I wish my wife were alive to see this tour of Egypt you have taken us on. She, like I, loved history, but even more so ancient Egyptian history. Yes, I find it fascinating, but she would've loved watching these. Due to her vision, these bright Egyptian days would've been impossible for her, but she would've loved to have seen them in person.
The sheer magnitude of the concept of relocating to Amarna from Thebes has always fascinated me, Thanks, Natalie and David, for putting some meat on the bones of this legendary city.
Thanks for going to these lesser-visited sites. I plan to visit Egypt for 2-ish weeks at some point in my life but it's unlikely I'll ever make it to Amarna, the Fayum, Tanis, or these other places you're visiting, they're just too out of the way compared to Cairo/Luxor/Aswan. And given that the typical travel channels don't visit them, your videos are one of the only way I ever will.
26:50 Hilarious nod to your other videos where you correct the wildly misinformed as to the technical abilities of early civilisations - thank you for this astonishing tour of Amarna
I have always been a bit fascinated by Akhenaten's rule - the anomalous monotheistic pharaoh who moved the capital and an era with a distinctive artistic style. Thank you for the tour.
That was lots of fun watching. Thank you. You showed the food and people from local in the video, it gives me a sense of everyday life in Egypt and with all the great sights of anicent Egyptians history.
supremely impressive results from that holiday, love this series as being there; you learn so many little details you would overlook or not see in books.
Love the music with scenery & just amazing tomb & art shots with cool music too. Natalie's amazing colour co-ordinated scarf is the same colour as the stairs to the tomb. Her introduction was brilliant too These videos are gr8 informative & super cool stylies at the same time. Loved every minute. Brilliant. Thanks
I love this tour!! I have never been to Amarna. I wasn’t even aware of it or the letters until years after I visited Egypt. By the way, “haris” ( حارس ) actual translated to “a guard” in Arabic! Great job!,!
wow! thanks for making this video. although I was in Egypt a few years ago, I didn't see any of this and doubt I will go back. So this was especially interesting to me. please keep posting these excellent videos!
Another great episode in this hugely interesting travelog! My thanks to you and Natalie for sharing this adventure, and to Ehab for looking after you so well - What a lovely chap! ;)
Open are the double doors of the horizon Unlocked are its bolts Clouds darken the sky The stars rain down The constellations stagger The bones of the hell hounds tremble The porters are silent When they see this king Dawning as a soul Men fall Their name is not Seize thou this king by his arm Take this king to the sky That he not die on earth Among men He flies who flies This king flies away from you Ye mortals He is not of the earth He is of the sky He flaps his wings like a zeret bird He goes to the sky He goes to the sky On the wind On the wind Philip Glass, Akhnaten, Act I Prelude
Always surprised at how little they are charging for entry to these sites - for about the price of a coffee at my local cafe you get to see some astonishing and special places.
@@mysticakhenaton1701spiritual movement the hasn't seen? The Jesus movement is the world's biggest spiritual movement besides the Muslims, which both Abrahamic faiths
Eye-opening video. Thank you so much. But what on earth are those things flying about at 35:34? They look like mini bio-drones out of some dystopian sci-fi movie.
I can't believe Tell el-Amarna isn't more well-visited, it'd definitely be on my short list of places to go if I visited Egypt. The Amarna period and its aftermath is probably the most fascinating chapter of Egypt's history to me.
Great video. Was the sun bull similar to the later Apis bull? Is there a similar breeding protocol for choosing the bull? Interesting the bull is so important through out different times.
Thank you for the tour! I am really hoping to get out there and see the whole site one day, have been for partial visits before, have a huge interest in this mysterious Pharaoh (not least of all because my mother named me after one of his daughters 😂) there's so much we don't know. I hear there's a lot of restoration work still going on out there so it would be nice to see what has been revealed and also visit the new visitors centre.
Akhnaten is also a Philip Glass' opera. It has been represented in many and important opera house. The opera is sung in the old egyptian language (the composer and librettist tried to figure out the pronuntation), but The Hymn to the Sun - the central opera piece - was sung in english.
It's amazing just how detailed some of these inscriptions are. It's so tragic that they've degraded so much, it's so difficult to imagine just how breathtaking they would have been in their original condition, plus all the areas that were painted, looking so vibrant. It's like the Roman sculptures, we are accustomed to seeing them in their degraded state, but they were also vibrant and colorful originally; it's difficult to picture just how much more impressive all the ancient buildings and sculptures must have been.
Professor is popping off with these uploads! I’m loving it! I became fascinated by Akhenaten after reading the book The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, there was a whole section devoted to him in it. He was very interesting, not just for his unorthodox views and religious beliefs or motivations, but also his relationships with his famous wife, in which he delegated certain responsibilities and power to, that is if I’m remembering that correctly. It’s been a few years since I’ve reread it.
Great vid, loved every second of it and Natalie is very cool too. 😎 I find the subject of Akhenaten so fascinating and have been educating myself on it for quite some time now. But, one thing I just can not wrap my head around is that they tried so hard to wipe him out of history by destroying Akhetaten, defacing his art and erasing his name from historical accounts however, you can still clearly depict him, the Aten, his family, carvings and hieroglyphs in the tombs and on what is left on the site. It almost looks sloppy how they tried to erase him from wall art, like some crumbs were left behind on purpose. Could you maybe share what your thoughts are on as to why they did not 100%, completely erase him? Thanks man, keep it coming!!
