Amenhotep and Akhenaten with Dr Chris Naunton

AMENHOTEP & AKHENATEN

DEPARTING 29th September 2023

This trip focusses on the extraordinary standing monuments of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten, in particular at their capital cities of Thebes and Akhetaten (Amarna). 

Amarna

Akhenaten’s grand vision of a new city dedicated to his favourite form of the sun-god, the Aten, is well-known but Amenhotep III enacted a similarly grand, city-scale vision in Thebes. This tour explores both.

We will also have the very rare privilege of seeing how each envisioned an eternal afterlife for themselves, by visiting their tombs, Amehotep’s in the western branch of the Valley of Kings, Akhenaten’s in his own royal cemetery at Akhetaten.

Chris Naunton is an Egyptologist and author of Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt (Thames and Hudson 2018) and Egyptologists’ Notebooks (2020). He has appeared in numerous television documentaries, regularly lectures on a wide variety of subjects around the UK and online, and is a frequent visitor to Egypt. He was Director of the Egypt Exploration Society from 2012 to 2016, President of the International Association of Egyptologists from 2015 to 2019, and is now Director of the Robert Anderson Trust. Chris accompanies this tour throughout and will give illustrated talks along the way.

This trip focusses on the extraordinary standing monuments of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten, in particular at their capital cities of Thebes and Akhetaten (Amarna). Akhenaten’s grand vision of a new city dedicated to his favourite form of the sun-god, the Aten, is well-known but Amenhotep III enacted a similarly grand, city-scale vision in Thebes. This tour will explore his Thebes with its massive new temples at Karnak, Luxor and on the west bank where he also built a grand palace next to an enormous harbour, the Birket Habu, a man-made basin bigger by volume than the great pyramid. Akhenaten began to realise his own revolutionary ideas in Thebes, at Karnak, where the archetypal images of the king, his queen, Nefertiti, and their world first appeared. He then transposed his new vision for a new Egypt, to an entirely new site, Akhenaten in Middle Egypt where he built a complexly new city. The tour will tell the story of these two extraordinary kings and how Akhenaten’s great revolution was foreshadowed by his father’s own ideas. We will also have the very rare privilege of seeing how each envisioned an eternal afterlife for themselves, by visiting their tombs, Amehotep’s in the western branch of the Valley of Kings, Akhenaten’s in his own royal cemetery at Akhetaten.

Day 1 - Friday 29th September 2023

We fly London Heathrow to Luxor via Cairo, and on arrival we take our private transfer and check in to the Old Winter Palace, Garden Pavilion Wing, for three nights on room and breakfast basis.

Day 2 - Saturday 30th September - The Great Temples

This morning we head to Karnak, the world’s largest religious complex. We have an in depth tour of the site including the main elements but, also, more hidden gems. Time to wander through the Open-Air Museum to see the White Chapel, the Alabaster Chapel and of course the reconstructed Red and White Chapels of Hatshepsut. We return to the hotel for some free time over lunch before taking a walk to Luxor Temple for a guided tour as the sun sets. (B)

Day 3 - Sunday 1st October -To The West Bank

We take our private launch across the river to join our vehicle and head to the Colossi of Memnon. However, we have arranged a special permit allowing us to walk through the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III and look at the ongoing excavations on this vast site.  We also have a special permit to visit Malkata to view the ruins of the Palace of Amenhotep III including the vast lake known as Birket Habu. We have a refreshing lunch at a local restaurant before visiting the Tomb of Ramose who was Vizier under both Amenhotep III and Akhenaten and the artwork is both classical and Amarna style. Later we visit Luxor Museum. (BL)

Day 4 - Monday 2nd October - Abydos

This morning we drive to Abydos for one night at The House of Life Hotel as this breaks the long journey to Minya and Amarna. We will have lunch on arrival and then we will visit the temples of Seti I and Ramesses II. (BLD)

Day 5 - Tuesday 3rd October - Akhmim and Sohag

We head north to Minya travelling with lunch boxes from our hotel. On arrival in Sohag we will visit the Sohag National Museum with its vast collection of locally found artifacts. Next, to Akhmim Open-Air Museum where we see the colossal statue of Meritamum and many Amarna style blocks. On arrival in Minya we check in to the Nefertiti Hotel for three nights on half board basis. This evening Chris will give a talk on The Great Temples and Cities of Amenhotep and Akhenaten  (BLD)

