Message #99

[Bianca]

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THE FIRST STEPS







...........There, at Karnak, arose the new king's first sanctuary. 

It was not dedicated, however, to the actual lord of the temple complex, Amun-Re,
King of the Gods, but to the sun god.

The latter was still represented with a falcon's head in the traditional manner, but in
addition to Re-Harakhty, he was also called ATEN, a designation that had previously
indicated the physical manifestation of the sun and only now enjoyed divine worship.

Early inscriptions of the new king in the sandstone quarries of Gebel el-Silsila, where
the blocks for Karnak were extracted, are concerned with the great construction pro-
ject for Re-Harakhty-Aten. 

There, the king still appears before Amun-Re in the traditional manner, even though
his building project was intended for Re-Harakhty.