Awesome video, only thing i have ever seen about it was just few broken pillars and few stone blocks with the claim that's all there is TV and book a like
When the wall carvings as in the princess's tomb are preserved, how is it done? I see a lot of blank patches of plaster (?), does that mean the carvings were recovered from the floor and restored to the walls, or something similar?
In some cases, yes, but other times, the wall just has holes in it, and the patches are put there to hold it together and prevent more from falling off.
Remember that these tombs were cut from limestone and limestone is porous and not especially "hard". So depending upon the location of the tomb moisture from rainfall over the millennia might get inside to damage the plastered walls causing them to flake off in sections. Also periodic earthquakes can also undermine the tomb structure as well causing weakened sections to fracture or even collapse. So in some cases as noted where original artwork etc. can be reused and restored it might be done. Consider Hatshepsut's destroyed mortuary temple which has been painstakingly put back together since the 1960's. Damaged statues/columns were reused where possible while new ones were carved to replace destroyed ones where there are gaps. So sights open to tourism must of course be made safe for such access. Unadorned corridors might see some repair work to shore them up and "smooth over" damaged spots - much as was done with say the Great Pyramid. Look at old photos of Khufu's burial chamber pre-1990. See holes in the floor/walls and rubble strewn about where individuals over the millennia dug holes looking for hidden chambers. In the early 1990's it underwent a restoration project to make it safe for tourism and today everything is clean and the walls/floor have been repaired. So these tombs are restored and original artwork is preserved where possible and access is made safer for tourists via repair work to the corridors/rooms and adding new floors etc..
That shot of the seeds floating seeds at 35:35 made me stop and rewind. That food was unreal. Those panels must have been something amazing, in that period. Too bad they couldnt just leave them alone.. they did everything they could to obliterate his name, after he died. A fantastic Egypt experience without getting up. This will be the closest most people will ever get to these sites.. while others will have their fascination peaked, in their youth and pursue Egyptology
How is there not any assemblence of a Great Kingdom here; yet this whole area looks like a war zone, that was plowed under, & then covered over? Looks more like a defensive retreat, in the middle of nowhere, to protect his Spiritual Kingdom. With no lights, to carve into these Mountain's is amazing!
I didn't know Aunknatin's family was buried in Amara. I really didn't know where they were buried. I assumed that they were buried in the Valley of the Kings
While there were a few of the royal burials at Amarna, once the site was abandoned the priests of Amun, moved these burials to the Valley if the Kings and Queens. And then into the caches of Royals when tomb robbing increased.
You are correct in thinking that there were multiple reasons for relocating a Capital city away from Thebes . It is considered that Akhenaten’ father Amenhotep III had built the golden city of Aten ( on the outskirts of Thebes. And recently unearthed).this would have bern an ostentatious display of wealth and power to the priests of Amun in the nearby Karnak temple. It is not kniwn who built the temple of Aten in Thebes,although Akhenaten is attributed to this construction as the type of construction stone blocks sizes are similar to those used at Amarna. Many of those stones were found as having been recycled as infill into new walls in the Karnak temple complex. With the opening if the mouth ceremony in Tutankhamen’s tomb, showing Aye performing the service and proclaiming himself as King, Aye is wearing the leopard skin robes of a priest of Amun. In this video you visited many unfinished tombs. Remember that even then the people for whom these tombs were carved, had to pay for such work and when Akhenaten died, and the capitol was moved back to Thebes, they lost all that money on useless construction. As to wether Akhenaten was motivated by religion or as a political move against the growing wealth snd power of the Priests of Amun, this is uncertain. His actions could be seen as similar to those of Henry VIII in setting himself up as the head of the religion as a political move ,since Akhenaten closed down the Temple of Karnak and created division in the populace, who were used to polytheistic worshiping.
Hey there, I love the video, thanks for this great insight !! Planning to go there as soon as possible. But WHY do people absolutely need to touch the walls & co ?... I assume everyone knows that it's immensely fragile. But I'm definitely wrong assuming that. Sorry but I think it's a shame. This drove me insane during my first trip in Egypt this fall. Thanks for your attention and consideration. Best wishes from Lausanne, Switzerland. Frederic
The smooth walls behind the crumbled heiroglyphs is of interest, as if they smoothed the walls, put clay on top then did heiroglyphs, i dont see carved rock crumbling to a perfectly smooth wall
It might be a stabilizing agent added to preserve the wall murals. The ancient Egyptians however did employ several types of plasters to include a "mud plaster" as you alluded to.
I envy your access to places almost nobody has access to. 🙂 Question: Is there an animation of some sort of the area where Athens/Greece is located without the city? You know, what it looked like before humans have started building there... There is similar about Mana Hattan, so Manhattan. Interesting to see the changes, iyam. ^^
Honest question: why didn't we get a translation of akhenaten's biggest Stella? Too much work, not enough time? Or is it too faded to get anything? Could you make a short or just fill me in? Please and thank you. Appreciate your content.
