* The last date with the name of Amenôthes is that of the year V., on a papyrus from the Payilm; elsewhere we find from the year VI. the name of Khûniaton, by the side of monuments with the cartouche of Amenôthes; we may conclude from this that the foundation of the town dates from the year IV. or V. at the latest, when the prince, having renounced the worship of Amon, left Thebes that he might be able to celebrate freely that of Atonû.
He found here several obscure villages without any historical or religious traditions, and but thinly populated; Amenôthes chose one of them, the Et-Tel of the present day, and built there a palace for himself and a temple for his god. The temple, like that of Eâ at Heliopolis, was named _Haît-Banbonû_, the Mansion of the Obelisk. It covered an immense area, of which the sanctuary, however, occupied an inconsiderable part; it was flanked by brick storehouses, and the whole was surrounded by a thick wall. The remains show that the temple was built of white limestone, of fine quality, but that it was almost devoid of ornament, for there was no time to cover it with the usual decorations.
* The opinion of Brugsch, that the arrangement of the various parts differed from that of other temples, and was the effect of foreign influence, has not been borne out by the excavations of Prof. Pétrie, the little which he has brought to light being entirely of Egyptian character. The temple is represented on the tomb of the high priest Mariri.
The palace was built of brick; it was approached by a colossal gateway, and contained vast halls, interspersed with small apartments for the accommodation of the household, and storehouses for the necessary provisions, besides gardens which had been hastily planted with rare shrubs and sycamores. Fragments of furniture and of the roughest of the utensils contained in the different chambers are still unearthed from among the heaps of rubbish, and the cellars especially are full of potsherds and cracked jars, on which we can still see written an indication of the reign and the year when the wine they once contained was made. Altars of massive masonry rose in the midst of the courts, on which the king or one of his ministers heaped offerings and burnt incense morning, noon, and evening, in honour of the three decisive moments in the life of Atonû.