Mary Ann Eaverly, PhD

Classics Department

P.O. Box 117435

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL 32611-7435

Eaverly@classics.ufl.edu

Even casual observers of Egyptian art have commented upon the radical departure from traditional figural style found in the sculpture of the New Kingdom 'heretic' pharaoh Akhenaten (1353-1335 BCE). For example, figures are shown with elongated crania, spindly calves and broad thighs. However, little or no attention has been paid to a shift in the depiction of flesh tones during this period. While standard Egyptian practice for millennia was to show women as light-skinned (yellow, cream or white) and men as dark-skinned (reddish brown or dark brown) Akhenaten's art (called Amarna after the major site) represents a change. Elite women including Nefertiti, the pharaoh's wife, and their daughters are often shown with reddish brown or dark brown skin. This paper will examine the significance of this change as an indicator of the status of royal women in Amarna Period Egypt and place this color convention reversal within the framework of previous Old and New Kingdom depictions of women