It's a boundary stone and they are super formulaic. You can almost guess what they say if you've seen a couple before. It's quite possible Dr, Miano doesn't have translations handy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_Stelae_of_Akhenaten
@abandoninplace2751 thank you! This makes a bunch of sense, I was overly excited seeing how much script there was and I wasn't sure previously if any writing survived after they reverted under/after Tut. I appreciate the link as well! Great video. Fascinating.
The Great Hymn to the Aten and the Short Hymn are widely available online, including on Wikipedia. They are controversial, and reading them out might have led to David Miano being cancelled by religious Americans, since they seem to have inspired Psalm 104 of the Hebrew Bible.
I watched a documentary a few days ago that explained that Akhenaten's father on his 30 year throne anniversary declared himself and his main wife gods. More specifically, he declared that the Aten, which was considered the disc of the sun and therefore the real-life representation of the sun god Ra would be a deity itself. (To be clear, according to the film, the Aten had previously not been considered a deity at all. I haven't checked the validity of that claim). So He declared himself as the Aten. Pharaohs traditionally were considered to become Osiris after their death. But that he declared himself a deity in his lifetime apparently was new. (Which I don't quite understand, because I thought the living pharaoh would be considered to be Horus) Anyway, what I am getting at is that I had always thought that Akhenaten declaring himself being the son of the Aten would have metaphorical meaning. But if his father had declared himself the Aten, then Akhenaten's religion would be literally worshipping the deceased Amunhotep III. I find that idea fascinating and a much different take on the so-called first monotheistic religion than I had been exposed to previously. Dr. Miano, is that an accurate interpretation in your mind? Or did the documentary take too many liberties with the facts?
I have a question regarding Amarna period art, why do the figure proportions look like that? why was Akhenaten represented with a round belly, wide hips, very narrow neck and elongated face?
@@ALook_at_my_picture_ I am Egyptian , what Egyptians refer to as Black Honey is Molasses, which has nothing to do with bees, no Egyptian says it comes from bees. It is just the local name for the product, if you would go to a grocery store in Egypt , you would read on the jars عسل أسود (black honey in Arabic) with the English translation provided as Molasses.
@@ALook_at_my_picture_ here is an example : www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F61A7H5G8OiL.jpg&tbnid=mUlThelBUxJxnM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.eg%2F%25D8%25B9%25D8%25B3%25D9%2584-%25D8%25A7%25D8%25B3%25D9%2588%25D8%25AF-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25B1%25D8%25B4%25D9%258A%25D8%25AF%25D9%2589-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D9%2585%25D9%258A%25D8%25B2%25D8%25A7%25D9%2586%25D8%258C-350%25D8%25AC%25D9%2585%2Fdp%2FB092LFNM4B&docid=cm3H0Er-zIsyyM&w=1500&h=1500&hl=en-US&shem=canimge&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm4%2F7
I suspect "security" is more to do with making sure your money goes where they would prefer it to (that "pockety" thing in their trousers usually, and new bricks for the precinct Captain's holiday home).
*sigh* The only time I got to Egypt was in 2005 or 2006. We had an unscheduled/emergency landing at the airport in Cairo & were not allowed to leave the plane. We sat on the tarmac, in the middle of the farthest, most isolated, unused runway, awaiting repairs... I could just barely see the pyramids of Giza off in the distance... There we sat... for hours... in the sweltering heat with the plane doors open, not a hint of a breeze. The airport officials eventually sent us bread, butter, oranges & lukewarm bottled water. (If the plane is not running, the bathrooms & A/C doesn't work...) Not a good memory. Our presence there was not documented because we weren't allowed to leave the plane. So we didn't even have a passport stamp to commemorate our brief presence there. 😢
He tried to do the same thing that the Pharaoh Khufu did when he looted the temples and diverted resources to building his Great Pyramid, or King Henry VIII when he looted the churches, abbeys and hospitals of England. Henry had crucifixes taken down from churches and courts and replaced by his royal coat of arms. All of these monotheistic megalomaniacs put themselves at the top of a slimmed-down mythology, the effect of which was to grab power and wealth for themselves while pretending to be religious reformers. For Khufu and Akhnaten, the reform did not last. For Henry, the centralised dictatorship of the monarch ended with Charles I's beheading, but the change of religion endured.
@@faithlesshound5621Interesting. I knew his father had been laying some groundwork, and I thought it might have been a far reaching plan to purge perceived weaknesses and make the whole bronze age social order more resilient for the future. Especially since he did plan other things well. But the egomaniac perspective does fit with all the undignified scenes he had himself and the family shown in, too.
Breakfast...Akhenaton did what he was sent here to do. 1.restore the ONENESS of God. 2. get rid of all those man-made gods that were being practice in Egypt/KEMET. and 3. let the world KNOW God is a Photon. the supreme LIGHT.
Ra was the head of an Egyptian pantheon of Gods. Aten represented a belief system which only allowed for monotheistic worship. So in embracing the Aten alone = Akhenaten was rejecting worship in all the rest of the Egyptian Gods.