Day 6 - Wednesday 4th October - Amarna the city of Akhenaten

A full day at Amarna where we will explore as much as possible including the Royal Tomb, the Northern and Southern Tombs, the central city, the palaces and the temples. We have a lunch box from our hotel and will picnic at the Amarna Rest House where we can buy hot and cold drinks and use the facilities. Later this evening Chris will give a talk on the Modern Rediscovery of Amarna  (BLD)

Day 7 - Thursday 5th October - Ashmunein and Tuna el Gebel

Today we travel to Ashmunein  and the ruins of Hermopolis.  This was the main cult centre of the the god Thoth who was later associated with the Greek god Hermes, hence ‘Hermopolis’. A major temple was built at the site during the New Kingdom and expanded by several pharaohs including Amenhotep III who was responsible for the installation of several colossal statues of baboons – an animal sacred to Thoth – which are still visible at the site. In the 1930s an entrance pylon of Ramesses II was discovered and proved to have been built upon a foundation of hundreds of talatat blocks recycled from temples of Akhenaten at Amarna which lay only a matter of a few kilometres away. Next, the ancient necropolis of Tuna el Gebel. First, we will stop at Boundary Stela A, Akhenatens northern boundary and then we will visit the Tomb of Petosiris, High Priest of Thoth. We then cross the desert sands to enter the tunnels of the ibis and baboon catacombs. Finally, today we visit Mallawi Museum with many display cases of local finds. We travel with lunch boxes again today. After dinner tonight Chris will give a talk entitled Sun-worship: Amenhotep to Akhenaten  (BLD)

Day 8 - Friday 6th October - Beni Hassan and the Speos Artemidos

We leave Minya and drive back to Abydos and the House of Life for a one-night stay, again travelling with lunch boxes. But before we leave the area, we make two interesting visits. First to the rock-cut tombs of Beni Hassan with their colourful reliefs depicting daily life from the Middle Kingdom and then to Speos Artemidos a rarely visited rock-cut temple built by Hatshepsut.  On arrival in Abydos we check in to our hotel The House of Life with time to refresh before our evening meal. (BLD)

Day 9 - Saturday 7th October - The Temple of Hathor

This morning we set off for Luxor stopping on the way at the Temple of Hathor at Dendera. We have a guided tour looking at the astronomical ceiling in the Hypostyle Hall, the roof top sanctuaries and the crypt. We walk the outer walls with its fine reliefs and view the famous depiction of Cleopatra and her son Caesarion. We travel with lunch boxes again today and after our visit to the temple we continue our journey to Luxor. On arrival we check in to the Old Winter Palace , Garden Pavilion Wing, for our last two nights on room and breakfast basis. (BL)

Day 10 - Sunday 8th October - The Valley of the Kings

We head to the West Bank where we have tickets for entry to three tombs – your own choice of those open on the day. Time to buy extra tickets for Seti I or Tutankhamun for those who wish. We will also visit the more remote West Valley where we have a special private permit to enter WV22, the tomb of Amenhotep III. A truly exciting finale to a tour looking at the lives of this father and son. We will have lunch at a local restaurant before returning to our hotel. (BL)

Day 11 - Monday 9th October - Home

After an early breakfast we take our private transfer to Luxor Airport for our direct flight home. (B)

Chris Naunton is an Egyptologist and author of Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt (Thames and Hudson 2018) and Egyptologists’ Notebooks (2020).He has appeared in numerous television documentaries, regularly lectures on a wide variety of subjects around the UK and online, and is a frequent visitor to Egypt. He was Director of the Egypt Exploration Society from 2012 to 2016, President of the International Association of Egyptologists from 2015 to 2019, and is now Director of the Robert Anderson Trust.

B = Breakfast BL = Breakfast and Lunch BD = Breakfast and Dinner BLD = Breakfast Lunch and Dinner

Talk to someone? 0333 335 9494