The palace of Ay, Akhnaton’s father-in-law, was a more pretentious building. It was entered by a fine doorway which led into a court. A second door gave entrance to the large, pillared dining-hall, and through this one passed into a court from which bedrooms and boudoirs led off. In one of these rooms two women, clad in airy garments, are seen to be dancing with one another, while a man plays a harp. In another room a girl likewise dances to the strains of a harp, while a servant dresses the hair of one of the gentlemen of the household. Other rooms contain lutes, harps, and lyres, as well as objects of the toilet. A little court is now reached, where fragrant flowers grow, and tanks of water, sunk in the decorated pavement, give a sense of coolness to the air. Beyond this are more apartments, and finally the kitchens are reached. Throughout the house stand delicate tables upon which jars of wine or dishes of fruit are to be seen; and cushioned arm-chairs, with footstools before them, are ready for the weary. Servants are seen passing to and fro bearing refreshments, or stopping to dust the floor, or again idly talking in the passages.
Akhnaton’s palace is not very clearly shown in the tomb reliefs or paintings, but portions of it were found in the modern excavations on the site[71]. Like all the residential buildings of the period, it was an airy and light structure made of brick. The walls, ceilings, and floors were covered with the most beautiful paintings; and delicate pillars, inlaid with coloured glass and stone, or covered with realistically painted vines and creepers, supported the light roofs of its halls. Portions of the pavement are still preserved, and the visitor to the site of the city may still see the paintings there depicted. A young calf, frisking in the sunlight, gallops through a field of red poppies; wild geese rise from the marshes and beat their way through the reeds, disturbing the butterflies as they do so; amidst the lotus-flowers resting upon the rippling water the sinuous fish are seen to wander. These are but fragments of the paintings which once delighted the eyes of the Pharaoh, or brought a sigh to the lips of his queen.
The art of the painter of this period excels in the depiction of animal and plant life. The winding, tangled stems and leaves of vines were carefully studied; the rapid motions of animals were correctly caught; and it has been said that in these things the artists of Akhnaton were greater than those in any other Oriental art[72]. Sculpture in the round, too, reached a pitch of excellence never before known. The statue of Akhnaton illustrated opposite is the work of one who may rank with Donatello, if not with Cellini.