-2); “favorable(?) was the heart of the gods” (166-8; see
Fig. 2).
20 The royal profile, transient and ephemeral, provides the visum
instantis for the eternal reality (Grimm and Schlögl 2005: pls. 19–22).
21 Cf. “Amun-Re-harakhty-aten”; see Fig. 3; a variant of the “didac-
tic” name (initial form) had already been devised before the close of this
stage: cf. the Zernikh stela (Saad 1974: Taf. 75; Munro 1981: 360). Note
the absence of Ḥʿy-m-3ḫt.
22 Cf. Theban talatat 355-1, 1528-10, 1807-5. The word ἰtn is some-
times written with only the sun-disc (Gardiner N5–6): Karnak blocks
0106-07706; 0210-17508.
23 EA 27 (hieratic docket), received in the first month of proyet
of the second year (Moran 1987: xxxviii n. 135; Reeves 2001: 77). To
read “year [1]2,” as some do, poses an almost insurmountable prob-
lem: the docket states clearly that the king was resident at Molqata
when the letter arrived in the first month of proyet, yet at the begin-
ning of the second month of that season in his 12th year, he was re-
ceiving tribute at Amarna and clearly was resident there (Amarna III:
pl. 13). The late Professor R. A. Parker showed me a clear photograph
of the docket on EA 27, in which year “2” is undoubtedly to be read.
14 DONALD B. REDFORD BASOR 369

Fig. 2. Talatat texts 166-8 (top) and 1952-2 (bottom).

Translation, 166-8:
(x + 1) “[ . . . ] their . . . [ . . . ]
(x + 2) “[ . . . ] substance which keeps the plebs alive [ . . . ]
(x + 3) “[ . . . ] propitious the heart of the gods . . . [ . . . ]
(x + 4) “[ . . . ] thou [ . . . ], thou appearing [ . . . ]
(x + 6) “[ . . . ] thou [ . . . ] thy son Akh-[en]-aten [ . . . ]” (Recut
over Ἰmn-ḥtp.)
Translation, 1952-2:
(x + 1) “[Royal appearance upon a palan]quin of electrum; [His
Majesty] took [his seat . . . ] Fig. 3. Incised cartouches of the Sun-disc, Karnak.
(x + 2) “[ . . . to(?) / in(?)] Gm-p3-ἰtn for [ . . . ]
(x + 3) “[ . . . ] more than(?) all the gods together [ . . . ]
(x + 4) “[from Ḥwt-k3-ptḥ to] Sm3-nḏḥt [ . . . ] his court a determination, if not a downright revelation,
(x + 5) “[ . . . ] I [have filled] my heart with him, he who [ . . . ]
(x + 6) “[ . . . my] divine father [ . . . ]” having to do with the cessation of activity on the part
of all the gods save one. The 10th pylon inscription is a
“the Southern City, in the ‘Castle’ of Ḥʿy-m-3ḫt.”24 Third, manifesto. The king refers to ruination and annihilation,
Akhenaten’s initial building program did not harm, nor ancestors(?) and wise men, the forms(?) of the gods and
did it intend to harm, the physical plants of either Amun their temples. Akhenaten herein lays claim to recondite
or Montu. In creating the pr-ἰtn (see below), he chose knowledge about the gods’ iconic forms on earth as rep-
the middle ground on the east, unoccupied at the time, resented in the sἰpty <wr> (the “<great> inventory,” the
between the two temenoi, to commune with his father. cult blue-book) and the reality and validity of this norm.
His father in his great mortuary temple had revealed the
The Reign of Akhenaten, Phase 2: gods in tangible, earthly form and won their approba-
From the Séance to the Jubilee tion and that of Amun (see above). But here one senses a
negative assessment: they have ceased operation, ceding
It would be difficult to deny that the event recorded in place to one whose goings and form were not covered
the 10th pylon block inscription (D. B. Redford 1981b; by the Great Inventory. There is an embryonic rejection
Fig. 4) marks a watershed in Akhenaten’s Theban so- here of all erstwhile normative regulations.25 And thus,
journ. The king herein is describing for the benefit of
25 The last preserved columns (see Fig. 4) introduce two tantalizing

locutions. Column 10: “[ . . . ] to him by night, but/indeed(?) I approach

24 One of the names of Amenophis III’s Molqata palace (Hölscher [ . . . ],” and column 11–12: “[ . . . the . . . ]s which he has made, how
1939: 7, fig. 6g; Oriental Institute 1980: 43, n. c; Hayes 1951: fig. 33 (S exalted they are [ . . . — . . . ] their [ . . . ]s into/as stars . . . .” Neither
124); 34 (R 21–22); 35 (R 18–20). the concept of “approaching” the deity nor the image of “stars” figures

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2013 AKHENATEN: NEW THEORIES AND OLD FACTS 15

Fig. 4. Part of the text of Akhenaten’s speech to his court, recycled in the core of the 10th pylon.

obviously, does Pharaoh justify his future concentra-
tion on this unique—surviving!—manifestation of the
supernatural, the Sun. It is from this royal séance, as a
terminus a quo, that we must date all scenes in painting
or relief showing the king worshiping the falcon-headed
Re-Harakhty alone.
Among the earliest of these must be the reliefs from
(P-M II: 190–91).26 These blocks, of large dimensions,
come from a structure of sandstone that involved a mon-
umental gate (Fig. 5).27 Only in the east wing of the pylon
is the recycled core material visible—the reduced west
wing has not yet been examined—and here most of the
26 Pylon 10 as the provenience of many of these pieces is highly

the recycled blocks contained within the 10th pylon itself suspect. The fragments in Berlin, Brooklyn, Leipzig, and Munich are
undoubtedly from the ninth pylon.
27 A block protruding from the north face of the east massif con-

prominently, if at all, in Akhenaten’s thinking. Do we have here insub- tains a band of glyphs beneath a panel showing the feet of Akhenaten
stantial notions, whatever they were, later jettisoned by the king as his worshiping the sun-god, reading sb3 Nfr-ḫprw-wʿ-n-rʿ [ . . . ]. The ad-
doctrine developed? verbial comment is covered by a wasp’s nest (see Fig. 5).

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16 DONALD B. REDFORD BASOR 369

Fig. 5. View at the top of east massif of the 10th pylon, Karnak, showing a relief containing the partly preserved name of a gate, temp.
Akhenaten.

reliefs in evidence belong to this second phase (year 2)
of Akhenaten: Amenophis III is nowhere to be seen.28
The component decoration, as far as may be determined,
comprises (in part): (1) the inscription described above;
(2) a head-smiting scene of Akhenaten (D. B. Redford
1983a); (3) a series of panels with the recurrent theme of
Akhenaten offering to the falcon-headed sun-god (Al-
dred 1988: pl. 27);29 and (4) large offering scenes done in
the new art style of Phase 3 (see below).
It must be also at this time, roughly the beginning of
the second year, that the idea formed itself in the young
king’s mind of creating sacred space for the sun-god. The
“Great Palace” at Karnak30 lay due north and northwest
of the fourth pylon, with a north–south axis and an entry
from the west. (There also existed a southern frontage
with extensive open space on the south, marking the ter-
minus of the transit corridor through pylons 7 and 8.) On
the east, however, the Karnak palace backed onto vacant
land, between the temenoi of Amun and Montu and ex-
tending into East Karnak.31 Here Akhenaten reversed the
30 ʿḫ-wr; the term is found several times in the talatat, where it

clearly designates the Karnak palace (D. B. Redford 1973: 88; ATP 1:
28Pace C. Aldred (Aldred 1975: 2, 54) and the sources cited there. pls. 84:6, 822-4, 160:9, 745-11): “[the courtiers(?)] of the palace who
29These could be imagined fittingly decorating the jambs of a pylon are in His Majesty’s train.”
gate. They are sometimes depicted in retrospect in the decoration of the 31 The area of East Karnak had not been occupied since the Second

third phase (ATP 1: pl. 86:7-9). Intermediate Period (Redford et al. 1991: 90–103).