@@varyolla435 ok, but before the monotheistic aten worship he must have had a place in the pantheon of gods, right? So two sun gods, that’s pretty unusual for ancient cultures afaik unless it’s a regional thing….🤔
Do we know if Akhenaten actually had that strange shaped face and swollen stomach? I recall from my teens back before time began, reading thoughts of various doctors on whether or not this was stylisation or he had x, y or z syndrome.
As historic tour for the students need to provide authentic story, which is not present here. The real story is: Akhen Atun is the king who reformed religion from polytheism to monotheism. That time Egyptians worship to Amun. The king Amenhotep IV (Akhen Atun after reform) saw dreams two nights but nobody can explain the dream except Prophet Joseph(Yusuf peace be upon him), he was a prisoner in Gavia (still exist)close to capital .one of the worker of king knew him when he was in jail told that I will collect the explanation of dreams. Then he went jail and prophet Joseph explained the dream that seven year huge crops will produce and next 7 years will no crops will produce because of drought. The the king accepted Joshef as his agricultural minister and then chief minister and advisor. As a prophet always followed one god and he invited king Amenhotep to accept oneness of god and he accepted that. Then he changed his name Akhen Atun creator of son, one of the nickname of God. Finally he changed religion from polytheism to monotheism. Joshef (pbuh) father was Jacob (pbuh) his other name is Israel. Because of 7 years drought needed to preserve crop and that is why lord give him the architectural knowledge how to build the building to protect crops for 7 year. Finally all Israeli people that time Prophet Jacob and his other 10 sons and their entire families migrated from Kenan to Egypt. This story mentions in wholly book the Quran chapter named Yusuf. You will gain solid knowledge if you watch the movie Yusuf Julekha, based on that chapter. I am sure you will be master on Amarna period and about Akhen Atun.
27:08 Wow, that is crazy 😧. Funny there is no mention of the aliens right ? Like he's not gonna bragg about his architecturally gifted little grey buddies? 😂 Great video. Really enjoyed this one.
Interesting revolutionary moment in history to usurp a pantheism by promoting an aspect of a god to a monotheistic entity. Kind of a metaphysical dilemma? Loving these travel videos!
When you said the site doesn’t get many visitors I audibly gasped. This place is definitely on my bucket list
I wish my wife were alive to see this tour of Egypt you have taken us on. She, like I, loved history, but even more so ancient Egyptian history. Yes, I find it fascinating, but she would've loved watching these. Due to her vision, these bright Egyptian days would've been impossible for her, but she would've loved to have seen them in person.
I think Akhenaten is one of, if not the most fascinating pharaohs, and really, one of the most interesting ancient people. Thank you for this!
Samesies!
Weird though.
Joe, Akhenaton was a Christ/Buddha figure, CENTURIES before them. Akhenaton was the 33rd Christ. the #33 is a HIGH Mystical number.
@@helenamcginty4920 We are all weird.
@@mysticakhenaton1701 That is ridiculous.
The sheer magnitude of the concept of relocating to Amarna from Thebes has always fascinated me, Thanks, Natalie and David, for putting some meat on the bones of this legendary city.
Thanks for going to these lesser-visited sites. I plan to visit Egypt for 2-ish weeks at some point in my life but it's unlikely I'll ever make it to Amarna, the Fayum, Tanis, or these other places you're visiting, they're just too out of the way compared to Cairo/Luxor/Aswan. And given that the typical travel channels don't visit them, your videos are one of the only way I ever will.
26:50 Hilarious nod to your other videos where you correct the wildly misinformed as to the technical abilities of early civilisations - thank you for this astonishing tour of Amarna
I want to visit Amarna when I go to Egypt. Akhenaten is arguably the most interesting pharaoh
I have always been a bit fascinated by Akhenaten's rule - the anomalous monotheistic pharaoh who moved the capital and an era with a distinctive artistic style. Thank you for the tour.
I love these travel episodes more than the rebuttal ones because I feel like I get my own personal guided tour. And the music!
Thank you again for our continued education!
Thank you for your videos!
And thank you for your support!
That was lots of fun watching. Thank you. You showed the food and people from local in the video, it gives me a sense of everyday life in Egypt and with all the great sights of anicent Egyptians history.
your videos are always insightful and inspiring. Thank u for all u do
supremely impressive results from that holiday, love this series as being there; you learn so many little details you would overlook or not see in books.
This was a lot of fun! I’ve been down a rabbit hole with Akhenaten and Nefertiti with your recent videos and enjoying the ride
Love the music with scenery & just amazing tomb & art shots with cool music too. Natalie's amazing colour co-ordinated scarf is the same colour as the stairs to the tomb. Her introduction was brilliant too These videos are gr8 informative & super cool stylies at the same time. Loved every minute. Brilliant. Thanks
I love the music, and the sound is well balanced. Great job! Thanks so much for showing this to us!
! Thank you for these very informative and gripping journeys thru Egypt!
Amazing how much footage comes from one trip. Interesting video!
Love this trip.
Thanks Dr M & Natalie.
