Mysteries of Amarna

A detailed investigation by eminent scholars of the most fascinating era in the history of Ancient Egypt.

In the early years of his reign, c.1352-1336 BC, the 'heretic pharaoh' Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten, 'the glory of the sun disc', and set out to replace the worship of Amun and other gods with the worship of the Aten, or solar disc, as a single supreme deity. In pursuit of this aim, he desecrated the monuments of rival gods, persecuted their followers and built a new capital city called Akhetaten, 'horizon of the Aten', at the site in Middle Egypt now known as El Amarna. There, he and his wife Nefertiti reigned over a court whose splendour is preserved today in both wondrous sculptures and paintings and in the treasures of the tomb of Tutankhamun. His hugely divisive undertaking ended in disaster with the restoration of Amun, the abandonment of Amarna, the desecration of the monuments of the Aten and the disappearance of the bodies of Akhenaten and his immediate family.

Why had he embarked on so dangerous a policy? What brought about its tragic conclusion? And what happened to the royal family?

Presented by Bloomsbury Academy

Tickets £34.00