valerieangenot.com - "Horizon of Aten"

    As the reader will have noticed, the title of this article appears in the form of a question. The main reason is that, in the actual state of knowledge and with the archaeological material recorded up to now, tangible proofs of the existence of a Horizon of Aten in Memphis are still rather meagre and could only be supported by further discoveries to take place mainly in the Memphite region. Nevertheless, not taking that possibility into account could lead to errors in the interpretation and dating of the material. Therefore, in spite of these shortcomings, one should consider that not every mention of the terms “Akhetaten” is necessarily and systematically to be associated to Akhenaten’s capital city of Amarna.

    I am aware of how hard a task it is to upset principles settled as true facts for so many years and to deviate from beaten tracks. However the necessity of an examination of recent archaeological material while questioning established schemes appears to me likely to bring interesting results. Although it is still impossible for me to thoroughly prove my theory, I hope that this article will at least have the merit of raising interest for the question.

    My suggestion is based on some indices that there might have existed, prior and / or contemporaneously to the foundation of the city known nowadays as Tell el-Amarna (Akhetaten), a location called Akhetaten (a “Horizon of Aten”) in the Memphite region. The documents that will be used here to support the argumentation are mainly the publication, by Maarten Raven's team of the University of Leiden, of the preliminary reports on the tomb of Meryre / Meryneith , and the discovery, a few years ago, of a contemporary tomb by the Mission Archéologique Française du Bubasteion directed by Alain Zivie.

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Abstract:

Recent excavations in the Memphite area (and especially in its necropolis of Saqqara) have demonstrated the importance of the region during the Amarna period and the reigns that directly followed it. However, the archaeological documents discovered cause problems of interpretation, notably because of the use of certain toponymic terms common to Thebes, Amarna and Memphis.
This paper lists these toponyms and suggests there probably existed, contemporaneously with the foundation of the city of Amarna (Akhetaten), a location in Memphis called the “Horizon of Aten” (Akhetaten).
In the actual state of research, I will nevertheless remain careful about this statement and leave an interrogation mark at the end of this title until further discoveries in the Memphite region bring the definite answer.

Résumé:

Les fouilles archéologiques menées ces dernières années dans la zone memphite —et tout particulièrement dans sa nécropole de Saqqara— ont démontré l'importance que la région avait conservée durant l'époque amarnienne et les règnes qui l'ont directement suivie. Les documents archéologiques recueillis ne sont cependant pas sans poser certains problèmes d'interprétation, notamment liés à l'usage commun de certains termes toponymiques à la fois à Thèbes, Amarna et Memphis.
Le présent article fait le point sur ces toponymes et suggère qu'il a probablement existé, parallèlement à la fondation de la nouvelle capitale (Akhetaton), une zone géographique à Memphis, elle-même appelée l'“Horizon d'Aton” (Akhetaton).
Dans l'état actuel des connaissances, nous nous devons cependant de rester prudents quant à une telle assertion, c'est pourquoi le titre de cet article conservera son point d'interrogation jusqu'à plus ample information que nous fourniront peut-être de futures découvertes dans la région memphite.

Keywords: Amarna period, Memphis, Horizon of Aten, toponymy.