Happy Travels🦋
Keep up the amazing work, Dr Miano!
26:48 this jab was great
Uau! Thank you for this guys!
Finally Amarna! Absolutely fabulous ❤️. I also think Ehab is one of a kind…
I love this tour!! I have never been to Amarna. I wasn’t even aware of it or the letters until years after I visited Egypt. By the way, “haris” ( حارس ) actual translated to “a guard” in Arabic! Great job!,!
wow! thanks for making this video. although I was in Egypt a few years ago, I didn't see any of this and doubt I will go back. So this was especially interesting to me. please keep posting these excellent videos!
Great to see through your eyes the ancient, Egyptian sites. I am sure, one day your videos will help me with my planning. Thank you so much!
This is excellent, I'm Egyptian and I never knew there was this much to see of the Amana Period. Thx so much for sharing.
Love your videos David. Really feels like we are exploring with you!
Another great episode in this hugely interesting travelog!
My thanks to you and Natalie for sharing this adventure, and to Ehab for looking after you so well - What a lovely chap! ;)
love your channel man, once Im done with school I will become a patreon. greetings from Mexico!
Open are the double doors of the horizon
Unlocked are its bolts
Clouds darken the sky
The stars rain down
The constellations stagger
The bones of the hell hounds tremble
The porters are silent
When they see this king
Dawning as a soul
Men fall
Their name is not
Seize thou this king by his arm
Take this king to the sky
That he not die on earth
Among men
He flies who flies
This king flies away from you
Ye mortals
He is not of the earth
He is of the sky
He flaps his wings like a zeret bird
He goes to the sky
He goes to the sky
On the wind
On the wind
Philip Glass, Akhnaten, Act I Prelude
I really Love the quality of this content
That was really interesting Thanks David ..
Always surprised at how
little they are charging for entry to these sites - for about the price of a coffee at my local cafe you get to see some astonishing and special places.
big fan here
Extraordinary indeed. He was in fact, quite the extra sort of guy. Angered literally everyone.
This was the one I wanted to see. I studied Theology, so Amarna is far more appealing than the pyramids.
@37:30 our meatloaf (Hawawshi) great video 👏🏼
Great video! My fiance is dying to know what glasses you're wearing. Looking forward to more!
They are vintage. Found them at a garage sale.
Many thanks, excellent!!
I'm really surprise Amarna doesn't get many visitors! It's a top 3 of sites to visit in Egypt, IMO.
it is a place/Akhet-Aton. now called Amarna. where the greatest Mystical spiritual movement took place. the world hasn't seen before or since.
@@mysticakhenaton1701spiritual movement the hasn't seen? The Jesus movement is the world's biggest spiritual movement besides the Muslims, which both Abrahamic faiths
@@shable1436 NO!!! that's NOT true. only in your mind/belief system. NOT history
Eye-opening video. Thank you so much. But what on earth are those things flying about at 35:34? They look like mini bio-drones out of some dystopian sci-fi movie.
I can't believe Tell el-Amarna isn't more well-visited, it'd definitely be on my short list of places to go if I visited Egypt.
The Amarna period and its aftermath is probably the most fascinating chapter of Egypt's history to me.
Great video. Was the sun bull similar to the later Apis bull? Is there a similar breeding protocol for choosing the bull? Interesting the bull is so important through out different times.
So cool 🤩
Thank you for the tour! I am really hoping to get out there and see the whole site one day, have been for partial visits before, have a huge interest in this mysterious Pharaoh (not least of all because my mother named me after one of his daughters 😂) there's so much we don't know. I hear there's a lot of restoration work still going on out there so it would be nice to see what has been revealed and also visit the new visitors centre.
Mutton liver is one of the underrated delicacies that many in the West miss out on.
A relaxing tour thanks 🌼🔥👀
Akhenaten was way ahead of the curve! He made one of the first planned cities!
I mean, not really - that was the IVT or Harappan civilization, in 3000 BC.
@@thelungilife6057 Oh.
@@Angie2343 that was Akhenaton holy city. he built it on a much more ancient site. trying to take ancient KEMET/Egypt, BACK to a higher spiritual age.
Exactly!@@mysticakhenaton1701
Well done!
Thank you!
Akhnaten is also a Philip Glass' opera. It has been represented in many and important opera house. The opera is sung in the old egyptian language (the composer and librettist tried to figure out the pronuntation), but The Hymn to the Sun - the central opera piece - was sung in english.
It's amazing just how detailed some of these inscriptions are.
It's so tragic that they've degraded so much, it's so difficult to imagine just how breathtaking they would have been in their original condition, plus all the areas that were painted, looking so vibrant.
It's like the Roman sculptures, we are accustomed to seeing them in their degraded state, but they were also vibrant and colorful originally; it's difficult to picture just how much more impressive all the ancient buildings and sculptures must have been.
Great camera work.
amazing video! thank you for showing us such historical wonders!
Professor is popping off with these uploads! I’m loving it! I became fascinated by Akhenaten after reading the book The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, there was a whole section devoted to him in it. He was very interesting, not just for his unorthodox views and religious beliefs or motivations, but also his relationships with his famous wife, in which he delegated certain responsibilities and power to, that is if I’m remembering that correctly. It’s been a few years since I’ve reread it.
