Women in Amarna: legendary royals, forgotten elite, unknown populace?

Zinn, Katharina (2016) Women in Amarna: legendary royals, forgotten elite, unknown populace? In: Women in Antiquity: Real Women Across the Ancient World. Routledge, pp. 255-270. ISBN 9781138808362

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Abstract

This article explores different roles and aspects of women in Amarna during a period of changing and revolutionary religious ideas. Starting with the royal women (especially Tiye and Nefertiti), it is made clear that their role should be seen as continuation of and being inspired by the prominent position of queens of the late 17th and early 18th dynasty. Female power during the Amarna Period was prepared by Tiye who was already relevant for the reinterpretation of the state religion towards the sun cult under her husband Amenhotep III. The culmination of female royal power in Amarna is to be seen in Nefertiti who was part of the divine triad formed by the god Aten, king Akhenaten and herself representing her extraordinary religious position which partly overlapped with the one of the king as evidenced in the smiting of the enemy scenes. The unusual roles of the royal icons overshadowed the focus on the real women of Amarna. More is known about royal wet nurses and nurses, but even the shattered evidence of the lower elite (tomb scenes) or traces of the non-elite (burials, items of private religion or skeletal remains) enable us finally to meet eye-to-eye with women in Amarna.

Item Type: Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords: Women Amarna
Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D051 Ancient History
D History General and Old World > DE The Mediterranean Region. The Greco-Roman World
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Divisions: Institutes and Academies > Institute of Education and Humanities > Academic Discipline: Humanities and Social Sciences
Depositing User: Dr Katharina Zinn
Date Deposited: 17 Jan 2017 13:52
Last Modified: 12 Apr 2023 13:01
URI: https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/667

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