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2013 AKHENATEN: NEW THEORIES AND OLD FACTS 17

Fig. 6. Reconstruction, by Susan Redford, of the north wall of the tomb of Parennefer. (a) pylon; (b) cart-
pulling; (c) piers.

mind’s-eye’s orientation toward the east, taking in the va-
cant land as the “House of the Disc” (pr-ἰtn), and building
an installation providing eastern egress from the palace.
This eastern “portico” is often shown in the talatat scenes,
comprising a podium with colonnade from which steps
descend to ground level (ATP 1: pls. 36, 59, 60, 72; D. B.
Redford 1984: fig. 7.12; 119).
Thanks to Susan Redford’s reconstruction of the north
wall (west side) of the tomb of Parennefer from blocks
and fragments used in later shafts, we now have a stylized
representation of the pr-ἰtn in its earliest phase (S. Red-
ford 2007: 77). The colonnade of papyriform columns is
in evidence, flanking the corridor, but the latter is in-
tersected partway along its course by a pylon (Fig. 6a).32
Men pulling a bull in a cart seem to be making for this
32 Similarly in the processional scenes in the talatat blocks (ATP 1:
pl. 58; cf. 46-4). It is not immediately evident where this pylon is to be
pylon (S. Redford 2007: block H-23; Fig. 6b).33 Beyond
the pylon, the depiction of the pr-ἰtn is divided into two
courts, both containing altars, the first laden with food-
stuffs and flowers. The altar in the second and final court
is provided with a ramp adorned with recumbent figures
of baboons and the Souls of Nekhen and Pe perform-
ing hy-hnw. This is, in fact, nothing less than the great
“Re-Harakhty altar,” so often shown in the talatat scenes,
dominating the Gm-p3-ἰtn (ATP 1: pls. 78–80). But the
summit of the altar shows a figure of the king censing,
rather than a table with food offerings; and the object of
this cultic act turns out to be the anthropomorphic Re-
Harakhty himself (S. Redford 2007: 77).
located. Does it provide eastern egress to the palace compound, or to a
longer temenos enclosing the then temple of Amun?
33 Cf. the talatat scenes (from Rwd-mnw?) (ATP 2: pl. 31).

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18 DONALD B. REDFORD BASOR 369

It is important to note that in Parennefer’s depiction

of the pr-ἰtn, we have the earliest stage in the layout of
this new installation.34 Nowhere in the tomb does the
term Gm-p3-ἰtn occur, so closely associated with the
sd-festival (D. B. Redford 1994). The sun-god is still de-
picted in his anthropomorphic form, and the “didactic”
name has yet to be enclosed in cartouches. The rows of
kiosks, designated as the “court of the Great Ones” (D. B.
Redford 1973: 80; ATP 1: 62), required for the jubilee,
are also missing. A fragment of raised relief does, admit-
tedly, show the piers of the great court, but with columns
of texts yielding the didactic name of the Disc followed
by the double cartouche of the king; the addorsed co-
lossoi (Manniche 2010) of the Gm-p3-ἰtn phase are no-
where in evidence (Fig. 6c).35 There can, in fact, be no
dissent from the obvious conclusion that the north wall
of Parennefer’s tomb shows the pr-ἰtn in the second year,
before it was transformed into the Gm-p3-ἰtn.
It must have been coincident with the decision to de-
vote East Karnak to the Disc that a new size of masonry
unit was adopted. It was relatively small, 52 cm long on
average, and portable by a single individual—I myself
have carried such a block. Modernly called talatat*, the
Egyptian term may be vouchsafed in a happily surviving
text which mentions “sand . . . [ . . . ] all those related
functions [ . . . ] stone bricks” (121-8, Fig. 7).
The decision to found the pr-ἰtn and the run-up to the
sd-festival would also have been the terminus a quo for
the selection of personnel and the stocking of the new
installation. The talatat (unfortunately unmatched as
yet) speak of 6,800 chattels (1241-2, Fig. 7),36 3,622 of Fig. 7. Talatat texts 1241-2 (top), 120-6 (middle), and 121-8 (bottom).
Translation, 1241-2:
some other category, an undisclosed number of herds- (x + 1) “[ . . . ] people of the House of the Disc who are from [the
men, 1,049 men of Lower Egypt, and 1,573 men again of Southern district(?)]
Lower Egypt (Urk. IV: 1992:15; 1993:15-17; our 120-6; (x + 2) “[ . . . ] 6,800 men
(x + 3) “[ . . . what was as]signed them for upkeep
Fig. 7), for a total of over 13,000. It would be interest- (x + 4) “[ . . . ] introduced into the House of the Disc [ . . . ]
ing to know whether these are support staff and peas- (x + 5) “[ . . . ] 8 [ . . . ]
ants only, or whether priests were numbered among (x + 6) “[ . . . ] fabric – loin-cloths [ . . . ]
(x + 7) “[ . . . ] fabric – 4 tunics
them (1528-10, Fig. 8).37 Commodity amounts seem (x + 8) “[ . . . ] 8 [ . . . ]”
rather high (though they may reflect the prescriptive Translation, 120–6:
needs of the sd-festival): 11,500 + x loaves (283-4) (Wb. (x + 1) “[ . . . ] 3,622 [men . . . ] herds[men . . . ]
(x + 2) “[ . . . ] the chiefs [ . . .]s thereof, of [ . . . ]
V: 209:11–12; Meeks 1980: 410; Hannig II: 2621; Wilson (x + 3) “[ . . . ] 1,049 men of Low[er Egypt . . . ]
(x + 4) “[ . . . what was as]signed them for up[keep . . . ]
34 Parennefer had a direct hand in the construction: cf. his epithets (x + 5) “[ . . . ] being introduced into the House of the Disc
(outer door left jamb) “overseer of all royal construction in the pr-ἰtn,” (x + 6) “[ . . . ] . . . silver . . . [ . . . ]”
and “establishing his (the king’s) monuments in the pr-ἰtn” (S. Redford Translation, 121–8:
(x + 1) “[ . . . ] sand, gra[vel . . . ]
2007: 56).
35 Fragment S III 20 (see Fig. 6c): blue glyphs, lines, and cavetto (x + 2) “[ . . . ] all those related functions [ . . . ]
(x + 3) “[ . . . ] brick and(?) stone [ . . . ]” (or “a stone brick”)
cornice red, against a pale cream background.
36 1241-2 (Fig. 7): “[pers]onnel of the House of the Disc who are

in (the southern district?) 6,800 men, their [ . . . ] for [their] upkeep 1997: 1116), honey [ . . . ], 790 [ . . . ], 22,100 + x great
[ . . . ] introduced into the House of the Disc . . . .” The text continues
loaves,38 [ . . . ] 4,600, 260 + x snw-jars (209–10) (Wb. IV:
with a list of garments distributed, fine dress, loin cloths and shirts (cf.
Traunecker 1984: 68). 155:5–7; Hannig II: 2256),39 2,680 [ . . . ], 455 bread(?),
37 A wr-m33w of the Disc was appointed, along with a high-priest

of the king, and a chief lector-priest retained (ATP 1: 95–97). There was 38 A common type, often given to the deceased in mortuary rituals.
also a ἰt-nṯr tpy, “chief god’s-father” (1528-10; Fig. 8), and an “overseer 39 A common jar without handle, used for honey, ointment, or beer
of the treasury of the House of the Disc” (ATP 1: fig. 19-5; 116 . (Urk. IV: 1554:15; ATP 2: 106 fig. 9:20-21).

