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Help us preserve the Amarna coffins
Since 2006, the Amarna Project has been investigating a cemetery for the non-elite of Amarna, excavations that are shedding fascinating new light onto life in Akhenaten’s city. One remarkable discovery has been a set of four wooden coffins painted with scenes of offering bearers and funerary texts. These are unique. The only decorated non-royal coffins found in over 100 years of excavation at Amarna, they form the single most important collection of evidence for the funerary beliefs of Akhenaten’s people. The coffins are, however, badly deteriorated and require extensive conservation before they can be fully studied, and to ensure their long-term survival.
Can you help us to preserve the Amarna coffins?
Your donation will help cover the costs of transport, accommodation, chemicals and equipment for a small team of conservators, scheduled to work in late 2012. No amount is too small – every little bit counts. Thank you – the Amarna Project Team
Thank you – the Amarna Project Team
Supporting the Amarna Project
The ancient Egyptian city of Tell el-Amarna (or simply Amarna) was the short-lived capital built by the ‘heretic’ Pharaoh Akhenaten and abandoned shortly after his death (c. 1332 BCE). It was here that he pursued his vision of a society dedicated to the cult of one god, the power of the sun (the Aten). As well as this historic interest Amarna remains the largest readily accessible living-site from ancient Egypt. It is thus simultaneously the key to a chapter in the history of religious experience and to a fuller understanding of what it was like to be an ancient Egyptian. There is no other site like it.
The Amarna Project has developed from a long-running archaeological excavation carried out under the auspices of the Egypt Exploration Society, under permits from the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt. Over the years the remit of the Project has extended to include repairs to ancient buildings, improvements to visitor access, creation of a visitor centre and perhaps, beyond this, a site museum.
Archaeology, although more popular than ever before, nevertheless attracts
limited public expenditure. Despite the contributions made by the Supreme Council of Antiquities
in administering the site, much that needs to be done can only by achieved
by outside support. It is to help channel support to the Amarna Project
that the Amarna Trust has been set up, a charity registered with the Charity
Commission of the United Kingdom.
