The God Shed at Amarna

Abstract

During the Amarna Period (fourteenth century BCE), Akkadian and Hittite texts attest a lethal epidemic that spread from Egypt to Syria and the land of Hatti. DNA studies conducted on the mummies of Tutankhamun and two other members of the royal family (Thuya and Yuya) confirmed that they had been infected with malaria. Excavations at the Southern and Northern Tombs reveal evidence of traces of dietary deficiency, diseases, and heavy workloads. The discovery of stelae and chapels in the workmen’s village that were dedicated to the worship of ancestors and of the gods Amun, Aten, Shed, and Isis permit an analysis of the different forms of materialization of the ancestral memory of a population during hard times. The last days of Amarna witnessed the cult of the god Shed, the “Savior,” who sought to save the Egyptians from disease and misfortune. The presence of several diseases that were easily spread in the poor living conditions of the tomb workers could explain the short period of activity of the new capital (ca. 1350–1330 BCE). New archaeological evidence allows us to interpret the practices of private worship of ancestors and gods as evidence of a complex economic-social and political phenomenon that arose during a time of changes and marked a transition towards the restoration of traditional cults.