House Altar depicting Akhenaten, The Dome of the Rock 5

 

House Altar depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti 
and Three of their Daughters, c.1350 BCE


This sculpture carved from limestone depicts the relationship between the king Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti. This scene also features their three kids and shows a form of unity between them all as a family and their connection with one another. This piece goes to show Akhenaten's belief in monotheism (belief in only one god), which was controversial to other Egyptian beliefs. Traditionally, other Egyptians believed there to be multiple Gods, but Akhenaten made up his own God named Aten known to be the Sun God. This is where he came up with his own name Akhenaten, which stands for 'Aten is pleased.' The sun in this piece represents this God and there are rays of light shining down on the family with certain rays holding Ankhs were refer to the the Egyptian sign for life. This represents Aten giving the two life and only these two. They are also sitting on their own thrones which shows the territory that they ruled. This was the beginning of a religious change within the Egyptian culture. 

The Dome of the Rock, 691-2

The Dome of the Rock is a monument or shrine in Jerusalem that was built for Muslims and Jews to gather together to pray. "The Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam, is traditionally believed to have ascended into heaven from the site. In Jewish tradition, it is here that Abraham, the progenitor and first patriarch of the Hebrew people, is said to have prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac." (Britannica, n.d.) This is a very sacred place for those to come and worship and it doesn't have an actual function to this day. Most commonly it is said the Dome commemorates Muhammad's journey up into heaven. Other than these observations, there isn't a true purpose for this building.

The House Altar depicting Akhenaten and his wife shows them creating a new religion or a new God that they worship. They also use a different Egyptian art style which relates back to this idea of a new religion. Most of the symbols used are old symbols used prior before Akhenaten ruled that they use to convey a story. It all comes back to this idea that Akhenaten and his wife had one God versus other Egyptian history where we have learned about multiple Gods. With the Dome of the Rock this was obviously an old shrine used to commemorate the Prophet Muhammad and his journey to heaven. And the Jews have another tradition including Abraham and his son Isaac. There are a vast amount of theories and assumptions of what this monument means. I believe it has different meanings for different people. Definitely holds value in this culture and stands as a religious landmark. 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dome-of-the-Rock

https://smarthistory.org/house-altar-depicting-akhenaten-nefertiti-and-three-of-their-daughters/     

Comments

  1. David FloresSeptember 27, 2020 at 5:40 PM

    Hi there, this was very interesting, I knew of the Dome of the Rock, because I have seen it once in a video game, and somewhere online. Although now, I know why it was created; it was intriguing to find out this was used for prayers, and explains Muhammad's journey into heaven. Which was cool to learn about. Also that these are the only two purposes for this building, I always thought there was more to it.

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  2. A lexSeptember 27, 2020 at 8:58 PM

    Did you happen to read anything about how the Egyptian people reacted to Akhenaten's belief in monotheism I understand how it was taboo at the time but I'm curious about how this structure was able to pass in this era of beliefs and become sacred. My assertion is that the Dome of the Rock is a place of worship for Jews and Muslims who believe in one god because of its history with monotheism.

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  3. Jake, of "Jake Writes a Blog"September 28, 2020 at 1:26 AM

    Hello there! This was very well written. I also mentioned the Dome of the Rock in one of my own blog posts and was excited to read that you had as well. Thank you for explaining the symbols and the story. I enjoyed reading about the Egyptian aspect of Islamic art. Not to mention correctly stating it as a shrine instead of a Mosque, which I found it is often confused for.

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