Shire stela of Amenhotep III and Tiye
From the house of Panehsy, Tell el-Amarna, Egypt
18th
Dynasty, around 1340 BC
Probably from a domestic shrine
The reign of King Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) (1352-1336 BC) brought a very
different style of art to Egypt for a few years. This is clearly associated with
the religious changes which Akhenaten started, centred around the cult of the
sun disc, known as the Aten. Features of this style include the use of more
relaxed poses, accentuated stomachs and heads, and the motif of the sun disc
with its life-giving rays.
In the new theology of Amarna, Akhenaten was the sole intermediary of the
Aten, and thus all addresses to the deity had to go through him. Houses
contained small shrines to the king for this purpose. The shrine in the house of
Panehsy contained this plaque that unusually shows Akhenaten's father, Amenhotep
III (1390-1352 BC) beneath the sun disc, in the style usually confined to
Akhenaten and his officials, though Amenhotep III did identify himself with the
sun in the later years of his life.
The name of the old god Amun was proscribed on
monuments of the Amarna Period, and so Amenhotep III is identified here by his
throne name Nebmaatre.
A.P. Kozloff and B.M. Bryan,
Egypts dazzling sun: Amenhotep (Cleveland
Museum of Art, 1992)
E.R. Russmann,
Eternal Egypt: masterworks of (University of California
Press, 2001)
R.E. Freed, Y.J. Markowitz and S.H. D'Auria (eds.),
Pharaohs of the sun:
Akhenaten (London, Thames & Hudson, 1999)
S. Quirke and A.J. Spencer,
The British Museum book of anc (London,
The British Museum Press, 1992)
British museum
britishmuseum.org
Ameneminet
