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: bjk2@cam.ac.uk

for donations and other financial matters

the contact is the honorary Treasurer

Susan Kelly

8 chemin Doctoresse-Champendal

1206 Geneva

Switzerland

email: suekelly.canada@gmail.com

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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