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Social Status and Stratified Society

Meryetaten’s Bathroom at Amarna

Meryetaten was the eldest daughter of Pharaoh Akhenaten, and lived some 33 centuries ago. She held an important place in her father’s court, apparently responsible for running his household, and became a queen later in her life. At the North Palace in her home city of Tell al-Amarna, there are many inscriptions bearing her name, which has led some scholars to the conclusion that this was her residence, although others ascribe a formal, ritual role to the palace. Continue reading →

Amarna Warrior Burial

Individual 59 from the South Tombs Cemetery, Tell al-Amarna, Egypt Having looked at the political role, social position and living conditions of the Amarna royals, our next ‘object’ will take us lower down the social spectrum. On the edge of the desert at Tell al-Amarna lies a cemetery of shallow burials scooped into the sand, where Amarna’s poorer people were buried in often unmarked graves, with only a few, if any, objects. Continue reading →

Introduction to module

Human history needs to be told through things. Texts help but they only reach back into the shallows of our past. In this module we go further to investigate deep human history through the wonderful things left behind. Our aim is to unite the entire span of our evolutionary history by investigating forty wonderful things described for you by experts. The story starts two and a half million years ago with the first stone tools. Continue reading →