Great vid, loved every second of it and Natalie is very cool too. 😎 I find the subject of Akhenaten so fascinating and have been educating myself on it for quite some time now. But, one thing I just can not wrap my head around is that they tried so hard to wipe him out of history by destroying Akhetaten, defacing his art and erasing his name from historical accounts however, you can still clearly depict him, the Aten, his family, carvings and hieroglyphs in the tombs and on what is left on the site. It almost looks sloppy how they tried to erase him from wall art, like some crumbs were left behind on purpose. Could you maybe share what your thoughts are on as to why they did not 100%, completely erase him? Thanks man, keep it coming!!
Thanks!👍
Very good video as always, thank you very much, but there's a problem with the subtitles
I want to go…and travel advice or trips planned in future?
When AR headsets are more of a thing, tours of these sites will be pretty amazing (projecting buildings, translating texts,..).
Awesome video, only thing i have ever seen about it was just few broken pillars and few stone blocks with the claim that's all there is TV and book a like
What’s the sauce you dip the food in at the very end??? Humus? Yoghurt ?
Tahini
My man has leather reinforced elbow pads on his shirts so you know he means business!! Science business that is !!
I've got them on the crotch of my breeks😮
When the wall carvings as in the princess's tomb are preserved, how is it done? I see a lot of blank patches of plaster (?), does that mean the carvings were recovered from the floor and restored to the walls, or something similar?
In some cases, yes, but other times, the wall just has holes in it, and the patches are put there to hold it together and prevent more from falling off.
Remember that these tombs were cut from limestone and limestone is porous and not especially "hard". So depending upon the location of the tomb moisture from rainfall over the millennia might get inside to damage the plastered walls causing them to flake off in sections. Also periodic earthquakes can also undermine the tomb structure as well causing weakened sections to fracture or even collapse.
So in some cases as noted where original artwork etc. can be reused and restored it might be done. Consider Hatshepsut's destroyed mortuary temple which has been painstakingly put back together since the 1960's. Damaged statues/columns were reused where possible while new ones were carved to replace destroyed ones where there are gaps.
So sights open to tourism must of course be made safe for such access. Unadorned corridors might see some repair work to shore them up and "smooth over" damaged spots - much as was done with say the Great Pyramid. Look at old photos of Khufu's burial chamber pre-1990. See holes in the floor/walls and rubble strewn about where individuals over the millennia dug holes looking for hidden chambers. In the early 1990's it underwent a restoration project to make it safe for tourism and today everything is clean and the walls/floor have been repaired. So these tombs are restored and original artwork is preserved where possible and access is made safer for tourists via repair work to the corridors/rooms and adding new floors etc..
"It was sooo good and cheap"
That shot of the seeds floating seeds at 35:35 made me stop and rewind. That food was unreal. Those panels must have been something amazing, in that period. Too bad they couldnt just leave them alone.. they did everything they could to obliterate his name, after he died. A fantastic Egypt experience without getting up. This will be the closest most people will ever get to these sites.. while others will have their fascination peaked, in their youth and pursue Egyptology
Can you PLEASE go back to the museum at AkhetAten? PLEASE??
How is there not any assemblence of a Great Kingdom here; yet this whole area looks like a war zone, that was plowed under, & then covered over? Looks more like a defensive retreat, in the middle of nowhere, to protect his Spiritual Kingdom. With no lights, to carve into these Mountain's is amazing!
I didn't know Aunknatin's family was buried in Amara. I really didn't know where they were buried. I assumed that they were buried in the Valley of the Kings
While there were a few of the royal burials at Amarna, once the site was abandoned the priests of Amun, moved these burials to the Valley if the Kings and Queens. And then into the caches of Royals when tomb robbing increased.
You are correct in thinking that there were multiple reasons for relocating a Capital city away from Thebes . It is considered that Akhenaten’ father Amenhotep III had built the golden city of Aten ( on the outskirts of Thebes. And recently unearthed).this would have bern an ostentatious display of wealth and power to the priests of Amun in the nearby Karnak temple. It is not kniwn who built the temple of Aten in Thebes,although Akhenaten is attributed to this construction as the type of construction stone blocks sizes are similar to those used at Amarna. Many of those stones were found as having been recycled as infill into new walls in the Karnak temple complex. With the opening if the mouth ceremony in Tutankhamen’s tomb, showing Aye performing the service and proclaiming himself as King, Aye is wearing the leopard skin robes of a priest of Amun. In this video you visited many unfinished tombs. Remember that even then the people for whom these tombs were carved, had to pay for such work and when Akhenaten died, and the capitol was moved back to Thebes, they lost all that money on useless construction.
As to wether Akhenaten was motivated by religion or as a political move against the growing wealth snd power of the Priests of Amun, this is uncertain. His actions could be seen as similar to those of Henry VIII in setting himself up as the head of the religion as a political move ,since Akhenaten closed down the Temple of Karnak and created division in the populace, who were used to polytheistic worshiping.
