Akhenaten chose an undeveloped desert bay on the east bank of the river Nile to build Akhetaten. Its construction began around the fifth year of his reign, and the city was occupied for approximately fifteen to twenty years. After Akhenaten’s death, his successors largely abandoned the project: the capital was moved back (eventually to Thebes), and Akhenaten’s religious innovations were rolled back, with many of the city’s monuments dismantled or defaced. The brevity of its existence, the speed with which it was built, and the fact that many strata of its life (since it was never rebuilt over) are preserved make it of exceptional importance to archaeology and the understanding of changes in Egyptian religion, royalty, art, and urban planning.

circa 1355 BCE- Present

Akhenaten, originally named Amenhotep IV, ascended the throne during a period of relative stability under the Eighteenth Dynasty. Early in his reign he began to emphasize the cult of Aten, the visible sun disk, over that of Amun and other gods. Around his fifth regnal year, Akhenaten initiated a radical transformation—he changed his own name, suppressed the cult of Amun, and ordered the creation of a new capital devoted exclusively to Aten. The city’s location was carefully chosen: an empty desert bay on the Nile’s east bank, ringed by cliffs that naturally framed the horizon where the sun rose, an image that resonated with the concept of divine illumination and renewal. Boundary stelae were carved into the surrounding cliffs, inscribed with decrees defining the city’s sacred limits and expressing Akhenaten’s personal devotion to Aten.

Construction at Akhetaten began on an enormous scale. The Great Aten Temple and Small Aten Temple were among the first monumental structures to rise, both designed to allow sunlight to flood their open courts. Simultaneously, royal palaces, administrative offices, workshops, and residences for officials were erected at remarkable speed. Reliefs from tombs of high officials such as Meryra, Ay, and Panehesy depict royal processions along broad avenues, emphasizing the king and queen’s central roles in the daily worship of Aten. The city quickly became a living symbol of Akhenaten’s theological revolution.

However, the rapid and coercive nature of these changes created tension within Egyptian society. The suppression of older deities, particularly Amun, undermined the powerful priestly class and alienated traditional elites. After Akhenaten’s death circa 1336 BCE, his successors—first Smenkhkare and then Tutankhaten (who soon changed his name to Tutankhamun)—began restoring the old order. The court relocated, temples to Aten fell into neglect, and the once-venerated name of Akhenaten was systematically erased from monuments. By the early reign of Horemheb, Akhetaten had been largely abandoned, its buildings stripped for materials and its memory deliberately suppressed in official records.

Modern rediscovery of Amarna began in the late nineteenth century CE. The first major archaeological clearances were conducted by explorers such as Alessandro Barsanti, Flinders Petrie, and C. Leonard Woolley, who mapped major sectors of the city and uncovered administrative quarters, palatial remains, and domestic structures. Among the most extraordinary finds was a cache of clay tablets—now known as the Amarna Letters—correspondence between the Egyptian court and rulers of the Near East, providing a vivid record of international diplomacy in the Late Bronze Age.

In the twentieth century, excavations became more systematic. The Egypt Exploration Society, under the direction of Barry J. Kemp, initiated a long-term research program from 1977 CE onward that continues to this day. Their work has illuminated not only the architectural layout of the city but also the daily life of its inhabitants through studies of workshops, food production, burial practices, and social stratification. The combination of historical brevity and archaeological preservation has made Amarna one of the most intensively studied urban sites of the ancient world.

circa 1355-1338 BCE

Akhetaten was laid out on a broad desert plain enclosed by cliffs to the east and the Nile to the west. The city stretched over six to seven kilometers along the river and was organized along a principal north–south axis known as the Royal Road. This road connected the royal and religious precincts in the Central City with the northern palaces and southern estates. The overall plan reflects both practical and ideological considerations: the openness toward the rising sun, the spatial separation of royal and common spheres, and the deliberate creation of a sacred landscape centered on the Aten.

The Central City contained the main temples and administrative buildings. The Great Aten Temple, constructed largely of mudbrick with stone gateways and altars, was designed as an open-air sanctuary in which sunlight penetrated directly onto offering tables arranged in long rows. The adjacent Small Aten Temple served a similar but more restricted ceremonial function. South of these lay the Great Palace, a vast complex of courts, colonnaded halls, and state apartments, linked to the King’s House and other palatial residences by covered walkways and bridges. The city’s administrative heart included archives, granaries, workshops, and the “Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh” where the diplomatic tablets were found.

The North City contained royal estates and gardens, including the North Palace and North Riverside Palace, believed to have served as royal residences or retreats. The South City and Kom el-Nana area contained additional temple complexes and gardened enclosures possibly associated with royal women, such as Nefertiti and the princess Meritaten. The Maru-Aten, another southern estate, featured artificial lakes, tree-lined courtyards, and sun-shade pavilions, merging architectural and natural elements in a setting symbolically devoted to Aten’s radiance.

Residential quarters extended between and beyond these ceremonial centers. Large houses belonging to high officials had courtyards, storerooms, private shrines, and gardens, while smaller dwellings were densely packed, often adjoining workshops for pottery, faience, metal, and glass production. The Workmen’s Village, situated in the eastern desert, housed the artisans responsible for decorating the royal tombs and elite burials. Its isolation has preserved domestic structures, chapels, and waste deposits, offering unparalleled insight into daily life and labor organization.

The cliffs encircling Akhetaten were cut with rock tombs belonging to courtiers and priests—the so-called North and South Tombs. Their wall reliefs depict the distinctive Amarna art style: elongated figures, intimate scenes of the royal family, and an emphasis on sunlight and divine radiance. Deeper in the Royal Wadi lies the Royal Tomb of Akhenaten, designed for the king, Queen Tiye, and their daughter Meketaten. Although the tomb was unfinished, its plan and decoration mirror the new religious emphasis on Aten’s life-giving power rather than traditional funerary gods.

Construction across the city relied heavily on mudbrick and locally quarried limestone. Because the project was completed in haste, many structures were of lightweight materials and show signs of rapid deterioration after abandonment. Nonetheless, the architectural remains reveal a city conceived as both an earthly reflection of the solar horizon and a statement of divine kingship.