Talatat are

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

blocks of standardized size (c. 27 by 27 by 54 cm, corresponding to by by 1 ancient Egyptian cubits) used during the 18th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...

in the building of the Aton temples at

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construct ...

and Akhetaten (modern Amarna). The standardized size and their small weight made construction more efficient. Their use may have begun in the second year of Akhenaten's reign. After the Amarna Period talatat construction was abandoned, apparently not having withstood the test of time.

Amenhotep IV talatats

The blocks used in the

Temple of Amenhotep IV The Temple of Amenhotep IV was an ancient monument at Karnak in Luxor, Egypt. The structures were used during the New Kingdom, in the first four years of the 18th Dynasty reign of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten, when he still used the name Amenhote ...

in Karnak, and the other abandoned temples devoted to the deity

Aten Aten also Aton, Atonu, or Itn ( egy, jtn, ''reconstructed'' ) was the focus of Atenism, the religious system established in ancient Egypt by the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten. The Aten was the disc of the sun and originally an aspect of ...

, were reused by

Horemheb Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab or Haremhab ( egy, ḥr-m-ḥb, meaning " Horus is in Jubilation") was the last pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1295 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 1319 BC and 1292 BC. ...

and

Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, wikt:rꜥ-ms-sw, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is oft ...

as filler material for

pylons Pylon may refer to: Structures and boundaries * Pylon (architecture), the gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple or Christian cathedral * Pylon, a support tower structure for suspension bridges or highways * Pylon, an orange mar ...

and as foundations for large buildings. The Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak is built on thousands of these blocks, as is the Second Pylon. Tens of thousands of the talatat have been recovered. The decorated stones are being photographed and the scenes they depict are reconstructed as part of the Akhenaten Temple Project.

Etymology

The term ''talatat'' was apparently used by the Egyptian workmen and introduced into the language of archaeology by the Egyptologist H. Chevrier. There are two hypotheses as to the word's generally unknown ultimate origin in reference to the stones, perhaps not contradictory: The word may be derived from Italian ''tagliata'', meaning cut masonry. Or, derived from the

Egyptian Arabic Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian ( ar, العامية المصرية, ), or simply Masri (also Masry) (), is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic dialect in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and o ...

word تلاتة‎ (talāta, 'three'), indicating that each block is three hand-spans long.

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{Commons category, Talatats
Talatat wall Scene
www.usu.edu
Akhenaten worshipping scene: Talatat
euler.sle.edu Egyptian artefact types Building stone