The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and Its People

Description

A city of temples, royal palaces, civic offices and elite tombs, and simultaneously a city of small-scale mud-brick dwellings, Amarna was an 'urban village', where most of its citizens were only two or three steps removed in the social scale from the king himself. Barry Kemp evokes the unique character of this famous capital, bringing to life its people, from Akhenaten, Nefertiti and the royal family to priests and craftsmen, in this brilliantly written and imaginatively conceived account of the mysterious Amarna interlude.

Barry Kemp is Senior Research Fellow, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge; Chairman, Amarna Trust; and Director of the British Archaeological Mission to Tell el-Amarna. Among his books are Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation and the standard introduction to ancient Egypt: How to Read the "Egyptian Book of the Dead".

'Kemp brilliantly combines history, archaeology, and art history to develop a complete picture of the onetime capital of ancient Egypt ... A beautiful and informative book, a rare find for experts and general readers alike' - Publishers Weekly 'Professor Barry Kemp, perhaps the world's most experienced Egyptologist, has devoted over 30 years to Amarna's exploration and excavation. In this book he is able to offer unparalleled insights into the life and times of the citizens of ancient Egypt and of the exceptional man, the so-called 'heretic pharaoh', who ruled over them more than three millennia ago' - Colin Renfrew, University of Cambridge 'Well-written and clearly structured ... very well illustrated' - Egyptian Archaeology 'More than any other study that I am aware of, Kemp's book succeeds in bringing to life the day-to-day workings of this ancient Egyptian capital ... A superb book, written and illustrated by a superb archaeologist and scholar of ancient Egypt' - Antiquity