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Anand N. Balaji

Anand N. Balaji is an independent researcher who has a special interest in the Amarna era.

History

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8 years 3 weeks
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Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji (Photo credits: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden/CC BY-SA 4.0, Leiden; Dr Chris Naunton, Heidi Kontkanen and A. K. Moyls); Deriv.
9 June, 2017 - 15:37 anand balaji

The Many Mysteries of Maya: Faith, Labor and Love for the Motherland–Part II

The sudden and unfortunate death of Tutankhamun created an unprecedented power vacuum that had to be filled swiftly, if order was to be maintained in the Egyptian state. It is probable that a tussle...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji
7 June, 2017 - 15:27 anand balaji

The Many Mysteries of Maya: On the Trail of Tutankhamun’s Valued Courtier–Part I

The Amarna Period brought to fore many interesting personages, especially from the ruling disposition. While éminence grise Aye and the generalissimo Horemheb became pharaohs after the death of...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji
26 May, 2017 - 15:28 anand balaji

Tutankhamun and the Age of Appropriation: Missing Skullcap of the Last Sun King–Part II

The oft-repeated phrase “the Amarna era is shrouded in mystery” could be a thing of the past if only closer scrutiny of key artifacts from Tutankhamun’s tomb are permitted by the authorities...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji
24 May, 2017 - 15:32 anand balaji

Tutankhamun and the Age of Appropriation: Priceless Secrets and Palimpsests Hidden in Plain Sight–Part I

Among the stupefying hoard of over five thousand objects that were recovered from the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), some sported distinct Atenist leanings. While the golden throne of the boy-king is...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji
5 May, 2017 - 22:39 anand balaji

Life after Life: Guidebook to Conquering Dangerous Demons and Dark Waters in Duat – Part II

One of the pivots for the successful implementation of ‘heka’, the ancient Egyptian term for magic, was words – both spoken and written – and the latter was considered the most powerful form. Scores...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji
3 May, 2017 - 22:02 anand balaji

Life after Life: In the Quest for Eternity, Death is Only the Beginning – Part I

The ancient Egyptians took great care to prepare for the Afterlife. In fact, they were so meticulous about getting every minute detail in order, that to us they come across as having been obsessed...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji
28 April, 2017 - 15:45 anand balaji

Unraveling Tutankhamun’s Final Secret: Enigmatic Sarcophagus the Key to Proof of a Double Burial? – Part II

The sarcophagus in which Tutankhamun was interred upon his untimely demise in the confines of his tomb has for long puzzled Egyptologists. The existence of anomalies on its surface is perplexing...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji
26 April, 2017 - 15:44 anand balaji

Unraveling Tutankhamun’s Final Secret: Cloak of Mysteries Reside in a Sepulchral Masterpiece–Part I

Are we poised to discover an Amarna royal in a hitherto unimagined location that will rewrite history — or will this be the final nail in the coffin for the ‘double burial’ theory? It is quite...
Base of the Emblem of Anubis (Dmitry Denisenkov/CC BY-SA 2.0), Papyrus (Pubic Domain), and Ka Statue (Photo: Heidi Kontkanen). Design by Anand Balaji; Deriv.
14 April, 2017 - 15:45 anand balaji

A Curious Case of Linen for Papyri—Lifting the Veil off the Lack of Written Materials in Tut's Tomb

The tomb of the last ruler of the Amarna bloodline, the boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun, yielded a wealth of anomalies: beginning with the tiny size of his burial place, the appropriation of funerary goods...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji
29 March, 2017 - 15:37 anand balaji

The Magic, Mystery and Madness of Tomb 55: Shadowy Sovereigns and Risky Reburials–Part IV

The German Egyptologist Walther Wolf was unsparing in his description of Akhenaten, calling him a man who epitomized “sick ugliness and nervous decadence”. The greatest irony of the entire Amarna...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji; Deriv.
22 March, 2017 - 14:38 anand balaji

The Magic, Mystery and Madness of Tomb 55: Resurrecting the Rebel Ruler–Part III

Akhenaten’s short-lived capital, Amarna, was the epicenter of the unpalatable religious changes that pharaoh had unleashed on his country. The ensuing tumult which pervaded Egypt during this dark...
Collage of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji; Deriv.
15 March, 2017 - 14:46 anand balaji

The Magic, Mystery and Madness of Tomb 55: Saga of a Botched Excavation–Part II

The entire Amarna epoch and those who strutted upon its stage have always presented a conundrum for Egyptologists. In early 1907, one of the most valuable finds – Tomb 55 – promised to finally lift...
Collage designed by Anand Balaji (photo credits: Dave Rudin, Heidi Kontkanen,);Deriv.
13 March, 2017 - 16:34 anand balaji

The Magic, Mystery and Madness of Tomb 55: Seeking the Amarna Dead–Part I

When Pharaoh Akhenaten abandoned the traditional capital Thebes (Waset) and headed to his dream city Akhetaten – built to glorify the solar deity, the Aten – he swore never to return. But, such...
The Dakhamunzu Chronicles: Fate of Queen and Country —Part II
8 February, 2017 - 16:16 anand balaji

The Dakhamunzu Chronicles: Fate of Queen and Country —Part II

Despite the desperate attempts that were made by a queen of Egypt, with the best intentions at heart; the audacious move to invite a foreigner to marry her and take the throne spelled her doom. It...
: Portraits of Akhenaten and Nefertiti from the workshop of Thutmose, the royal sculptor. Tell el-Amarna. Neues Museum, Berlin. (Photo: Heidi Kontkanen)
6 February, 2017 - 16:15 anand balaji

The Dakhamunzu Chronicles: End Game of the Sun Kings—Part I

The history of the dying days of the Eighteenth Dynasty remains shrouded in mystery. The late Amarna succession and its aftermath remain an unsolved conundrum. Out of the mist of this perplexity...
: The 14 columns of the The Colonnade of Amenhotep III - Luxor Temple and Statue of the Pharaoh
19 January, 2017 - 02:30 anand balaji

Dazzling Nebmaatre: Sunset in Waset—Part III

The efflorescent era of Amenhotep III ushered in a period of unsurpassed prosperity for Egypt. During this time, the country grew economically and militarily powerful. But the Sun was bound to set on...

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