Necropolises of Middle Egypt

To get a firm grasp of Egyptian history is something that has evaded me for decades. The time spans (millennia?!) involved are just too large. Ancient Egypt starts around 3000 BCE and lasts roughly till the Romans take over around 30 BCE. In such a long timespan, you are bound to get lost with all the pharaohs, dynasties and factions.

There are only a few pharaohs I remember by heart: Hatshepsut, Ramses and Akhenaten (Echnaton in German). The later one I found the most intriguing from the start: a pharaoh undoing polytheistic traditions and practicing monotheism. Wow. Online (and disproven) legends have him exalted as the father of Judaism.

Indeed, the monotheism part is also a bit overblown. On the History of Egypt podcast, they thoroughly went through this. It seems more likely that Aten was the highest and the superior god in the Egyptian pantheon, but that lower gods were still accepted. Only god that Akhenaten seems to have explicitly banned is Amun with his powerful priesthood in Thebes.

With Thebes so tightly linked with the despised old god, Akhenaten couldn't keep his capital at Thebes/Luxor, in Amun land. Instead, he built a complete new capital down river, named Akhetaten, present day Amarna. Closest major town is Mallawi.

The dimensions of Akhetaten are mind boggling. You get a good grasp of the site standing at the Great Aten Temple overlooking the plains till the mountain ranges. That doesn't even include the Royal Tomb of …