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2013 AKHENATEN: NEW THEORIES AND OLD FACTS
Fig. 8. Talatat texts 1528-10 (top) and 1174-6 (bottom).
Translation, 1528-10:
(1) “[Divine offering to my father(?)] (early didactic name of the
Disc in double cartouche)
(2) “[upon the altar of Re in] Southern Heliopolis, the first pri-
mal seat of the Sun
(3) “[ . . . wine], 16 jars, poul[try], 8 birds
(4) “[given by] the first god’s-father of the House of the Disc”
Translation, 1174-6:
(1) “[ . . . consisting of] a statue of quartzite (lit. hard red stone)
and a statue of [ . . . ]
(2) “[ . . . ] consisting of a statue of [white(?)] stone, in [ . . . ]”
9,000 great [loaves(?)], 100 + x snw-jars (948-4; cf. 416-
7). The talatat scenes suggest that taxes and income were
being diverted from all over Egypt (ATP 1: 113–20; pls.
54–55; Traunecker 1984: 63–69); and two fragmentary
texts portray Akhenaten strenuously denying that this
is for his own benefit.40 Parennefer strongly implies that
the diversion took place at the expense of the temples,41
a move which would have followed a certain logic: if the
gods had really “stopped,” they had no need of temples or
income. It was not a case of formally locking the shrines
and discontinuing service by edict: when “the money ran
out,” they would have to close.
40 Cf. 2270-6 “[ . . . ] like the property of [the Disc(?) . . . ] therein.
[I] shall not ro[b . . . ] a long-horn, a short-horn [ . . . ] of(?) the Disc
m[y father . . . ];” cf. also the gist of the text in the southeast quadrant of
the Gm-p3-ἰtn in East Karnak (D. B. Redford 1977: 30 fig. 4).
41 “. . . the labor taxes (in grain) for every god are measured by
(mere) oipe, (but) in superabundance are they measured for the Disc”
(S. Redford 2007: 63).
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19
Before that time came, however, Akhenaten, per-
haps in a burst of naive enthusiasm born of his revela-
tion, purposed to publish the Disc’s cult throughout the
realm. Shrines to the new god were begun in a few major
locations;42 but every temple received an altar and offer-
ing stand for offerings to the Disc (Saad and Manniche
1971: pl. 21; see also our 1952-2, Fig. 2).43 Even in the
south, the African province of Egypt’s empire, Akhenaten
felt obliged to promote his father and his worship by in-
augurating, modifying, and destroying.44
The Reign of Akhenaten, Phase 3:
The First Jubilee
The insistence on year 2 as the time span for Phase 2
arises out of the date of Akhenaten’s sd-festival. All the
evidence militates in favor of the kaleidoscope of revo-
lutionary changes associated with Akhenaten’s program
having taken place at his jubilee, or in anticipation
thereof. This includes the new style of art, the new, out-
landish representation of the king, the first steps in overt
iconoclasm, the introduction of the Disc as an icon, and
the enclosing of the didactic name in cartouches (1415-
7L, Figs. 3, 9),45 with the added epithet “who is in jubi-
lee.” The linen from the tomb of Tutankhamun shows
that the changeover in writing the name of the Disc,
from free column to double cartouche, took place in the
42 Bubastis (Naville 1891: pl. 35[I]); Tel Borg, Sinai (J. K. Hoff-
meier, personal communication); Heliopolis (Petrie 1915: pl. 8; Lacau
1926: no. 34175; P-M IV: 70; Habachi 1971; Peet et al. 1923–1951: II,
pl. 57[AA]; III, 182 fig. 23 [pr‑ἰtn m Ἰwnw]; Berlin 20375); Memphis
(P-M III (2): 839, 844, 850, 858, 863; Löhr 1975); blocks scattered in
Middle Egypt (P‑M IV: 112–13, 121, 168; Bisson de la Roque and Clére
1929: 144; unpublished from Abydos, Ashmunein, Akhmim, etc.) may
well have been taken from Amarna for reuse; Hierakonpolis (Quibell
and Green 1900­–1902: 53); Kawa, Gm-ἰtn (P-M VII: 180–82; Shinnie
1996: 87); Kerma (Bonnet, Valbelle, and Ahmed 2000: 1112 fig. 10;
Kákosy 1993: 234–46).
43 Read probably [ . . . m ἰmnyt nt ἰ]tn [ḥr] n3 n ḫ3wt Rʿ š3ʿ [m
Ḥwt]-k3-[Ptḥ] nfryt r Sm3-nḏḥt, “[ . . . consisting of the offering menu
of the D]isc [upon] the altars of Re from [Mem]phis as far as Sema-ned-
jhet.” The text encompasses the Delta (for Sema-nedjhet, Lower Egypt’s
“Ultima Thule,” in a similar statement, see 1952-2, Fig. 2), and was
probably paralleled by a similar statement for Upper Egypt. It is by no
means unique and seems to have a parallel: “consisting of the offering
menu of every day on (sic) the [alta]r of Re which is in (blank)” (ATP
1: pl. 56-2 [unfortunately printed upside-down]); the specific place- or
shrine-name to be filled in by the reader!
44 To what extent Akhenaten’s reforms impacted the Canaanite
province remains largely unknown. The Amarna correspondence does
not reflect awareness on the part of the ḫazanūti of what was going
on. The Phoenician coastal cities, enjoying closer ties to Egypt than
the hinterland, undoubtedly received and understood information on
cultic renewal.
45 One tantalizing text (1415-7L; see Fig. 9) contains the words
[ . . . ] n rn.f ḥ3wty p3 [ . . . ], “[ . . . ] of his former name, the [ . . . ].”
Even in scenes already carved with the didactic formula in high relief,
the incised double cartouche was still deemed necessary (see Fig. 3).
20 DONALD B. REDFORD BASOR 369

t­ransition from year 3 to year 4.46 The changes adum- (ATP 1: 127–29), according to the relief scenes, an impos-
brated above must, therefore, all have been decided upon ing “Window of Appearances” (Stadelmann 1973; Kemp
at the beginning of the third year and brought to fruition 1976; ATP 1: 127–34; Vomberg 2004) at second-floor
in that year. It was at this time that the king authorized level, and, backing it, a dining room with imposing chairs
the nationwide corvée recorded on the great Silsileh stela and a table for king and queen (ATP 1: pls. 61, 63, 67,
(Urk. IV: 1962; 1493-7, Fig. 9)47 and decided upon the
new size of masonry, the talatat.
It was at this time that the pr-ἰtn, stretching all the
way from (and encompassing) “the great palace” on the
west to the Re-Harakhty altar on the east, was developed
in its final stage.48 The additions to the temple (now
named Gm[t]-p3-ἰtn) included (1) decorating the walls
of the pierced portico with brightly painted reliefs of the
sd-festival (D. B. Redford 1984: 102–4); (2) introducing
statuary into the first court, colossal sandstone figures
on the south half of the great court set against the piers
(Manniche 2010), and life-size, red quartzite statues in
the northern half (Redford et al. 1991: 87–88; 1174-6,
Fig. 8);49 (3) inserting altars of granite, probably one in
front of each statue, carved with the name of the Disc,
the king, and the queen (Fig. 10);50 (4) transforming the
first court into the equivalent of the itr.ty by construct-
ing a series of open-roofed shrines (“the Court of the
Great Ones”) (D. B. Redford 1977: 31 n. 68). It is uncer-
tain how much renovation was expended on the palace
itself (see below). The talatat scenes often contain depic-
tions of pylons with columned texts of offering menus
(ATP 1: pls. 56–57); but it is not entirely clear whether
these gates front a palace or temple. The former might
suggest itself in that the palace apartments are shown in
close proximity. Other components of the palace include

