and mounted the steps of the High Altar where there were offerings of meat, poultry, vegetables, and flowers already laid out and surmounted by three pans of burning incense. As the king and queen officiated, priests then placed offerings on many of the other altars for the public people while music was played. The princesses continued to rattle the sistra while four male chanters sang hymns to the Aten within the Gem-Aten court. Outside the Gem-Aten were female musicians who performed along with the temple choir which was made up of blind singers and a blind harpist. These musicians performed at intervals throughout the day and were never allowed beyond the outer court. Excavation and exploration Flinders Petrie was the first person to work in the temple, and his assistant, Howard Carter excavated in the sanctuary area. However, it was John Pendlebury who actually fully mapped this area during his excavations in 1935. The EES Amarna Survey project returned to re–dig the site and corrected some mistakes in the mapping. Project leader Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, "Based on the coins and pottery we found, it appears to be a massive regional center that traded with Greece, Turkey and Libya." This is part of a larger project aiming to map as much of ancient Egypt's archaeological sites, or "tells," as possible before they are destroyed or covered by modern development. Although Akhenaten had several temples dedicated to the Aten, the Great Temple of the Aten was the largest and most significant. During the 18th dynasty reign of Akhenaten, the new city of Akhetaten was completely built up and the regular worship of the Aten was established. However, shortly after the pharaoh's death, all fell apart as successive kings destroyed the Temple and the city in an effort to return to the traditional religion of Egypt. Nonetheless, enough remains preserved of the Great Temple of the Aten to be able to get a sense of what it looked like and how worship of the Aten must have played out for inhabitants of the city of Akhetaten. Image gallery Sculptural fragments from the temple See also List of ancient Egyptian sites, including sites of temples Notes References George Hart, A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Routledge, 1986 Barry Kemp, Amarna Reports IV, Egypt Exploration Society, 1987 Barbara Watterson, Amarna: Ancient Egypt’s Age of Revolution (Charleston, SC: Tempus