CONTENTS
40 years on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Akhenaten’s workforce? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Visualising the South Tombs Cemetery . . . . . . . . 9
A new head of Akhenaten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Traversing into the Afterlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Carved limestone fragments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Amarna Digital Atlas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Alf Baxendale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Publications and communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The Amarna Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
A beckoning view:Amarna city as it appeared in early 1977, photographedfrom the upper platform of the old water tower.
40 YEARS
horizonThe Amarna Project and Amarna Trust newsletterISSUE 18 Autumn 2017
The team for the first season of excavation (1979, at the Workmen’s Village). Left to right: Nassar Omar Osman (provisions supplier),
Nabil Yusef (cook), Ismail Mohamed Ali (inspector), Michael Jones, Barry Kemp, Mohamed Omar Osman (house caretaker), Mark Lehner.
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40 YEARS1977–201740 years on
January 25th,1977was the day whenwhat has become theAmarna Project began.
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1. ExCAVATINg ThE WOrKMEN’S VILLAgE:
Excavations proper began at the
Workmen’s Village, through the late 70s
and early 80s. The work here focussed on
everyday living and set the scene for much
of the fieldwork that would follow at
Amarna. In this image, the ground just
outside the walled village is being explored.
2. A PrIVATE MONuMENT: One of the most
striking artefacts found in recent years – a
funerary stela showing a private couple in
a similar style to the Amarna royal couple.
3. PArT Of ThE MONASTIC COMPLEx AT
KOM EL-NANA: The monks cleared out
some of the Amarna-period rooms and
rebuilt them to provide the various
elements of a monastery, here perhaps a
refectory, its floor at a lower level than that
of the surrounding ground. Archaeologist
Duncan Schlee supervises a stage in the
excavation.
4. SurVEYINg BY AIr: Sometimes it is
helpful to look at Amarna from another
perspective. In the 1980s, gwil Owen
began a long-term programme to record
the ancient city through aerial
photography, with a succession of kites,
hot-air- and helium-filled balloons. Thanks
to his work, we now have a near-complete
record of Amarna from the air.
5. KEEPINg PIgS: A surprising discovery in
the grounds outside the Workmen’s Village
was a series of animal pens, their floors
impressed with bristles suggesting that
pigs were housed here. That they were able
to keep pigs, animals that require a
frequent water supply, suggests that
although the villagers were isolated from
the riverside city, they were fairly well
supplied.
It was represented on the ground by Barry Kemp(whose idea it was to be there), an inspector of antiquities(Mohammed Abd el-Aziz Awad), a number of guards, several donkeys and a modest collection of surveying aids. The goal at this stage was to develop a fresh map of the city. Partly this was to bring together, for the first time, the many individual
plans of excavated areas going back to Petrie’s season of 1891/2. Partly it was to assess what further work could usefully be done.
The Egypt Exploration Society adopted the idea as one of its projects and, with an annual grant from the British Academy, supported
the work until 2007. As the Academy changed its priorities, however, and withdrew the funding, the Amarna Trust was established (in
2005) and has, since then, raised much of the money on which we rely for continuity. From the outset, too, we have been indebted to
the Egyptian antiquities authority (currently the Ministry of Antiquities) for annual permits to work at Amarna.
The history of the project is summarised in a gallery of pictures on the internet:
amarnaanniversary.wordpress.com/gallery
1
3 4
5
2
40 YEARS
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CelebrationTo celebrate the completion of40 years of work at Amarna,the Amarna Trust is holding astudy day in Cambridge, onSaturday, May 26th, 2018.
The venue is The McDonald Institute for
Archaeological Research in the centre of
Cambridge. The study day will comprise lectures,
an outline of plans for the immediate future and
opportunities for discussion. We welcome
members of our Akhetaten Circle. Members of
our Meryra Circle will receive an invitation to a
reception afterwards.
View of the courtyard buildings of the McDonald
Institute for Archaeological research.
