Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth

by John Darnell, Colleen Darnell

Overview

Two celebrated Egyptologists bring to vivid life the intriguing and controversial reign of King Tut's parents.

Akhenaten has been the subject of radically different, even contradictory, biographies. The king has achieved fame as the world's first individual and the first monotheist, but others have seen him as an incestuous tyrant who nearly ruined the kingdom he ruled. The gold funerary mask of his son Tutankhamun and the painted bust of his wife Nefertiti are the most recognizable artifacts from all of ancient Egypt. But who are Akhenaten and Nefertiti? And what can we actually say about rulers who lived more than three thousand years ago?

November 2022 marks the centennial of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun and although "King Tut" is a household name, his nine-year rule pales in comparison to the revolutionary reign of his parents. Akhenaten and Nefertiti became gods on earth by transforming Egyptian solar worship, innovating in art and urban design, and merging religion and politics in ways never attempted before.

Combining fascinating scholarship, detective suspense, and adventurous thrills, Egypt's Golden Couple is a journey through excavations, museums, hieroglyphic texts, and stunning artifacts. From clue to clue, renowned Egyptologists John and Colleen Darnell reconstruct an otherwise untold story of the magnificent reign of Akhenaten and Nefertiti.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250272881
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	556,036
File size:	79 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

John and Colleen Darnell are a husband-and-wife Egyptologist team. They have presented on the Discovery Channel, History Channel, National Geographic, the Science Channel, and Smithsonian, as well as appeared in National Geographic’s “Lost Treasures of Egypt.”

John is Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University. His archaeological expeditions in Egypt have been covered by the New York Times. In 2017, his Eastern Desert expedition discovered the earliest monumental hieroglyphic inscription and was named one of the top ten discoveries of the year by Archaeology.

Colleen teaches art history at the University of Hartford and Naugatuck Valley Community College; she has curated a major museum exhibit on Egyptian revival art and design at the Yale Peabody Museum.

Together, John and Colleen have authored The Ancient Egyptian Netherworld Books.

John and Colleen Darnell are a husband-and-wife Egyptologist team. They have presented on the Discovery Channel, History Channel, National Geographic, the Science Channel, and Smithsonian, as well as appeared in National Geographic’s “Lost Treasures of Egypt.”

John is Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University. His archaeological expeditions in Egypt have been covered by the New York Times. In 2017, his Eastern Desert expedition discovered the earliest monumental hieroglyphic inscription and was named one of the top ten discoveries of the year by Archaeology.

Colleen teaches art history at the University of Hartford and Naugatuck Valley Community College; she has curated a major museum exhibit on Egyptian revival art and design at the Yale Peabody Museum.

