Jacquelyn Williamson

There are two stone buildings, or “shrines,” located in the Sunshade of Re complex at Kom el Nana situated in its northern and southern enclosures. This project continues the reconstruction efforts at the Kom el Nana South Shrine. The reconstruction of fragments excavated from the North Shrine identified Kom el Nana as the Sunshade of Re of Nefertiti and resulted in a fuller visualization of the structure in general, and the role of Nefertiti specifically. This finding contributes to discussions surrounding mortuary practices of the Amarna period elite within the context of the removal of the Osiris cult. A buttressed mudbrick wall with entrance pylons encloses the Amarna-era construction at Kom el Nana. Between the two pylon gates in the western wall, an internal wall, running east–west, bisects the entire enclosure creating two separate areas. The northern enclosure measures approximately 88 by 220 meters, and the southern enclosure is 122 by 220 meters. Substantial stone chippings and decorative fragments are associated with these areas. Over 4,000 pieces of relief, from 5 centimeters to full-sized talatat, were found, carefully preserved and documented, allowing a unique opportunity to study the decorative program of a large-scale Amarna cult area. Although precisely relocating where the relief appeared on the walls is impossible, the general regional division of the art is ascertainable because the relief fragments most probably dropped near their original locations. After the city was abandoned, most of the stonework was dispassionately, or non-iconoclastically, removed for reuse. This dispassionate dismantling fits the style of destruction at Kom el Nana. Research methodologies include measuring, photography and analysis. The new information will be added to the existing database for Kom el Nana, leading to a series of publications and conference presentations and a second monograph.