6. AS VISITOrS SEE ThE NOrTh PALACE: Most visitors to the North Palace view it from an embankment
outside the rear of the building and outside a barbed-wire fence. Our repairs have thus been concentrated
here. from the excavations of the 1920s we know that the walls had originally been decorated with
paintings, often of themes from nature, on a layer of mud plaster. This image dates to 2002.
7. QuArrYINg fOr STONE: understanding the ancient city of Amarna requires consideration too of its
broader landscape. To the north of the site – extending some 10 km beyond the Amarna bay – are vast
quarries where limestone for Akhenaten’s city was extracted, here under study by Barry Kemp in 2001.
8. TEMPLE COLuMNS: A project to reconstruct two of the Small Aten Temple columns was undertaken to
help give visitors a sense of the vertical scale of the temple. They are now one of the most recognisable
landmarks at the site.
6
7 8
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The Meryra Circle
The Akhetaten Circle
AMARNAFUND 2017
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Akhenaten’s workforce? The 2017 excavations at the North Tombs Cemetery Akhetaten
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Work at the Great AtenTemple began on September24th. Four days later camethe discovery of a small headof Akhenaten, modelled inplaster made from gypsummixed with fine dark grit.Although the head is damaged,the skill with which the artist —probably working quite rapidly —has modelled the king’s featurescan still be appreciated. Theheight of the head, from thebottom of the neck to the top ofthe crown, is 12.8 cm. The headhas the object number 41430.
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Traversing into the Afterlife:Identifying a Wooden Fragment from the South Tombs Cemetery
The excavations at the South Tombs Cemetery atAmarna provide Egyptologists the opportunity totell the untold stories of the working class ofancient Akhetaten. Judging from the intact burialsfound at the site, most burials probably containedno artifacts as offerings for the deceased. Whengraves do have burial goods, they are often fewand poorly preserved. From the disturbed graveof a young female around 15 years old, anunusual decorated wooden fragment (object40138) was found amongst the burial material.
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S-7991K31 (14813)
0 5cm
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0 5cm
S-11231dump NE endof first court
S-11910S35 (16195)
0 5cm
S-11092I32–34 (14812)
0 5cm
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S-12233L26 (15374)
0 10
cm
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S-11457J29 (15516)
S-11604K33 (15444)
S-11533K33 (15444)
S-11448J29 (15516)
S-11458J29 (15516)
S-11386E29 (15529)
0 10
cm
E37 E36 E35 E34 E33 E32 E31 E30 E29 E28 E27 E26
F37 F36 F35 F34 F33 F32 F31 F30 F29 F28 F27 F26
G37 G36 G35 G34 G33 G32 G31 G30 G29 G28 G27 G26
H37 H36 H34 H33 H32 H31 H30 H29 H28 H27 H26
I37 I36 I35 I34 I33 I32 I31 I30 I29 I28 I27 I26
J37 J36 J35 J34 J33 J32 J31 J30 J29 J28 J27 J26
K37 K36 K35 K34 K33 K32 K31 K30 K29 K28 K27 K26
L37 L36 L35 L34 L33 L32 L31 L30 L29 L28 L27 L26
M37 M36 M35 M34 M33 M32 M31 M30 M29 M28 M27 M26
N37 N35 N34 N31 N30 N26
O37 O36 O35 O34 O31 O30 O27 O26
N
H35
N36
O25 O24 O23
N25 N24 N23
M25 M24 M23
L25 L24 L23
K25 K24 K23
J25 J24 J23
I25 I24 I23
H25 H24 H23
G25 G24 G23
F25 F24 F23
E25 E24 E23
locations ofstone pylons
mud-brick enclosure wall and pylons
foundation platformsfor colonnade
small palace
A
B
N33 N32
O33 O32
P37 P36 P35 P34 P33 P32 P31 P30 P29 P28 P27 P26
Q37 Q36 Q35 Q34 Q33 Q32 Q31 Q30 Q29 Q28 Q27 Q26
R37 R36 R35 R34 R33 R32 R31 R30 R29 R28 R27 R26
S37
T37
S36
T36
S35
T35
S34
T34
S33
T33
S32
T32
S31
T31
S30
T30
S29
T29
S28
T28
S27
T27
S26
T26
U
T25 T24 T23
S25 S24 S23
R25 R24 R23
Q25 Q24 Q23
