Maru-Aten
Maru-Aten was not a palace in the traditional domestic sense, but more a ritual garden estate with strong royal and possibly sacred associations. While Princess Meritaten (daughter of Akhenaten & Nefertiti) may have resided there temporarily, but it wasn’t likely a full-time domestic residence like a proper palace, more so a retreat rather than a permeant household.
Though it has since been destroyed by the rising Nile (with much of it now lost beneath modern cultivation), excavations by the Egypt Exploration Society in the 1920s revealed its splendid design and reinforced its role as a unique expression of Atenist ritual life in nature, a palace of sunlight, water, and devotion.
Whetton & Grosch: Modelmaking, Replicas and Sculpture for Museum & Film
Maru-Aten was a sizeable and lavish estate located at the very southern edge of Akhetaten (modern Amarna), right on the bank of the Nile, making it one of the furthest royal complexes from the city’s central zone. It lay in the southern suburb of Akhetaten, beyond the residential areas and near the southern boundary stelae carved into the cliffs. It stood right along the floodplain of the Nile, so close to the river that parts of it were likely seasonally flooded or designed to incorporate the natural water table. Its location emphasised a connection to nature, light, water, and horizon, fitting the solar theology of Atenism.
The entire enclosed area of Maru-Aten measured approximately: 200 metres (east-west) by 145 metres (north-south). Making it approximately 29,000 square metres or 7.2 acres. It was divided into two main enclosures, both richly decorated and functionally distinct, these included:
The Northern Enclosure which contained open courts, colonnaded pavilions, and shrines, sunken gardens, pools, and possibly areas for offerings to the Aten. Its walls were once adorned with painted scenes of the royal daughters, in particular Meritaten, standing beneath sun rays, suggesting ritual or symbolic importance
The Southern Enclosure featured a large T-shaped artificial lake (some 40m long) and had elegant kiosks or summer houses at the lake’s edge. It was likely used for ritual boating, leisure activities, or solar symbolism tied to the reflection of light on water.
Meritaten
Meritaten, whose name means “Beloved of the Aten,” was the firstborn daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, making her a princess raised amid the golden fervour of the Amarna sun cult. She emerged not merely as a royal child, but as a striking presence in the iconography and ceremonies of the Atenist revolution, often depicted standing alongside her parents beneath the life-giving rays of the solar disk. As the royal family reshaped Egypt’s religious landscape, Meritaten took on an increasingly prominent role, her graceful figure appearing in temples, shrines, and formal inscriptions as a priestess, consort, and perhaps even eventually queen herself. Meritaten’s name is often intertwined among the tangled fragmentary evidence and ambiguous names that seemingly overlap identities in the final years of the Amarna Period
Her destiny shimmered between devotion and dynastic duty. Some historians propose she became the wife of Smenkhkare, Akhenaten’s enigmatic successor, while others hint she may have briefly ruled Egypt herself under the name Ankhetkheperure. Whether queen, consort, or sovereign, Meritaten remains an alluring figure in Egypt’s most mystical and experimental age, a royal woman of light, poised between fading divinity and the return of tradition.
The association of Maru-Aten with Princess Meritaten rather than her sisters likely reflects her elevated status within the royal family, particularly during the latter half of Akhenaten’s reign, when she increasingly took on quasi-queenly and possibly political or ceremonial roles. Several factors support this singular dedication. Meritaten was the firstborn of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, and thus held a position of prominence from the outset. In a court where the king’s daughters were deeply integrated into religious life, the eldest would naturally take precedence in ritual visibility, patronage, and honour. Her seniority made her the most likely candidate to be associated with grand estates or temples.
There is evidence (albeit fragmentary but suggestive) that Meritaten may have taken on the role of queen or co-regent after Nefertiti’s apparent disappearance from the records. In some inscriptions, Meritaten is even given queenly titles, and she is named as Great Royal Wife of Smenkhkare, the short-lived successor to Akhenaten whose identity is a complete mystery. If she became queen during or after Akhenaten’s reign, it would justify the dedication of a ceremonial complex like Maru-Aten in her name.
Maru-Aten, as a sun temple and garden estate, was likely used for rituals celebrating the Aten. Meritaten is frequently depicted participating in such rites, especially those involving light, offerings, and seasonal festivals. Dedicating a sun-drenched estate of pleasure, pools, and kiosks to her would align with her public ceremonial identity as a royal woman in service to the Aten.
In a city where the visual presence of the royal family was central to religious life, associating a visible, luxurious estate with the king’s most senior daughter would reinforce the divine legitimacy of both her role and the broader royal family. It may also have signalled her status as a dynastic anchor during a time of uncertainty or transition.