46 The sd-festival was tied to the date of the accession (LdÄ 5: 784);

the announcement of a coming performance was made about a year in

advance, and the gods began to assemble four weeks before the anniver-
sary of the accession: cf. the case of Ramesses III, accession ix.26 (KRI
V: 143); assembly year 29, viii.28 (Gardiner 1948: 55:15–16).
47 One talatat may contain a reference to this authorization: “rest-

ing in the [te]mple (ḥwt-nṯr), [ . . . ] the House of the Disc, [ . . . ] giving
instructions [ . . . ]” (1493-7; see Fig. 9).
48 Parennefer did not include any of the upgraded features of the

temple in his wall scenes. He does, however, show the new style of art, Fig. 9. Talatat texts 135-11 (top), 1493-7 (middle), and 1415-7L
complete with the Disc, on the south wall, east side, in the reward scene (bottom).
(S. Redford 2007: 73; Binder 2008: 102); consequently, both he and the Translation, 135-11:
vizier Ramose (Davies 1941: pls. 22–27) suffered their tombs to be con- (x + 1) “Appearance by His Majesty upon [the dais . . . ]
tinued in their decoration into Phase 3. (x + 2) “[ . . . ] him, that they might grant him life, prosperity,
49 Only the merest fragments now remain, but they appear to have and dominion [ . . .]
been standing, possibly between the piers. The authorization of this (x + 3) “The royal courtiers, they said: [ . . . ]”
statuary may be referred to in a fragmentary text on talatat 1174-6, Translation, 1493-7:
“[. . . with(?)] a statue of red stone, and with a statue of [ . . . ] . . . and (x + 1) “[ . . . (?)] resting in the temple,
with a statue of [white(?)] stone (ἰnr) . . .” (see Fig. 8). (x + 2) “in the House of the Disc;
50 See Fig. 10: granite fragments and some whole granite altars are (x + 3) “giving instruction
ubiquitous around the perimeter of the Gm-p3-ἰtn colonnade, where (x + 4) “[ . . . ] his [ . . . ] as instruction.”
the statues are located (D. B. Redford 1983b: 210–12, pl. 29b; 1977: 21; Translation, 1415-7L:
1981a: 258; Redford et al. 1991: 89). Additional fragments and complete (x + 1) “[ . . . in Ἰw]nw-Šmʿw, in [ . . . ]
offering tables have been reported by E. J. Brock; one might also consult (x + 2) “[ . . . ] of his former name, the [ . . . ]
J.-L. Chappaz (Bickel and Chappaz 1993). (x + 3) “[ . . . ] the king [ . . . ]”

