Norén, A. 2020. The Reign of Akhenaten: The Inhabitants of Tell el-Amarna through a Religious Perspective. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the complex religious climate of Tell el-Amarna, the capital city of ancient Egypt in the 18th dynasty, during the reign of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten (1353–1336 B.C.E.). These complex elements refer to the devotion of pharaoh and his new-established ideology of Atenism and the simultaneously ongoing worship of traditional gods of which many were actively persecuted by the state during this time. The conclusions of this study presents a general picture of the lives of the inhabitants of el-Amarna by drawing on examples of religious objects which have been excavated from the city and what these may suggest about the religious beliefs of the people. However, the study does not focus primarily on the distribution of objects or social stratification. The sources which have been employed in this study consists of books and articles published by Barry J. Kemp and Anna Stevens, among others. The primary source material by Kemp and Stevens comprises archaeological theories and methods which in this study have been employed in an attempt to bring the material one step further, namely to analyse the religious climate at el-Amarna through the perspective of its inhabitants and place the material evidence in relation to the ideologies of Akhenaten. / Norén, A. 2020. Akhenatens regeringstid: Invånarna i Tell el-Amarna ur ett religiöst perspektiv. Syftet med studien är att redogöra för det komplexa religiösa klimatet i Tell el-Amarna, som var huvudstaden i det antika Egypten under den 18nde dynastin, under Amenhotep IV/Akhenatens regeringstid (1353–1336 f.v.t.). Med komplexa element menas den hängivenhet som uttrycktes inför farao och hans nyetablerade ideologi som kallas Atenism samtidigt som det existerade en fortsatt tro på de traditionella gudarna som aktivt förföljdes och raderades av staten under den här tiden. Slutsatserna i den här studien presenterar en generell bild av livet för invånarna i el-Amarna genom att återge exempel på religiösa objekt som har hittats i staden och vad dessa må berätta gällande det religiösa utövandet hos människorna som bodde här. Studien fokuserar inte primärt på spridningen eller mängden av objekt och heller inte på social stratifikation. De källor som använts i den här studien består av böcker och artiklar som publicerats av Barry J. Kemp och Anna Stevens samt andra forskare. Det primära källmaterialet av Kemp och Stevens utgörs av arkeologiska teorier och metoder som används i den här studien med avsikten att ta materialet ett steg längre genom att analysera det religiösa klimatet i el-Amarna ur invånarnas perspektiv och sätta de materiella lämningarna i relation till Akhenatens ideologier.

The orthogonal, or rectangular, grid plan arose out of a need to organize the sprawling cities of Ancient Greece. To one particularly enigmatic figure in history, this problem was met with a blueprint and a philosophy. The ancient city-planner known as Hippodamus of Miletus (c. 480-408 BCE) was more of a philosopher than an architect, but his erudite connections and his idealistic theories provided him with numerous opportunities to experiment with the design that has come to bear his name. According to Aristotle, he was commissioned by the city of Athens to redesign its port-city, the Piraeus, and it is likely that he later followed a Pan-Hellenic expedition to an Italic colony known as Thurii (Thourioi). Strabo argues that the architect was also present at the restructuring of the city of Rhodes; however there is some debate on this issue. Hippodamus’ blueprint for a planned, districted city soon came to define the Greek polis in the Classical period, culminating with Olynthus in the Chalcidice, but his ideas were by no means unique to his own mind. There are precedents for the grid plan not only within the large, administrative empires of the Near East, but also within the Greek colonies of the Mediterranean, whose own histories span at least two centuries before Hippodamus’ lifetime. Since the 19th century, when Hippodamus received his title as the ‘Father of Urban Planning’, confusion and mistranslations have plagued the discipline, casting doubt on nearly every facet of Greek urbanism. Although he could not have invented the orthogonal grid plan, as Aristotle claims, it may prove far more effective to focus instead on Hippodamus’ philosophy and to give voice to where he himself excelled: the theoretical side to city planning. / Graduate / 0999 / 0579 / 0324 / aidanbk@uvic.ca

