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Chapter 1: What was the significance of the Amarna Revolution in Ancient Egypt?
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Edwina Mountbatten died in the jungles of Borneo. The year was 1960, and she was all alone. Well, alone, I say, except she was surrounded by letters. And they weren't letters, as you might think, from her husband, Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India. No, these were letters from the man that she truly loved, the scourge of the British Empire, the first prime minister of a free India.
His name was Jawaharlal Nehru. Now, this fascinating love triangle is so pertinent when it comes to pre-partition India politics. And we're going to be delving right in in a mini series, a four-parter for you. And it's only available to members of our club.
Chapter 2: Who were the key figures involved in the Amarna Revolution?
So if that isn't you. what you need to do is right away get to empirepoduk.com. That's empirepoduk.com. And for the price of a coffee, come join our club. And as if you needed any more incentive, let me tell you, our very special guest is the marvellous Alex von Tunzelman, who is the author of Indian Summer. So what are you waiting for? Come on.
3,400 years ago, an Egyptian pharaoh detonated the most radical religious revolution in human history. His name was Akhenaten.
He abandoned 3,000 years of theology, of temples.
Chapter 3: What are the Amarna Letters and what do they reveal?
He moved the capital to a new city that he'd conjured from the bare desert. And then he declared that there was only one god worthy of worship, the Sundisk, the Aten.
His queen is the most famous face in all of ancient Egypt. Her name was Nefertiti. And his son, a boy of eight or nine who inherited his father's kingdom, was called Tutankhamen.
So look, in this six-part series, we're going to be exploring these three famous ancient Egyptians and the extraordinary revolution that lay at the center of their world. And Empire Club members, you can get the whole of this series early. You can get it ad-free, as well as exclusive extra episodes. So just join the link in the description, because honestly, trust me, this is not one to miss.
And we begin today with the world that Akhenaten was about to shatter.
Chapter 4: How did Amenhotep III influence Ancient Egypt before Akhenaten?
Because one of the things that makes this revolution so extraordinary and so violent in its cultural implications is how magnificent and how stable the world before it seemed to be. Egypt's treasury overflowed with Nubian gold. Its armies were undefeated. Its pharaoh corresponded as a brother with the other mighty rulers of the age.
And we know all of this in intimate, extraordinary detail because of one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 19th century, which we will be discussing today.
So hello, and welcome to Empire. I'm Anita Arnon.
And I'm William de Rimpel. And our guest today needs no introduction, although we will, of course, now introduce him, because he is one of our very, very favourite historians and archaeologists whose previous appearance produced an audience that we've never had for an ancient series ever before. The great Eric Klein.
Chapter 5: What role did diplomacy play in the relationships between ancient kings?
Welcome back. Thank you. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be back. And we're bringing him back to Empire Now with his latest book, which I have just finished today, Love, War, and Diplomacy, the Discovery of the Amarna Letters and the Bronze Age World They Revealed. Welcome back, Eric. Thank you. Thank you.
Do you know what, Eric? I mean, when he says there was a huge response, literally tidal waves of adulation.
Chapter 6: How did Akhenaten's reign differ from that of his predecessors?
And I was trying to think of what your groupies might be called. And I was thinking the tiny Kleinies. I mean, there's also a great deal of worship. for your ties. And can you just tell us what you've come armed with today?
Eric's ties. Eric has a whole Instagram site dedicated to his ties, which you should now go and check out.
So can I ask that scholarly question that you expect from me? Whatcha wearing?
Can you just describe it?
Chapter 7: What were the cultural implications of Akhenaten's religious reforms?
Whatcha wearing today? Well, especially for you guys, I put on my favorite Egyptian tie. It's generic, but pretty much looks like Egypt. Yeah. And I like this tie so much. This is actually the third iteration. I wore out the first two. I'm not kidding. So this I finally found another one somewhere on the Internet. And this is now the third.
Chapter 8: How did the interconnectedness of ancient civilizations shape their histories?
So special for you.
Well, listen, you know, we feel special, but we also, I feel the tiny Kleinies out there know what to get you for Christmas now. All I would say is brace, brace, Klein, brace, because I think there's loads coming your way.
Okay, great.
Let's start with the Amana letters and the date of the discovery of those letters. We're talking 1887, yes?
Yes, we're talking 1887, but I must caution the wonderful story you have just told. May not be true. It may not be true. Seriously, that is the story. That's what we're told. This woman searching for fertilizer ran across this trove of ancient clay tablets. But the woman could never be located afterward.
And I think that she might have been a cover story concocted by... For a bunch of tomb robbers. Oh. Well, one. I think one antiquities dealer who found them and then is the main guy distributing them. So I think that was a cover story that was made up.
Hang on a minute, Klein. One second. Just before we burn the story down, let me set it up for you. Because the story, I mean, it's the one that I knew, which I find utterly charming. Somewhere about halfway between Cairo and Luxor, there is this unnamed woman filling her basket with stuff. hard baked. She's going to take them home. She's going to crush them up and use them as fertilizer.
And then, I mean, this is after God knows how many she's pulverized, she realizes that actually this is one of the most important historical documents man will ever find. I wrote this down because I've known this story for such a long time. I wrote it down. I wish I knew who said it. How many she had pulverized and grown into leeks and cucumbers and melons will never be known.
When did you write that down?
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