Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt.

• Author: Leprohon, Ronald J.

By WILLIAM J. MURNANE. Edited by EDMUND S. MELTZER. Writings from the Ancient World; Society of Biblical Literature, vol. 5. Atlanta: SCHOLARS PRESS, 1995. Pp. xviii + 289. $49.95 (cloth); $34.95 (paper).

Here is another set of translations in the SBL Writings from the Ancient World series, and what a welcome book it is! Professor Murnane has now given us definitive translations of documents from one of the most enigmatic periods in ancient Egyptian history, the so-called Amarna Period of the Eighteenth Dynasty, when King Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten imposed a new set of religious values on his subjects, persecuted the old ruling establishment, and largely ignored the hard-won empire in Western Asia.

The book begins with a useful introduction, where the author presents the historical and social background of the times both at home and abroad, gives a summary of the events of the reign, and discusses the aftermath of the reign, with its attendant consequences to the country and its people. This introductory section is written in the clear and concise manner we have come to expect from the author, and touches on all the relevant facts and controversies of the reign. In that respect, one notes that the author wisely stays away from the debate over the king's peculiar physique. As J. Filer has recently pointed out, as long as the "evidence" for Akhenaten's anatomical distinction comes from works of art rather than skeletal remains, no implication can be drawn (Disease [Austin: Egyptian Bookshelf Series, 1995], 36). I always recall Professor K. Baer's comment to students that there was nothing wrong with Akhenaten that a little exercise would not have rectified.

Another noteworthy aspect of the book is the selection of texts. The first chapter presents material from the time of Akhenaten's predecessor. The first document is a dedicatory text of Amenhotep III found on a newly-discovered statue from the Luxor Temple cache. On it, the king is associated with the Aten solar disk. Readers who are unfamiliar with the history of Atenism might be surprised to learn in this way that Akhenaten's own program had precedence in his father's court.

Chapter two, which presents texts from Akhenaten's reign...