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2013 AKHENATEN: NEW THEORIES AND OLD FACTS
Fig. 10. Inscribed granite offering tables from the Gm-p3-ἰtn temple,
Karnak, from the western colonnade.
69, 80; 135 fig. 24).51 Adjacent to the dining room, stor-
age areas for food and drink occupy considerable space,
featuring wine jars, trestles, bread, and chests (ATP 1:
pl. 66). Shown among the vessels and food storage units,
musicians, both Egyptian (female) and Asiatic, put on a
performance (ATP 1: pls. 57, 66, 69:2, 71:2), and servants
bustle about or keep flies off with fans. Indeed, “food and
feasting” scenes and related themes dominate the artists’
repertoire in their recording of the king’s “first jubilee.”52
If there appears to be an imbalance in function with
regard to the palace components, the reason lies in the
use to which the palace and environs were put during
the sd-festival—viz., as a venue for the daily feasting to
which the court and plebs were invited (ATP 1: 134).53
The absence of domestic and sleeping facilities has led
some (the writer included, at one time) to doubt that the
palace depicted in the talatat was anything more than
a ceremonial structure. The fragmentary nature of the
scenes at Karnak, however, and the small percentage of
the overall representations at Amarna devoted to a bed-
51 Nefertity appears to be dining alone!
52 So called by Akhenaten himself (ATP 1: pl. 34:1).
53 The most detailed description of this type of banquet, albeit in the
context of a monthly feast at the king’s expense, is that of Horemheb (Urk.
IV: 2158–59; Kruchten 1981: 162; cf. Oriental Institute 1980: pl. 28).
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21
room (Amarna I: pl. 18; Vomberg 2004: 298–300), cau-
tion against drawing a conclusion that may be too hasty
and simplistic.
One fortuitous survival among the thousands of tala-
tat has helped greatly in establishing the environs and
orientation of the Karnak palace. This 18th Dynasty
structure had a gate to the west and a large space (or
courtyard) within which crowds could gather or tribute
in bulk could be received by the king. The presence of
crowds at Akhenaten’s jubilee—how many were normally
admitted?—feasting outside the palace, both within and
without the colonnade fronting the Window of Appear-
ances, conforms admirably to the postulate of wide open
grounds bordering the palace and given over to such
gala events. Now the feasters in these scenes are shown
in several rows, squatting, each before a low tray laden
with food, facing the Window in the palace facade, and
introduced by standing officers (ATP 1: pls. 63–64, 82:4).
A block containing the back and part of the wig of the
last squatting man in one of the rows shows him backed
up against an architectural feature depicting a head-smit-
ing scene (ATP 1: pl. 23:3). In view of the context—viz.,
an open space with the palace facade on one side and a
vertical surface carved with head-smiting scene on the
other, all located at the northwest corner of the fourth
pylon—there is no other recourse than to identify the
head-smiting as that colossal example of this genre of
scene, carved on the reveals of the third pylon (P-M II: 59
[177]; Golvin 1987: 203 pl. 2; Grimal and Larché 2003: 64
pl. 12). The great open space in which the feasting takes
place must therefore represent the area bounded by the
fourth pylon on the east, the third pylon on the west,
and the central Karnak axis on the south. The orientation
is toward the palace facade with its Window of Appear-
ances on the north.
Dominating the layout of the pr-ἰtn in this third stage
in the evolution of the king’s thought must have been the
corridor from palace (pr-ḥʿy) to temple (Gm-p3-ἰtn). Of
necessity, this provided for the processional and reces-
sional of the king’s cortège on a daily basis through the
period of the jubilee.54 The corridor and the open space
on either side did not impinge on or damage the temenoi
of Amun or Montu; in fact, the whole of the pr-ἰtn ap-
pears to have been founded on vacant land.55
54 It became one of the most frequently recurring scenes in the
decoration of the Gm-p3-ἰtn.
55 Cf. the reference to ʿmʿmt in the new inscription from Gm-p3-
ἰtn (D. B. Redford 1977: 30 fig. 4; 41 n. 23). Recently a highly ingenious
theory has been advanced, suggesting that, prior to the New Kingdom,
a canal or minor branch of the Nile ran through East Karnak (Larché
2007: 483). One must keep in mind, however, that extensive Second
Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom occupation is to be found
elsewhere in East Karnak (D. B. Redford 1981a; Redford et al. 1991:
90–99), and that a pan-grave cemetery was also in evidence (S. Redford
22 DONALD B. REDFORD
Excursus: The Introduction of
The Window of Appearances
In the early years of Akhenaten’s reign, the Window
is absent from artistic representations, even in functions
where it might later be expected—viz., presentations, is-
suing commands, conferring rewards. In its place, the
king sits in the expected kiosk, either at a low or slightly
elevated level. If the overall context is to be understood as
the palace grounds, this is not directly indicated.
When the Window of Appearances does appear in the
New Kingdom, it has a practical rather than ideologi-
cal purpose and origin. Kiosks and podia had been used
from time immemorial, to present the royal persona to
a limited audience or crowds at a remove. The lofty (t3)-
rdw is thus designed for the display of majesty, human
or divine (Sethe 1962: II, 84),56 to multitudes; its long
staircase facilitated ascent (and descent) for the occupant
of a throne on top, or ascent to heaven.57 It is where judg-
ment is given and is seen to be given (CT V: 250e; CT
VI: 106b).58 (It also fulfills the means of disembarking at
the wharf and ascending to the level of the alluvial plain
[CT II: 404b–c; CT IV: 13d; CT V: 166e, 167d; CT VI:
279g, 280d, 285a; Arnold 2003: 178]). The ṯnṯ3t, “dais”
(Wb. V: 384:14–385:9; Hannig II: 2748; J.-C. Goyon 1974:
90 n. 57; Kuhlmann 1977: 8; 15 n. 10; 20 n. 4; 33; LdÄ
6: 524), served a purpose different from the rdw. It was
designed as a low podium, approached by a short flight
of steps on which was placed a throne beneath a canopy.
Intended originally for select court gatherings59 within
a maximum security area, the king would have to take
his seat on the ṯnṯ3t before his courtiers and magistrates
were ushered in (sṯ3).
Behind the Window of Appearances, however, lies an
entirely different rationale. The occupant and those with
him can appear and retire without the watching throng
first having to dispose of themselves in any manner. The
window opens, the king appears, he speaks or gesticu-
lates, he withdraws, the window closes—all at his own
volition. In the case of a royal appearance on the dais,
the king would be obliged to await the clearing of the
courtyard, and thus be constrained by a situation depriv-
ing his action of free will, before he could retire. A large
2007: 99–103). This settlement was further traced in the 2006 season,
underlying the northernmost wall of the Gm-p3-ἰtn (excavated by M.
Adams). It came to an end before the beginning of the New Kingdom
(D. B. Redford 1977: 36–39), and two centuries later Akhenaten moved
into vacant land.
56 “Great stairway” (Hannig I: 706; CT VI: 106b, 340); staircase of
Osiris (Sethe 1928: 68:10–11; 82:20).
57 ἰr prt (PT: 1090c, 1325a, 1749b); r prt (CT VI: 386c).
58 Possibly also CT V: 173f.
59 Cf. the formal “adoration” by the members of the royal family
(KRI II: 901:2–4).
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BASOR 369
and motley crowd, rather than a small number of elite,
imposes the need for distance, elevation, and screening.
The situation during the feasting at Akhenaten’s sd-fes-
tival conjures up these requirements precisely, as does
the need to create the impression of a supernal author-
ity issuing commands to all and sundry in a vast throng
­(Davies 1941: pls. 34–36). Later, size of audience (i.e.,
during the Ramesside Age) explains the use of the win-
dow for reviews of troops and reception of tribute (Anas-
tasi iii.7.5; iv.17.7; P. Koller 5,1; P. Harris 78:4).
The Reign of Akhenaten, Phase 4:
The Move to Amarna
The fourth phase in Akhenaten’s stay at Thebes cov-
ers the period from the end of the sd-festival (early[?]
in his fourth year) until the first trace of his presence at
