Tell El Amarna Attractions Map and Tablets

Where is Tell el Amarna?

The historical site of the ancient city Tell el-Amarna is situated inside the governorate of El-Minya near an important city called Malawy that can be reached by public transportation or by a private hired taxi.

El-Minya is situated around 250 kilometers to the South of Cairo, 400 kilometers to the North of Luxor, 600 kilometers to the north of Aswan, and only 140 kilometers to the South East of El-Faiyum

The Ancient Story of Tell el-Amarna

When Akhenaten became the king of Egypt in 1369 BC, he changed his name from Amenhotep V to Akhenaten or the loyal to the god Aten, the god of the sun. Akhenaten changed the whole worship system in ancient Egypt to a new kingdom when he unified the multi gods of the Pharaohs into one god Aten that was worshiped all over Egypt.

When Akhenaten recognized that it would be impossible for him to continue living in Thebes as the priests of the god Amun showed their clear refusal towards his new god, Pharaoh Akhenaten creates his new kingdom by choosing the site of Amarna city to be his new capital.

The ancient Egyptian King Akhenaten established Amarna city in 1363 and he relocates the capital from Thebes to his new city. Akhenaten took the royal family first, his wife, Queen Nefertiti, and his mother, Queen Aye to his new capital of Amarna city.

However, after a few years passed by, a member of the royal family, Queen Nefertiti was separated from him due to political reasons most probably as the priests of the god Amun would never let Akhenaten get away with what he did.

In the last three years in the ruling period of Akhenaten, many waves of haltered and violence towards the god Amun started emerging in Egypt and his name as removed from many locations from various temples around the country.

When king Akhenaten passed away in 1354 BC, the famous mysterious king Tut Ankh Amun became the ruler of Egypt and start a totally new kingdom. Although he was called Tut Ankh Aten at the beginning of his ruling period, the name soon changed to become Tut Ankh Amun or the son of the god Amun.

The city of Amarna was demolished and damaged after the death of the Akhenaten as the worshipers of Amun wanted to destroy anything that has to do with the cult of Aten. Moreover, the capital was transferred once again to Thebes.

When Ramses II became the king of Egypt and although he is quite famous to be a great builder, he destroyed everything in the city of Amarna.

Tell El-Amarna Tablets

Tell El-Amarna Tablets or as it called El-Amarna letters, these tablets are written by the ancient Egyptians in the Babylonian language and cuneiform characters. Tell El-Amarna Tablets are about 350 clay tablets date back to the 15th century B.C, they are found in 1887. These Tablets are distributed in different places in the world, 50 of them are in Cairo, 200 in Berlin, 22 in Oxford, and 82 in the British Museum; but there are a few of them as private property.

The Description of Tell el-Amarna city

The royal ancient city of Amarna, constructed first by the ancient Egyptian kings Akhenaten and his Queen Nefertiti, used to occupy a surface royal site of more than 15 kilometers that was filled with magnificent temples and palaces.

The ruins of this marvelous Amarna city are now scattered over a big site that is bounded by the River Nile to the West and many high cliffs all over this piece of the Egyptian desert.

At the bottom of the Tell or the cliff in the Arabic language, there are the ruins of the once named Great Temple of the God Aten that had no ceiling in a custom that was different from all the other temples of ancient Egypt. However, since Aten is the god of the sun, his worshipers wished to look at the sun directly during their prayers.

Shortly to the South, there are the ruins of the Smaller Temple of the God Aten that is now undergoing restoration. Near this temple, two palaces can be easily identified.

One of the best-preserved sections of Tell el-Amarna is the Northern Temple of Queen Nefertiti with its remarkable original mosaic floors.

However, the most notable parts of Amarna city today are the two cliff tombs. The first groups of tombs are called the Northern tombs. The most remarkable among them is the tomb of Huya, the steward of the Queen Tiya, the mother of king Akhenaten.

The tomb of Huya in Amarna city has some amazing wall painting especially this of the Queen having dinner with her son and other family members.

Another good example of ancient Egyptian architecture in Amarna city can be found in the tomb of Mery Re with scenes showing Akhenaten offering gold to the highest priest of the god Aten. There are also reliefs showing the king Akhenaten in the Great Temple of Aten; an indication of how great and magnificent this Amarna city once was.

The Southern tombs situated at the other end of the historical site of Tell el-Amarna are less often visited than the northern ones. However, the tombs of Amarna city are never less wonderful.

One of the Amarna tombs in that section is that of Ay, the Vizier of Akhenaten that is considered to be the most remarkable tomb of Tell el-Amarna. The walls are decorated with scenes of the tomb owner and his wife receiving gold collars from Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti.

A few numbers of tourists spending their holidays in Egypt visit Tell el-Amarna today. Although there are only some ruins of the Amarna temples and the palaces and some remarkable tombs, the Romantic story and the feeling of the site is still there!