Table of Contents

Map of Egypt ix

Map of Waset x

Map of Akhet-Aten xi

Family Tree of the Late Eighteenth Dynasty xii

Cast of Characters xiii

Prologue xv

I The Parents: Amunhotep III and Tiye

1 A Divine Conception 3

2 An Angry Goddess 13

3 Ancient Rites 24

II Waset: A New Horizon

4 A Mysterious Prince 39

5 The Beautiful One Has Come 47

6 Transformation 51

7 The Unique God 59

8 A Royal Warrior 66

9 A Bustling Quarry 72

10 City of the Sun 76

11 An Erudite Icing 84

12 A Temple of her Own 97

13 A Precocious Jubilee 105

14 Strange Colossi 110

III Akhet-Aten: The Final Horizon

15 "This Is It!" 123

16 Horizon of Aten 133

17 Chariot of Solar Fire 145

18 A Holy Place in the Sun 154

IV Gods on Earth: The Trinity

19 Secret Knowledge 171

20 One Who Contains Millions 176

21 My God Who Fashioned Me 188

22 Beauty Incarnate 193

23 A Holy Family 203

24 Performing Princesses 214

25 Love Divine 219

V Twilight of the Goo: Death and Transfiguration

26 Rulers of the World 227

27 Duplicity and Diplomacy 237

28 None Beside Him 244

29 Tragedy Strikes 253

30 Successors 259

31 Afterlife 273

Epilogue 281

Acknowledgments 287

Appendix: Translation of the Great Hymn to Aten 289

Chronology of Ancient Egypt 293

Bibliographic Essays 295

Notes 345

Credits/Permissions 351

Index 353

Editorial Reviews

09/12/2022

In this innovative and detailed study, husband-and-wife Egyptologists John and Colleen Darnell (Tutankhamun’s Armies) explore the 14th-century BCE reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti, the parents of Tutankhamun. The Darnells convincingly argue that Akhenaten and Nefertiti’s establishment of a monotheistic solar-based religion, support for architectural and artistic innovations, and strategic vision changed the course of Egyptian history. Early in his 17-year reign during Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty, Akhenaten changed his name from Amunhotep IV to Akhenaten, rejecting his father’s religious beliefs in favor of a new solar cult with the god Aten as its focus. Along with Queen Nefertiti, Akhenaten elevated Aten above all other deities, drastically altering Egypt’s religious infrastructure. The city of Akhet-Aten (also known as Tell el-Amarna) served as a sacred stage, reflecting the trinity of the god Aten, Akhenaten, and Nefertiti as god, high priest, and high priestess, respectively. Throughout, the Darnells draw on historical records, artwork, and archaeological discoveries to provide colorful vignettes of daily life during the era and share immersive descriptions of their own excavations and travels throughout Egypt. Readers will delight in this accessible study of a consequential period of Egypt’s history. Illus. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"Anyone devoted to ancient Egypt must have this book, which gives us the clearest picture yet of this powerful family that might not have become known if Howard Carter hadn’t found the resting place of the frail young pharaoh."
—St. Paul Pioneer Press

"Readers will delight in this accessible study of a consequential period of Egypt’s history."
—Publisher's Weekly

"In addition to chronicling the complex political, social, economic, and architectural elements of the history, the Darnells offer a touching portrait of family life...Riveting."
—Kirkus Reviews

"A lively and insightful portrait of the ultimate power couple."
—Booklist (Starred review)

"The life and reign of King Tut’s parents...new interpretations of ancient artifacts."
—New Canaan Advertiser

"Full of acutely observed detail and intriguing insight."
—Toby Wilkinson, New York Times bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt

"A new presentation of what may have been the most important period in the ancient world."
—Bob Brier, author of The Murder of Tutankhamen

"Fascinating."
—Dr. Zahi Hawass, former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities

"Two of the finest minds in Egyptology—have created something wholly new: a bridge between the wonder of fans and scholars of Ancient Egypt.”
—Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of A Spark of Light

From the Publisher

2022-09-06
A husband-and-wife Egyptologist team delineate the life and legacy of Akhenaten and his queen, Nefertiti.

Akhenaten (previously known as Amenhotep IV) and Nefertiti ruled from roughly 1352 to 1336 B.C.E. During their reign, they swept out the old gods in favor of a single sun god, Aten. Their legacy was powerful yet brief, all but erased by their son, Tutankhamun, who repudiated their iconoclasm and reinstated the former gods. In a multilayered narrative employing a variety of fictional re-creations, archaeological records, and descriptions of their own scholarly pursuits, the Darnells, co-authors of Tutankhamun's Armies, ably narrate the life and legacy of the titular “golden couple.” The authors readily acknowledge the academic controversy and endless speculation about their subjects, and they demonstrate the widespread influence of Akhenaten’s father on his outlook and methods. “As with so many of the seemingly innovative, unusual, or revolutionary actions of Amunhotep IV, his father’s reign provided a precedent,” write the Darnells. By the fifth year of his reign, “when the king changed his name to Akhenaten, he made an even more momentous decision, founding a new capital in Middle Egypt: Akhet-Aten. With that new name and in that new city, his new religion found its full expression.” In addition to chronicling the complex political, social, economic, and architectural elements of the history, the Darnells offer a touching portrait of family life, and they briefly trace some of the biographical details of the couple’s descendants. Acknowledging the cooperation of the Ministry of Antiquities in Egypt, the authors make good use of information gleaned from a variety of sites that have only recently undergone excavation, examining the evidence in a manner accessible to nonarchaeologists. The book also includes a brief chronology and a translation of the ancient poem “Hymn to Aten.”

For lay readers, a riveting, occasionally speculative portrait of ancient Egypt.

Kirkus Reviews