Representational artistic works were researched as visual evidence for the social, political, religious and economic lifestyles of the ancient Egyptian elite. The aims were to comprehend the status of elite women and to challenge the hypothesis that during the New Kingdom they enjoyed an increased social status in comparison to that of their predecessors. Many artistic works were analysed (tomb and palace wall scenes, statues, obelisks and personal artefacts), on the quest for evidence for the roles of elite women in events, practices and rituals at the time when the objects were created. Various international museums were visited and personal observations are correlated with expert publications. The study concludes that the status of elite women in the New Kingdom was both significantly different and exalted in comparison with the status of their counterparts during earlier dynasties. / OLD TESTAMENT & ANCIENT NE / MA (ANC NEAR EAST STUDIES)

Representational artistic works were researched as visual evidence for the social, political, religious and economic lifestyles of the ancient Egyptian elite. The aims were to comprehend the status of elite women and to challenge the hypothesis that during the New Kingdom they enjoyed an increased social status in comparison to that of their predecessors. Many artistic works were analysed (tomb and palace wall scenes, statues, obelisks and personal artefacts), on the quest for evidence for the roles of elite women in events, practices and rituals at the time when the objects were created. Various international museums were visited and personal observations are correlated with expert publications. The study concludes that the status of elite women in the New Kingdom was both significantly different and exalted in comparison with the status of their counterparts during earlier dynasties. / OLD TESTAMENT and ANCIENT NE / MA (ANC NEAR EAST STUDIES)

This thesis is a multi-disciplinary survey of the Central Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age (1500-1200 BC) illustrated with an abundant use of maps and tables. The purpose is to determine how the Jordan Valley functioned as an economic unit during the Late Bronze Age. This thesis surveys the geographical, historical and archaeological records related to the Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age. A chapter is devoted to each field, geography (physical and human), history (Egyptian and Hebrew Bible) and archaeology. The data from each discipline is used to individually answer two questions: 1) was the Jordan Valley a single geographic/economic unit in the Late Bronze Age? 2) to what extent was the Jordan Valley integrated/interacting with the east-west highlands and the larger region in the Late Bronze Age? The primary objectives are to 1) explore and model a historical geographic hermeneutic for understanding the human experience of the Ancient Near East; and 2) lay a foundation for understanding the role of the Jordan Valley in affecting the Biblical periods of the Israelite monarchy to the Roman period.The answers from each chapter are then synthesized into a single geographic historical archaeological picture of the Central Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age. The Central Jordan Valley was divided into two sections: a fertile, populated, well connected north-central section and an isolated, sparsely populated southern section with limited agricultural zones. Trade with and between the eastern and western highlands is well represented by artifactual parallels in and through the Jordan Valley, the north-central section on a regional and international scale and the southern section on a more local scale. The thesis concludes that there are more artifactual points of connection between the Jordan Valley and the eastern highlands than with the western highlands. An ‘early conquest’ model of the Hebrew Bible is plausible within the historical records of the Egyptian 18th and 19th Dynasties and the geographical and archaeological records of the Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies

This thesis is a multi-disciplinary survey of the Central Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age (1500-1200 BC) illustrated with an abundant use of maps and tables. The purpose is to determine how the Jordan Valley functioned as an economic unit during the Late Bronze Age. This thesis surveys the geographical, historical and archaeological records related to the Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age. A chapter is devoted to each field, geography (physical and human), history (Egyptian and Hebrew Bible) and archaeology. The data from each discipline is used to individually answer two questions: 1) was the Jordan Valley a single geographic/economic unit in the Late Bronze Age? 2) to what extent was the Jordan Valley integrated/interacting with the east-west highlands and the larger region in the Late Bronze Age? The primary objectives are to 1) explore and model a historical geographic hermeneutic for understanding the human experience of the Ancient Near East; and 2) lay a foundation for understanding the role of the Jordan Valley in affecting the Biblical periods of the Israelite monarchy to the Roman period.The answers from each chapter are then synthesized into a single geographic historical archaeological picture of the Central Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age. The Central Jordan Valley was divided into two sections: a fertile, populated, well connected north-central section and an isolated, sparsely populated southern section with limited agricultural zones. Trade with and between the eastern and western highlands is well represented by artifactual parallels in and through the Jordan Valley, the north-central section on a regional and international scale and the southern section on a more local scale. The thesis concludes that there are more artifactual points of connection between the Jordan Valley and the eastern highlands than with the western highlands. An ‘early conquest’ model of the Hebrew Bible is plausible within the historical records of the Egyptian 18th and 19th Dynasties and the geographical and archaeological records of the Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age. / Biblical and Ancient Studies