Amarna, year 5, viii, 13.60 To judge by the criterion of
the number of daughters present in the decoration, the
Ḥwt-bnbn was probably under construction at this time
(D. B. Redford 1975: 9–10; ATP 1: pls. 19–22, 28–33). Its
location remains unknown—it certainly has not been de-
tected in our excavations in East Karnak—but an ortho-
graphic peculiarity may point to its presence ca. 150 m
due west of the southwest corner of the Gm-p3-ἰtn. The
determinative of bnbn, in contrast to the orthography
of the word at Heliopolis or Amarna, is a single obelisk
(Tawfik 1976: 61; D. B. Redford 1984: 74–76; Meltzer
1988: 90). It is tempting to construe “l’obelisque seule” of
Thutmose IV (Habachi 1977: 112–14)61 as the focus of
this temple, which would have been oriented northward
to connect with the east–west axis from palace to temple.62
The date when the other two buildings of Akhenaten
at Thebes, Rwd-mnw and Ṯni-mnw, were under con-
struction is not altogether clear; but the refinement of
draftsmanship and sculpting might suggest the late third
or fourth phase. If the rule of thumb obtains that the the-
matic content of the reliefs adorning a building indicates
better than anything else the purpose of the building,
then both buildings seem to have been given over to do-
mestic occupancy and food preparation (Lauffray 1979:
60 The earlier proclamation on the boundary stela (Murnane 1995:
73). A small number of wine-jar dockets from Amarna are dated to year
4 (Petrie 1894: pl. 25:91; Peet et al. 1923–1951: III, pl. 86:44), which
might indicate Akhenaten’s choice of the site dates from that year. On
the other hand, these dockets might belong to Tutankhamun’s reign.
61 Currently in the piazza of St. John Lateran’s Archbasilica, Rome.
62 The disposition of Akhenaten’s constructions in East Karnak as
pictured in Vergnieux and Gondran’s Aménophis et les pierres de soleil
(Vergnieux and Gondran 1997: 194–95) is incomprehensible and in
most cases demonstrably wrong. There is no evidence of two temples
called Ḥwt-bnbn, and the reconstruction would have them facing blank
walls! Moreover, in the spot assigned to Ṯni-mnw, immediately south of
Gm-p3-ἰtn, our excavations have shown unoccupied land.
2013 AKHENATEN: NEW THEORIES AND OLD FACTS
figs. 138, 151, 153, 161, 163–64, 191; Vergnieux and
Gondran 1997: 76–77, 124, 140–49). The fact that the
repertoire of scenes in Ṯni-mnw also included a superb
depiction of the Window (Vergnieux and Gondran 1997:
126–27) and an equally superb scene of a ship being un-
loaded (Vergnieux and Gondran 1997: 138–39) militates
strongly in favor of identifying the structure as the pal-
ace itself, or rather Akhenaten’s extension to the original
Karnak palace. The presence of an access by ­water (canal
or turning basin) is fully consonant with the proximity
of the tp-itrw or the “northern lake.” That it lay close to
the Montu-temple may follow from a reading of one of
Amenophis III’s epithets (Urk. IV: 1669:19). Rwd-mnw63
poses a slightly greater problem in confirming a loca-
tion, but it too is best understood as an extension of the
Karnak palace, perhaps on its northeastern angle. Cultic
scenes showing the king offering in roofless kiosks, simi-
lar to those of the sd-festival scenes, are fairly common;
but the king does not wear the jubilee robe, nor is the
lector-priest present (ATP 1: pl. 3:1, 5, 35; ATP 2: pls. 29,
34; D. B. Redford 1973: pl. 1). Chariot scenes involving
king and court are common, as are veritable “forests” of
very tall braziers (ATP 2: pl. 6; 42–43; Fig. 11).64 In fact,
the decoration of Rwd-mnw gives the impression of ex-
tended transit corridors and open space. Is the terrain
between the palace and the Gm-p3-ἰtn transformed into
a course for chariots, encumbered by altars?
That Ṯni-mnw and Rwd-mnw may have been names
for extensions to the palace area introduces a problem
of artistic representation. In numerous talatat scenes,
the palace (and occasionally the temple) is shown sur-
rounded by a sinusoidal line (ATP 1: pl. 67–69). In
many cases, the line is momentarily interrupted by a
door, gate, or wall, only to reappear on the other side
(T[emporary] S[cene] 7925, 7931, 7945; see Fig. 12).65 In
one instance (TS 7962), where the line describes a right-
angle turn around the corner of the building, there is a
marked difference in the texture of the surface in the
space contained within the line (rough, dark, mottled)
and the surface outside (smooth). One gets the distinct
impression that the artist is trying to convey the shape
and texture of earth, in the form of spoil heaps, similar to
the mounds at the Birket Habu. But in the terrain of the
pr-ἰtn, within which the temples are sited, there was no
need for the type of constructional excavation necessary
to produce such spoil heaps: the ground is quite flat.
One scene, however, though unfortunately anepi-
graphic, depicts excavation, earth removal, and con-
63 Often used of “monuments” (mnw) (Wb. II: 411:3).
64 Similarly at Heliopolis (Habachi 1971: fig. 18b).
65 In TSS 7934, the sinusoidal line seems to continue, more lightly
incised, over the wall. In TS 7955, fowl and plants appear in association
with the line.
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23
struction (Fig. 13). Three slopes appear rising from the
lower right toward the upper left, and a “counter” slope
appears across the entire scene at the top. Laborers are
shown carrying sacks of (excavated[?]) sand up the first
and third slopes and the counter slope, occasionally
pushed forward by a supervisor. At the top, they dump
their loads while fellow workers with hoes smooth out
the piles. (The second of the three lower slopes is planted
with alternating palms and sycamores, suggesting a con-
tour of long standing.) The scene does not extend down-
ward sufficiently to reveal where the laborers are getting
their loads, but it would appear to be material from an
excavation. This activity is going on in space adjacent
to, though unconnected with, construction in brick and
stone, shown in four registers to the right of the load-
carriers and separated from them by a vertical line. The
content of the registers is to be read from the bottom
up, and seems logically to continue the theme of earth
removal: (1) a lineup of individuals (the load-carriers?),
facing a bald officer, awaiting the rations that are being
brought in in sacks from a gated facade;66 (2) the knead-
ing of clay by foot while hoemen scrape the earth, pre-
paratory to brick-making;67 (3) five men carrying yokes
laden with bricks toward a partly constructed brick wall;
(4) brick-laying, transport of talatat, and the construc-
tion of a talatat wall. The earth-removal operation, the
subject of the left portion of the scene, is certainly not
related to constructional excavation but rather to the
dredging of some sort of canal or turning basin adjacent
to a construction site. It is tempting to view the whole as
a record of the construction of Ṯni-mnw and the related
canal and turning basin, made necessary by the whole-
sale architectural realignment of buildings occasioned by
the building of Amenophis III’s third pylon.
It was at this time, probably in the mid to late fourth
year, that a “snap” decision was taken to abandon Thebes.
That the sudden move was occasioned by verbal criti-
cism cannot be denied, in light of the statement made
by Akhenaten in the early boundary stela inscription at
Amarna (Sandman 1938: 116).68 As a Parthian shot, the
king acted upon a sudden and vindictive urge to estab-
lish identity, function, and essence. Amun became anath-
ema. He was denied existence by the destruction of his
66 Matched as TS 5654 (D. B. Redford 1983b: 216 fig. 10). Curiously,
a talatat fragment from EK Square K III (the point at which the corridor
from the palace debouches into the Gm-p3-ἰtn) shows a remarkably
similar configuration (D. B. Redford 1983b: 216 fig. 9).
67 Was the transported soil used, in part, for the bricks?
68 Year 2 and year 4 are arguably the only dates given for his own
reign in this assertive statement (“I will not . . . even if they be more
grievous than what I heard in regnal year . . .”). Murnane’s (1995: 78)
reconstruction of an iterative construction referring to each year in the
reign to the present lacks sufficient space and would be a trope quite
alien to the Egyptian style.
24 DONALD B. REDFORD BASOR 369

