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National Geographic : 1970 Nov
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Akhenaten basks in the benevolent rays of the Aten-the sun god-on a block from Computer Helps Scholars By RAY WINFIELD SMITH Illustrations by HIRTY-THREE CENTURIES AGO, at Karnak on the east bank of the Nile, a great temple rose-a vast complex of structures that may have extended more than a mile into the desert. Built by the revolutionary pharaoh Ameno phis IV, who later changed his name to Akhe naten, the temple stood complete for little more than two decades. Then it vanished, razed and cannibalized as a source of stone for succeeding monuments, some of which are still standing. My good fortune has been to direct an 634 intriguing research program that has suc ceeded in reconstructing on paper much of the actual appearance of this remarkable building. We have based our work upon more than 35,000 of the temple's decorated sand stone blocks, stacked away over the years in storehouses and in the open, after excavators and restorers retrieved them while working on other projects. Some were located as far away as Europe and even the United States. Through photography of the relief-carved faces of these blocks, and with the aid of a computer, we have matched thousands of
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