Amarna - The Horizon of Aten
The site of Amarna (commonly known as el-Amarna or incorrectly
as Tell el-Amarna) is located on the east bank of the Nile River,
some 58 km (38 miles) south of the city of al-Minya, 312 km (194
miles) south of the Egyptian capital Cairo
and 402 km (250 miles) north of Luxor.
The site includes several modern villages, chief of which are
el-Till in the north and el-Hagg Qandil in the south.
The city was built as the new capital by the Pharaoh Akhenaten, dedicated to his new religion of worship to the Aten. Construction started in year 4 of his reign (1364 BC or 1346 BC) and was probably completed by year 9 (1359 BC or 1341 BC), although it became the capital city two years earlier. The name...
