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Document Details :

Title: Talatat Shipping from Gebel el-Silsileh to Karnak
Subtitle: A Literature Survey
Author(s): KRAMER, Arris H.
Journal: Bibliotheca Orientalis
Volume: 66    Issue: 1-2   Date: 2009   
Pages: 5-20
DOI: 10.2143/BIOR.66.1.2038038

Abstract :
Akhenaton’s patronage of the Aton manifested itself in the first important decree of his rule, the reopening of the sandstone quarries at Gebel el-Silsileh to produce stone for the building of the bnbn-sanctuary to Re-Harakhty in East Karnak. The bnbn was the sacred stone fetish of the sun-god Re at Heliopolis, which was considered to have been a symbol of the renewed life-cycle of the sun each day. An intriguing question is how and in which shape the building stones Akhenaton used were transported from the quarries of Gebel el-Silsileh to Karnak. This literature survey reviews the knowledge of this subject at the present time. Relevant information dealing with analogical building stones from the quarries in the Tell el-Amarna area is involved with this review.

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