Panoramic of Tel El-Armana

Tel El-Armana is a special site that's rarely visited by tourists because it's in a remote region between Minya and Asyut. The renegade Pharoh, Akhenaten, moved his capitol from Thebes to this site to begin what's considered the world's first monotheistic religion, dedicated to the sun god, Ra. The site is surrounded by mountains on three sides and the Nile on the fourth. Here Akhenaten ruled and worshiped his god for 25 years. Along with the change in religion, there was also a change in the art. The Pharoh allowed for more realism in his artwork and he is portrayed as a slightly over weight middle-aged man with a belly and heavy thighs. I keep saying that if I keep eating my way throughout Egypt without exercising, I'll come home looking like Akhenaten! There are a number of tombs carved in the mountains surrounding Tel El-Armana and we visited the ones that are currently open. Unfortunately, the antiquities department doesn't allow photography inside the tombs so I can't show you the carvings and painting, which are amazing, but I can show you this view from up top. In this video you can see Lea waving goodbye to our driver, Mamoud. (you can just make out the van turning around way down below on the desert floor) and a panorama of the ancient site of Tel El-Armana.