Egyptian Talatat relief

myminifactory

Between 1929 and 1939, German archaeologists unearthed over 1200 Amarna-period talatat blocks in Hermopolis. Originally made for Tell el-Amarna's temples during Akhenaten's reign, they were later reused as construction material in Ramesses II's buildings in the downriver town of Hermopolis. When publishing reliefs in 1969, Roeder discovered approximately 300 additional talatat fragments in American private collections that were added to the main corpus, with this relief being one of them. Akhenaten's reign marks a significant break in Egyptian history as he introduced a radical programme of religious and artistic reform. Upon his father Amenhotep III's death, Akhenaten changed his name and relocated the capital to Akhetaten, modern Tell el-Amarna, where he ruled alongside his wife, Queen Nefertiti. His aim was to replace traditional polytheism with a new monotheistic cult centered around the deified sun disc, Aten. This relief showcases the new ideas introduced by Akhenaten, presenting his new name featuring the name of the new god Aten and possibly referencing his queen Nefertiti. The talatat-stone format was an innovation introduced by Akhenaten to expedite construction works. Measuring 52 by 26 by 24 centimeters, this standardized stone was small enough for a single worker to carry. Scanned at the Antiquities Bonhams Sale on July 6th, 2017.