Hey there, I love the video, thanks for this great insight !! Planning to go there as soon as possible. But WHY do people absolutely need to touch the walls & co ?... I assume everyone knows that it's immensely fragile. But I'm definitely wrong assuming that. Sorry but I think it's a shame. This drove me insane during my first trip in Egypt this fall. Thanks for your attention and consideration. Best wishes from Lausanne, Switzerland. Frederic
The smooth walls behind the crumbled heiroglyphs is of interest, as if they smoothed the walls, put clay on top then did heiroglyphs, i dont see carved rock crumbling to a perfectly smooth wall
It might be a stabilizing agent added to preserve the wall murals. The ancient Egyptians however did employ several types of plasters to include a "mud plaster" as you alluded to.
Are you in Egypt right now? Ancient Architects is there! It would be fun if you guys met up somewhere!
But youre probably home now these are all nicely edited. Next time maybe
I envy your access to places almost nobody has access to. 🙂
Question: Is there an animation of some sort of the area where Athens/Greece is located without the city? You know, what it looked like before humans have started building there...
There is similar about Mana Hattan, so Manhattan.
Interesting to see the changes, iyam. ^^
Might just be some odd sort of "internalizing" on my part so 26:50 seems like a not so subtle reference to Ben over at Uncharted X.
😉
Honest question: why didn't we get a translation of akhenaten's biggest Stella? Too much work, not enough time? Or is it too faded to get anything? Could you make a short or just fill me in? Please and thank you. Appreciate your content.
It's a boundary stone and they are super formulaic. You can almost guess what they say if you've seen a couple before. It's quite possible Dr, Miano doesn't have translations handy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_Stelae_of_Akhenaten
@abandoninplace2751 thank you! This makes a bunch of sense, I was overly excited seeing how much script there was and I wasn't sure previously if any writing survived after they reverted under/after Tut. I appreciate the link as well!
Great video. Fascinating.
The Great Hymn to the Aten and the Short Hymn are widely available online, including on Wikipedia. They are controversial, and reading them out might have led to David Miano being cancelled by religious Americans, since they seem to have inspired Psalm 104 of the Hebrew Bible.
all the glorious sites you visit but my favorite part is still the food :Q____
Thanks
The most startling part is that So much of the city, even the main parts, have been left unfinished or seem to have aged badly
Considering that everything from Akhenaten's time is over 3300 years old, I wouldn't say it has aged badly at all.
I watched a documentary a few days ago that explained that Akhenaten's father on his 30 year throne anniversary declared himself and his main wife gods. More specifically, he declared that the Aten, which was considered the disc of the sun and therefore the real-life representation of the sun god Ra would be a deity itself. (To be clear, according to the film, the Aten had previously not been considered a deity at all. I haven't checked the validity of that claim). So He declared himself as the Aten. Pharaohs traditionally were considered to become Osiris after their death. But that he declared himself a deity in his lifetime apparently was new. (Which I don't quite understand, because I thought the living pharaoh would be considered to be Horus)
Anyway, what I am getting at is that I had always thought that Akhenaten declaring himself being the son of the Aten would have metaphorical meaning. But if his father had declared himself the Aten, then Akhenaten's religion would be literally worshipping the deceased Amunhotep III. I find that idea fascinating and a much different take on the so-called first monotheistic religion than I had been exposed to previously.
Dr. Miano, is that an accurate interpretation in your mind? Or did the documentary take too many liberties with the facts?
I have a question regarding Amarna period art, why do the figure proportions look like that? why was Akhenaten represented with a round belly, wide hips, very narrow neck and elongated face?
Answered in the video.
Nothing left of Amarns except one rebuilt pillar on a vast flat plain.
24:00 black honey is Arabic for Molases.
I thought it tasted familiar.
@@ALook_at_my_picture_ I am Egyptian , what Egyptians refer to as Black Honey is Molasses, which has nothing to do with bees, no Egyptian says it comes from bees. It is just the local name for the product, if you would go to a grocery store in Egypt , you would read on the jars عسل أسود (black honey in Arabic) with the English translation provided as Molasses.
@@ALook_at_my_picture_ here is an example : www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F61A7H5G8OiL.jpg&tbnid=mUlThelBUxJxnM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.eg%2F%25D8%25B9%25D8%25B3%25D9%2584-%25D8%25A7%25D8%25B3%25D9%2588%25D8%25AF-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D8%25B1%25D8%25B4%25D9%258A%25D8%25AF%25D9%2589-%25D8%25A7%25D9%2584%25D9%2585%25D9%258A%25D8%25B2%25D8%25A7%25D9%2586%25D8%258C-350%25D8%25AC%25D9%2585%2Fdp%2FB092LFNM4B&docid=cm3H0Er-zIsyyM&w=1500&h=1500&hl=en-US&shem=canimge&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm4%2F7
Are you sure that's a trap? Aren't those pits in tombs usually to prevent flooding?
I suspect "security" is more to do with making sure your money goes where they would prefer it to
(that "pockety" thing in their trousers usually, and new bricks for the precinct Captain's holiday home).
