The largely unknown afterlife concepts in the transitional phase from the Amarna to the post-Amarna period can be grasped because of some artefacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62). In the immediately preceding epoch, Akhenaten takes over in a certain sense the task of a god of the dead. Osiris himself is largely ignored during the Amarna period, since his responsibilities were completely transferred to the figure of the king. Based on the objects placed on Tutankhamun’s mummy this circumstance and the under this king even more strengthened embedding of Osiris in the solar course can be demonstrated. In addition, some artefacts show a combination between Amarna style, pictorial language and an innovative pictorial statement, which unites the previous with the new. It is to be explained in how far the Osiris cult in the immediate post-Amarna period under Tutankhamun was already authoritatively re-established and can be proved in the same way up to the Ramesside period.

During the early part of his reign, the New Kingdom pharaoh Akhenaten founded a new capital city at Amarna (ancient Akhetaten). In addition to creating a sprawling city with palaces, workshops, and vast temple complexes, the king also established a new necropolis for members of the royal family, today known as the Royal Wadi. Over the course of four days, the author spent time conducting a preliminary survey of the greater necropolis area in order to establish what archaeological remains survive, how the landscape affected the development of this necropolis, and the possible ways that the workforce utilized local resources in order to facilitate their work. Ultimately, the evidence that remains suggests that Akhenaten intended to recreate the Valley of the Kings at Amarna, and that much of the same systems and protocols that were first established in ancient Thebes were transferred directly up to Amarna.

In het voorjaar van 1887 vond een lokale vrouw tussen het zand van de ruïnes van Amarna enkele kleitabletten waar ‘afdrukken van vogelpootjes’ in stonden. Zij besefte zich niet wat de impact was van haar vondst: Zij had het archief gevonden van het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken onder het bewind van farao Achnaton (ca. 1340 v.Chr.). De brieven vormen een uniek inkijkje in de buitenlandse politiek van de 14e eeuw v. Chr, zowel op internationaal als nationaal niveau.

In deze lezing zal Joost Golverdingen ingaan op verschillende aspecten van de Amarnabrieven, waaronder de vondst, de manier waarop de tabletten kunnen worden ingedeeld en hun chronologische indeling.