Talatat
From ArchaeoWiki
Talatat (Arabic) refers to a specific type / size of small stone blocks, measuring c. 27 x 27 x 54 cm in size (equal to ½ x ½ x 1 cubit), that were widely employed in the constructions of the late Eighteenth Dynasty ruler Akhenaten at Karnak (within the Aten precinct) and at Amarna. The materials used were largely sandstone and limestone respectively.
Talatat appear to have been used in order to expedite planned building projects at great speed—the brick-like uniformity and relative lightness of the blocks were a great advantage in this respect, if somewhat disadvantaged on the other hand by greater fragility and decreased durability of resulting structures. Talatat were laid in alternate rows of headers and stretchers, as revealed by the impressions of the stones remaining in the mortar found in the foundation trenches. The stones were frequently employed in walls of exceptionally thin measurement.
After the death of Akhenaten, construction on the temples appears to have been abandoned in the reigns of Tutankhamun and Ay. Subsequently, the temples—and their constituent talatat—were dismantled under Horemheb and Ramesses II, finding re-use as recycled building materials at Hermopolis, Karnak, Medamud and Antinopolis. At Karnak, for example, the talatat were used virtually as rubble to form the (hidden) core of new pylon constructions. It is from these pylons—as well as from the other named sites—that a large number of talatat have been recovered for study and reconstruction. One large scene, at least, has been reassembled by Philippe Marle and can be viewed at the Luxor Museum.
Bibliography
- Hanke, Rainer [1991], Amarna-Reliefs aus Hermopolis, [Hildesheimer Ägyptologische Beiträge 2], Hildesheim, 1991.
- Lauffrey, J. [?], "Les 'teletat' du IXe pylone et le Teny-menou", in Karnak VI, ?, pp.67-89.
- Chappez, J.-L. [?], "Un nouvelle assemblage de telâtât; une paroi du rwd-mnw d'Aton", in Karnak VIII (?), pp.81-119.