*sigh* The only time I got to Egypt was in 2005 or 2006. We had an unscheduled/emergency landing at the airport in Cairo & were not allowed to leave the plane. We sat on the tarmac, in the middle of the farthest, most isolated, unused runway, awaiting repairs... I could just barely see the pyramids of Giza off in the distance... There we sat... for hours... in the sweltering heat with the plane doors open, not a hint of a breeze. The airport officials eventually sent us bread, butter, oranges & lukewarm bottled water. (If the plane is not running, the bathrooms & A/C doesn't work...) Not a good memory. Our presence there was not documented because we weren't allowed to leave the plane. So we didn't even have a passport stamp to commemorate our brief presence there. 😢
Would you do one or two days touring here is you are interested in the period of history
I think one full day is enough.
Looking mighty Indiana Jones in the thumbnail there, David.
Did our boy Akhenaten leave anything about his intentions of all these changes? What did he try to accomplish?
He tried to do the same thing that the Pharaoh Khufu did when he looted the temples and diverted resources to building his Great Pyramid, or King Henry VIII when he looted the churches, abbeys and hospitals of England. Henry had crucifixes taken down from churches and courts and replaced by his royal coat of arms.
All of these monotheistic megalomaniacs put themselves at the top of a slimmed-down mythology, the effect of which was to grab power and wealth for themselves while pretending to be religious reformers. For Khufu and Akhnaten, the reform did not last. For Henry, the centralised dictatorship of the monarch ended with Charles I's beheading, but the change of religion endured.
@@faithlesshound5621Interesting. I knew his father had been laying some groundwork, and I thought it might have been a far reaching plan to purge perceived weaknesses and make the whole bronze age social order more resilient for the future. Especially since he did plan other things well. But the egomaniac perspective does fit with all the undignified scenes he had himself and the family shown in, too.
Breakfast...Akhenaton did what he was sent here to do. 1.restore the ONENESS of God. 2. get rid of all those man-made gods that were being practice in Egypt/KEMET. and 3. let the world KNOW God is a Photon. the supreme LIGHT.
It takes serious guts to be such an unabashed iconoclast.
Does it though when if believe your own press about being a living god?
Correction. Aten is not the Sun God. The Aten is an attribute which creates the Sun rays.
What is your ancient Egyptian source for this conclusion?
Aten is the Sun of God
Not the Sun God
The Sun God is Ra
How does the sun god aten relate to the sun god ra? 🤔
IIRC, Ra was the dude with the bird head and Aten was the actual sun rays/ sun disk
Ra was the head of an Egyptian pantheon of Gods. Aten represented a belief system which only allowed for monotheistic worship. So in embracing the Aten alone = Akhenaten was rejecting worship in all the rest of the Egyptian Gods.
@@varyolla435 ok, but before the monotheistic aten worship he must have had a place in the pantheon of gods, right? So two sun gods, that’s pretty unusual for ancient cultures afaik unless it’s a regional thing….🤔
Does akhenaton was the pharoah during prophet yousuf a.s (Joseph) time
Was he trying to unite upper & lower Egypt?
He was trying to consolidate power back to the throne - the Priesthood was far too powerful in his mind.
@@lastofmygeneration thanks. Hey, your channel looks interesting. I just subscribed.
You missed the most important tomb in the place. :(
Do we know if Akhenaten actually had that strange shaped face and swollen stomach? I recall from my teens back before time began, reading thoughts of various doctors on whether or not this was stylisation or he had x, y or z syndrome.
As historic tour for the students need to provide authentic story, which is not present here. The real story is: Akhen Atun is the king who reformed religion from polytheism to monotheism. That time Egyptians worship to Amun. The king Amenhotep IV (Akhen Atun after reform) saw dreams two nights but nobody can explain the dream except Prophet Joseph(Yusuf peace be upon him), he was a prisoner in Gavia (still exist)close to capital .one of the worker of king knew him when he was in jail told that I will collect the explanation of dreams. Then he went jail and prophet Joseph explained the dream that seven year huge crops will produce and next 7 years will no crops will produce because of drought. The the king accepted Joshef as his agricultural minister and then chief minister and advisor. As a prophet always followed one god and he invited king Amenhotep to accept oneness of god and he accepted that. Then he changed his name Akhen Atun creator of son, one of the nickname of God. Finally he changed religion from polytheism to monotheism. Joshef (pbuh) father was Jacob (pbuh) his other name is Israel. Because of 7 years drought needed to preserve crop and that is why lord give him the architectural knowledge how to build the building to protect crops for 7 year. Finally all Israeli people that time Prophet Jacob and his other 10 sons and their entire families migrated from Kenan to Egypt. This story mentions in wholly book the Quran chapter named Yusuf. You will gain solid knowledge if you watch the movie Yusuf Julekha, based on that chapter. I am sure you will be master on Amarna period and about Akhen Atun.
27:08
Wow, that is crazy 😧.
Funny there is no mention of the aliens right ?
Like he's not gonna bragg about his architecturally gifted little grey buddies?
😂
Great video.
Really enjoyed this one.
Interesting revolutionary moment in history to usurp a pantheism by promoting an aspect of a god to a monotheistic entity. Kind of a metaphysical dilemma? Loving these travel videos!