Great discovery
I have an interest in egyptology and the history of Egypt. It was great when today I read that it is believed that scientists may have found the Nefertiti mummy (Wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten and step mum of Tutenkahmun). I am particularly interested in Nefertiti and her husband, Akhenaten (formally Amenhotep IV) because of their interesting views and their dramatic changes to Egypt and it's religious beliefs.
Nefertiti was given an unusual amount of power and 'say' as the queen but she was replaced in the later stages of Akhenaten's reign with Kiya and her daughter. It is believed that Queen Smenkhkara, who followed after Akhenaten may have actually been Nefertiti.
Akhenaten erased the names of all the gods, particularly Amun, which was the main god that was worshipped and replaced with the god, Aten. But, the common people didn't worship Aten directly. They worshipped Akhenaten as the semi-divine son of the Aten. Any reference to Amun or Akhenaten's father was removed from all monuments. A temple was built in his first year of reign in the name of Aten. He moved the capital to Akhet-Aten. Then in his 6th year of reign he changed his name from Amenhotep IV ('Amun is content') to Akhenaten ('glory of the Aten').
Despite all these changes, most people continued with their old religious beliefs, worshipping Amun and soon after Tutenkahmun arrived, the religious beliefs were changed back, along with the capital.
He ruled for 18 years, but even though a mummy thought to be him was discovered, it is now believed that it isn't.
HelenMD Moderator
Posts: 220
(6/10/03 12:45 pm) Reply
Nefertiti
That's really fascinating. What is it that is so seductive about ancient Egypt? Is it the majesty of their wealth and their vanity? Their dark and beautiful deities? The enormity of their architecture? I think it's fascinating that they were so androgynous as well, that they had strict ideas about hygiene and appearance so they shaved all over and wore eye make-up. They seemed to devote everything to self-glorification.
I think I'm going to have to watch an Elizabeth Taylor movie today!
But on the point of the amount of say that Queen Nefertiti had, wasn't it quite commonplace for women to have a lot of power in ancient Egypt? I'm not sure where I got that idea, but is it true?
Re: Nefertiti
Well when there was a Pharaoh, he usually made the decisions. Nefertiti had more say than usual. Women did seem have pretty much equal rights to men, it was based on class rather than gender,which is different to the majority of ancient societies. An Egyption womans status often depended on her male partners role but not in all cases.
I read once that by the 12th Dynasty, there may have been a few literate women but mostly it was the men.
With ancient Egypt I think there are several things that make it apealing. As you said, their religious beliefs and interesting ideas of gods, especially with the afterlife.The way they lived and of course, the archetecture. The pyramids and temples are simply amazing. The time, effort and commitment given by the constructors. Over 100,000 people worked on the Great Pyramid in Giza at some point and it's believed to have taken 20 years to build. It was the tallest man made structure in the world until the 1800's....it started being built in 2560 BC.
I think also their intelligence at that time. The fact that they worked out how to build a pyramid shaped structure, using blocks that weighed around 2 tons. But, not only that, they used astronomy and mathematics to build them. It is all amazing.
HelenMD Moderator
Posts: 221
(6/10/03 4:22 pm) Reply
Egypt
Have you ever been to Egypt. As a bellydance fanatic I've always wanted to go. But I've only managed Morocco so far.
Perhaps we should consider this as a possible excursion? I'm sure we could get a cheap holiday deal somehow. Oh that would rock.
Anyone else?
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