House altar of Akhenaten and his family

This intimate limestone relief, once a domestic altar, offers a rare glimpse into the private devotions of Egypt’s most unconventional royal family. Beneath the radiant sun-disc of the Aten, whose rays end in tiny hands bestowing the breath of life, Akhenaten and Nefertiti cradle their daughters in tender affection.

Gone is the rigid formality of earlier art; replaced by a lyrical naturalism unique to the Amarna age. Elongated faces, slender limbs, and softly curved figures evoke both divine grace and human warmth. The Aten’s light falls only upon the royal family, through whom all life and blessing were thought to flow.

This “holy family” scene embodies Akhenaten’s bold experiment: a world illuminated by one god, one sun, and one radiant moment of devotion.

House Altars in the Amarna Age

During the reign of Akhenaten (c. 1353–1336 B.C.), religion was radically transformed. The traditional gods of Egypt were set aside in favour of the Aten, the radiant solar disc whose rays symbolised the life-giving power of the sun. Temples were open to the sky, hymns praised the sunlight itself, and the king and queen became the sole earthly intermediaries between god and humanity.

In this new theology, ordinary people could not worship the Aten directly. Instead, devotion flowed through Akhenaten and his family. The Aten’s rays extended only toward Akhenaten and Nefertiti, who received the ankh (symbol of life) on behalf of all creation. For Egyptians living at Akhetaten (modern Amarna), the royal couple embodied divine presence; both priest and prophet, earthly and celestial.

Within private homes, small limestone house altars replaced traditional household shrines to protective gods like Bes or Taweret. These altars typically showed the royal family beneath the Aten, much like miniature temple scenes. Placed in domestic rooms or niches, they allowed families to pray to the king and queen, through whom the Aten’s blessings were believed to reach them.

Archaeological Context: Domestic Religion at Amarna

Despite the state forcing of Atenism, daily life of the Egyptian in this time period, was not strictly Atenist. Evidence suggests the people of Amarna lived between two worlds; one bathed in the new sunlight of the Aten, and another still sheltered by the gentle, familiar gods of their ancestors. For example; Bes-head pendants, Taweret amulets, and protective wands have been found throughout Amarna; items associated with childbirth and protection. Their presence suggests that personal religion and magical protection continued undiminished beneath the official Aten cult.

Excavations by Flinders Petrie, Barry Kemp, and later teams from the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) have revealed that almost every excavated Amarna house (from the grand villas of officials to modest workers’ dwelling) contained evidence of personal devotional activity.

Numerous clay and faience figurines of Bes (the dwarf protector of childbirth and the household) and Taweret (the hippopotamus goddess of fertility) were found in domestic contexts at Amarna. Examples of such are recorded from Petrie’s excavations in the early 1890s, and extensively catalogued in Kemp & Stevens, Domestic Architecture at Amarna (1999) and Anna Stevens, Private Religion at Amarna (2006). These were discovered in rooms interpreted as domestic shrines, often alongside fragments of Aten house altars or royal reliefs.

Many houses contained niches or low mudbrick platforms, thought to serve as household shrines. These spaces often contained fragments of Amarna-style reliefs showing the royal family beneath the Aten, together with amulets or figurines of traditional deities. The finds are concentrated especially in the North Suburb and Main City areas.

Egyptologists such as Anna Stevens, Kate Spence, and Barry Kemp interpret this evidence as showing that while households publicly displayed Aten-related imagery, they privately maintained devotion to older protective deities.

Amarna Reading List:

Anna Stevens, Private Religion at Amarna: The Material Evidence (EES, 2006)

Barry Kemp, The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and Its People (2012)

Pendlebury, The City of Akhenaten III: The Central City and Official Quarters (1951)

Kemp & Stevens, Domestic Architecture at Amarna (1999)

Summary:

Limestone slab depicting the royal family under the rays of the Aten (likely from an altar)

New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, Amarna Period, reign of Akhenaten, c. 1353-1336 B.C.

Now in the Egyptian Museum, Berlin. ÄM 14145