Tell el-Amarna — Akhetaten, the brief capital of Akhenaten

What you are looking at

Tell el-Amarna is the modern Arabic name of the site of Akhetaten — "the Horizon of the Aten" — the new capital city founded by the pharaoh Akhenaten in year 5 of his reign (c. 1346 BC) and abandoned within a few years of his death (c. 1332 BC). It is the only major royal city of pharaonic Egypt founded on virgin desert ground, and because the city was abandoned rather than rebuilt, the entire urban footprint survives in plan beneath the surface, with substantial standing remains in several quarters. The plain on which the city was built is a wide curve of desert bay enclosed by a horseshoe of cliffs on the east bank of the Nile, between Mallawi to the north and Asyut to the south.

The visitor circuit at Amarna covers four main elements. First, the boundary stelae — fourteen large stelae cut into the cliffs around the perimeter of the city's dedicated land, in which Akhenaten formally consecrated the new capital and recorded the oath he swore not to extend its boundaries. Stela A on the Tuna el-Gebel plateau (covered on the Tuna el-Gebel file) and stela U on the southern cliffs are the most accessible. Second, the central city and royal road — the great palace, the Aten temple precinct and the surviving outlines of the main administrative buildings. Third, the workmen's village — a small walled settlement on the desert east of the city where the workmen who cut the rock tombs of the nobles lived during the occupation. Fourth, the noble tombs — two clusters of rock-cut tombs in the northern and southern cliffs, where the senior officials of Akhenaten's court were buried.

Of the noble tombs, the four most commonly opened are Meryra I (northern group, no. 4), Panehesy (no. 6), Ahmose (no. 3) and Mahu (no. 9). The reliefs in these tombs are the canonical examples of Amarna-period art — elongated figures, intimate royal family scenes, the rays of the Aten ending in small hands extended to the king and queen — and constitute the single most important source for the visual programme of the Amarna religion.

On the ground

Opening hours: 09:00–16:00 daily, with the same Ramadan caveat. At the last verification (1 March 2026), the combined adult foreigner ticket was EGP 320 (this covers all four circuits including the 4×4 transfers); the student ticket EGP 160; the Egyptian national ticket EGP 20. The photography permit is EGP 50 and is required for the tombs.

Access is from the village of et-Till on the east bank of the Nile, reached by ferry from el-Bayadia (the ferry runs continuously during daylight hours; payment in cash, EGP 30 for foot passenger plus vehicle fee). From Minya city the drive to the el-Bayadia ferry landing takes approximately one hour. Visitors with their own vehicle ferry across; visitors without a vehicle take the ferry as foot passenger and arrange the 4×4 at the ticket office on the east bank. The 4×4 hire is included in the combined ticket; tips for the driver are customary.

Reading list

• Davies, N. de G. The Rock Tombs of El Amarna. Six volumes, London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1903–1908.
• Kemp, B.J. The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and its People. London: Thames & Hudson, 2012. Best single-volume modern overview.
• Linwood, E. Northern Boundary Stelae at Akhetaten — Revised Readings. Verdi Heritage Studies subscriber monograph, 2025.
• Egypt Exploration Society Amarna Project. Annual reports, ongoing. Bibliography under "Amarna-EES" tag in the subscriber index.