esent him joking with his little daughter, who has mischievously
poked the horses with a stick. In representing the Pharaoh, the artist
was expected to draw him in some conventional attitude of dignity:
Akhnaton insisted upon being shown in all manner of natural
attitudes--now leaning languidly upon a staff, now nursing his children,
now caressing his wife.

As has been said, one of the first artists to break away from the
ancient conventions was in the service of Queen Tiy, and was probably
under her influence. But in the radical change in the art which took
place, Akhnaton is definitely stated to have been the leader, and the
new school acknowledge that they were taught by the King. The new art is
extraordinary, and it must be owned that its merit lies rather in its
originality than in its beauty. An attempt is made to do away with the
prescribed attitudes and the strict proportions, and to portray any one
individual with his natural defects. Some of the sculptured heads,
however, which have come down to us, and notably the four "canopic"
heads found in this tomb, are of wonderful beauty, and have no trace of
traditional mannerisms, though they are highly idealised. The King's
desire for light-heartedness led him to encourage the use of bright
colours and gay decorations in the palace. Some of the ceiling and
pavement paintings are of great beauty, while the walls and pillars
inlaid with coloured stones must have given a brilliancy to the halls
unequalled in Egypt at any previous time.

The group of nobles who formed the King's Court had all sacrificed much
in coming to the new capital. Their estates around Thebes had been left,
their houses abandoned, and the tombs which were in process of being
made for them in the Theban hills had been rendered useless. The King,
therefore, showered favours upon them, and at his expense built their
houses and constructed sepulchres for them. It is on the walls of these
tombs that one obtains the main portion of one's information regarding
the teachings of this wonderful youth, who was now growing into
manhood. Here are inscribed those beautiful hymns to Aton which rank so
high in ancient literature. It is unfortunate that space does not allow
more than a few extracts from the hymns to be quoted here; but something
of their beauty may be realised from these. (Professor Breasted's
translation.)

"Thy dawning is beautiful in the horizon of heaven,
O living Aton, Beginning of l