Image: Ahmed Diab/dpa (Photo by Ahmed Diab/picture alliance via Getty Images
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Experts think that Aten was founded by Amenhotep III, a pharaoh who ruled the Egyptian empire from 1391 to 1353 BCE. Artifacts excavated by Hawass’ team corroborate this origin, as rings, decorative scarabs, pots, and mud bricks bear Amenhotep III’s seal. Historical sources suggest that Aten was abandoned during the reign of Amenhotep III’s son, Akhenaten, who moved the empire’s capital city to Amarna, hundreds of miles to the north. The discovery of Aten now provides researchers with a vast archaeological record that will help to fill in the gaps of the city’s history and shed light on the timeline of its rise and fall.Hawass and his team began excavating the site in September 2020. Initially, they were looking for the mortuary temple of Tutankhamun, famously known as King Tut, who was the son of Akhenaten. The 1922 discovery of Tut’s mummified body and opulent tomb is considered one of the most important finds in archaeological history.Hawass and his colleagues suspected that Tutankhamun’s mortuary temple might be located at a site between the temple of Rameses III at Medinet Habu and the temple of Amenhotep III at Memnon. When they began excavating the area, they were surprised to find the enormous expanse of the lost city, primarily built from mud bricks. Aten was subsumed by sands millennia ago, leaving its residential and commercial structures in extremely good condition, according to Hawass’ statement.
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