Fig. 11. Scene from the Rwd-mnw temple, Karnak, showing the tall offering stands containing geese and fire-pans.

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2013 AKHENATEN: NEW THEORIES AND OLD FACTS 25

Fig. 12. Scene showing the sinusoidal line often associated with the perimeter of palace or temple.

Fig. 13. Construction scene, possibly from the Ṯni-mnw temple, Karnak.

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26 DONALD B. REDFORD
earthly manifestations both in text69 and iconography.70
Throughout the complex of the pr-ἰtn, the nomen ἰmn-
ḥtp nṯr ḥḳ3 W3st was expunged and replaced by the new
moniker, 3ḫ-n-ἰtn, “Useful-for-the-Disc.” As an act of
similar antipathy toward Amun and his cult must be in-
cluded the command to Maya, the high-priest of Amun,
to fetch a block of bḫn-stone for “the image of the lord”
less than two months before the inception of regnal year
5 (G. Goyon 1957: pls. 25, 31). This could only have been
construed as a demeaning assignment.71 The decision to
quit Thebes must have been taken about this time. Five
months later, on the thirteenth day of the eighth month,
Akhetaten in Middle Egypt was “discovered,” and the day
marked as “the day of founding Akhetaten for the living
Disc” (Urk. IV: 1983:3; Murnane 1995: 83). The epithet
of primordial status earlier conferred on Thebes was now
withdrawn, and the distinction of primacy bestowed on
the new city as “his (the Disc’s) seat of the First Occa-
sion)” (Sandman 1938: 105:5).
Akhenaten’s “Religion”
The terms “monolatry” or “henotheism,” tentative
in their assessment of plurality, cannot be applied to
Akhenaten’s thought. The gods had all stopped and there-
fore excluded themselves from consideration. By nomi-
nal definition, they had forced the program to become a
monotheism. Nor does proselytism come into the picture.
Universal compassion would be expected to characterize
Akhenaten’s thought if his goal involved the conversion
of his people. But the “Shepherd” image (Foucault 2000:
300–301) is not strongly marked at Amarna. Akhenaten
is a teacher of his coterie: his pharaonic status ensures
acceptance of his words.
Religio is the term for the bond between the super-
natural and humankind, along with the obligations aris-
ing therefrom. The manifestation of the supernatural, by
whatever means, in a spatial context resulted inevitably
in the creation of sacred space. Modeled on the require-
ments of the “Big Man,” the head of the community, the
numinous power demanded housing, food stocks, ser-
vice, and service personnel, all of which translates in a
cultic milieu into the shrine occupying sacred space, of-
69
Even the hieroglyph for “ram” was effaced (Urk. IV: 701:7)!
70This supreme and thorough act of iconoclasm can scarcely be
dated at any other time but the fifth year. Almost all the construction at
Thebes was undertaken while Amun was still in the good graces of the
king and his complex remained inviolate. The experience of Amarna,
after the move, with its ideological withdrawal from anything outside
the dream city, is ill suited.
71 The case has long since been made that this dispatch to the quar-
ries of a high-priest and other undesirables forms one of the roots of
the Osarseph legend (D. B. Redford 1986: 248–51).
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BASOR 369
ferings, ritual, and priests (D. B. Redford 2003: ix–xi).
In Egypt, ritual (irw, nt-ʿ)72 involves (daily) morning
and evening offerings, waking and putting to rest (Meeks
and Favard-Meeks 1996), and soothing hymns (Ass-
mann 1975; LdÄ 3: 103–10; Barucq and Daumas 1980);
(weekly, monthly) offerings on the ten-day span (Dor-
esse 1973: 92–94) and at the head of the seasons (Grimm
1994; El-Sabban 2000); (annually) New Year’s festival
(Goyon 1974; LdÄ 4: 466–72), “rowing the god on the
river” (Wb. III: 375:7–12; Hannig II: 1985), and “giving
the House to its lord” (Herod. ii.63; Lloyd 1976: 285–87).
Festivals (local and national) were tied to a calendar of
feasts (scheduled time) and enactments of the myster-
ies. Together, this is religio in an Egyptian context. Under
Akhenaten, with the exception of the offering, all was
swept away—there was no religio. The king even ripped
away the basic, fundamental concept of sacred space: the
structures he built were not shrines within which the Disc
was ensconced. He was afar off: only his rays were pres-
ent in these buildings (Urk. IV: 1971:2). “Heaven is thy
temple, and in it dost thou rise daily” (Sandman 1938:
71:8–9). Therefore, we have no justification in speaking
of Akhenaten’s “religion.”
It is often stated that Akhenaten’s aim (perhaps not en-
tirely a conscious one) was to reinstate and enhance the
monarchic principle, which was threatened to the point
of crisis. The sociopolitical evolution of the Egyptian state
ca. 1550–1400 b.c.e. and the hypostasis of its major con-
cepts have been viewed as a “crisis” pitting Amun against
Re in an otherworldly contretemps (Assmann 1995;
2002: 212–13). The contention that Akhenaten rejected
one for the other and sought to reinstate a “solar” the-
ology73 ignores his own, admittedly negative, contribu-
tion. The traditional, and effective, way of underpinning
monarchic authority was loudly to insist, by using every
trick in the book, on one’s own legitimacy, to round up
dissidents and bash heads (Müller-Wollermann 2004),
to wage war, and restore temples. Akhenaten did little
of this. Did he cringe at the mention of “Amun, king-
of-the-gods?” But that epithet had been applied to gods
as long ago as the Old Kingdom (Leitz 2002–2003: IV,
333–35). He did enclose the didactic name in two car-
touches (not one) but, to begin with, only in the context
of the sd-festival. Well might he have feared the growing
community of the Amun priesthood and support staff,
72 Literally “that which is to be done,” and “procedure,” respectively
(Anthes 1969: 26–37; Schott 1990: 117–25).
73 The “paring down” evident in the 18th Dynasty sun-hymns
through the elimination of certain mythological tropes (Assmann 2002:
212–13) owes much to context (an oral tradition, literally “profane”).
The Sun has been thrust into the role of universal imperial icon, in
which a positivist approach has cast the Sun as a heroic symbol of tri-
umph: cf. how the Sun is treated in Psalm 104, paralleling the hero Ba’al.
2013 AKHENATEN: NEW THEORIES AND OLD FACTS
and their economic power. But truth to tell, at the ideo-
logical register, Akhenaten’s promotion of the substance
of his revelation (D. B. Redford 1981b) would have been
an embarrassment as much to the Heliopolitan priest-
hood as it was to the priests of Amun. For he denied that
the supernatural had entered into bodies on earth (and
was still active), could be conjured up through theolog-
ical symbol, or had appeared in terrestrial avatars. Solar
discourse was no more (except for Akhenaten and his
father) (Assmann 2002: 208).74 Gone was Re-Harakhty
the falcon, the ḫprr-beetle, the Ennead with Atum at
its head, Bḥdty the winged sun-disc, the solar boat, the
Himmelsfahrt, Apophis, myth and its use in magic, and a
host of other mechanisms and images, read as referential
icons. If names did occasionally appear, they are reduced
to rhetorical tropes and figures and extended metaphors.
It needs to be stressed that in what might loosely be
called the “program” of Akhenaten, as it lurched for-
ward pursuant to the king’s sudden changes of course,
the Helopolitan priesthood and “theology” stood to gain
not a whit. The king chose his manpower from all over
Egypt, for service in a Theban temple, not a Heliopolitan
one, and showed no favor to the City of the Sun in any
significant way.75 Akhenaten had eschewed theological
symbolism and hidden essence, and so any assertions of
underlying significance relating to “solar theology” on
our part are eisegesis (Cruz-Uribe 1995).
Two tendencies reveal themselves in Akhenaten’s ru-
minations over the imponderables of the cosmos—viz.,
an iconoclastic urge and the promotion of divine filia-
tion. In fact, these inform his thinking. They constitute
his doctrine.76
An increasing iconoclasm can be detected in Akhena­
ten’s program throughout the 17 years of his reign.
Scarcely detectable in the first year, it progressed with
his initial epiphany to the elimination of images in his
second, the reduction of the symbolic iconography avail-
able to the artist in the third, and a further and drastic re-
finement at Amarna (D. B. Redford 1984: 158, 173). This
is understandable. If the gods had “stopped,” no matter
what the specifics of their images, they no longer worked
through objective correlatives or their former pleromata
74 Since the gods have “stopped,” they no longer work through ei-
ther symbol or ḥḳ3.
75 At the outset of the reign, in fact, Akhenaten displayed his love
and admiration for the “Southern City,” within which he came to the
throne (Von Beckerath 1999: 143), declaring it “the Primal Great (Seat)
of the Disc.”
76 Akhenaten’s “doctrine” (sb 3yt) is mentioned several times at
Amarna: “. . . listening to his voice daily” (Amarna I: pl. 30; Amarna V:
pl. 2[11]); “. . . thy doctrine of life” (Amarna VI: pl. 15[10], pl. 17[18],
pl. 25[16]; Tobin 1986: 226; Schott 1990: 345–47). Sb3yt, rather than
any of the terms approximating the Latin religio, comes closest to a true
description of Akhenaten’s spiritual creation.
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27
(Wallis 1975: 7). Moreover, their referential symbolism
was null and void, since they had no message and could
not act: Akhenaten had become an avowed enemy of
pan-semiotic metaphysics (Eco 1973: 111).
Whether he consciously formulated a denial, or semi-
consciously followed the logic of his intellectual move,
Akhenaten rejected the notion of the root bsἰ and its de-
rivatives. The root conveys the notion of induction into a
mystery,77 but a derived noun denotes the mystery itself
or the secret essence of the subject of induction (Leitz
2002–2003: I, 832–34; Meeks 1980–1982: II, 128; III, 91;
Assmann 1969: 30; Wilson 1997: 331). The symbolism
is not simply a species of aliquid pro aliquo (Nöth 1995:
79–81, 116); but bsἰ, “Gestalt,” points to a third level
of reality of mystic proportions. Significantly, this root
scarcely occurs in the Amarna lexicon: Akhenaten in his
thinking was approaching, then adopting, what can only
be called a “pure icon” (Nöth 1995: 121–23).
Before proceeding, we are confronted by what might
be understood as a colossal discrepancy in the argument.
One has only to examine the scenes from the Gm-p3-
ἰtn, depicting the sd-festival, to catch many glimpses of
forms, symbols, and accoutrements of the “old” system
(Gohary 1992; ATP 1).78 Their association with the sd-
festival, however, is the key to a correct understanding.
For this age-old jubilee celebration, established a millen-
nium and a half earlier, had achieved such a canonic-
ity in its ritual that the form and order of the content
and nature of the ceremony could not be significantly
changed.79 Moreover, the most recent performances had
been signalized and enhanced by a return to the pristine
missal (Urk. IV: 1867:15–16). Akhenaten lacked the will
or the popular support to change the details, but he could
introduce a modification arising logically from his reve-
lation. If the gods had “stopped,” they were incapable of
attending the ceremony: their shrines are depicted stand-
ing empty. Only the Disc is present, not in the roofless
shrines but shining from above, almost mockingly filling
the void, and confiscating the other gods’ offerings.
The preoccupation with filiation could well have
arisen from a genuine affection; but it also filled the gap
left by the removal of those supernaturals who normally
conferred legitimacy and approbation. Akhenaten does
77 “The complete Ennead of Heliopolis, into which the Greatest of
Seers has been initiated” (CT II: 272–73); “I have been initiated into it
by the sm-priest, I never speak of it to men” (CT II: 316); “I know what
Sia knows, into which the Greatest of Seers has been initiated” (CT III:
306); “I am initiated into what I did not know” (CT VI: 57).
78 These include the Hathor hymn, the presence of the chief lector-
priest and priests of Selkit, running the “race,” offering bouquets, the
šmsw-Ḥr standards, the Souls of Pe and Nekhen, the “Seth”-couch.
79 Hence, there is no reason to read any countervailing significance
into the presence of the Hathor hymn, much less to postulate a mar-
riage to the goddess (Wente 1969: 83–85).
28 DONALD B. REDFORD BASOR 369

