The tale of Akhetaten, the ancient Egyptian city that for a brief point in the 14th century BCE was the state’s capital and home of the god-king Akhenaten, is one of tragedy. It was founded in the middle of nowhere by a pharaoh who would go on to be all but stricken from the record; it was almost immediately hit by a devastating plague that left nine royals and many hundreds of commoners dead; finally, it was abandoned entirely, becoming once again as deserted as it had been just 20 years before. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

At least, that’s what we thought happened. There’s just one problem: according to a new analysis of the physical and written record of the city, most of it is completely incorrect.

The “plague”

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