As has been said, one of the first artists to break away from the ancient conventions was in the service of Queen Tiy, and was probably under her influence.  But in the radical change in the art which took place, Akhnaton is definitely stated to have been the leader, and the new school acknowledge that they were taught by the King.  The new art is extraordinary, and it must be owned that its merit lies rather in its originality than in its beauty.  An attempt is made to do away with the prescribed attitudes and the strict proportions, and to portray any one individual with his natural defects.  Some of the sculptured heads, however, which have come down to us, and notably the four “canopic” heads found in this tomb, are of wonderful beauty, and have no trace of traditional mannerisms, though they are highly idealised.  The King’s desire for light-heartedness led him to encourage the use of bright colours and gay decorations in the palace.  Some of the ceiling and pavement paintings are of great beauty, while the walls and pillars inlaid with coloured stones must have given a brilliancy to the halls unequalled in Egypt at any previous time.

The group of nobles who formed the King’s Court had all sacrificed much in coming to the new capital.  Their estates around Thebes had been left, their houses abandoned, and the tombs which were in process of being made for them in the Theban hills had been rendered useless.  The King, therefore, showered favours upon them, and at his expense built their houses and constructed sepulchres for them.  It is on the walls of these tombs that one obtains the main portion of one’s information regarding the teachings of this wonderful youth, who was now growing into manhood.  Here are inscribed those beautiful hymns to Aton which rank so high in ancient literature.  It is unfortunate that space does not allow more than a few extracts from the hymns to be quoted here; but something of their beauty may be realised from these. (Professor Breasted’s translation.)

  “Thy dawning is beautiful in the horizon of heaven,
   O living Aton, Beginning of life! 
   When thou risest in the eastern horizon of heaven
   Thou fillest every land with thy beauty.”

  “Though thou art afar, thy rays are on earth;
   Though thou art on high, thy footprints are the day.”

  “When thou settest in the western horizon of heaven
   The world is in darkness like the dead. 
   Men sleep in their chambers, their heads are wrapt up. 
   Every lion cometh forth from his den. 
   The serpents, they sting. 
   Darkness reigns, the world is in silence: 
   He that made them has gone to rest in his horizon.”

  “Bright is the earth when thou risest in the horizon ... 
   When thou sendest forth thy rays
   The two lands of Egypt are in daily festivity,
   Awake and standing upon their feet,
   For thou hast raised them up. 
   Their limbs bathed, they take their clothing,
   Their arms uplifted in adoration to thy dawning. 
   Then in all the world they do their work.”