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Life, death and beyond in Akhenaten's Egypt: excavating the South Tombs Cemetery at Amarna

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Barry Kemp ,
Anna Stevens ,
Gretchen R. Dabbs ,
Melissa Zabecki  and
Jerome C. Rose
Barry Kemp
Affiliation:
1Amarna Project, 1 Midan el-Tahrir, Floor 5, Apartment 17, Cairo, Egypt; McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, UK (Email: bjk2@cam.ac.uk; aks52@cam.ac.uk)
Anna Stevens*
Affiliation:
1Amarna Project, 1 Midan el-Tahrir, Floor 5, Apartment 17, Cairo, Egypt; McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, UK (Email: bjk2@cam.ac.uk; aks52@cam.ac.uk)
Gretchen R. Dabbs
Affiliation:
2Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, 1000 Faner Drive, Mail Code 4502, Carbondale, IL 62901-4502, USA (Email: gdabbs@siu.edu)
Melissa Zabecki
Affiliation:
3Parkin Archeological State Park, 60 Highway 184 North, Parkin, AR 72373, USA (Email: mzabeck@uark.edu)
Jerome C. Rose
Affiliation:
4Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Old Main 330, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA (Email: jcrose@uark.edu)
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Abstract

The authors report a summary of the results of six seasons of excavation at one of the cemeteries of Tell el-Amarna, the celebrated city of the ‘monotheistic’ revolutionary, Akhenaten. The osteology shows a workforce enduring stress and injuries to bone and muscle. The burial rites indicate low investment and personal interpretations as to spiritual meaning. In this exploration of a slice of a whole Egyptian urban society, the contrast between the working lives of the elite and its workforce becomes striking.

Keywords

EgyptAmarnasecond millennium BCAkhentatenpalaeo-osteologyburial ritesreligion
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 87 , Issue 335 , March 2013 , pp. 64 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2013

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