AKHENATEN

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THE SEARCH FOR NEW INTERMEDIARIES



The times were filled with a quest for a new closeness to the divine and for new inter-
mediaries between the human and the divine realms

This is clear in the prominence of animal worship, the evidence for which increases
under Amenophis III.

The burials of the Apis bulls in the crypts at Saqqara began with him, and the croco-
dile sanctuary at el-Rizeiqat, south of Luxor, stems from his reign.

There are also numerous monumental representations of animals, such as the baboons
of Hermopolis and the scarab at Karnak, and there is also the sarcophagus for a cat
dedicated by the crown prince Tutmosis.