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The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and Its People (New Aspects of Antiquity) Paperback – January 6, 2014

by Barry Kemp (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 76 ratings
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“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.” ―Publishers Weekly

A city of temples, royal palaces, civic offices, and elite tombs―and of small-scale mud-brick dwellings too―Amarna was an urban village where most of its citizens were only two or three steps removed in the social scale from the king. Barry Kemp evokes the sights and smells of Amarna itself, bringing to life its people--not only the royal family, but also prominent citizens such as the high priest Panehsy, the vizier Nakht, the general Ramose, and the sculptor Thutmose, whose bust of Nefertiti is one of the masterpieces of ancient art.

The excavations reveal that, although Akhenaten had overturned the old religion and introduced worship of the Aten, the sun’s disk, beneath the surface the old belief in the traditional Egyptian gods continued. Likewise themes of abundance and prosperity depicted in the art are contradicted by new cemetery evidence showing malnutrition in childhood, skeletal injuries, and early death. Insights such as these, together with the beautiful and profuse  illustrations, make this volume essential reading for anyone interested in the history of urbanism, the mysterious Amarna interlude, and the enigmatic Akhenaten and Nefertiti, who have fascinated writers as diverse as Sigmund Freud and Noel Coward.

287 illustrations, 53 in color
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  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Thames & Hudson
  4. Publication date
    January 6, 2014
  5. Dimensions
    7.4 x 0.9 x 9.8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0500291209
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0500291207
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Barry Kemp is Emeritus Professor of Egyptology at Cambridge University and has been conducting research and excavation at Amarna since 1977. He lives in England.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thames & Hudson; Reprint edition (January 6, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0500291209
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0500291207
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.22 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.4 x 0.9 x 9.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 76 ratings

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Barry J. Kemp

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
76 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

John Kovacs
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2024
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Book arrived in a timely fashion. Brand new condition. The information was exactly what I was looking for. I recommend highly this seller.
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William Suddaby
5.0 out of 5 stars Groundbreaking Archeological Writing
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2012
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Barry Kemp's masterful account of his thirty some years excavating at Amarna is surely the definitive work for anyone piqued by the life of Egypt's heretic king, his new religion, and the city he built to glorify his revolutionary thoughts in a remote and previously uninhabited wasteland. The picture Professor Kemp draws of Akhenaten from his many years of living and thinking among the stark remains of the king's city may be the most accurate we will ever have. Years of feeling the same searing heat, watching the sun come up over the same barren hills, feeling the dry wind and gritty sand, seeing the same lovely water birds along the Nile, walking on the same paths, discovering bits of houses, palaces, and temples where Akhenaten and Nefertiti lived, died, and worshiped, these could only lead to a profound insight that is inaccessible to speculation and academic isolation.

As someone who, for sixty years, has devoured anything he could find concerning the Amarna period, this reviewer is quite enthralled by Professor Kemp's considerable accomplishment. I feel like I might now know the real Akhenaten, Nefertiti (and indeed Tutankhamen) somewhat better because the good Professor has so thoroughly shared his vast and unique life-experience at Amarna. The editors and designers at Thames & Hudson also deserve commendation, as the graphics and illustrations in the book are nothing less than splendid. If you love ancient Egypt, get this book; there is nothing quite like it, and you will not be disappointed.
48 people found this helpful
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Capt. D. Foxhall, USMM Retired
5.0 out of 5 stars About the best book on Egypt Archaeology I've read.
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2014
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I've a degree in Anthropology and spent several years as an Archaeologist digging before turning to a more lucrative profession. As a boy growing up in New York City, I hounded the American Museum of Natural History, falling in love with ancient Egypt and its cultural treasures. Having read much of the available Egyptology literature, especially on the 18th and 19th dynasties, I congratulate Dr. Kemp on his remarkably thorough dissection of the unique Akhetaten site and the late 18th dynasty culture in general. Thanks to Dr. Kemp, I now have a much broader feeling for the Amarna period and of the uprooting of the Royal Court of Thebes and its rapid wholesale transplantation to a relatively vacant bend of the Nile in response to the religious revolution of Amenhotep IV. Amarna is a brief window in time, 3500 years ago but offers in depth observation of the lives of the people in Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Tutankhamen's time. I've only been as far south as Giza but through Dr. Kemp's eyes I can easily imagine myself digging in Amarna's trenches and pondering that distant period so long ago!
9 people found this helpful
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K. A. Sanders
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2012
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Dr Barry Kemp has been excavating the site of Amarna for over 35 years. This book shows the results of those years and much painstaking work, really giving a glimpse of life at this unique place. A fascinating look at an ancient Egyptian site, not so much a city as a collection of neighborhoods, interwoven with each other. This book is especially interesting for me personally, being a supporter of Dr Kemp and the Amarna Trust for many years, and also having visited the site of Amarna last year. Dr Kemp's insights into how the people of Amarna lived are very enlightening, and echoes of that way of life can be seen among Egyptians today.