P25 P24 P23
N29 N28
O28
4848.50
49
5
48.75
48.25
47.7547.50
47.75
48
46.7547.25
48
48
48.50
48
47.7
5
47.7
5
48
47.75
48
47.5
0
48
47.75
47.7
5
47.50
47.50
48
48.2
5
48.5
0
48.75
48
48
47.50
47.25
47.75
49.58
49
48.50
47.17
47.90
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A basic part of the creation of a digital atlas of Amarna is a series of maps of individualparts of the site as well as of the whole of Amarna, such maps to be accompanied bydescriptive texts and photographs. Because of the long history of research at Amarnaan important step is the collation of records made over more than a century. Oneresult which is close to completion is a map of the Workmen’s Village. It combines theplans of the Egypt Exploration Society’s work in 1921 and 1922, and between 1979and 1986, and some of the results of the subsequent mapping by Helen Fenwick.
Progress with theAmarna Digital Atlas
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1211109876
1211109876
EAST STREET
GATE STREET
MAIN STREET
NORTH PASSAGE
limestone chippings
limestone chippings
ZIR-AREA
QUARRY
BRICK PLATFORM
7
67.33
F8 G8 H8I8 J8
F9 G9 H9 I9 J9
F7 G7 H7 I7 J7
F6 G6 H6 I6 J6E6
E7
E8 K8 L8
L9K9 M9
L10 M10K10
Progress with the Amarna Digital Atlas / continued
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It is sad to have to report the death, on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016, of Alf Baxendale,a long-time enthusiast for ancient Egypt and supporter of the work at Amarna.
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Also of interest:
Support in Argentina
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The Amarna Trust
The objectives of the Trust are:
To advance public education and to promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the ancient city of Tell el-Amarna, Egypt
and the surrounding area for the benefit of the public in particular but not exclusively by:
A record of loss. An aerial photograph, taken in 1964 by the french
geographical Institute, shows the site of Maru-Aten, its
outline still visible, implying the survival of the
foundations of its walls and other features, recently cut
through by an irrigation canal dug to feed the new
government desert reclamation scheme. Nothing now
survives of Maru-Aten.
The Amarna Trust is registered with the
Charity Commission as no. 1161292.
Its registered address is
The Amarna Trust
Newton Hall
Town Street
Newton
Cambridge CB22 7ZE
United Kingdom
The chairman of The Amarna Trust is
Prof. Paul Nicholson (Cardiff university)
The contact for The Amarna Trust is
Prof. Barry Kemp, CBE, fBA
at the address to the left, or
The Amarna Project
1, Midan El-Tahrir
Floor 5, flat 17
Downtown
Cairo
Arab Republic of Egypt
Cairo office: +2022 795 5666
mobile: +20122 511 3357
email: [email protected]
for donations and other financial matters
the contact is the honorary Treasurer
Susan Kelly
8 chemin Doctoresse-Champendal
1206 Geneva
Switzerland
email: [email protected]
The Amarna Trust submits an annual
set of accounts to the UK Charities
Commission. None of its income is used
in the furtherance of raising funds. Its
overheads are modest.
i) creating a permanent facility for study
(the research base – The Amarna
Centre);
ii) undertaking and supporting field
research (and publishing the
useful results of such research);
iii) promoting training in archaeological
field skills;
iv) providing, and assisting in the
provision of, lectures and publications
in furtherance of the stated objects;
v) developing displays and exhibitions
at a site museum for the benefit of the
public and an educational outreach
programme for the benefit of pupils
at schools; and
vi) working in partnership with the
Supreme Council of Antiquities of
Egypt to maintain the ancient city for
the benefit of the public.
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