Inaugurated in 2003, the Alexandria National Museum is located in a renovated Italian-style palace in Tariq Al-Horreya Street. Split into three floors
Inaugurated in 2003, the Alexandria National Museum is located in a renovated Italian-style palace in Tariq Al-Horreya Street. Split into three floors, it contains over 1800 monumental exhibits tracing the history of the city and Egypt as a a whole. Here we see an unmistakable head of the Pharaoh Akhenaten. Unmistakable, because of its strangely elongated features, possibly due to a genetic disorder. Or maybe the sculptor thought it was Akhenaten was the controversial tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty BCE. He abandoning Egypt's traditional polytheism and introducing Atenism, a semi-monotheistic religion centered around Aten. This culture shift away from traditional religion was anathema to the powerful priestly classes and was reversed after his death. Going even further, Akhenaten's monuments were dismantled and hidden, his statues were destroyed, and his name excluded from lists of rulers compiled by later pharaohs. But they could not wipe out his name and legacy.
Size: 3888px × 5184px
Photo credit: © Jon Bower / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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