The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and Its People

Kemp (Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization), a distinguished emeritus professor of Egyptology at Cambridge University, brilliantly combines history, archeology, and art history to develop a complete picture of the onetime capital of ancient Egypt. Because it only filled this role for 14 years, Amarna has not played a major role in scholarship until now. After devoting 35 years to the site’s still ongoing excavation, however, Kemp can describe a place abandoned for more than 3,200 years with great familiarity. In the process of reconstituting a long-vanished city, the meticulously assembled book also brings to life the exotic, almost alien society once housed there. In addition to portraying the vast wealth of the sun-worshipping pharaoh, Kemp also covers the daily life of commoners. Kemp doesn’t neglect Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s consort and this reign’s best-known feature due to the famous bust of her. A generous selection of illustrations including photographs, architectural plans, and axonometric drawings, combined with accessibly presented archeological theory, make for a beautiful and informative book, a rare find for experts and general readers alike. (Dec.)