not lay stress on the colorless s3 Rʿ and the like, but

rather devises new and imaginative jargon to provide
a multidimensional characterization of his descent. He
was p3 šry nfr n p3 ἰtn, “the beautiful little boy of the
Disc,” conveying the nuance of innocence, immaturity,
and dependence; s3.k pr m ḥʿw.k, (to the Disc) “thy son
who has emerged from thy limbs” (Sandman 1938: 54:2,
75:12, 78:1, 96:1–2); s3.k wʿ pr m ẖt.k, “unique son who
emerged from thy body” (Sandman 1938: 76:7–8); s3
nḥḥ pr m ἰtn, “eternal son who emerged from the Disc”
(Sandman 1938: 59:16). Extending the trope, he enjoyed
a constant rebirth through the rays of his father:80 p3y.k
šri pr m stwt.k (to the Disc) “thy little boy who emerged
from thy rays” (Sandman 1938: 59:12, 91:1); msy.k ḥm.f
mi msy.k tw rʿ nb bn irt 3bw, ḳd.n.k šw m stwt.k ḏs.k,
“thou hast given birth to His Majesty as thou givest birth
to thyself daily, without let-up, when thou has fashioned
him with thine own rays” (Sandman 1938: 75:14–15; cf.
84:14, 91:3).
This fixation with rays of light as instrumental in
daily birth and rejuvenation betokens naught but an ex-
tended metaphor, not a mystic signifier. A “sun-beam”
in Akhenaten’s jargon is nothing but a “script pointer”
(Schank and Abelson 1977: 47) alerting us to a constella-
tion of rhetorical figures, not tenets of belief. Of course,
“light” is going to play a pivotal role—what else does the
Disc produce?—but to call Akhenaten’s doctrine a “Re-
ligion of Light” is to mistake a concomitant for the core
of the system.81
The centerpiece of Akhenaten’s doctrine is his rela-
tionship with his father. Only the Disc has conferred the
office (ἰ3t) of kingship on his son on the terrestrial throne:
“thou hast ensconced him in thine office of King of Upper
and Lower Egypt” (Sandman 1938: 75:7–8, 80:1, 59:19);
the Disc is the one “who set him upon his (the Disc’s)
throne” (Urk. IV: 1982:1; cf. 135–11; see Fig. 9), “who Fig. 14. Talatat texts 2126-6 (top left), 118-11 (bottom left), and TS
8842 part (bottom right)
set him upon the seat of the living Disc who fabricated Translation, 2126-6:
[him . . . ]” (D. B. Redford 1982: pl. 3:2–3; 2126-6, Fig. (1) “That which those who are [in His Majesty’s train] said: ‘[He
14).82 The active role adopted by the king vis-à-vis his has placed thee]
(2) “upon his throne upon earth as king [ . . . ]”
father is absolutely unique and excludes all others: he is
the “High-priest” of the Disc (S. Redford 2007: 59, n. a.); Translation, 118-11:
(1) “[ . . . thou knowest(?)] the heart of thy father, he guides thee
he proffers ma’at to his father every morning (Sandman [ . . . ]
1938: 59:17–18). He avers, “I am the one that makes (2) “[ . . . ] thy father Re
of[ferings] myself [to the Disc my] father in the House of (3) “[ . . . ] in thy heart more than(?) [ . . . ]”
Translation, TS 8842 part:
80References to “rays,” “beams,” and “sunshine” are ubiquitous in “[ . . . ] living [ . . . ], who authorized life, sunray master who
the Amarna lexicon, associated with plants (127-7, 1767-3), the enliv- made radiance, lord of [ . . . ]”
ening of limbs (1589-1, 217-5, 2269-1), the life of humankind: “the one
through whose rays people live” (Urk. IV: 1970), or the king himself: the Disc in Akhetaten” (Urk. IV: 1977:9–11; cf. 1981:18–
“thy rays are upon thine image, thy son whom thou lovest, etc.” (Sand- 19). And in his capacity as sole celebrant, the king is the
man 1938: 59:10–11, 90:18). very image of the radiant Disc (Sandman 1938: 84:9, 12;
81 This does not exclude the use of “light” in Akhenaten’s idiolect,
91:3). Only to the king has the Disc made himself and his
but only in a tropological sense: cf. Berlin 20375 (also 20376): “thou
(the king) art the light! At the sight of thee I live, at the sound of thy
will known: “[ . . . in(?)] the heart of thy father, he guides
voice I thrive!” thee; [ . . . the . . . ] of thy father Re [ . . . ] in thy heart more
82 “. . . upon his throne on earth as king” (2126-6; Fig. 14; cf. 2098-9). than [ . . . ]” (118–11; see Fig. 14); “there is no other that

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2013 AKHENATEN: NEW THEORIES AND OLD FACTS
knows thee (the Disc) apart from thy son . . . thou hast
made him cognizant of thy condition and thy strength”
(Sandman 1938: 96:16–17);83 “thou hast concurred with
him regarding what is on his mind” (Sandman 1938:
59:11); “it is he (the Disc) indeed that put it in thy heart
regarding any place he likes . . .” (Urk. IV: 1970:3). No one
else, then, can make any statement regarding the nature
or will of the Disc, as he would be speaking from igno-
rance, quite likely in a blasphemous manner.
There is a hint of a fear of rivalry in all this insistent
though banal verbiage. From the outset of the reign,
Akhenaten had been wʿ-n-rʿ, “Re’s one-and-only,” the
“eternal son” (Sandman 1938: 59:16) and, in defiance of
historical fact, “thy sole son who came forth from thy
body” (Sandman 1938: 76:6–8) and the “first begotten
of [the Disc].”84
Accordingly, what was the doctrine of Akhenaten?
We are not told directly. The content of the hymns, both
long and short, shows an oral formulaic character, in-
dicative of oral composition and delivery (Foley 1988).
83 Cf. “thy little boy who knows thee” (Sandman 1938: 65:9–10).
84 Ḥnntyw tpy n [ . . . ] (ATP 1: pl. 34[3]), taking the form from
ḥnn, “to engender” (Hannig II: 1708; Van der Plas and Borghouts 1998:
205), with -ty suffix (Gardiner 1973: §§ 363–64; Jansen-Winkeln 1996:
§ 141), i.e., the product of copulation. Alternatively, the form might be a
writing of ḥntwy, “commander” (Wb. III: 122:2–6; Caminos 1958: 145).
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