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Over three and a half thousand years later, the Palace of the Dazzling Aten lies in ruins, its once beautifully decorated mudbrick buildings transformed into rubble easily crushed underfoot. Existing fragments of the brilliantly coloured decorative murals that once graced the walls and ceilings of the palace suggest its beauty and elegance. Spiral patterns, rosettes and other repeating motifs hint at the Egyptian love of pattern and order. Excavations began on the site in 1888. Between 1910 and 1920 much of the site was removed by New York's Metropolitan Museum with further excavation occurring in the 1970s under the aegis of the University of Pennsylvania. From the mid 80s, a team from Waseda University in Japan re-excavated a number of the rooms including the Pharaoh's bedchamber in the main palace. In time no doubt others will come to prise yet a little more information from the dust and the cracked mud remains. Malkata means 'place of debris' in Arabic. All things considered, it is a well-named location for a modern day scavenger hunt. Seven items lay buried throughout the ruins of the Palace of the Dazzling Aten - all date from the Eighteenth Dynasty, some from the reign of Amenhotep III. The task set before players is to locate them. Review the rules then begin your search by choosing one of the locations below. |
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In the Eighteenth Dynasty, in the early 14th century BCE, Amenhotep III chose to build a residential palace complex on the present day location of Malkata (Malqata) on the West Bank of the Nile at Thebes (Waset). Known at that time as 'the Palace of the Dazzling Aten', it was used by Amenhotep, the Great Royal Wife Tiye and other family members on an intermittent basis until he 'retired' there in regnal year 29 ten years before he died. Covering over 30 hectares, it included four palaces, accommodation for relatives of the king and their retinue, an audience hall, a temple of Amun, an administrative section (West Villas) and myriad other buildings. It was serviced by its own artificial harbour now known as the Birket Habu, built by Amenhotep to enable easy passage to Thebes across the waters of the Nile.