Amarna Period

Museum Practicum: Journal Q&A, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (The Penn Museum)

Oktavia LaBarge, November 14, 2013

Title: Relief of Princess with an Earring

Year: Dynasty 18, Reign of Akhenaten (1353-1336 BCE)

Material: Limestone

Creator: Unknown

Collection: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology: Amarna Collection

This is, “Relief of Princess with an Earring” from the Amarna period in Egypt.  The Amarna period occurred when Akhenaten became King and decided that instead of worshiping many gods, Egyptians would only worship one, Aten. During this period, the king changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten to honor the god Aten.  Akhenaten instated many changes gradually during his reign to align himself with the god of Aten.  These changes included a change in the king’s position and in Egyptian art.  Prior to Akhenaten’s rule, there was this idea of dualism, specifically in art.  Dualism was the idea that two opposing things mutually exist.  Before the Amarna period, kings were depicted as extremely masculine, potent, the unifier, and the authority, where as, women were depicted as feminine and fertile figures. In order for Akhenaten to align himself closer to Aten who was considered both male and female, he to began to represent himself as both male and female. 

This object is extremely important to someone who is interested in Ancient Egypt.  During the Amarna period, many changes occurred that catch the attention of many peoples.  It is very interesting to consider how Akhenaten dictated so many changes to the Egyptian culture, when they had been doing things a specific way for many years prior.

The “Relief of Princess with an Earring” is on display at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology museum in the gallery, Amarna: Ancient Egypt’s Place in the Sun.  Although only a portion of the limestone relief is depicted, the overall concept of the image reveals the ideas of the Amarna period.  The relief is placed on the 

wall with a glass slab surrounding it.  On the glass slab, surrounding the relief, the rest of the image is depicted through a white outline.  Next to this relief, are other fragments from the Amarna period.  Many objects from Ancient Egypt do not remain fully intact, considering that it was many years ago and there was a continual progression of rulers rebuilding. There is no clear information on how the museum was able to acquire the object, but by being displayed next to other objects related to the Amarna period and Akhenaten it is an important object in the collection. In the “Relief of Princess with an Earring,” Akhenaten is depicted with his wife Nefertiti and his daughters.  Aten, the sun god, is represented as a disk with arms extended feeding, Akhenaten’s family the ankh.  An ankh is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph that is meant to represent both life and eternal life. In the recreation of Akhenaten his masculine and feminine aspects are revealed.  He is represented with thick lips, feminine hips and thighs, a large stomach, and narrow shoulders. The label is place on a reader rail and states the different people that are represented in the relief and relates it to the bigger ideas of the Amarna period.  Akhenaten’s family is represented the way god’s were typically depicted, revealing the fact that they were aligning themselves with the gods. 

          To learn more about the relief, one could consider visiting the Amarna gallery at the museum.  Although there is not a lot of information on the website or online about this particular relief, one could consider researching the Amarna period or Akhenaten.  It would be interesting for someone who does not know much about the Amarna period to could take a history or art history class about Ancient Egypt.  By taking a class about Ancient Egypt in general, one would be able to have a better understanding of why the ideas of Amarna period were so different and drastic. 

Someone who might not be interested in this object may be someone who thinks that the ancient Egyptians reveal proof of aliens. Some people believe that the Amarna period supports this theory of ancient aliens due to the diversity of the images and the fact that many of the images reveal a communication between the sky and people.  They would probably believe that the “Relief of Princess with an Earring” supports their theory because the sky disk reveals a communication between the sky and the individuals depicted.  

           Another person who may not be interested in the relief, may be someone who believes that Akhenaten is depicted differently is because he believed to have Marfan’s syndrome.  They would argue that the reason that the Amarna period’s images differ is because of this syndrome.  In addition, in comparison to the other objects in the other Egyptian galleries at the Penn Museum, it would not be surprising to learn that the Amarna gallery may be overlooked.  Visitors to the museum may be more interested in the Giant Sphinx and the mummies and may not even notice the small Amarna gallery.

To further engage viewers with this object, the museum could hold gallery talks in the different Egyptian galleries.  During this gallery talk ,the museum could discuss the diversity of the images in the Amarna collection compared to the objects in the rest of Egyptian galleries.  In addition, the museum could invite an art historian who has a background in Ancient Egypt to compare and contrast images from the Amarna period to the other Egyptian periods.  Another way to engage people with the relief would be to create a timeline of Ancient Egypt through objects.  An object from each period would be chosen.  This would allow for visitors to see the changes of imagery over time. 

Amarna sculpture

Ancient Egyptian sculpture