The Temple of Amenhotep IV was an ancient

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

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 ...

Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. The structures were used during the

New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, in the first four years of the 18th Dynasty reign of the Egyptian

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

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 ...

, when he still used the name Amenhotep IV. The edifices may have been constructed at the end of the reign of his father,

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...

, and completed by Akhenaten.

Location and layout

The Temple of Amenhotep IV was constructed outside the boundaries of the

Precinct of Amon-Re The Precinct of Amun-Re, located near Luxor, Egypt, is one of the four main temple enclosures that make up the immense Karnak Temple Complex. The precinct is by far the largest of these and the only one that is open to the general public. The te ...

, to its east. The main

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

in the complex was named ''Gm–p3–itn'' (Gempaaten), which means "The Sun Disc is Found in the Estate of the God

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 ...

". The other monuments were named ''Hwt–bnbn'' (Hwt benben / "The Mansion of the

Benben stone In the creation myth of the Heliopolitan form of ancient Egyptian religion, Benben was the mound that arose from the primordial waters Nu upon which the creator deity Atum settled. The Benben stone (also known as a pyramidion) is the top stone o ...

"), ''Rwd–mnw–n–itn–r–nḥḥ'' (Rud-menu / "Sturdy are the Monuments of the Sun Disc Forever"), and ''Tni–mnw–n–itn–r–nḥḥ'' (Teni–menu / "Exalted are the Monuments of the Sun Disc Forever"). Very little of these buildings remain; they were built quickly, using

Talatat Talatat are limestone 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 in the building of the Aton temples at Karnak and Akheta ...

blocks, and could therefore easily be demolished and reused as core for later structures.

Gempaaten

The Gempaaten appears to have had no roof and its offering tables were exposed to direct sunlight. In this building (or associated with it) were red granite and sandstone statues of

, red granite offering tables and other statues, including a

sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

inscribed with the name of the

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

Aten. It was of a considerable size (130m x 216m), but it was so completely destroyed that even its foundations have been nearly obliterated.Blyth, 2006, p.121 It stood within a mud-brick enclosure, and was orientated to the east, possibly with an entrance to the west. It led to an open court surrounded by square pillars and

colossal statues Colossal may refer to: * ''Colossal'' (film), a 2016 science fiction film starring Anne Hathaway * (Colossal) Pictures, entertainment company which closed in 2000 * Colossal (band), American punk band formed in 2001 * "Colossal", a song by Scale ...

of Akhenaten and

Nefertiti Neferneferuaten Nefertiti () ( – c. 1330 BC) was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a radical change in national religious policy, in whic ...

.Blyth, 2006, pp.121-122

Hwt benben

Erected to the east, the ''Hwt benben'' or Mansion of the Benben was devoted to a

solar cult Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. " solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indica ...

and was closely associated with the Gempaaten.Blyth, 2006, p.123

Teni-menu

The Teni–menu seemed to contain domestic and storage rooms, and may have been a royal residence, although not enough of the structure remains to clarify the use. The walls of the Teni-menu were reused in the Ninth Pylon of the main Karnak temple. They have since been identified and reassembled like a giant puzzle and are partly exhibited in the

Luxor Museum Luxor Museum is an archaeological museum in Luxor (ancient Thebes), Egypt. It stands on the corniche, overlooking the east bank of the River Nile. Establishment The Luxor Museum was inaugurated in 1975. It is a two-story building. The range of ...

. The reassembled walls show residential, administrative and royal scenes and solar Jubilee scenes of the first

Sed festival The Sed festival (''ḥb-sd'', conventional pronunciation ; also known as Heb Sed or Feast of the Tail) was an ancient Egyptian ceremony that celebrated the continued rule of a pharaoh. The name is taken from the name of an Egyptian wolf god, ...

, which Akhenaten was probably celebrating at the same time as his father

Location and layout

Gempaaten

Hwt benben

Teni-menu

See also

Notes and references

References

Further reading