Tell El Amarna

Related Category: Ancient History, Egypt

or Tel el Amarna(both: tĕl ĕl ämär´nä), ancient locality, Egypt, near the Nile and c.60 mi (100 km) N of Asyut. Ikhnaton's capital, Akhetaton, was in Tell el Amarna. About 400 tablets with inscriptions in Akkadian cuneiform were found there in 1887. They constitute correspondence between Amenhotep III and Ikhnaton and the governors of the cities in Palestine and Syria, and they shed much light on ancient Egypt and the Middle East. The tablets are mostly in the Berlin, British, and Cairo museums.