This book is truly about Amarna itself, and only secondarily about what the site reveals about Akhenaten. I have heard some of this information before, in lectures by Dr Kemp. It is wonderful to have it all together, with more details and up to date conclusions. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the Amarna Period or life in ancient times. Dr Kemp is particularly good at breaking preconceptions and stereotypes based on modern lifestyles as to what is "normal" for a living space.
19 people found this helpful
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Doug B.
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2016
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I'm not a fan of how the information is laid out in the book, but it's the most in-depth collection of knowledge of Amarna that I have ever found (and I've found quite a few). Maps are great and Barry spends a lot of time keeping things as realistic as possible. You feel like you're one of his assistant's on the first day at an exciting new job of digging up Ancient Egypt. Recommended.
4 people found this helpful
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Stanley C. Sargent
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book on Amarna by the Real Expert
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2014
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Barry Kemp is the archaeologist who is doing the actual digging, year-in and year-out, at Amarna, the site of Akhenaten & Nefertiti's alternate capital city. This volume unwaveringly focuses on the city and what we have learned from it. It is the only ancient Egyptian city that is not a city built on the ruins of many other cities, so we get a clear picture of what it was like. Kemp is the top expert on the subject and is not biased for or against Akhenaten, as are many other experts on the subject (e.g., Redford, who detests Akhenaten). Kemp writes well and in-depth, offers lots of sketches and photos, as well as some excellent color reconstructions of friezes and buildings. This is THE book on the ancient city of Akhetaten and will surely remain so for many years. GREAT BOOK!
12 people found this helpful
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T.R.
5.0 out of 5 stars Good view of how archaeology informs history
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2013
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If you are already somewhat familiar with ancient Egyptian history, this will be of great interest. It is written in a style that the layperson can easily understand and is accompanied by many photos and maps of the site. Because it concerns the city built by the infamous apostate, Akhenaten, and his reportedly beautiful and beloved wife, Nefertiti, nearly everyone's interest is piqued. It is not simply about the city that was built for the pharoah in a hitherto unpopulated area of Egypt; the author skillfully weaves the story of Akhenaten's reign and the history of that period of time into the narrative giving the city's description relevance and meaning. As mentioned in the title of this review, the book is a marvelous example of archaeology's role in constructing history as the author himself led the more recent excavations at Amarna.
20 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Gipì
4.0 out of 5 stars L'opera non professionale piùcompleta su Amarna
Reviewed in Italy on December 26, 2019
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Ottimo testo sia per la narrativa che per l'iconografia esauriente e completa.
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Cesar Sosa Ficachi
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente libro
Reviewed in Mexico on May 22, 2017
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Excelente libro, basico para cualquier estudioso y apasionado por la cultura egipcia del periodo de Amarna y la dinastia 18va
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Maggie May
3.0 out of 5 stars This book would be good if you had a degree in archeology but too ...
Reviewed in Canada on August 18, 2016
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This book would be good if you had a degree in archeology but too learned for me and much to much detail about things I did not understand. Usually love anything to do with ancient Egypt and the lifestyle and biography of the people but this is a bit heavy for me.
2 people found this helpful
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Eric López Contini
5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinario. Una necesidad ineludible para fanáticos del Antiguo Egipto
Reviewed in Spain on February 11, 2015
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Nos encontramos ante la obra de divulgación definitiva sobre el periodo amarniense de la historia egipcia. Teniendo en cuenta la multiplicidad de teorías, elucubraciones y literatura al respecto estoy seguro de que despertará interés.

El libro no abarca, evidentemente, la totalidad de lo publicado, cosa que sería imposible en este formato, pero lo cita generosamente con notas a pié de página y una extensa bibliografía que permite abrirse a todos los horizontes del "problema Amarna".

Porqué es la obra definitiva? Sencillo, no solo es actual, editada en 2014, y recoge en consecuencia todo lo anteriormente publicado y lo más nuevo, sino que está a cargo de Barry Kemp que lleva más de 30 años dedicado a la excavación de la ciudad de Aketatón.

Kemp no solo es un erudito especialista en el periodo sino que se destapa como un escritor de altos vuelos, capaz de aunar el rigor científico con lances de un lirismo que transmiten a las claras su pasión por el tema que se contagia al lector.

Como el propio autor explica al principio de la obra en un principio se trataba de un libro sobre la arqueología de Aketatón. Sin embargo, y sin dejar de lado este aspecto (no conozco otro compendio de la situación de las excavaciones en Amarna tan pormenorizado y explicado) se ha acabado por pergueñatçr una obra en la cual, finalmente, los verdaderos actores son los habitantes de Aketatón, empezando por el faraón "hereje" Ajenatón De ahí el subtítulo: "Amarna y sus gentes".

Profusamente ilustrado, algunas de las ilustraciones son inéditas, y con una edición clara típica de Thames & Hudson, la versión que tengo es la de tapa blanda, a un tercio del precio de la wedición en tapa dura. La de tapa dura no la he tenido en mis manos pero vista la calidad del papel de la edición en blando no creo que se justifique el gasto adicional.

No tengo noticias de que haya en preparación una edición en Español pero varias obras de esta misma colección han sido editadas anteriormente en España donde existe bastante interés por el tema.

Sencillamente extraordinario.
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Raymond Betz
5.0 out of 5 stars Tout savoir sur Amarna
Reviewed in France on December 16, 2013
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On ne pouvait en attendre moins de Barry Kemp! Voici la "bible" du site de Tell el Amarna: il faudrait 25 livres détaillés pour rassembler toute la documentation sur ce site emblématique. À lire évidemment par petites doses vu la foultitude d'informations. Bien illustré. A recommander aux égyptophiles évidemment...
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