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Primary sourceSculptureAmarna period

Stela of Akhenaten and his Family

Amarna period

A limestone stela showing Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their daughters beneath the sun god Aten, a rare intimate portrait of royal family life.

Nefertiti appears here with Akhenaten and their daughters in an intimate family scene under the Aten.

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Relief carving on a limestone stela showing the royal family of Akhenaten under a sun disk with rays ending in hands. Figures sit and stand, with hieroglyphic inscriptions framing the panel. Weathered stone with traces of paint.
Stela of Akhenaten and his family, Amarna period. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

About this source

What it is

This limestone relief stela shows the royal family of Akhenaten seated and standing beneath the Aten, whose rays end in small hands reaching toward them. Hieroglyphic inscriptions frame the scene. It is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Why it matters

The stela captures the distinctive Amarna art style, which broke from tradition by showing the pharaoh and his family in relaxed, affectionate poses rather than formal, distant ones. It is often compared to the famous Berlin altar scene, and together these images show how Akhenaten and Nefertiti used art to present their family as central to the new worship of the Aten.

Look closer

  • What does the pose of the family tell you about how the artist wanted them to be seen?
  • Why might the sun's rays be shown ending in hands?
  • What has been lost or damaged on the stone, and how might that affect what we think we know?

This sculpture is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Queen Nefereti on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Figure of Nefertiti

Close-up detail of an Amarna limestone relief. A seated woman wearing a tall flat-topped crown is at right, with a sun disc and rays above. At left, a smaller figure with a child's head is seated near her, and carved hieroglyphs fill the background.Sculpture

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Akhenaten and His Family

c. 1352 BC

Photo of a curved, blue glazed ceramic fragment with white body edge, covered in raised concentric ring motifs with dots. Two holes pierce the piece near its center, with a scale bar along the bottom.Sculpture

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Relief Fragment Showing the Blue Crown of Nefertiti

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Primary source

Great Hymn to the Aten

Akhenaten · c. 1350 BC

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