Nefertiti & the Aten in Colour! 16K Amarna Art Talatat blocks in Luxor w/Original Pigment Preserved

Heritage Key ^ | Mondat, August 9, 2010 | Owen Jarus

[SunkenCiv]

Talatat blocks were used by the pharaoh Akhenaten nearly 3,400 years ago. They were constructed in a standardized size -- 55 cm x 25 cm x 25 cm. This standardization probably would have made it easier for temples to be built.

The blocks are in a storage area in Luxor. Almost all of them are decorated. Back in antiquity each block would have been part of a larger scene.

Another key find is that the Aten, the sun disc which the pharaoh Akhenaten focussed Egyptian religion around, radiates light in two colours.

"We have red sun rays and yellow sun rays," said Gohary. It's a mystery why the Aten was depicted this way. One idea is that maybe the red sun rays are sunrise or sunset or something like that," he added.

This find raises the question of whether the sun disc itself was depicted in different colours. "They all seem to be more or less the same shade of red." ...

After Akhenaten died his religious system collapsed. ...

After the temples were torn down, the talatat blocks were re-used in places where they could not be seen easily -- such as building foundations and filling inside monumental gateway and pylons.

When archaeologists began work in Luxor and Karnak, back in the 19th century, they began to uncover these blocks.

By the 1960's over 100,000 had come to light including more than 30,000 decorated ones.

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

One of *those* topics.

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[SunkenCiv]

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[Mr. Jazzy]

They tore them all down?

They Akhenaten done such a bad thing!

(Hehehe)

[Brian_Baldwin]

Interesting Post! Thanks, I enjoy!

[Bhoy]

So ... we’re moving the capitol to Chicago?

[Quix]

THX THX

[Waverunner]

This find raises the question of whether the sun disc itself was depicted in different colours. "They all seem to be more or less the same shade of red." ...
Holy Krypton - We know who came from the planet with a red sun, and the powers he gained from our yellow sun...
power far greate than those of mortal men..

[spetznaz]

LOL. It explains how they built the pyramids ....simply lifted the heavy blocks and flew them right up.

[tlb]

3400 year blocks with this information. Meanwhile, our dvd-roms are estimated to last not much longer then 25 years. Assuming optimal care.

[JoeProBono]

[trillabodilla]

Thanks for this article and pics- I have always had an interest in things Akhenaten (sp?). Wasn’t he Tuts father and Tut was supposed to be Tutankahten but when Akenahten died “they” changed the religion back to the way it was and renamed him Tutankamen?

[wildbill]

Dude, don’t knock the technical achievements of our civilization.

I still have an 8 track player combination with a radio and record player and four 8 track tapes that haven’t committed seppuku yet.

I’m looking for a collector with faith...or perhaps a Nash Rambler owner.

[SunkenCiv]

There are some common overstatements and misconceptions about Akhenaten, in the main, the fact is, he wasn’t a monotheist (he worshipped the actual solar disk, making him a monalater, that is, he worshipped a single idol), he lived centuries after Moses, and even Aten was merely one of the Egyptian pantheon and dated back to the Old Kingdom times. The New Kingdom pharaohs seemed to take some delight in uncovering and trying to understand Old Kingdom practices. Akhenaten’s father, Amenhotep III, seems to have contributed to a revival of fortunes for Aten, and his predecessor and father Thutmose IV may have been the real source of the revival; IV was the usurper who, as a young prince out of the fast track and a long shot to become pharaoh, fell asleep in the shadow of the Great Sphinx and dreamed that the statue spoke to him, telling him he would make IV pharaoh if he’d clean the sand from around his body. IV not only kept his part of the deal, he erected the Dream Stele, which tells this story and remains between the paws of the Sphinx.

For much more about the 18th dynasty (particularly the House of Amarna) on FR alone, just check out the keywords.

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure.

[SunkenCiv]

:’D

[colorado tanker]