08年考研英语阅读理解精读100篇（社会文化类）.docVIP

考研英语阅读理解精读100篇之社会文化类 unit15 Unit 15 It was a brief, shining moment in Egypts history--a time of epochal change presided over by a Pharaoh named Akhenaten and his beautiful wife Nefertiti. During his 17-year reign the old gods were cast aside, monotheism was introduced, and the arts liberated from their stifling rigidity. Even Egypts capital was moved to a new city along the Nile called Akhetaten (modern Amarna). But like Camelot, it was short-lived, and its legacy was buried in the desert sands. Now Akhenatens 3,400-year-old world has been brilliantly recalled in an exhibit titled Pharaohs of the Sun: Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamen, which opens this week at Bostons Museum of The exhibit illuminates a murky period in Egyptian history that curator Rita Freed describes as having all the elements of a soap opera. When Amenhotep IV, as he was originally called, ascended the throne in 1353 B.C., Egypt was a flourishing empire, at peace with its neighbors. Yet there were troubling signs. His father Amenhotep III had already challenged the powerful priesthood by proclaiming the sun god Aten as foremost among Egyptian deities and himself as his living incarnation. His son shook things up even more, not only changing his name to honor the new god (Akhenaten means one who serves Aten) but also banishing the older gods, especially the priestly favorite Amen. Some scholars believe Akhenatens monotheism, a historic first, inspired the Hebrew prophets, but it had the more immediate effect of freeing Egypts artists. They could now portray the Pharaoh and the voluptuous Nefertiti (who may have shared the throne with him) in a far more casual, realistic way. Akhenatens cone-shaped head, elongated face, fingers and toes, pot belly and flaring hips have led some scholars to suggest that he had hydrocephalus or Marfans syndrome. He was certainly a revolutionary, propelled either by madness or by great vision. Still, his changes did not endure. After his death, his son-in-law (an